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Only Fools Run at Midnight
| Centennial Hall, Juneau | Distance: 5 kilometers
Location: Centennial Hall, Willoughby Avenue, Juneau
An Empire Cup Runners Series race, started at midnight.
A loop from the start and finish at Centennial Hall: along Front Street to a turnaround at the downtown ferry dock, uphill on Main Street and Calhoun, downhill on 12th, then north on Glacier Avenue to a turnaround.
Rick Thibodeau won before a cheering crowd of a few hundred in 16:03, six seconds inside his own Juneau 5-K best of 16:09 from the 1993 Governor's Cup and a minute and seven seconds faster than his winning time the year before. "Early on Paul Pusich definitely pushed the pace," he said. "He was running hard up Main Street and down 12th. He really pulled us along. I had to run hard to catch him." Pusich was second in 16:22, Phillip Millard third.
Veronica Mendieta, bound for the University of Northern Idaho that autumn on a track scholarship, won the women's division and placed 24th overall in 19:53. Karen Nanseth and Colleen Jones followed her home. Christian Kolden was the fastest 14-and-under runner, 15th in 18:37.
Richard LeMay of Lincolnshire, England took home a five-pound bar of chocolate donated by a downtown business, awarded to the runner who had travelled farthest. He had thought some Alaskans "a bit daft - well, no problem", and tried to stay with Mendieta: "I couldn't keep up with her. Tried, but she overtook me going up the hill." Mendieta had not trained for it and meant to treat it as a fun run. "But when I get in a race, I can't help but getting competitive," she said. "It's a really nice event."
Guy Thibodeau finished 284th in 41:00, alongside Greta Thibodeau in the same time.
Two finishing times, at 133rd and 265th, are printed in the Empire in a way that cannot be right and are recorded as printed with a note on each.
SOURCES: "Thibodeau fastest in Fools Run" by Richard F. Schmitz, Juneau Empire, Monday 19 June 1995, page 9; and the finish list, page 10. | DefaultRaceDirector Unassigned | 1995-06-17 00:00:00 | no | yes | yes | Registration Form |