Tiny Brinson sets Nevada Day Classic record

Standing all of 4-foot-9 and at 13 years of age, Annie Brinson of Carson City may have been hard to find in the crowd starting the 12th annual Carson Nugget Nevada Day Classic 2-mile run on Saturday morning.

That was no problem at the finish, however, because Brinson wound up as the ninth overall finisher and with a new women's record for the 2-mile run through Carson City's historical district. Brinson, a 7th grade student at Bethlehem Lutheran School, cut through cold and blustery conditions to finish in a time of 12 minutes, 21 seconds, more than a minute-and-a-half faster than Julie Hinton's course record set in 1999.

Overall, 220 runners and walkers turned out for the 8-kilometer, 2-mile run and 2-mile walk at the Classic, an event that serves as a fund-raiser for Special Olympics.

"This is one of their better fund-raisers of the year, which is exciting to us because it's a great organization that helps out the Special Olympic kids here in the Carson region," race director Tim Tetz said.

"We had a little bit smaller turnout, I think the weather scared some people off, but it held off for us," he added, pointing out that forecasts called for rain and possibly even snow later in the day. "We're pleased and we'll be back again next year."

Another course record was set by two-time U.S. Olympic race walker Victoria Herazo in the 2-mile walk. Herazo, 41 and coming off victories earlier this month at the national 5-K and one-hour championships, cruised to first-place overall in a time of 15:21. Rhonda Ruiz, 44, of South Lake Tahoe was a close runner-up in 15:59.

Chris Badolato, who competes for Eclipse Running in Reno, was the first overall finisher in the 8-K (4.97 miles). Badolato, 23, who won the 5-K and 10-K races on back-to-back days at the Lake Tahoe Marathon on Oct. 7-8, ran 28:08, followed by Carson High School senior Daryl Nourse in 28:26. Nourse also finished second for Carson at the Northern 4A Cross Country Championships in Reno on Thursday.

Jamie Kaminski, 31, of Stateline, was the first woman and 19th overall finisher in the 8-K with a 32:48 clocking.

Andrew Pederson, a 15-year-old Carson High sophomore, emerged as the overall winner in the 2-mile run in 11:07. Pederson finished four seconds ahead of Scott Schellin, a Reno resident and former Carson High cross country standout.

And Brinson ran a personal record time for two miles to finish as the first woman. She won the Tah-Neva League 7th grade cross country championship for Bethlehem Lutheran just two weeks ago and will now turn her attention to upcoming Junior Olympic cross country meets, the first a national qualifier on Nov. 19 in Reno. Brinson, who celebrated her 13th birthday on Oct. 18, finished 25th in her 11-12 year old age group at last year's Junior Olympic nationals in South Carolina.

Notes ... Gary Ailes, 53, of Carson City came across the finish in 45:54 after setting out from the start with his cellular phone in hand. Perhaps he was calling ahead to confirm his arrangements for the New York Marathon, where he will run on Nov. 5 as part of his attempt to benefit organ and tissue awareness ... A moment of silence was observed during the awards presentation at the Carson Nugget for Brad Lauderbaugh, a long-time supporter of Special Olympics in Carson City who passed away earlier this year ... Ann Lynn received the Classic's Linda Ryan Award plaque from the Sagebrush Stompers running club, presented in memory of Ryan, a well-known member of the Carson City running community who passed away earlier this year. "It's something we've given at each of our races this year because Linda was one of our most loyal members," Tetz said. "It's something for the model racer; not necessarily the fastest person, but someone you remember and one you want to run next to." Each of the year's Linda Ryan Award recipients will be recognized at the Turkey Trot 2000 10-K run and 5-K run/walk, which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 18, at Straw Hat Pizza in south Carson City. The Turkey Trot is being presented by Sunset Rotary of Carson City. For more information, call Fleet Feet Sports at 883-3361.