By GLENNA MILESON
For The Beachcomber

The summer heat may have discouraged some of the adults, but nearly one-third of the more than 300 finishers of Saturday’s 35th annual Bill Burby Inspirational were in the 18-and-under categories. And some of them made it look easy, kicking up their speed as they neared the finish line.

The starting gun wasn’t firing properly, so Russ Brazill did a count down to start the 10K at shortly after 9 a.m., followed by the 5K 10 minutes later. Brazill was one of the original race organizers, along with Bill Burby, and he enjoys connecting with Destia Hermes, widow of the late Burby.

“Bill would like seeing the young people,” Brazill said. “He was a real advocate for kids and the most positive person I’ve ever been around.”

For the third year in a row, first place in the men’s 5K race went to Graham Peet, 18, and second place went to Scott Healey, 40. Peet’s pace was 5:22 for an overall time of 16:39, identical to last year’s results, while Healey’s time was 17:11 with a pace of 5:33, 20 second faster than last year.  Third place went to Luke Larson, 15, with a pace of 5:57 and a time of 18:28.

In the women’s 5K race, Michelle Neal, 54, repeated her first-place finish with a time of 22:02 and pace of 7:06.  Coming in second was Lucy Boyle, 14, with a time of 22:54 and pace of 7:23. Third place went to Tatiyana Winge, 17, with a time of 25:09 and pace of 8:07.

First place in the women’s 10K race went to Christie Mosley, 30, with a time of 42:59 and pace of 6:56. Nearly 10 minutes behind her, Michelle Bjornberg, 48, came in second with a time of 51:01 and pace of 8:14, followed by  Kristina Hoeschen, 36, in third with a time of 51:55 and a pace of 8:22.

First place in the men’s 10K race eluded Kevin Ross again this year and went to Ian Bonner, age 40, a former islander now living in Bellingham, with a time of 39:45 and a pace of 6:24.

“He was out in front from the beginning,” Ross said. “I thought I would take him on the uphill, but he never slowed down.”

Ross, 42, had to settle for second with a time of 40:43 and pace of 6:33, and in third was Paul Dixon, age 42, with a time of 43:46 and pace of 7:03.

All first-place winners took home a $100 gift certificate for Northwest Sports, second-place winners received $75 gift certificates for training at CoreCentric, and third-place winners received foam exercise rollers, also from CoreCentric. Two additional $100 gifts certificates for Northwest Sports were awarded randomly.

Funds raised by the event help support high school athletics and also fund the annual Bill Burby Wellness Scholarship, awarded annually to a student who most clearly demonstrates a healthy lifestyle, consistent with the living philosophy shown by Bill Burby, who was a belove teacher and coach on Vashon. Friends and family of Ryan Krug, a high school student and track athlete who was killed in 2013, also used the event to bring in donations for the Ryan Krug Memorial Scholarship fund.

Complete results are available at www.billburbyrace.org

— Glenna Mileson is a Bill Burby race volunteer.