Joseph Gray, one of the world's best long-distance runners, simply ran away from the 100-racer field of Saturday's eighth annual Sun Valley Half Marathon and Team Relay.
Gray, 28, from Newcastle, Wash., finished the 13.2-mile course in one hour, 14 minutes and 50 seconds. It was six minutes faster than the 1.20:52 course record of Idaho Falls runner Tom Borschel in 2006.
His pace was a speedy 5:43 per mile on the paved course that started and finished near the Sun Valley Resort pavilion.
Last year's USA Track and Field (USATF) Mountain Runner of the Year, Gray is a multi-national champion who used to play focus his athletic talents on basketball. Now, very few runners can keep up with him.
He won the USA 50k (31-mile) Road Championship in Lloyd Harbor, N.Y. in March at 2.56:43, coming within a minute of breaking the course record.
Gray is sponsored by the Ketchum-based Scott Sports, which has made bigger commitments in trail and ultramarathon running in recent years.
He will look to defend his North American Central American Caribbean Mountain Running title when the championships are held at Cypress Mountain just outside of Vancouver, B.C., Canada July 21.
Second place Saturday, over nine minutes back of Gray, was Kevin Tuck, 55, of Salt Lake City, Utah in 1.24:02. Ketchum's David Vanderpool, 26, improved his finishing time by over 11 minutes and moved up 15 places in the final rankings with a third place in 1.27:00.
Women's winner was Meridian's Shannon Deboer, 25, in 1.37:34, in 11th place overall. In second was Lynda Andros-Clay, 36, of Hailey, 1.39:18. Third place went to Angenie McCleary, 35, of Ketchum at 1.41:04, good for 14th place.
Fastest of the 14 relay teams with a 1.40:30 clocking was the Shero Quarters duo that featured Georgie Montgomery
Showing Gray's dominance Saturday, here are the other men's race winners dating back to the event's inception:
Andy Jones-Wilkins 1.22:25 in 2011 and 1.23:26 in 2010; Bryan Lindquist 1.24:16 in 2009; Chris Campbell 1.23:37 in 2008; Brad Mitchell 1.23:53 in 2007; Tom Borschel 1.20:52 in 2006; Brandon Rhodes 1.21:09 in 2005.
2012 Sun Valley Half Marathon results
June 2, 2012, the 8th annual 13.1-mile Sun Valley Half Marathon. A total 100 individual runners (50 men and 50 women),163 fewer than last year. Finishing times in minutes and seconds, or hours, minutes and seconds, preceded by name and division finish in parentheses, gun time:
13.1-MILE HALF MARATHON
Male runners (with age and division finish)
1—Joseph Gray, 28 1.14:50
2—Kevin Tuck, 55 1.24:02
3—David Vanderpool, 26 1.27:00
4—Drew Michener, 32 (1) 1.30:39
5—Joseph Wojcik, 49 (1) 1.31:08
6—Chris Kroger, 43 (1) 1.33:39
7—Hank Dart, 44 (2) 1.34:12
8—Peter Webb, 30 (2) 1.34:41
9—Thomas Cameron, 22 (1) 1.36:34
10—Nate Thomas, 16 (1) 1.36:49
11—Kyle Rafford, 44 (3) 1.38:58
12—Tim Welch, 42 (4) 1.41:04
13—Edgar Millan, 31 (3) 1.41:15
14—Mike Kearney, 60 (1) 1.42:35
15—John Hormey, 45 (2) 1.46:03
16—Drew Hartman, 42 (5) 1.46:31
17—Alfonso Andrade, 46 (3) 1.48:41
18—Blake Reynolds, 19 (2) 1.48:53
19—Scott Desserault, 42 (6) 1.49:02
20—Rick Stark, 54 (1) 1.49:10
21—Dave Durbin, 46 (4) 1.49:15
22—Jeff Ealey, 50 (2) 1.50:08
23—Paul Kenny, 58 (1) 1.50:10
24—Andrew Piron, 38 (1) 1.52:16
25—Jeff Shiver, 41 (7) 1.53:56
26—Alan Pitt, 48 (5) 1.55:55
27—Ryan Rodriguez, 31 (4) 1.56:11
28—Jose Cruz, 31 (5) 1.56:16
29—Neil Wilcox, 56 (2) 1.56:41
30—Michael Cord, 46 (6) 1.56:42
