By Rick Platt
The Virginia Gazette
For track and field aficionados, one name stood out among the 250 pre-registered runners at the sixth annual Salute to the Military Red, White and Blue 5K, held last Saturday morning at Naval Weapons Station Saad El Moutawakel, serving with the U.S. Navy at Little Creek. Could there be a connection between him and Nawal El Moutawakel of Morocco, the first Muslim and African female Olympic champion and former Iowa State athlete?
The answer was yes. Saad is the younger brother of the legendary hurdler. But he is an accomplished athlete himself, having once broken the four-minute barrier in the mile, and later running a 1:10 for the half marathon. Now a U.S. citizen, and a Master at Arms, specializing in facility security at the Joint Expeditionary Base at Little Creek and Fort Story.
Before the race, El Moutawakel had high hopes. He wanted wanting to know the exact course and talked about running in the 16s for the 3.1-mile distance. But his pre-race preparation the day before left a bit to be desired. After running seven miles on Friday, he lifted weights then tilled his back yard. The last activity left his back sore, but he decided to race anyway.
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Early on there were four contenders, Steve Chantry and Greg Dawson, both of Williamsburg, along with Joshua Edens of the Army and El Moutawakel of the Navy. Before the one-mile mark, on a hairpin turn just before the only hill on the course, Chantry and Edens broke away, with Dawson and El Moutawakel forming the second group. Edens led for most of the race, but was caught by Chantry in the final half mile. Chantry won in 17:15, breaking his own record as the oldest runner ever to have won a CRR Grand Prix event, with Edens next in 17:26. Dawson pulled away from El Moutawakel halfway through, and took third easily, 17:45 to 18:24, with the CRR’s Daniel Shaye (18:25) and the women’s winner Karen Terry (18:25) both almost catching an exhausted El Moutawakel.
In the military competition, the top three were Edens (Army), Dawson (Navy) and El Moutawakel (Navy).
For the women, Terry ran her 18:25 to break the course record of 19:00 set by Lafayette alum Heidi Peterson, then 13, in 2007. Runner-up to Terry was six-time CRR champion Jennifer Quarles (19:09), with Marie Nimod third in 19:34.
Race age group records were broken by Edens (men 19-and-under, 17:26), Chantry (men 55-59, 17:15), John Essery (men 75-and-over, 28:55), Terry (women 20-24, 18:25), Nimod (women 30-34, 19:34), Quarles (women 40-44, 19:09), Mercedes Castillo-D’Amico (women 50-54, 20:03), Louise Sharer (women 60-64, 25:19), Joan Coven (women 70-74, 25:56), Ann Manciagli (women 75-79, 35:39) and Pat Eden (women 80-and-over, 45:55).
The Cheatham Annex course was used for the Salute to the Military 5K in 2007-09, and the race switched to the Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown for 2010-11, before returning to Cheatham Annex. The event is organized by the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance. There were 255 finishers this year in the 5K run/walk.
More – See Wednesday’s Gazette for full results from the Red, White and Blue 5K.
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