A little rain never stops the annual Julie Zajac 5K Memorial Run/Walk and Sunday, April 13, 2008, wasn't any different from any other year. The event started with a dedication ceremony to rename the John Carroll track in memory of Julie and then particpants headed to the starting line.
During the ceremony, Mr. Zajac, Julie's father, spoke to the crowd about his daughter and dedication of the Julie Zajac Track. Doreenn Riley, Tony DeCarlo and Kelly Lanese also shared a few words about Julie and the renaming of the track.
click here for a photo gallery of this event
Over 350 registered participants supported this year's event. The first place finisher on the men's side with a time of 16:43 was Mark Grogan and for the women's side, Ellie Hess (Fernandez) led the group with a time of 18:17.
In the 18-24 age group, Grogan finished with the top time, Dominic Smith (16:52) came in second followed by Brian Link (16:54).
Tim Beach finished first in the 25-34 age group with a 19:11 time and Cory Klein (19:14) and Rick Dennimen (20:03) followed with their respective times.
For the 35-44 age group, the top three times came from Curt Bachis (17:38), John King (19:14), and Matthew Yetter (19:55).
The 45-54 age group finished with the top three performances of John Lewandowski (18:52), Ed Rockwood (23:18), and Mike Diamond (23:26).
The final category, 55 and over finished with Jeff Tanchon (19:02), Dave Kukurza (27:17) and Dave Rainey (27:47).
For the women, Kasey Lanese finished first in her age group (17 & under) with a 38:56 time. In the 18-24 group, JCU cross-country and track graduate assistant Dara Ford finished first with a time of 19:50. Meggie Feran came in second (19:55) ahead of Tricia Doherty at 20:04.
Hess was the leader in the 25-34 age group followed by Shannon McConville (18:31) and Jenny Zirke (26:53).
For the 35-44 age group, Heather Kilbride (22:14) led the way with Linda Kuczynski (27:48) and Jane Evans (28:48).
Deb Bogden finished the race with a time of 31:32 for the 45-54 age group. Brenda Anderson followed with a time of 33:20.
In the 55 & over, Betsy Humphrey led the group with a final time of 34:25. Norm Adams came in second (38:12) and Sue Storm was third with a 47:03 time.
Julie Zajac was a former award winning student-athlete at John Carroll University. She was the winner of the 2000 Marcia French Award for outstanding female track athlete in the Ohio Athletic Conference.
However, in August 2001, nine months before graduation, Julie lost her battle to cancer. This year's Memorial 5K Run/Walk had the second highest amount of registered particpants, the highest was the first year of the race. Final donation calculations have not been reported.
Thank you to all those who participated, donated and volunteered to this year's event.