Michigan Man Wins WOT 5K Run

Will Clark, Essexville, Mich., was the overall winner of the 5K race Saturday. Clark finished in 19:38.29 minutes.
By Deb Patterson
InkFreeNews
SYRACUSE — The rains held off and it was a cool, slightly humid, Saturday morning, June 26, for the Women of Today’s 5K Run/Walk.
Close to 60 runners participated in the event for all ages. The race was held on the property of Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation and used a portion of the Syracuse-Wawasee Trails system.
Will Clark, Essexville, Mich., who was visiting the area, was the first to cross the finish line in 19:38.29.
The participants ran the trails on the WACF property and used a portion of the Conklin Bay Trail as part of the route. The race began at the Ruddell Pavilion, included paths through a section of trail 3, onto Grandview Drive and then north on the new Syracuse-Wawasee Trail before returning to the Conklin Bay Trail and the WACF property. This leg of the race took runners through the north portion of Trail 1 on WACF property, past the amphitheater and out to the lake before circling back around to hit Trail 3 and ending at the pavilion.

Runners take off from the area in front of Ruddell Pavilion at Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation for the Women of Today’s 5K run walk Saturday morning.
Other top 20 winners were:
Ryan Thwaits, Syracuse, 21:06.52
Brandi Niles, Cromwell, 23:54.95
Megan Heil, Syracuse, 24:12.92
Amy Kuhn, Syracuse, 24:21.96
Mia Hodgson, Syracuse, 24:48.37
Johnny Likens, North Webster, 25:14.17
Neil Likens, North Webster, 25:14.37
Jason VanCuren, Cromwell, 25:58.19
Ashley Tenney, Syracuse, 26:21.10
Michael Casey, Milford, 26:29.41
Resia Rinker, Syracuse, 27:26.60
Haley Hawkins, Warsaw, 28:31.76
Jeff Clark, Leesburg, 29:51.67
Cory Snep, Warsaw, 29:57.47
Ron Baumgartner, Syracuse, 30:12.48
Cheryl Miller, Leesburg, 31:10.61
Satiah Doty, Syracuse, 32:26.67
Cierra Snep, Warsaw, 32:30.49
Derek Snep, Warsaw, 32:30.72.
All proceeds will be used by WOT for various projects involving area children.
- Resia Rinker, Ashley Tenney, Donna Glaeser and Ann Robbins gather for a chat prior to the race.
- The runners kept coming and coming off the start line.
- Dru and Brook Williams, and their daughter Mason Rose, participated in the event with Brooke’s father, Tom Tuttle.
- Amy Kuhn, Haley Hawkins and Ashley Tenney are shown on the trail along SR 13 in the first leg of the race.
- Ryan Thwaits, Syracuse finished second. He is shown coming off Trail 1 and the first 2 miles of the race.
- Mia Hodgson and Brandi Niles keep pace with each other in the early park of the race.
- Will Clark, Essexville, Mich., led the pack throughout the entire race and was the overall winner.
- Johnny Likens, North Webster and his dad, Neil Likens stayed fairly close to each other throughout the race. The younger Likens finished in 25:14.17, while dad came in just behind him at 25:14.37.