BENTONVILLE — Andrew Evans of Rogers had only returned to training for a few weeks, but it was hard to tell Saturday morning.
The 21-year-old, who will be a senior at Harding University in the fall, cruised to his fourth consecutive Cancer Challenge 10K title in 33 minutes, 9.8 seconds at Orchard Park, besting the second-place finisher by more than a minute.
Evans had only returned to training for about four weeks after taking a break following his junior track season in the spring. He came away pleased with his time in the 6.2-mile race.
“I ran almost two minutes faster than last year, and I was only about 30 seconds off my personal best,” said Evans, who just missed qualifying for NCAA Division II national championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in the spring.
The event is a good barometer for Evans, who is preparing for cross country in the fall. The purpose of raising money to try and combat cancer isn’t lost either.
“This race lets me see where I am and what I need to work for,” Evans said. “But it’s also a great event they put on. The volunteers are just spectacular. I played in the tennis tournament when I was a kid, and they talked me into running in it a few years ago.”
The reasons for participating in the 10K and 5K Cancer Challenge races vary.
For the Finchers of Springdale, the Cancer Challenge 5K is all about family.
All five members of the Fincher family competed in the 5K. That included Carolyn and Mike along with their three children, Austen, 10, Emelie, 13, and Zach, 15.
The family has now run 11 5K races dating back to August.
Carolyn Fincher set a goal for the family to run in at least one 5K race a month in 2013, and it’s worked out well, Fincher said.
“That’s a goal I set last Thanksgiving,” Fincher said. “It’s something the family can do together. It doesn’t require a lot of ball skill or anything like that either.”
Technically, the Cancer Challenge 5K will count for July since they couldn’t find another 5K in the area except on the Fourth of July and the family didn’t want to run on that day, Fincher said. The family’s first race dates back to August 2012 at Gravette Days. They also ran two in May.
Running comes more natural to Mike, Fincher said. The kids don’t really do much training, except for Emelie, who will run cross country in the fall as an eighth-grader.
“She’s been training with them, running two or three times a week,” Fincher said. “I try to run on the treadmill two or three times a week, but that doesn’t always work out. I work and have three kids. I started running three years ago to control my weight.”
The kids don’t complain about the running, but they aren’t without complaint totally, Fincher said.
“They don’t like to get up early,” Fincher said. “We told them they could either run or volunteer. They’d rather run than watch. Their favorite was the Glow Run in Rogers, which was at night. My favorite was the one in Joplin (Mo.) in May. It was huge. Oh my goodness.”
There have been a few changes though since last August.
“They’ve done steadily better,” Fincher said. “I’m not keeping up with them anymore. Austen started doing it in 46 or 48 minutes, and now he can do it about 30. Our only goal is don’t be last.”
The women’s 10K champion Anne Herbert doesn’t even live in Northwest Arkansas. She’s from Naperville, Ill., near Chicago and runs track and cross country at Northwest Missouri State University.
Herbert, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association champion in the women’s steeplechase, was visiting a friend in the area, and both decided to participate in the race. She was the top female finisher in 40:47.5, winning by more than
30 seconds.
“My friend ran the 5K, and I ran the 10K; it was fun,” Herbert said. “I might come back next year and run it again.”
Bret O’Meara, 30, of Fayetteville won the 5K race in 16:59.6. He works for Arvest Bank and runs for fun and fitness. Jessi Barnes of Bentonville was the women’s 5K champion in 19:17.5. The 27-year-old competed collegiately in track and cross country at Baylor but took a break from running after graduating in 2008.
This race was a step in the process of getting back to running competitively, Barnes said.