Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

Gary Blanco hits the finish line with a victory in the 27th running of the Los Gatos Dammit Run.

Rohloff, Blanco run to Dammit wins

Follmars are mother-daughter champions

By DICK SPARRER

Julie Rohloff is no stranger to the trails and rugged terrain that make up the course for the tough Los Gatos Dammit Run.

The runner has competed in the grueling 5-mile run off and on for the better part of the last 10 years.

But never was she better than she was last weekend. Rohloff finished nearly a minute and half ahead of her nearest rival on her way to a first-place finish in the women's division.

Gary Blanco of Chico and Rohloff were the two overall winners in the 27th running of the Dammit.

Blanco was the top finisher overall, stopping the watch at 27:50.21 to figure as the first finisher. He outsprinted Brian Harrington down the final stretch on the Los Gatos track to win the men's title.

Rohloff was less than six minutes behind Blanco. Her time of 33:50.02 was good enough for the women's title, as she finished well ahead of runner-up Laura Quirke (35:15.15).

Rohloff returned to the Dammit course where she finished second overall in 1995 and third in 1991. It was her first Dammit attempt since a sixth-place finish in 1997.

Rohloff was one of 12 female winners in the Dammit Run, a list that also included Dammit veterans Debbie Follmar and Judi Shade.

Follmar, from Saratoga, is a Dammit regular, and finished seventh overall in 37:09.12 to easily win the title in the women's 45-49 age division.

But Follmar, a consistent top 10 finisher throughout the 1990s with a finish as high as fifth in 1992, had to run a little faster this year--because her daughter Alicia was hot on her heels.

Alicia Follmar finished just under four minutes behind her mom to wind up 32nd overall in the field of 395 female finishers. The 13-year-old ran away from the field in the 13-and-under girls race, winning by more 11 minutes. It was her second straight win in the division. She had finished third in the age group in 1998.

Shade joined Rohloff and the Follmar mother-daughter team with an outstanding finish at the 27th Dammit.

Another Dammit veteran, Shade finished first by almost 11 minutes in the women's 55-59 age group. But even more impressive than that, the 55-year-old from San Jose was ninth overall in 37:53.89, figuring as the top 50-plus finisher in the top 50 in either men's or women's competition.

Other women's age group winners included Lisa Kelly, open division winner in 37:03.91; Rosalinda Castanedo, high school winner in 37:04.40; Kim Hammett, 30-34 age group winner in 36:02.83; Athena Philippides, 40-44 winner in 37:34.61; Sandy Sanchez, 50-54 winner in 40:10.16; Sandra Vaurs, 60-64 winner in 48:41.24; Barbara Robben, 65-69 winner in 56:28.44; and Joy Johnson, 70 and over winner in 57:42.92.

Blanco was the overall winner, outrunning Harrington and Tyson Sacco (28:07.12) to the finish line. Blanco, 32, was also the winner in the men's 30-34 age group and Harrington was tops in the men's open division.

Eddie Alaniz ran 28:28.49 to take the boys high school title and 12-year-old Kyle Cronin ran 41:45.62 to win the boys 13-and-under crown.

Other men's age group winners included Christian Wagner, 35-39 winner in 28:38.10; Jim Christensen, 40-44 winner in 31:32.49; Dan Anderson, 45-49 winner in 31:21.56; Greg Burke, 50-54 winner in 34:48.30; Steve Lorenz, 55-59 winner in 36:09.37; John Peterson, 60-64 winner in 41:22.28; Jerome Lewis, 65-69 winner in 41:14.59; Dennis Egley, 70-and-over winner in 58:48.12; and Sean Melchianda, heavyweight winner in 36:03.38.

The oldest finisher in the Dammit field was 84-year-old Tony Marshall, who ran 1:06.38.55, and the youngest finisher was 9-year-old Chris Bitter, who clocked in at 46:45.90.

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