Teaming up for Rocky Point 5K

Posted 5/13/14

The second annual Rocky Point 5K Road Race will be remembered for many things, most notably, the year of the woman who set a course record.

Sometime around 10:30 Saturday morning, a slender woman …

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Teaming up for Rocky Point 5K

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The second annual Rocky Point 5K Road Race will be remembered for many things, most notably, the year of the woman who set a course record.

Sometime around 10:30 Saturday morning, a slender woman rounded the corner on Palmer Avenue and charged up Rocky Point Avenue toward the finish line and beat back a challenge from 2013 champion Norm Bouthillier to win the well-organized 3.1-mile run – or walk – throughout picturesque Warwick Neck.

Katie Moulton, 31, who has been running competitively for 20 years but made her first-ever appearance in the Rocky Point 5K Saturday, completed the challenging course in 17 minutes and 51.1 seconds.

Bouthillier, who had been running second for part of the course before putting on a last-ditch effort to overtake Moulton, finished second overall in 18:08.6.

But Saturday’s championship belonged exclusively to Moulton, a track and field coach at Chariho Regional High School who lives in Providence and said seconds after her victory, “This is definitely not an easy course.”

“It gets tougher as you go,” said Moulton, who won last year’s Cox Marathon. “The uphill runs are really challenging.”

After pausing and accepting well wishes from Bouthillier and other runners, Moulton said, “This is a pretty run along the water; it’s really beautiful.”

The 2014 Rocky Point 5K will also be known as the year of the teams.

A group of Warwick employees, as Mayor Scott Avedisian so proudly noted, “made up Team Warwick Public Library and walked their way around the 3.1-mile course.” Likewise, Team Warwick Beacon followed the same path, as did Team Super Heroes, who were decked in colorful costumes.

As one jubilant walker queried while enjoying a Gatorade, “Whoever heard of walking or running a road race and being handed a clam cake and doughboy almost as soon as you finish?”

Many participated in the multi-sponsor event.

“We were excited about the turnout,” said Lauren Slocum, president of the event-presenting Central RI Chamber of Commerce. “We’re thrilled with the results and that lots and lots of people came together to benefit the community.”

Although the final figures are still being tallied, proceeds from Saturday’s second annual Rocky Point 5K will go to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Warwick and Rhode Island Mentoring Partnership. Organizers will also make a donation to Warwick Neck Elementary School for a bench at its playground and the Rocky Point Foundation.

“I want to thank all the sponsors, volunteers, participants and even people who came to cheer on the runners and walkers,” Slocum said. “Without each and every one of them, we wouldn’t have a Rocky Point 5K.”

Taking part in this year’s Rocky Point 5K was a couple from Manassas, Va., Noah Nason and Sueanne Shocket, who ran the race and placed in their respective age groups.

Shocket, 60, took first in the category for female runners ages 60 to 69, and Nason, 65, placed third in the same category for men ages 60 to 69.

“They came for Mother’s Day and Sueanne’s mother,” Slocum said. “They were staying at the Marriott Residence Inn where there was a poster promoting this year’s Rocky Point 5K, courtesy of GM Robert Ayers, who also ran Saturday. So they decided to run. After all, they met at a road race some years ago.”

Warwick’s Robert Corsi, 36, was third overall in 18:33.8 while Will O’Connell, 14, of East Greenwich was fourth in 18:464.5. Warwick’s Brad Highcove, 36, completed the top five finishers in 18:57.3.

Kenny Bager, 44, another Warwick resident, was sixth overall in 20:27.2, while Jackie Jackman, also of Warwick, was seventh in 20:43.8. Andrew Goodale, 40, of Cranston was eighth overall in 20:46.9, while Dave Schaad, 52, of Warwick finished ninth overall in 20:5.5 and Cranston’s Stephen DeWitt completed the top 10 in 21:36.7.

FEARLESS FORCE: Even Team Super Heroes – Michael Imbruglia, Taylor Felipe, Sandra Cerrito and Paul Imbruglia – came clad in special costumes for Saturday’s Rocky Point 5K Road Race.

Because some runners didn’t pick up their packets, race officials estimated that more than 308 runners and/or walkers participated in Saturday’s second annual Rocky Point 5K; an event that everyone from Avedisian to runners from five different states, including California, enjoyed and helped the city of Warwick put its best foot forward for another sports success story.

The male and female winners in the respective age categories were: Ages 1-18: Jacob Thomas Pikul, 16, Warwick, 21:53; Hannah French, 11, Warwick, 38:25; Ages 19-24: John Nunes, 20, Warwick, 25:57; Samantha Ferreira, 23, Barrington, 26:34; Ages 25-34: Nicholas Corsetti, 27, 22:08; Rebecca Cotugno, 27, Providence, 22:54; Ages 35-39: Brad Highcove, 36, Warwick, 18:58; and Marcia Cunha, 38, Cranston, 26:40.

Also, Ages 40 to 49: Kenny Bager, 44, Warwick, 20:28; and Susan Simundson, 49, Warwick, 22:37; Ages 50 to 59: Dave Schaad, 42, Warwick, 20:56; and Karen Smith, 54, Cranston, 30:45; Ages 60 to 69: John DiTomasso, 60, Greenville, 22:41; and Suanne Schoket, 60, Manassas, Va., 28:58; Ages 70 to 99: Edward McDonough, 79, Warwick, 47:49.

Sue Howarth, classified advertising manager for Beacon Communications, had the distinction of being the last person to cross the finish line with a recorded time. The 65-year-old Warwick resident, who walked with fellow employees, finished the 3.1-mile walk in one hour, three minutes and 21.7 seconds.

“I’m a little sore today,” she said Monday morning from her desk, “but we all had lots of fun!”

Maddy Faucher, 7, of Gardner, Mass., who walked with Team Warwick Beacon, was the youngest person to finish the 3.1-mile walk. Her time was one hour, two minutes and 16 seconds – just a tad ahead of Howarth.

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