MIDDLEBURY — For the first time in recent memory the first person across the finish line of Middlebury’s annual Turkey Trot and Gobble Wobble race was a female competitor. The 5K race attracted 155 competitors and the 10Krace recorded 62 finishers.
Sara Dunham of Peru, N.Y., was winner of the 38th annual 5K race, which ran this past Sunday along South Street and finished near the Middlebury town gym. Her finishing time of 17:58 represented a 5:48 per mile pace.
The 38-year-old runner was followed by Vergennes resident Cory Coffey (18:21) in second and Travis Dunham of Plattsburgh, N.Y., (18:35) in third. Two teenagers rounded out the top five: 15-year-old Sophia Gorman of Charlotte (19:30) and 14-year-old Julian Schmitt of Middlebury (20:53).
Bristol’s Todd Smith, 40, won the 10K race for the third year in a row. His 33:56 time for the 6.2-mile course was 33:56. Another Coffey earned second place in this race, too — Chris Coffey of New Haven, who posted a time of 36:09.
Third in the 10K was Aaron de Toledo, a Middlebury College student who coaches the Middlebury Union High School cross country team (36:15), followed by Daniel Caldwell of Longwood, Fla. (39:21); and Ben Bruno of Middlebury, 40:09.
The age group winners were:
5K Girls age 1-13, Mary-Ann Eastman, 12, Middlebury, 24:27; 5K Boys age 1-13, Lucas Palcsik, 10, Brandon, 22:06; 5K Women age 50-99, Patti Fischer, 56, North Fayston, 26:33; 5K Men age 50-99, Bill Mayers, 50, Weybridge, 24:43; 10K Women age 50-99, Susan Lichtensteiger, 56, Essex Junction, 55:43; and 10K Men age 50-99, Jim Pugh, 63, Cornwall, 48:38.
See the full results online at: www.coolrunning.com/results/14/vt/Nov23_38thAn_set1.shtml.
The Turkey Trot and Gobble Wobble raised $850 and 150 pounds of food for the HOPE food shelf.
Race organizers thanked the local Cub Scouts who worked on earning their service badges by handing out race gifts and running the water table during the race.