Tradition still going strong

VIEW a slideshow from the race.

The chilly autumn weather couldn’t keep 339 shorts-clad runners from participating in the 8th Annual Bowman Cup 5K race Saturday morning.

With the sun just rising and temperatures in the upper 40s, runners ranging in age from 10 to 70 crowded the Student Recreation and Wellness Center to stretch and keep warm.

Sophomore accounting major Brad Neumann was the overall race winner with a time of 16:47, followed by Curt Bachus (17:03) and senior business management major Ryan Montgomery (17:08).

Montgomery ran the Bowman Cup to help train for the Columbus half marathon in a couple of months.

“There’s no point in running if you don’t race,” he said.

The overall female winner was Kelly Green with a time of 18:53, followed by Jennifer Brothers (19:01) and Tracy Meer (19:09).

Brothers, a 2006 alumna, was on the cross country team. She came back to run with some of her old teammates.

Many participants of this year’s race were on a cross country or track team during their college career and decided to run the Bowman to see if they were still just as fast.

Ryan Rohrer, senior recreation park and tourism management major, ran cross country for Bowling Green State University and Kent State, but suffered two stress fractures that have kept him from participating. He hasn’t run in a race since December 2006.

“I’m ready for a beer,” Rohrer said after finishing his first race in two years at 18:59.

Kent State alumnus Jeff Erickson came back to run since he ran in the Bowman Cup the previous two years. He was striving to get a better time than he had in the past.

“I like the satisfaction of knowing that I’m not out of shape,” Erickson said.

Senior sports administration major Bobby Heller ran the Bowman Cup as a bet with his dad, who is also the senior associate athletic director at Kent State. His father bet that Heller couldn’t finish the race in under 20 minutes.

Heller finished the race in 19:32, winning the bet. Bobby is excited to now be $20 richer.

“It feels great to win,” he said.

Contact student recreation and wellness reporter Melissa Sidebotham at [email protected].