38th Greater Goldsboro Road Run: Downs claims women's 10k crown

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on April 17, 2016 1:47 AM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

Nibbling on a snack and a light breeze causing a little shiver, Alyssa Downs seemed surprised at the final results.

The Goldsboro resident never imagined -- as a second-year runner -- of winning a race, much less the Greater Goldsboro Road Run.

Oh, but she did.

Downs emerged as the women's 10k winner, posting a time of 49 minutes and 51 seconds. It was the 15th-best time overall in the 38th installment in one of eastern North Carolina's longest-running events.

"Last year I did the 5k," Downs said. "I knew some other people who did it and so they kind of inspired me. My husband, Patrick, is a runner so he helped me out a lot. It was perfect (conditions).

"I feel good. It was fun ... a good group of people, so I was trying to keep up."

Seven other individuals -- male and female -- combined to claim top honors in four divisions on a sun-splashed, cool Saturday morning.

Joseph Mooneyham repeated as the men's 10k champion in almost personal-best fashion. Princeton High distance specialist Jose Aguilon and Susan Brognan of Raleigh won the men's and women's 5k run, respectively.

Kenneth Creech (men) and Andrea Edwards (women) won the 5k walk. The fiercest competition came in the shortest race of the day. One second separated winner Jeremiah Winders and runner-up Blake Womble in the boys' 1-mile fun run.

Roxie Wilding won the girls' 1-mile run.

A total of 228 runners competed on the USATF certified course that guided them through a revamped downtown area which showcased a recently-completed Street Scape project.

"Getting prepared ahead of time and returning to downtown was a big help," said Scott Edwards, director/committee chairman of the GGRR. "Getting out more on social media helped. We had more people sign up online than ever before than any event when we had more participants (in the past)."

Coming off two gold-medal performances in the annual Wayne County Track and Field Championships, and a personal-best time in a mid-week conference meet, Mooneyham entered the 10k with another lofty personal goal.

He wanted to break 35 minutes.

Mooneyham crossed the finish line in 35:35 -- nearly seven minutes better than his nearest competitor.

"I missed that, but to tell you the truth, it's still a PR (personal record) and it was pretty darn close, so I'm not complaining," said Mooneyham, who stretched during his normal post-race cool down.

"I loved it. This was perfect conditions for me -- nice and cool at the start. I like it being cool because it helps me from overheating and stuff like that when I'm running hard. No wind at all."

Aycock head coach Butch Bennett encouraged his runners to participate in the meet. Deshawn Owens thought about it and kind of hedged on running until he arrived downtown.

He hustled to grab his shirt and shorts, registered and stepped to the starting line for the 5k. Nearly 18 minutes later, Owens finished runner-up to Augilon with a time of 17:53. Southern Wayne's Patrick Womble captured third in 18:28.

"At first, we weren't going to do it because we two meets this week and bodies were really tired," Owens said. "It was cold and my ears hurt. Yes, I'm pretty happy. I was trying to get 17:45 because you can run faster on the road than like in the woods when I ran cross country.

"I think I did good."

Sponsored by the Sunrise Kiwanis, which received support from numerous businesses, the proceeds from the annual GGRR are distributed to organizations that benefit the local children and youth in need in the Wayne County area.