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BREWER – Gladys Ganiel did all the dirty work you need to do to win a road race at Sunday’s Turkey Trot 5K.
She led the field through a 5:40 first mile, and a speedy 11:49 two-mile split. And then the former Narraguagus High and Providence College standout got some company.
A woman wearing a red dress passed her. That’s right. A red dress. We’ll get to that in a minute.
“She didn’t just go by me,” Ganiel said. “she blew by me. I didn’t have anything left.”
That woman – former UMaine star Vanessa McGowan – held on for the win in 18 minutes, 24 seconds. Ganiel finished second in 18:47, while 13-year-old Cassie Hintz of Stillwater finished third in 19:07. Last year’s champ, Lara Rand of Orrington, was fourth in a loaded women’s field in 19:10 while Katie Laverdiere was fifth in 19:14.
In the men’s race, former Bucksport High and UMaine star Gerry Clapper of Columbia, Md., surged to the front after a mile and a half and held off Ben Ray of Auburn … also a UMaine standout … and also wearing a red dress.
The 40-year-old Clapper completed the 3.1-mile course in 15:53, while Ray – competing under his road-racing alias of “Atticus Miles” – was second in 16:01. Judson Cake of Bar Harbor took third in 16:02, Bob Hepler of Machias was fourth in 16:08 and Andy Goupee of Orrington took fifth in 16:22.
In all, 436 runners finished the 5K run and 80 children aged 13-and-under completed a 1-mile race. Brendan Carr, 13, of Brewer won the boys mile run in 5:46 while 11-year-old Felicia Muncey of Aurora was the top girl in 6:45.
Now, about those red dresses. Stephanie Peavie of Orono, who also sported a red dress, as well as a nifty turkey chapeau (which was troublesome, she admitted, because it “increases wind resistance”) has an explanation.
She’s a member of the Orono Hash House Harriers, which she describes as “a drinking club with a running problem.” Every year, “hash” clubs around the world stage “red dress runs.” The Orono club decided that the popular Turkey Trot would be the perfect venue.
Ray, who isn’t a Hash House Harrier, was one of about 15 runners who joined in the fun. He donned the dress, ran conservatively at first, then moved up into the lead pack midway through the race.
And (don’t take this the wrong way), he liked running in a dress.
“You know, there’s a lot of air circulation under there as well, so I wouldn’t mind doing it often,” Ray said with a laugh.
But no matter how much air was circulating, Ray couldn’t catch Clapper, who won despite training just 25 miles a week since injuring himself in September.
“I knew I’d be up there today, unless [Stanford star and Ellsworth native] Louie Luchini came back or something like that,” Clapper said. “If it was the usual crowd, I knew I’d be right in there. I wasn’t really expecting to win, but I’ll take it,” Clapper said.
McGowan’s tactic mirrored Clapper’s: She waited in the background in the early going before making her move.
In fact, without some pre-race prodding from her boyfriend – the aforementioned Ray – McGowan wouldn’t even have seen the top women at the starting line.
“My boyfriend was telling me, ‘Get over there in the front of the girls,’ but I was trying to scoot to the back [at the starting line],” McGowan said.
Ganiel, who has been nursing an injured foot, said the brisk early pace cost her.
“That was probably too fast considering my level of fitness, but I had no idea what my level of fitness was,” Ganiel said.
Ganiel hasn’t raced seriously since the end of February, when she ran the Irish national cross country championships while attending graduate school in that country.
Still, she was pleased with her race. … for the most part. Even though a woman wearing a dress ended up passing her.
“That was the only disconcerting part,” she said with a laugh.
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