Runners from the Colonial Road Runners excelled in four races last weekend. Dana Hayden broke her second state women’s 45-49 record in two weeks at the 14th annual Crawlin’ Crab 5K on Oct. 4 in Hampton; Tricia Murphy and Karen Grabowski went 1-2 at the Run for the Hills 5K Saturday at Sullivan Square in New Town; Isabella Strumke and Remington Freeman also went 1-2 at the Arc 5K at Williamsburg Landing on Saturday and Emily Honeycutt easily won the Crawlin’ Crab Half Marathon on Oct. 5, breaking the 1:25 barrier and setting a two-minute PR.
It’s been a busy last few weeks for Hayden. On Sept. 21, she was a key factor in the CRR beating the Tidewater Striders at the Elizabeth River Run 10K in Norfolk, trailing only CRR vice president Adam Otstot on the CRR team in the age graded competition. The CRR won by a close 80.03% to 79.47% average for their top 10 age graded. At ERR, Hayden’s time of 39:00 was two seconds faster than the state record, but didn’t count because last-minute changes to the course meant it was not USATF certified. One week later, at the Democracy Dash 10K at Jamestown Island, she did get that record in 38:25 on a USATF certified course, bettering Leisa Ensle’s by 37 seconds.
A second state 45-49 record by Ensle went down at the Crawlin’ Crab 5K, part of the Crawlin’ Crab weekend. Virginia Beach’s Ensle had the 5K record of 18:41, set on July 4, 2003 at age 45, and Hayden, 48, of Powhatan, had come close the week before at ERR. Hayden ran an 18:33 at Hampton to break that record by eight seconds, and placed first female, and third overall, men and women combined. Honeycutt was close behind at 18:45, second female and fifth overall.
Dana Hayden broke her second state women’s 45-49 record in two weeks at the 14th annual Crawlin’ Crab 5K on Oct. 4 in Hampton. She finished in 18:33, breaking the previous mark by eight seconds. Courtesy of Dana Hayden
Hayden emailed, “The course and conditions were both ideal for fast times. The previous 5K I was close to getting the record in was the Go for Bo! Stafford Airport 5K on Sept. 13, where I was 2 seconds off at 18:43. I will put my best foot forward at Chickahominy [the CRR’s Grove Trotter 10K, another CRR Grand Prix race, this Saturday] of course, however, if I were a betting person, I’d lay my money on Jamestown being the better of the two time-wise. Given the forecasted conditions for Chickahominy race day and how ideal the Jamestown weather and course were (for me), it’s difficult to foresee going faster here (at Chickahominy).”
At the half marathon on Sunday, Honeycutt ran a 1:24:56 for first female and 10th overall, to win the women’s division by more than 2 ½ minutes. The top local male was Clark Pederson, 35, of Yorktown, third overall in 1:14:48. Honeycutt emailed, “While the half marathon has become my favorite distance, I think I’ve only done 12 half marathons. I have never done a full and don’t have any plans to. I have gone sub 1:30 in 5 half marathons (The Scream in Boone, N.C. 2013 (1:28:53), Crawlin’ Crab 2023 (1:26:58), One City 2024 (1:27:16), Crawlin’ Crab 2024 (1:27:05), and Crawlin’ Crab 2025 (1:24:56).”
Times were not that fast at the 16th annual Run for the Hills 5K, due to a very challenging course with many turns, hills, and at times loose gravel or trails. The race starts and finishes at Sullivan Square, with about two miles on the residential and commercial roads of New Town, and one mile on the nature trail surrounding New Town. While very scenic running through the shaded woods, the surface is variable and often slow.
The top three women were Tricia Murphy, 44, of Williamsburg (21:48), Karen Grabowski, 41, of Toano (22:44) and Joanna McCandlish, 43, of Williamsburg (25:13).
