4/12/2025
Kent Black Squirrel 5K
Kent, Ohio
Rachel Turner
Finish Time: 21:47
Overall Place: 27th Place / 354
Division Place: 1st Place / 18
Scott Orlando
Finish Time: 23:24
Overall Place: 41st Place / 354
Division Place: 2nd Place / 9
Christine Churpek
Finish Time: 23:38
Overall Place: 43rd Place / 354
Division Place: 1st Place / 22
Steve Zenar
Finish Time: 24:23
Overall Place: 50th Place / 354
Division Place: 4th Place / 19
Mike Williams
Finish Time: 25:43
Overall Place: 69th Place / 354
Division Place: 5th Place / 13
Asad Khan
Finish Time: 26:03
Overall Place: 74th Place / 354
Division Place: 6th Place / 13
Terri Bednar
Finish Time: 26:34
Overall Place: 81st Place / 354
Division Place: 1st Place / 14
Gretchen Snyder
Finish Time: 27:10
Overall Place: 91st Place / 354
Division Place: 1st Place / 8
Kevin Christensen
Finish Time: 27:56
Overall Place: 113th Place / 354
Division Place: 5th Place / 10
Race Recap By Scott Orlando:
I had a great time at the Kent State Black Squirrel 5K with Team-ER. I have competed in this race several times in the past. This course is a loop around the Kent State University campus that features a lot of rolling hills. The weather is usually unpredictable for this race. This year the weather was a little on the cool side with some mild to gusting winds. No rain so that was a bonus this year. The pre race check in is done inside the university wellness center which is nice. Being able to warm up on the indoor track is a huge benefit at this race.
Still dealing with a tight back I wasn’t sure how my run would go. I was about a minute off my normal pace for this race but I still managed to place 2nd in my division with a time of 23:34. My last mile was my fastest which is progress in getting my speed back. My goals for this race were to take home an age division medal and average around a 7:30 mile pace or better which I achieved both. I have a lot of work to do but I’m getting their one mile at a time.
Kent State University puts on a really awesome post race celebration complete with a buffet of bagels, fruit, granola bars Capri Suns, and chili. The gym is converted into a post race area with lots of tables complete with table clothes and center pieces. Race participants received a t-shirt and bib. I love the mini bibs they use for this race as they are very easy to wear. I would really like to see the t-shirts improve. The last three years the race event information promoted performance t-shirts. To runners this means tech shirts. Apparently to them that means a basic full cotton t-shirt. They used to offer really nice tech shirts with great designs at this race but the last three years the shirts have been disappointing. There were lots of age division categories. Only division and overall winners received medals. I would prefer that all finishers receive a medal. The race also promotes a team competition for male, female, and coed teams. For the third year in a row we were diligent to get all of our runners registered for a coed team only to find out that they once again cancelled the team competition with no explanation. There has never been a true understanding of how the team award winners were to be decided but I guess it doesn’t really matter when they never actually present them. It is a little frustrating when participants make the effort to recruit runners and register their teams and then the awards are not presented. This year we had 9 team members registered with all 4 females winning their divisions and 1 male placing 2nd in his division so I am pretty confident we would have had a pretty good chance to win the team coed division had it been awarded.
Congratulations to all of the Team ER runners especially the ladies of Team ER Rachel Turner, Christine Churpek, Gretchen Snyder, and Terri Bednar who had a clean sweep all winning their divisions! Team ER had a great time at the race and we got to debut one of our new team banners.
Race Recap By Steve Zenar:
I had a great time this morning at the Kent State Black Squirrel 5K with Team-ER. This race is one of my annual favorites as I love running through the KSU campus which always brings back many great memories.
Race Recap By Gretchen Snyder:
On Saturday morning, I ran the Black Squirrel 5k race through Kent State University, main campus. I have run this race several times in the past (maybe six?), and I believe the course route has been changed three times. This is by far the most ideal route (for me)- it seemed to be equal parts downhill and uphill. My Strava app showed about a 180’ incline, and by the end, my legs were burning! Now that I know the route, I can comfortably say that I would run it quicker next time.
Plenty of course markers and people lined the route, and I appreciated the water stop at 1.5 miles.
As always, the post-race refreshments were plentiful! Bagels, juice, chili and fruit lined the whole wall of the gym. The awards for top three in each age group was a nice heavy medal. I managed first in my age group!