25th Annual Tennessee River Run 10K & 2 Mile

Florence, AL, October 12, 2002

Former Champs Win Again

FLORENCE - Two former River Run winners returned to the winner's circle Saturday morning. Faye Sanders took top honors in the female division, winning the event for the first time since 1986. Jerry Mitchell won the men's division in the 25th Tennessee River Run at Veterans Park for his fifth victory in the event. Both runners said the weather conditions - overcast skies and temperatures in the low 70s - played a vital role in their victories. "The weather out here was perfect today," said Sanders, who led the singing of the National Anthem at the race start. "It was really ideal. There was no wind, good cloud cover and a light mist began at the end. Perfect." Sanders knows perfection when it comes to running conditions. At 52, she has run competitively for most of her adult life, competing in several past River Runs. No stranger to winning the female masters divisions, she also logged a first-place overall finish in 1986 at the 9th annual Tennessee River Run. Her race time Saturday: 47 minutes, 14 seconds. Her race time in 1986 was 42 minutes, 40 seconds. "I've slowed a little through the years, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself," she said. "I still enjoy running so much, and this tells me I can still maintain a good level of fitness at my age. My goal was simply to break eight-minute miles." Mitchell, the 36-year-old assistant track coach at Northwest-Shoals, won the event in 1995, 1996, 1999 and 2001. He set an unofficial course record, with a time of 33:24, pending verification. Mitchell attributed his personal best performance to good weather and the desire to win for one of his team members, Matt King, who could not attend Saturday's race due to illness. "The weather was great for running this particular course, but I was pretty fatigued around the five-mile mark," he said. "I started thinking about Matt and how he would love to be out here with me, and I just stepped it up and went on in. Matt's a real inspiration to me, and he inspired me during this race even though he wasn't here." The event drew about 150 runners for the 10K and two-mile events. Many runners logged personal best times. All proceeds from the race go to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Northwest Alabama. The race is sponsored by the TimesDaily.