Murphy, who took over the CRR Grand Prix women’s lead, 78 to 76, over Honeycutt emailed, “I had only run this race once before and I remember it being a bit challenging. I’ve been running trails a lot more often than the last time I raced so I expected it to be a bit easier, I had forgotten about the loose gravel. The first mile I felt really strong and then my pace started dropping off like it has in my recent races. This week I blame the gravel as I couldn’t keep my pace running through it and it definitely slowed me more than my body slowing me. My splits were 6:29/7:15/7:30, but my final kick was 6:27 [pace] so I did get a bit of speed back after getting back on pavement. I was hoping for top three, and was excited for an overall win for women. Joe [Calkins] and Brian [Fries] passed me around two miles and Dave [Anderson] passed me on the final kick. I love racing with friends, supporting the local charities and seeing extra community members out being active.”
The race is directed by Here for the Girls, the Williamsburg organization supporting the fight against breast cancer. Most participants wore pink to join the cause. Third-place McCandlish (“Lady JoJo”) went one step further with a pink wig. She emailed, “You don’t realize how hilly New Town is when you are strolling around, but my goodness you figure it out quickly with this course! One of the toughest 5K courses in Williamsburg. It is challenging with the loose gravel on the trail, but if you focus on careful stepping, you’re fine. Huge thanks to all the volunteers and friends cheering us on! It’s just a wave of pink! So much support for breast cancer research. It doesn’t matter if you run or walk it, you have fun, and everyone at the finish line cheers you across the line. The sponsors, vendors and Zumbathon make it a very special event.”
The leading men were Trent Brown, 24, of Williamsburg in 20:39 (he was second overall last year in 20:17) along with Alexey Popov, 42, of Newport News (20:52), who dueled together the entire race, until the final half mile. Following were Joe Calkins, 54, of Lanexa (21:06), Brian Fries, 37, of Yorktown (21:37), Dave Anderson, 55, of Williamsburg (21:44), and Patrick Cox, 47, of Williamsburg (21:48). There were 257 finishers in the 5K, and an additional 41 finishers in the one mile fun run/walk.
On an age graded basis, as compiled by CRR statistician Jim Gullo, the slow course led to lower-than-usual age grades, with just three above the regional-class level of 70%, and three more close to that standard. Ken Alberg, 64, of Suffolk was first (22:35, 72.80%), followed by Calkins (71.50%), Anderson (70.00%), Murphy (69.52%), Dale Abrahamson, 76, of Yorktown (27:28, 69.36%) and Sean Killeen, 60, of Richmond (22:95, 69.06%).
The same morning, and about three miles away, was the 16th annual Williamsburg Landing 5K for the Arc, with many Walsingham Academy cross country runners, and exactly 200 finishers.
The top three women were Isabella Strumke, 12, of Toano (19:03), Walsingham Academy sophomore Remington Freeman of Williamsburg (19:21) and Helia Pei (22:24). The top three males were Walsingham’s Gene O’Hallarn (17:24), Jeremy Killoy of Toano (17:34), Morgan Dean of Williamsburg (18:36) and Jack Strumke of Toano (18:38).
The Strumke family at the Arc 5K at Williamsburg Landing. Isabella had the fastest women’s time in 19:03. Courtesy of Todd Strumke
The cause was very important for the Strumke family. Todd Strumke emailed, “The Arc’s mission of serving adults in our community who have intellectual and developmental disabilities is a cause that has become very special to our family. A Strumke has run the race (Luke by himself the first year and all four kids ever since) for four years now and we always come away from the experience with a sense of joy and pride in the folks we get to spend time with and in the amazing job that the staff at the Arc are doing on their behalf. There is a CRR race on the same day every year and while Jack and Isabella both could have earned some much-needed Grand Prix points if they had participated in the [Run for the Hills] race, there was zero chance we were going to miss participating in the Run For The Arc. As for the race itself, Isabella was given an early Christmas gift when she noticed that Remington Freeman and a bunch of other runners from Walsingham Academy would be running. You should have seen the look on her face as her competitive drive/nerves kicked in and she realized she was going to have to run much harder than usual if she was going to have a chance to win the woman’s division for the third year in a row.”
Rick Platt is president of Colonial Road Runners.
https://www.dailypress.com/2025/10/10/crr-runners-excel-during-busy-weekend/
