by Mark Shelton

Saturday, May 3: Fourth Annual Cleveland Clinic Celebrate Nursing 10K, 5K & 1 Mile Fun Run

The annual Cleveland Clinic Celebrate Nursing 10K, 5K & 1-Mile races benefit the Nursing Scholarship Fund. All races began and ended at the Lerner Research Institute Building on the Cleveland Clinic campus. The courses ran along scenic Martin Luther King Boulevard.   The weather was damp, with a light rain, some wind and 63 degrees. Not too bad for racing, not too much fun for spectators.

The 5K finish was exciting as Rick Penniman and Ron Kuntz crossed the finish line almost side-by-side. It was a chip-timed race and their gun times respectively were 21:01.90 and 21:01.95.

Cleveland Clinic Celebrate Nursing 5K

Overall Female Open Winners

Sarah Racic, 29, of North Royalton was first woman and sixth overall in 22:05 (7:09 pace)

Monica Juran, 47, of Cleveland, 23:01

Katie Zacharyasz, 36, of Strongsville, 24:54

Overall Male Open Winners          

Rick Penniman, 33, of Broadview Heights, 20:54 (6:47 pace) - Gun Time: 21:01.90

Ron Kuntz, 48, of Cleveland, 20:57.   Gun time: 21:01.95    

Jeff Svendsen, 38, of Macedonia, 21:03

Cleveland Clinic Celebrate Nursing 10K

Overall Female Open Winners

Erika Harden, 29, of Beachwood, was 20 th overall and first woman, 44:20 (7:10 pace)

Lindsey Dodge, 26, of Lakewood, 44:49

Cara Bokovitz, 32, of Cleveland, 45:10

Overall Male Open Winners

Eric Richmond, 28, of Cleveland, 38:16 (6:11 pace)

Trevor Kershevich, 49, of Cleveland, 38:36

Brett Drummond, 31, of Akron, 38:46

Near the start of the Fourth Annual Cleveland Clinic Celebrate Nursing 10K, 5K & 1-Mile.

Saturday, May 3: First Green Jewel 100K and 50K Fun Run

The Green Jewel 100K and 50K Fun Runs are new running events created to showcase the Cleveland Metroparks. The race began in the Scenic Park near the Emerald Necklace Marina in Rocky River and finished at the Forest Picnic Area in the North Chagrin Reservation in Willoughby Hills.

The goal of the event is to promote the park system – a system that provides runners, joggers, hikers and cyclists with miles and miles of all-purpose hiking and bridle trails.

The race began at 5 a.m., with overcast skies and a temperature of 57 degrees. By 8 a.m., it was raining and the temperature had climbed 10 degrees. It rained for most of the rest of the day.

The majority of the course was on the all-purpose trail, which is flat and fast.

Runners had 14 hours to complete the race.

The Green Jewel runs are part of the 2008 Western Reserve Trail Running Series.

Green Jewel 100K Finishing times

Dan Horvath 10:25

Dave Peterman 11:12

Lloyd Thomas 11:26

Nick Billock 13:09

Greg Dykes 13:09

Kurt Osadchuk 13:37

Green Jewel 50K Finishing times

Kevin Martin 5:02

Mark Carroll 5:08

Kellie Truesdell (F) 5:10

Jason McCabe 6:10

Bruce McMurray 6:10

Mike Halkovich 6:54

Kurt Osadchuk approaches the 10-mile split at the first Green Jewel 100K and 50K Fun Run. Osadchuk finished the 100K in 13:37.