By DANIEL BRIGGS
For The Beachcomber
The 37th annual Bill Burby Inspirational Fun Run and Walk began at 8:30 a.m. last Saturday morning after around 300 enthusiastic participants descended upon the intersection at Cove road and Vashon Highway.
Crowds of runners got themselves ready by stretching and hydrating as they stood in line to get their electronic-timing bibs to wear in the race. The 10K runners left first at the gun, followed by a large group of 5K runners and walkers.
This event is a fundraiser for Vashon High School athletics and the Ryan Krug Memorial Scholarship Fund.
The 10K- and 5K-races are sanctioned by the United States Track and Field association. The Dilworth Loop course takes the runners out to Glen Acres along a casually descending road, but the return becomes a challenging hill to endure.
The winner of the 10K was Aaron Burby, son of Bill Burby, and also the defending champion. His time was 36:45. Runner-up was Nate Robinson at 39:16. In the women’s 10K, Megan Gryzb won with a time of 44:36, and 17 seconds behind her was Kristina Hoeschen.
In the 5K, defending champion Scott Healey cruised to victory in a time of 17:19, followed by Jessie Norton at 18:05. Hannah Gorin clocked 19:52, to beat Michelle Neal’s time of 22:13, and win in the female category.
Many of the top finishers in each category have won previously. Generous prizes, donated by Northwest Sports, Core-Centric and the Recess-Lab, went to the winners.
Spirits were high on the sunny morning, and after runners completed their races, many lingered to cheer on other participants. Among those who remained — and seemingly in no hurry to leave — were the event’s oldest participants, Abe Bergman and Murray Andrews, both 85.
They posed for a photo afterward, when Bergman gave Andrews a hard time for beating him, which Bergman maintained was not supposed to have happened.
“Well,” Andrews responded, providing insight to his fitness routine, “I still chop an awful lot of wood.”
Not far from them, a group of elementary school girls — friends who had also participated — gathered together on the hillside. They ranged in age from 8 to 11. For some, it was their first race; for others, it has already become part of a Strawberry Festival tradition. Amelia, age 11, said she has participated in four of the fun runs — and she keeps coming back.
“It’s a good sport and something to keep working on,” she said.
After the race, the runners eventually left to have some breakfast or get a good spot to watch the parade or — for those who had not started the day with quite enough exercise — to participate in it.
— Daniel Briggs is the father of a race participant and volunteer.
Susan Riemer also contributed reporting to this article.
