Treadwell, Jovanelli race to Turkey Trot 5K titles Elite field, weather boost top men’s times

BREWER – What started as a chance to have a little fun turned into a victory and near record-setting performance for Dereck Treadwell in the 22nd Turkey Trot 5K on Sunday.

Treadwell, a former Old Town High and UMaine running standout, finished the race in 15 minutes, 15 seconds, just four seconds off the race record owned by Tim Wakeland (1988) and Jim Garster (1991).

“I just wanted to get out and have some fun, have a good run,” said the 28-year-old Treadwell, who said he didn’t set his watch at the start of the race and wasn’t aware he was close to the record until someone yelled at him in front of Brewer High near the finish line.

Heather Jovanelli, an ex-Brewer High standout and junior runner at UMaine, won the women’s race in 18:46.

Treadwell said he may have taken a different approach for the last half-mile if he had known a record was within reach. He and defending Turkey Trot champion Judson Cake of Bar Harbor were together for the first 11/2 miles, but Treadwell surged ahead at the turn and wasn’t challenged again.

“It would have been nice to really run well the last mile and hammer it. But when you kind of get out there, you get a little complacent,” he said.

Cake finished second in 15:21 and was followed by Andy Spaulding of Freeport (15:33), Michael Bunker of Bucksport (15:39) and Andy Goupee of Glenburn (16:38).

The top four times beat Cake’s winning time of 15:54 in 2002 as runners benefited from the elite field and temperatures in the high 40s with a mild wind.

Treadwell, an NCAA All-American at UMaine, is training for the 1,500 in the U.S. Olympic Trials next July in Sacramento, Calif. He returned to Maine toward the end of the summer for training and to coach the Husson College of Bangor cross country teams.

With the onset of cold weather, he will be returning to train with the Nike Farm Team at Stanford University (Calif.).

His elite running status was evident Sunday, especially in the first mile, which he and Cake hit at the mid-4:30s. They did so on the left side of the road, instead of the traditional right, and the whole pack of runners followed the leaders there until they turned at the halfway point.

“That was a Judson trick [going to the left side]. He was just kind of cutting the tangents off I guess,” Treadwell said. “I was just kind of letting him go because I didn’t quite want to run 4:30 in the first mile, but apparently he did.”

In the women’s race, Jovanelli collected her first victory in the Turkey Trot and said she benefited from the presence of her UMaine teammates Kristen Vidlak (18:48), Hana Pelletier (18:54), and Janeen Shepard (19:16). They finished second, third and sixth, respectively.

Old Town High sophomore Cassie Hintz finished fourth (19:12) and UMaine professor Kathleen Bell placed fifth (19:13).

Jovanelli and her teammates not only compete together in cross country, but are the members of UMaine’s 4-by-800 relay team. They entered the race with the idea of just trying to be consistent, she said.

“We were going to run 6:15s solid, but that didn’t happen when we went through the first mile in 5:38,” she said.

Jovanelli and Vidlak were together throughout the race with Jovanelli falling back a bit on the last hill.

“Right around here [before the high school] I started to get a good kick flowing, then at one of the turns I emerged I guess,” she said.

A total of 451 runners, joggers and walkers finished the race, which is a fund-raiser for Brewer High’s sophomore class.