31—Koa-Jared Bissen, 34 (6) 1.57:10
32—Nick Glenn, 24 (2) 1.58:55
33—Timur Beriker, 41 (8) 1.59:03
34—Benjamin Reynolds, 21 (3) 2.01:48
35—Allan Becker, 38 (2) 2.02:09
36—Brian Woodruff, 45 (7) 2.03:53
37—Jared Eby, 25 (1) 2.04:20
37—Stephen Vouch, 26 (1) 2.04:20
39—Don Mueller, 59 (3) 2.05:13
40—Bernard Francois, 54 (3) 2.05:31
41—Jason Marenda, 37 (3) 2.07:26
42—Christian Ochoa, 20 (4) 2.07:38
43—Russ Pillar, 46 (8) 2.07:55
44—Anthony Mattos, 54 (4) 2.08:58
45—Blake Petersen, 34 (7) 2.09:05
46—Nick Abdo, 17 (3) 2.11:12
47—Nelson Cintra, 24 (5) 2.11:14
48—Arturo Valencia, 26 (3) 2.11:27
49—Ryan Passey, 39 (4) 2.12:35
50—Brad Beasley, 40 (9) 2.12:43
Female runners (with age and division finish)
1—Shannon Deboer, 25 1.37:34
2—Lynda Andros-Clay, 36 1.39:18
3—Angenie McCleary, 35 1.41:04
4—Julie Carney, 45 (1) 1.43:32
5—Dana Snell, 17 (1) 1.43:56
6—Danielle Nestor, 31 (1) 1.45:22
7—Cortney Vandenburgh, 34 (2) 1.46:52
8—Jennifer Schwartz, 42 (1) 1.48:26
9—Abigail Piron, 34 (3) 1.52:17
10—Lindsay Parker, 26 (1) 1.54:50
11—Suzanne Miller, 40 (2) 1.56:22
12—Julie Siegel, 45 (2) 1.56:35
13—Angela Freeman, 42 (3) 1.56:34
14—Julianna Lamb, 18 (2) 1.58:44
15—Jodi Forde, 39 (1) 1.58:45
16—Debbie Jester, 44 (4) 1.59:16
17—Laura Johnson, 54 (1) 1.59:52
18—Jessica Gouley, 30 (4) 2.00:01
19—Emilie Wark, 26 (2) 2.00:36
20—Lisa Langbehn, 36 (2) 2.00:46
21—EJ Harpham, 55 (1) 2.00:51
22—Shanon Christensen, 40 (5) 2.01:38
23—Emily Williams, 19 (3) 2.01:54
24—Tricia Pascoe, 36 (3) 2.02:46
25—Kim Morgan, 47 (3) 2.02:53
26—Molly Meyers, 27 (3) 2.03:01
27—Susanna Woodruff, 38 (4) 2.03:51
28—Jaime Goffin, 35 (5) 2.04:01
29—Michelle Lauer, 31 (5) 2.04:02
30—Tricia George, 35 (6) 2.04:46
31—Karen Viskupic, 36 (7) 2.05:10
32—Alicia Daniel, 51 (2) 2.05:35
33—Kristen Monahan, 24 (1) 2.07:59
34—Kaylyn Petersen-Jones, 47 (4) 2.08:00
35—Peta Verhaeghe, 37 (8) 2.08:06
36—Stephanie Olson, 41 (6) 2.08:11
37—Linda Brittingham, 54 (3) 2.08:12
38—Jane Thomas, 22 (2) 2.08:33
38—Patricia Thomas, 50 (4) 2.08:33
40—Rachael Baker, 42 (7) 2.08:37
41—Nicole Kashino, 38 (9) 2.09:41
42—Kris Stoffer, 48 (5) 2.10:23
43—Tracy Hove, 33 (6) 2.10:40
44—Monica Hebert, 44 (8) 2.10:59
45—Julie Story, 48 (6) 2.11:22
46—Lisa Frost, 40 (9) 2.11:47
47—Lauren Hunter, 29 (4) 2.11:58
48—April Korell, 43 (10) 2.12:31
48—Christiana Harshbarger, 29 (5) 2.12:31
50—Nikole Beasley, 34 (7) 2.12:43
RELAY TEAMS
Female
1—Shero Quarters, Hailey 1.40:30
2—Better Half, Ketchum 1.50:20
3—The Wolves, Hailey 2.02:51
4—The Geezer, Bellevue (1) 2.07:33
5—O'Flynn-Elsire, Ket. (1) 2.08:31
6—Kelana Kelana, Hailey (1) 2.21:35
7—Kirstens Party, Minn. (1) 2.28:52
8—Robideaux Team, Hailey (1) 2.29:32
9—Running Beans, Hailey (2) 2.44:49
10—Dormeys, Caldwell (1) 2.56:21
Male
1—JTs JTs, N. SLC, Utah 1.57:32
2—Moore Moore, Boise 2.05:32
3—Wisdom Ranch, Arco 2.18:40
4—Filgates, Ketchum (1) 2.19:36
INDIVIDUAL TIME IMPROVEMENTS COMPARED TO 2011
Men: Timur Beriker 15:49, David Vanderpool 11:15, Thomas Cameron 5:33, Paul Kenny 2:55, Mike Kearney 2:08, Rick Stark 1:55 and Joseph Wojcik 1:37.
Women: Patricia Thomas 28:47, Jane Thomas 28:46, Michele Lauer 22:03, Tracy Hove 13:33, Shanon Christensen 10:36, Monica Hebert 3:57, Linda Brittingham 3:47, Nicole Kashino 1:49.
Ketchum’s Angenie McCleary, 35, was the third female overall Saturday in the Sun Valley Half Marathon with a finishing time of 1.41:04, good for 14th place overall out of 100. Photo by Willy Cook
