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Photograph by Chad Pilster
Socked Out: Gary Eldridge airs his socks and his feet as he rests after finishing the rugged 5-mile Dammit Run in Los Gatos.
Singleton runs to Dammit win
Finish line a busy spot in 28th minute
By Dick Sparrer
It was quiet moments after the starting gun blasted to send the runners on the way to Lexington Dam for the 26th running of the Los Gatos Dammit Run.
But that calm lasted less than half an hour.
Because just over 28 minutes after the blast sent runners plodding down the high school track to begin the rugged five-mile race, the pack of leaders came sprinting down the track to the finish line.
And that finish line a pretty busy place during that 28th minute of the Dammit. No fewer than nine runners finished within that first minute, and the top 17 runners all finished within two minutes of each other.
Brian Singleton was the overall winner of the 26th Dammit, covering the tough five miles in 28:05.11. Hot on his heels in second place was Juma Sultan (28:11.37), with David Beauley (28:16.20) close behind in third and Terence Boynton (28:20.49) just over four seconds back in fourth.
Rounding out the top 10 in the race was Neil Davis, fifth in 28:39.82; Michael Matthews, sixth in 28:56.90; Casey Reinking, seventh in 29:00.47; William Rice, eighth in 29:02.78; Brian Lavelle, ninth in 29:04.81; and Alex Daniels, 10th in 29:07.78.
Davis, 12th last year in 29:32.96, bettered his time by almost a minute and his placing by seven this year. He was one of five top-20 male finishers of a year ago to return to the top 20 this year. Others were Matthews, 10th last year and sixth this year; Jim Angelopoulos, ninth last year and 12th this year; William Rice, 16th last year and eighth this year; and Christian Wagner, 19th last year and 17th this year.
Rosemarie Lagunas finished 22nd overall in the Dammit field, but first in the women's division. Her 31:11.36 placed her well ahead of any other woman in the race.
Katie Martin was second in 31:40.63, with Anne Ricketts third in 34:11.54, Liz Nast fourth in 35:00.75, Mary Vidovich fifth in 35:19.43, Susan Brewer sixth in 35:57.00, Kim Hammett seventh in 36:26.55, Shannon Lieder eighth in 36:31.77, Sarah McAleer ninth in 36:44.95, and Aimee Wood 10th in 37:22.13.
Martin and Ricketts topped the list of women who made a return trip to the top 20 this year. Martin matched her second-place finish of a year ago, but with a time more than a minute faster, and Ricketts improved on a ninth-place finish last year with a third in '99.
Nast finished fourth and Vidovich fifth for a second straight year, and Sue Francis (eighth in '98, 15th in '99), Debbie Follmar (13th in '98, 17th in '99) and Judi Shade (14th in each of the past two years) were other top-20 returners.
Male winners
Singleton took the men's open division with Sultan second, and Beauley won the men's 30-34 title. Davis was the male high school champ.
Joe Hurtado (55-59) and Jerome Lewis (60-64) each defended titles they had won a year ago, and Steven Twesten took the 50-54 crown. Rick Hofstetter was the 45-49 champ, Boynton was the 40-44 winner and Jim Christensen was the 35-39 leader.
William Floodberg, second last year in the men's 60-64 division, won the 65-69 class, and Dick Yeager was first in the men's 70-and-over group after winning a 65-69 title in 1997.
Jonathan Goldstein was a winner in the men's heavyweight division.
Jimmy Elam raced to a first in the boys 13-and-under class to complete an impressive family showing. Jim Elam was 20th overall and fifth in the men's 35-39 class, and Ann Elam was 25th in the women's division and fifth in the 30-34 age group.
Female winners
Lagunas was an easy winner in the women's 35-39 age division, and Martin, the high school winner a year ago, was tops in the women's open class with Ricketts, the recently graduated Saratoga star, second.
Shade continues to dominate in the women's 50-54 class, defending her title in the division for a third straight year, and Francis won for the second straight year in the 45-49 group.
Saratoga's Follmar was second in the women's 45-49 division, and her daughter, Alicia Follmar, was a winner in the girls 13-and-under class.
Joy Johnson recovered the women's 70-and-over title she had won back in 1997, and Barbara Robben was a winner in the women's 65-69 age group.
Joan Masui, third last year at 60-64, won the division title, and Cheri Brandt took the 55-59 crown.
Lynn Sestak, third in the 35-39 class in '97, won the 40-44 title this year in her first try in the age group.
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Campbell, California
