Gracie wins!

January 7, 2013

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Gracie_winner

LAVALE, Md., Jan. 1, 2013 — Tina Mowery figured her daughter, young Gracie, was due for a fast mile. Maybe around the 10-minute mark. But towards the end of Tuesday’s mid-morning Resolution Run, a 1-mile downhill jaunt along the Great Allegheny Passage in central Allegany County, the 9-year-old found a new level of energy and sprinted towards the finish line.

Gracie Mowery, of Ellerslie, earned the first-place finish in the low-key Resolution Run, staged by the Potomac Highlands Distance Club. Her time for the event, brought back after a one-year hiatus, was the fourth-fastest mile run recorded in the two-year history of the race. Gracie stopped the clock in 9 minutes and 3 seconds, not quite three seconds ahead of Camper, the Mowery family’s 15-week-old black lab.

Camper pulled mother Tina along, with Camper — complete with bib number — crossing the finish line in 9:05.5. Tina was a half-step behind in 9:06.

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There was no charge for the event, which PHDC folks figured drew such a small turnout due to a lack of time to promote it.

Gracie was ready for it from the beginning, though, despite the low turnout. She led the walk up the Great Allegheny Passage to the start line several meters on the east side of the Brush Tunnel. At the outset, she was on a pace much faster than a 10-minute mile. Gracie hit the 1/4-mile mark in 2:13 but slowed in the next quarter to 2:18 for a time of 4:31 at the half. She continued to slow, slightly, in the third leg of the run to a 2:21. Shortly before crossing the railroad tracks on the snow-covered trail, though, Gracie found something extra for a sprint to the finish line. She clocked a 2:11 for the final quarter-mile stretch on a course that boasts a net elevation loss of 83 feet over the full mile.

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