The most talented of Firecracker Fast 5K runners rarely train specifically for the race. They run year-round and merely insert the Firecracker into their training program.
What's more, these people frequently win, and their sort finished first, second, and third overall in the 43rd running of the Firecracker in Little Rock on Thursday.
Bennett Pascoe, 20, of Conway won in 15:29.25. Carter Reynolds, 19, of Maumelle finished second in 15:45.69, and John Carder, 20, of Benton was third in 15:51.00.
Chelsea Weaver-Smith, 29, of Conway won the women's division in 17:24.30. Tia Stone, 40, of Searcy finished second in 17:46.65, and Elizabeth Gillette, 21, of Texarkana was third in 18:10.16.
"I felt good," Pascoe said. "I loved the downhills, and I didn't feel too bad on the uphills and then just tried to stride out."
"We came up to this race training, and we trained right through it," Carder said. "We're kind of hurting a little bit, so at this time of the summer, it's good to put in a race like this and just have fun with it."
The Firecracker -- first run in 1977 -- has started in Little Rock's Heights neighborhood with a finish near War Memorial Stadium since 1988. Pascoe and Carder, Arkansas State University teammates, passed early front-runner Naranzul Khureltogoo less than two minutes into the race as they ran abreast on the lead pack of three and headed east on Kavanaugh Boulevard on a relatively flat section of the course.
Khureltogoo, 15 of Little Rock, would finish 256th in a field of 1,431 finishers in 24:00.54.
"A lot of guys always go out too fast," Carder said. "The winner always comes from behind."
Pascoe and Carder remained in the lead group as they turned south on Kavanaugh and crossed Cantrell Road. They went through the first mile together in 5:01, seven seconds ahead of an eight-man pack that included Reynolds, a member of UALR's track and field and cross country teams.
Fifty seconds after they began the second, steeply downhill mile, Pascoe and Carder began to run away from the field, but Carder dropped off the lead as he and Pascoe passed Mount St. Mary High and turned onto Van Buren Street. With War Memorial Stadium in sight as he neared Cantrell, Pascoe went through two miles in 9:53, nearly 80 yards ahead of Carder, who passed the 2-mile marker in 10:04.
"I was just trying to stick with him as long as possible," Carder said. "He ended up feeling better, I could tell. He just had a better day. He kept pushing it and did really well, but this was a good training run for both of us."
Pascoe would increase his lead through the finish, but behind him, Reynolds targeted Carder in the race for second place. As they turned off Fair Park and past War Memorial Golf Course onto the steep, nearly quarter-mile incline of Zoo Drive, Reynolds caught Carder and ran past.
"Man, I was tired," Reynolds said. "I knew that uphill was coming. I had just bombed down that hill, so my legs were feeling it."
Weaver-Smith led the women's division from the start. She said she felt comfortable that victory was hers late in the race, but she still faced the challenge of the Zoo Drive hill.
"When you're tired from the downhill, you're like, 'How can I really handle this uphill. Is there any way for me to do that?' " Weaver-Smith said. "But you just have to trust your training and trust your body and just try to find a way to trust yourself and pull it out and fight for whatever goal you've set for yourself."
Pascoe's Firecracker victory came in his first attempt at the race.
"I loved this race," he said. "I wish I had done it more. The course is very forgiving. I like it, and I definitely will be coming back."
Sports on 07/05/2019