Bruce Schmidt of North Ridgeville follows Avon Lake’s Phil Hock (pushing children Elizabeth and Philip) during the 5- mile North Coast Challenge race in Westlake Saturday morning. The men’s division of the race, which raises money for local nonprofit organizations, saw its closest finish in the event’s 18-year history. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

North Coast Challenge sees
closest finish in 18 years of racing
By Kevin Kelley
Westlake
Published Sept. 3, 2008

North Coast Challenge, the race formerly known as Celebrate Westlake, saw its closest finish yet in the men’s 5-mile race.

Stephen Koech, 31, edged out Nicholas Kurgot, 29, by just seven-tenths of a second at the finish line. The top five runners finished within six seconds of each other.

The race, run for the 18th time by the organization known as Celebrate Westlake, raised over $45,000 for local nonprofit organizations, race chairman William “Bud” Hagy said.

“All this is all about all the money we raise for charity,” Hagy said.

The name of the race was changed this year in an attempt to attract more elite athletes and make it more competitive. The event, which also included a Kids Fun Run, was centered on the campus of St. john West Shore Hospital.

Race director Dave Camerino said he believed the dramatic finish was indicative of the rise in the competitive level of the race brought on partly by the name change. But he said it would take a few more years to draw more interest in the race from outside the community.

“It’s a very competitive, quality event,” Camerino said. “That’s what we’re striving on every year — to reach perfection. And we think we’re getting close to that, because I’m a perfectionist like everyone here. And we want a competitive race.”

Unlike last year, no new course records were set in the 5-mile run. Camerino attributes that to the mugginess that lingered from the previous day.

Koech finished with a time of 23:39.01. The course record, set last year, is 22:53.

The top Westlake finisher in the men’s 5-mile race was Kevin Michalske, 34, who finished 12th overall with a time of 27:14.42.

In the women’s race, 21-year-old Jane Mwikali Muia came in first with a time of 27:09, 33 seconds ahead of Bouchro Sahli of Indianapolis.

Muia, running in her first Celebrate Westlake/North Coast Challenge race, said she liked the course because it was flat.

“The weather was good,” she told West Life. “From the start, the pace was good,” said Muia, who generally runs races up to 10 K in length. But as the race went on, she said there was no one to push her.

Muia, who is from Kenya but trains in Philadelphia, said she’d like to come back to run another North Coast Challenge.

“I like the race,” she said.

The top Westlake finisher among the women was Tricia Brookover-Braun with a time of 30:40.

Brookover-Braun, 40, also won the master’s division for women 40 to 49.

Although she didn’t set a personal record for five miles, Brookover-Braun said she beat her time of last year.

“It might have been a little bit warmer, as I remember, from last year,” she said. “But it was a perfect day to run. It was a fast field. I think it was a lot more competitive than it was last year in the female division.”

In the 3.4-mile walk, Joyce Prohaska of Lakewood finished first with a time of 33:23. Eddie Matetic of North Ridgeville came in second with a time of 34:07.

Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough finished 11th overall with a time of 38:54.

On the Net:

• North Coast Challenge official Web site
• 2008 North Coast Challenge results