The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Ollila, Thomas in Great Race top 10

By Dick Sparrer

It was a great race for Bobbie Palmer...great in more ways than one.

The event was the annual Great Race from Saratoga to Los Gatos, and Palmer ran a great race, covering the 3.8-mile distance in 19:33 to edge rival Kendrick Sealy by just a second.

The 26-year-old Palmer outsprinted Sealy to the finish gate. Both runners averaged 4.53 a mile, and they were close together heading into the final stretch. But Palmer pulled out the win, with the 30-year-old Sealy finishing a close second at 19:34.

Ben Turman, last year's Great Race winner, ended up hot on the heels of the two leaders, finishing third in 19:49. He had run an impressive 18:25 to win the race a year ago.

Eric Ollila of Sunnyvale finished fourth overall in 19:52, with Jimmy Clarke of Santa Cruz fifth in 20:05.

Nearly 3,000 runners were entered in the popular local race, and more than 2,200 of the starters reached the finish line.

Barbara Acosta defended her title in the women's division, finishing well ahead of the field in 21:57.

The 40-year-old Acosta, who won the Great Race in 21:03 a year ago, finished almost a minute ahead of her nearest rival and ended up 35th overall in the race field.

Susan Dahm of Los Gatos ran a solid second in 22:49, with Kristin Jacobs of Los Gatos third in 23:01.

But Palmer and Acosta weren't the only winners in the annual Great Race. There were also a number of runners who romped to individual titles in age group competition.

Palmer was the men's 19-29 age group winner with Turman second and Ollila third. Sealy cruised to the title in the men's 30-39 class.

Saratoga's Bernie Lahde, Jim Reitz of Livermore, Karl Misner of San Jose and Ken Nash of San Jose were other individual men's champions in the race.

Lahde took the men's 40-49 title in 21:32. In the men's 50-59 division, Reitz was first in 22:58 with Fabio Hernandez of Sunnyvale second in 23:21 and Joe Hurtado of Sunnyvale sixth.

Misner was the winner in the men's 60-69 division. Nash rambled to a win in the men's 70-95 division in 32:49. Glenn Sievert of Cupertino was second with Glen Holtby of Cupertino seventh.

Jacobs romped to a win in the 30-39 class.

In youth divisions, Steven Garza of San Jose and Celeste Dunlap of Cupertino both ran to titles in the 14-18 age division.

Garza took the boys' race in 21:11.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, March 18, 1998.
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