Jim Click Race Report

Jim Click’s Run n Roll 8k Race Recap
October 4, 2009
by John Sabatine

Despite early forecasts predicting rain on October 4, the 2009 edition of the Jim Click Run N Roll proceeded under beautiful, sunny skies. Once again, the race drew competitors from near and far. With prize money totaling more than $1500, this has become perhaps the most competitive race of the year in the Tucson area for both runners and wheelchair athletes.

The University of Arizona Disability Resources Center and their Adaptive Athletics Program are one of the best in the world. The program provides a comprehensive program of competitive athletics and recreational activities to ensure equal access
for students with disabilities. The program produces some of the best athletes in the country, and the 2009 wheelchair race once again proved that fact. Jordan Bird won the race in an amazing time of 16:28. Shirley Reilly won the women’s division in 19:11. Shirley finished third overall, an extraordinary accomplishment.

This year, 27 runners clocked a sub-6 minute pace. The overall spot was won by Jeffrey Eggleston of Flagstaff. Jeffrey is a former Division I athlete, a standout runner from the University of Virginia. His time of 24:13 works out to a 4:52/mile pace. According to the winner, “It became apparent after the 2nd mile that the pack slowing down. I felt good so I asserted myself and took over from there. When I pushed the pace on mile 3 (I split 4:41), it opened up a large gap of separation on the others.”

The men’s field was strong as usual, with Andrew Middleton and Ezkyas Sisay, both of Flagstaff, coming in second and third. While Flagstaff ruled the day for the overall men, the women’s race was dominated by previous collegiate standouts. Former Washington State Cougar Everlyne Lagat took the top spot in a time of 27:30. She was followed by Arizona Wildcat athletes Erin Dougherty and Irine Lagat.

Local great Shaun Haley (a member of the Grinders) won the master’s prize, while Workout Group runner (and newcomer to Tucson) Polly Campbell won the women’s master’s division.

No race could be successful without a large contingent of volunteers. The University of Arizona DRC always does a great job organizing the event with Janet Olson, Dave Herr-Cardillo, and race director Dave Murray taking on most of the burden of putting on such a fantastic event. SAR board members Steve and Sheryl Felde also deserve a big thanks for all their hard work handling packet-pickup and race day registration, along with Jocie Reilly and Galen Smith.

Other great volunteers include Steve Outridge, Tim “Facebook” Bentley, Lucas Tyler and Dan “Boone” Unrast of the SAR board, SAR member (and top master runner) Joel Stamp. Also, the Workout Group members, Greg Wenneborg and his Pima Cross-Country team volunteers, and more sorority and fraternity members from UA than can be counted. Finally, a special thanks to Randy Accetta for announcing the awards and Jim Irish for doing a great job announcing the race. Without all these people, and countless others, the event could not have been possible.

This event also could not be possible without the generous donations and support from the race sponsors.  Jim Click, a philanthropic icon in our community, once again helped support this race in more ways than we can imagine. Performance Footwear provided awards for the event, and Southwest Airlines and Outback Steakhouse were also main sponsors. Other local organizations continue to support the race and are listed on http://www.runnroll.org.

To see photos of the race, click here.