Jameson wins women's 10K

Race results

Emily Nay Jameson wasn't sure of her "fitness level" before Thursday's Deseret News/KJZZ-TV women's 10K race. She was married three weeks ago, hadn't been working out much or preparing for the race, and was just hoping for a solid performance.

Jameson far exceeded even her own expectations by not only winning the race and the $2,500 first prize, but setting a new personal best time of 32:04. Coupled with husband Teren's fourth-place finish and $400 prize in the men's 10K race, it wasn't a bad morning for the newlyweds, who hope to race together for many seasons to come and are training for the world half-marathon team.

"I'm a pretty strong downhill runner, so the course really suited me today," Jameson said. "I've finished second here a couple of times, so I was pretty familiar with the course. I just wasn't sure what my fitness level would be. The extra downhill stretches helped me."

It became a three-way race early on as Jameson, a former BYU All-American, broke away with Susan Taylor Nielsen of Salt Lake City (she ran for both BYU and Utah) and Kenyan Naomi Wangui. Wangui was passed by Jameson on the course's last downhill stretch, and when the race reached 200 East and headed south, Jameson was in command. She finished a full 24 seconds ahead of Wangui, who nipped Nielsen for second place by just one second and took home $1,500.

"I was feeling pretty strong, but the downhill is difficult for me," Wangui said of her first visit to the Pioneer Day race. "I loved the cheering as we ran, like everyone else has said. But the air is so dry here. I'd like to come back and do better next year."

Nielsen said before the race that she felt a bit tired, but it didn't show in her gutsy performance. She earned $500 for third place.

Jameson echoed the thoughts of almost all of Thursday's runners, who said the course was definitely faster than in years past, but the dry air was a problem.

"My throat has never been this dry after this race," she said. The state's unusually low humidity seemed to take its toll, particularly on the recreational runners in all races who seemed more fatigued as they finished.

Nicole Hunt of Montana finished fourth at 33:19, winning $400, while former BYU runner Katie Sabey, a late entrant, picked up $250 for a fifth-place finish at 33:40.

As for the Jameson household, where Emily brought home a check much larger than husband Teren on Thursday, she laughed.

"Hey, I work and make $8 an hour," she said. "He's an engineer. It was my turn."