Draper 5K pits serious and not-so

Draper Days ran the gamut of activities, from rock concerts to parades. But the 5K run held last Saturday was for serious — and not-so-serious — runners.

Take the Female Stroller Division. According to race director Fred Ross, this is one of very few 5Ks that feature this division.

Rebecca Miller showed up at the winner's table to collect her prize, which consisted of a T-shirt and a medal, despite being at a disadvantage. She lives within the boundaries of the race, and when she prepared to leave her home to go to the starting line, all traffic had been roped off and no cars were permitted to drive. She arrived two minutes late before shoving off with 10-month-old Owen in tow.

No matter. "I finally started passing people," she said.

Then there was Heather Hanks. She pulled down a third-place medal in the 19-24 division. Although the $1,000 purse had been depleted before the money got down to this division, she surely had to run many miles in preparation for this event, right?

"I don't train," she said. "I haven't been into this as much as my family."

She was right about that. Her older sister, Stephanie Talbot, took first place in the 30-34 female division.

"I run every day," she said, "about 50 miles a week."

The dollar purse was cleaned out at that point.

"I won $10. Wo-o-o-oh!" she exclaimed.

Their mother, Colleen Hanks, has been training for more than 20 years, running 30 miles a week. She had no trouble winning the first-place medal in the 55-59 division. Of course, the prize money was long gone by that time. Not overly concerned, she said, "I run for fitness and for the fun of it."

Now to the serious side. Hailing from Slovakia, Zuzna Tomas was the top overall runner among the women. No, she didn't come all the way from Slovakia but rather attends the University of Utah and is working on a doctorate in linguistics.

"I run 60 to 70 miles a week," she said.

Second and third place went to Carre Joyce and Christina Grigas, respectively.

The first- and second-place winners in the men's overall didn't even bother to show for the medal ceremony. Third-place winner Paul Peterson picked up his $50 prize but was really just there for the training. He lives in Logan and runs on the USA Team Circuit.

"I run a race every two to three weeks," he said.

There were many more divisions, so all could have fun.

Neal Gassman won the men's race and Sandra Branney the women's race in the Master's division. The honors for oldest runners in the race went to Thomas Gregory, 80, and his wife Colleen, 78. Both runners picked up medals in their respective divisions.

"I love this race because it is beautiful," Colleen said. "You see farm land."

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E-mail: wjewkes@desnews.com