Sunday, April 8, 2001 -- Morgantown, WV
WVU College of Law 5K Ambulance Chase (iPO Event Id#: 3056)
Story and photos by John Nesbitt

[Details] [Coverage]
Results: [Overall] [By Class] [Walk]
Pictures: [Set 1] [Set 2] [Set 3] [Set 4] [Set 5]

WVU's law students display a sense of humor...

The first annual West Virginia University Law School 5K Ambulance Chase started in Krepps Park and took the runners through the scenic Suncrest area of Morgantown and eventually back to the park. The race benefiting the West Virginia Senior Legal Aid and attracted over 150 competitors running and walking the 3.1 mile course, the same course used for the December Back Bay Snowflake Sprint 5k.

The race began with an unofficial start of lawyers actually chasing the ambulance for several hundred yards. And in the actual race, rather than bringing up the rear the ambulance was the lead vehicle throughout.

Spring time brings out the runners

Morgantown's Stephen Hiser won the mens division grabbing the lead in the beginning of the race and never looking back finishing in a time of 17:26. Hiser outran the competition in a fast first mile, then slowed during the second and ran with his training partner John Riffle, of Grafton. The final mile had Hiser kicking back into high gear to pull away for the win with Riffle following for second in 17:51. Running alone for most of the race was third place finisher Aaron Miller at 18:06.

In the women's division Carol Davis of Clarksburg was able to withstand a hard fought challenge by Melinda BerryAnn of Morgantown to win the race in 21:41. According To Berryann, the course was very good with a nice second mile and she was able to keep Davis in her sight the whole race. However, she couldn't close the gap to catch her and ended up wrapping up second place in a time of 22:17. Third place went to Adrian Nicol with a finishing time of 22:52.

Melinda BerryAnn chases Carol Davis

The walking race saw Steve Bence stride to the finish for first in a time of 26:52 with no one close behind. The next to see the finish was Mike Dotson who finished at 32:38. The third overall finisher and first female Bonnie Whitby crossed the line at 35:31.

After the race, there was plenty of refreshments and lots of prizes donated by the generous race sponsors and given way in a random drawing. The race organizers would like to thank all the law firms who donated to the race, especially the title sponsor Spilman, Thomas & Battle.