Briton speeds to a victory at Spring Runoff: With 661 runners and walkers, field is largest in 28-year history of the event.

The Pueblo Chieftain (Pueblo, Colorado) March 6, 2006 Byline: Mike Spence Mar. 6–Showing no signs of the back injury that had slowed him for the past three months, Mark Warmby raced to victory at 5 kilometers on Sunday during the 28th annual Spring Runoff at Dutch Clark Stadium.

Warmby was all alone when he entered Dutch Clark Stadium for the final 300 yards of the race. He clocked a time of 15 minutes, 31 seconds, well ahead of runner-up, Colorado State University-Pueblo women’s cross country coach Craig Binkley, who’s time was 18:02.

On a day when the Runoff, sponsored by The Pueblo Chieftain and organized by the Southern Colorado Runners, set a record for number of entrants at 661, Warmby added some international flavor.

The 27-year-old runner hails from Manchester, England. He’s spent the past six weeks living and training with his coach, Gary Stanies, in Colorado Springs, something he’s done for the past three years.

Warmby was part of a strong contingent of runners who came down from Colorado Springs. The group dominated the winner’s stand on Sunday. Five of the six race winners either live or train in Colorado Springs.

Other winners were:

Joanna McIntyre, 24, Colorado Springs, women’s 5K, in a time of 23:20.

Matt Mosman, 27, Colorado Springs, men’s 10K, 33:18.

Kathy Carpenter, 25, Colorado Springs, women’s 10K, 43:32.

Scott Lebo, 39, Colorado Springs, men’s 10-mile, 58:14.

Tanya Poel, 40, Boulder, women’s 10-mile, 65:32.

Warmby was the first to cross the finish line. He also was the class of the field at Sunday’s races.

“I’m here training for (Britain’s) world cross country trials,” Warmby said. “The trial is on Saturday. I’m flying back on Wednesday.” Warmby entered Sunday’s race not knowing what to expect from the competition but knowing exactly what he wanted from himself. website boulder running company

“This was a good race for me,” Warmby said. “I needed a blowout more than anything. I’ve been injured, so I just wanted to get fit for the trial.” Warmby took off from the gun and never looked back, running virtually the entire race from the lead.

“I was pretty much by myself the whole race,” Warmby said. “I just wanted to run as close to 15 (minutes) as I could.” In England, Warmby is the No. 6-ranked steeplechaser. In last year’s world cross country trials in England, he finished fourth.

Now that he’s proven to himself that he’s fit and ready to compete for a spot on Britain’s team for the World Cross Country Championships, does Warmby think he has a shot?

“You’ve pretty much have to make the top three,” Warmby said. “I’ve got as good a chance as I did last year when I finished fourth. It depends on the day, really.” McIntyre topped a more competitive field in the women’s 5K, finishing just ahead of Lindsey Herrera if Pueblo, who clocked a 23:37.

“I don’t think it was my fastest time,” said McIntyre, who works in the marketing department of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. “I took some time off over the winter because I had knee problems, and I’m just now working back into shape.” McIntyre said Sunday’s race was enjoyable from start to finish. site boulder running company

“It’s exciting,” McIntyre said. “I like how everybody starts together. It’s a lot of fun.” The Runoff marked the beginning of McIntyre’s preparations for the Pikes Peak Ascent, set for August.

“Right now, I’m running about 15 miles a week,” McIntyre said. “Later in the summer, I’ll be running a lot more.” In the men’s 10K race, Mosman, a former Creighton University cross country runner, sped away from the field.

“It was pretty easy,” said Mosman, who works at Boulder Running Company in Colorado Springs and runs for the Adidas Racing Team. “It was a good, nice day. The course was kind of flat. I used it as a workout.” Mosman said his strategy was to take it easy early in the race and push the final half.

“I kind of went the first two miles easy, then the next three miles hard, and then I pushed as hard as I could to the finish.” While his time was considerably slower than his personal best of 30:20, Mosman said he was happy with his effort.

“It’s too early in the season to run that fast,” Mosman said.

Carpenter, a teacher and track coach at Sierra High School in Colorado Springs, rarely runs 10K races. In fact, Sunday’s Runoff 10K was only the second she’s ever run.

That didn’t stop her from topping the field.

“I think I ran better last year,” said Carpenter, who runs about 25 miles a week. “I’ve been snowboarding all winter. I haven’t been doing much running.” Despite finishing about a minute slower than her personal best, Carpenter said she enjoyed the Runoff competition.

“It’s a fun race,” Carpenter said. “I didn’t expect to win. That’s pretty neat.” Men’s 10-mile winner Scott Lebo surprised himself with his finish.

“I was hoping to hit 60 minutes,” said Lebo, a teacher at Fountain Valley School. “I haven’t done a lot of fast training, so my time was a nice surprise.” The last time Lebo raced was at the Detroit Marathon in October. He’s been putting in 50 miles a week since then.

“For me, that isn’t a lot,” Lebo said.

He spent much of the last half of the race running by himself.

“Once we got to the 4-mile mark and the 10K people split off, I was all by myself,” Lebo said. “From miles four to six, it was pretty rough going. There was nobody around, but then you hit the turnaround and you see the people when you’re coming back and they were encouraging.” Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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