Jeff Phillippi was simply looking for a way to get in better shape for his soccer exploits when he took up running two years ago. The 31-year-old Cedar Hills resident had started playing in an indoor soccer league, and he quickly discovered he could definitely use a fitness boost.

Cue some running.

"I just wanted to do something so I could stay in shape longer," he said.

Running in various 5Ks throughout the valley, Phillippi has accomplished exactly that. And in the process, he's discovered that he has plenty of ability on the pavement.

Phillippi, who had previously won a handful of races, added another win to his collection on July 28. Participating in the Spring View Farms 5K, which wrapped along the Jordan River Parkway trail in Bluffdale, Phillippi edged George Katz, 49, for the overall win, 18 minutes, 10.83 seconds to 18:16.92.

Has Phillippi's foray into running aided his soccer game?

"It's helped me, definitely," he said. "If I need to, I can (now) stay in the game the whole time. ... It's just helped my game out overall."

Phillippi spent the majority of the Spring View Farms 5K just trying to stay up with the leading runners.

Then, in the last kilometer of the race, he made his move.

After catching up to Katz, he quickly said "hello" and then "goodbye."

"'OK, well I'm gonna go now,"' is what he told himself after briefly running alongside Katz. "I took off, and he just kind of stayed at the same pace."

From there, Phillippi dashed to the finish line, winning by six seconds.

Sandy White, Joshua Heitland and Jon Stones finished third, fourth and fifth overall, respectively.

Meanwhile, Karin Hill Lockovitch was the overall winner of the women's division. Lockovitch impressively beat second-place finisher Emily Thresher by 2 1/2 minutes.

Spring View Farms 5K results

Saturday, July 28

Bluffdale

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