Tar Heel 10 Miler Presented by CEP set a new record for participants with more than 6,200 registered runners. This year’s record-setting event had more runners, more spectators, more bands, more sponsors, more fundraising and definitely more fun than ever before!
The race also serves as the USATF NC 10 Mile Championship in the 2014 Endurance Magazine Long Distance Running Series, where elite athletes compete for cash prizes. Twenty-seven-year-old Heidi Bretscher’s dominating victory in the women’s open division also launched her into first place in the series. The Durham, N.C., resident won the women’s race with a time of 1:01:21, more than 6 minutes ahead of second-place finisher Haley Juno-Galdes. Thirty-six-year-old Juno-Glades of Pinehurst, N.C., ran the race in 1:07:29. Joynicole Martinez, 39, of Rocky Mount, N.C., took third with a 2:17:28.
In the men’s race, 30-year-old TIbor Vegh of Raleigh, N.C., averaged 5:15 per mile to win a tight race in the open males division with a time of 52:31. The win moves Vegh into a first-place series tie with Anthony Marios. Robert Torphy, 25, of Chapel Hill, N.C., finished second with a time of 53:08. Third-place finisher Kaleb Keyserling, 27, of Chapel Hill, N.C., was less than a minute off pace with a time of 53:27.
The masters races also saw a woman take control of the series as Betsy Armentrout, 41, of Winston-Salem, N.C., took first with a 1:08:25. Jennifer Vandiver, 47, of McLeansville, N.C., finished second with a 1:12:33 and Mimi O’Grady, 48, of Carrboro, N.C., was third with a 1:12:41.
Michael Dwomoh, 44, Raleigh, N.C., won the masters men’s race with a 59:34, barely beating 43-year-old Tim Pierce, also of Raleigh, who finished in 59:42. While Pierce lost a close race, his second-place finish was enough to give him a 1-point lead over both Dwomoh and Colin Jones in the series. Shawn Gross, 40, of Wake Forest, N.C., was third in the masters race with a 1:01:24.
Check out the series standings for leaders in each division.
