For a race that has changed so much over the years, the Cardinal Track Club's Carrboro 10K has taken on a look that's quite familiar. The more this race is tweaked, altered and improved, the more it stays the same, greeting more and more participants each year with the friendly embrace of autumn road-racing.

Consider overall winner Jason Jabaut: gone from the racing scene for a year or two, but hardly forgotten. After a stint on the international running stage, Jabaut signaled his return to local competition with a comeback of his own, sprinting past several frontrunners over the final two miles of the 6.2-mile race to cross the finish line in his familiar winning style and a time of 34:16.99. Durham's James Pearce (34:31.39) finished second overall, with Hillsborough's Erik Johnson (35:03) in third.

Jabaut still isn't in top form he displayed a couple years ago when he blistered the Gallop and Gorge 5-mile course, said Carrboro 10K co-director and Cardinal Track Club co-founder Dick Forbis, "but he's probably in better shape than he thinks he is."

Jabaut ran the previous weekend in a relay race in Washington, D.C. Then he received an email from Brian White, owner of Fleet Feet Carrboro, asking if he were interested in the Carrboro road race. "I was like, 'I'm just going to go do it, '" Jabaut said.

Running about 6-minute miles at the start he knew he was well off the fast lead pace, early on, and sped up to caught the leaders about midway into Saturday's event. He passed them at about 3.5 miles into the race. With three others still within 60 meters of him, he picked his pace up to about 5:10-a-mile.

"I started hurting," Jabaut said. "But toward the finish with second place breathing down my back, I pretty much hammered it."

Jabaut said he enjoyed a bit of a home field advantage.

"The race ran right by my family's house, " he said. "They were out cheering, and that helped me keep my momentum going."

A recent transplant from the San Francisco region, newcomer Bridget Duffy, found the "perfect weather" quite to her liking as she posted an overall female division winning time of 38:27.63. Rounding out the top three places were Kim Donaldson (42:45.28) and Whitney Heavner (43:13.09).

"It was beautiful, " Duffy said. "There were a bunch of people out in on the streets cheering the racers. They were all outside of their houses yelling for us. ...

"I just moved from northern California, so this is like home. Plus, I just figured, you move to Carrboro, you'd better run the Carrboro 10K."

In the men's masters bracket, Hillsborough's Ulf Andre (35:05.04) took first place, with local perennial frontrunner John Hinton (35:23.57) just off the pace in second, and Thomas Newsome 37:55.54 in third. Among masters women, Kim Certain (40:34.01) crossed the line first, JoAnna Younts (43:55.54) second and Kathy Matera (45:16.45) earning the bronze.

Le Tour, El Tour

Saturday's race was the second of three races that comprise the Cardinal Track Club's Tour de Carrboro series. Based in Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Cardinal TC is dedicated to the enjoyment of running at all levels, and funds generated through Tour races benefit the Arc of Orange County, the Optimist Club of Chapel Hill, the Orange County Rape Crisis Center, and the El Centro Latino.

Ties between the old and new were strengthened by the presence of a new running group in the area, Los Coyotes, consisting of Latin American runners. It was perhaps a fitting homage to the race's origins, having descended from the Familias del Pueblo 10K after the Festival del Pueblo was moved from Chapel Hill to Raleigh a number of years ago.

"There was a story featured on CNN Heroes up in Philadelphia about a marathon runner who started working with homeless people in the city to start a running club, " UNC Medical School student and Los Coyotes founder Matthew Wetschler said. "I thought it would be great to work with a vulnerable community locally. ... The idea was to promote cross-cultural interaction and a healthy lifestyle."

Wetschler said the initiative was propelled by the Schweitzer Foundation, which helps medical students start programs that promote health.

"That provided some funding, " he said, "We worked with the Sustain Foundation locally, but most importantly, Fleet Feet Sports supports us."

Los Coyotes runner Alan Velazco said he heard about the club through his father Armando.

"I went to run with my dad with this group, and they invited me, " he said. "This is the second 10K that I've run. I felt great today."

Alongside Velazco, fellow Los Coyote Rene Villagran (38:21.74) showed that speed is a universal language, winning the men's 45-49-year old age group with a 10th-place overall finish.

Venimus, Vidimus, Vendor us

Another new feature at the Carrboro 10K was a finish line nearer to family activities, awards and vendor booths, as opposed to former finish lines located several parking lots away from the awards ceremony.

"We want it fun, where people stick around for the awards, " co-race director Eric Paul explained. "Having the finish up (a few hundred yards away) in a parking lot and telling them to come down here for medals just didn't work. ... We really like the idea of finishing here on the track. We've got the stands here, we've got tents for some of our vendors' tents here near the finish."

In addition to the event's series of children's races held after the 10K, an obstacle course hosted by Kidzu director Tina Clossick was staged this year with aspiration of becoming a part of the fabric of all Cardinal events.

"Tina Clossick from Kidzu-also a coach for the Chapel Hill /Carrboro Pacers youth running club-said she wanted to do kids' events, so not only is she coordinating the kids' runs later, she was also hosting an obstacle course during the race."

"Typically, the kids are just standing around and waiting for something to do and getting bored, " Clossick explained. "This gives them a chance to participate in their own kind of competition. ... If we're at the Fleet Feet for the Gallop and Gorge, I was thinking of having a scavenger hunt with a list of things to find."

Perhaps the biggest change in the race for 2009, however, was the addition of over 100 new -- but often familiar -- faces at the starting line.

Entrants were up to 473 runners, compared to 320 last year.

"The organization was great," Paul said. "All the course monitors were in place; the police also did a super job. It's a great race, and we just keep tweaking it. We're trying to make this more and more of an event where they whole family can come out."

"This is incredible to have this many people out for the 10K, " Forbis added. "I think more and more people are seeing the red jackets that are worn by runners who have completed the three races in Le Tour de Carrboro."

Medalists

Faster racers in each age-group received one of the new hand-crafted ceramic medallions, created this year by local potter Robin Moser, a friend of volunteer coordinator Martha Petty, said Paul.

Among the winners of the handsome medallions was Smith Middle School cross-country standout Jessica Nolting (52:34.70) who topped the girls' 10-14 group, while Mebane's Eliza Kohrman (55:36.62) won the girls' 15-19 division. Lara Brydon-Corton (44:56.86) was atop the women's 20-25 podium. Grace Wallenborn of Charleston, S.C., was first among women 25-29 with her 43:17.76; Lauren Kruse of Hillsborough (44:54.85) captured the women's 30-34 crown; and Edie Oakley's 44:01.65 was good enough to lead the women's 35-39 pack. Ilona Jaspers (46:17.16) took the blue ribbon in the women's 40-44 division, while Leslie Collins (48:13.44) was good as gold among 45-49-year-olds. Ann Brady (50:40.29) of Mebane took the women's 50-54 title, and Shelly Bloom (47:16.42) earned the top place among 55-59s. Judith Swasey's 53:12.60 finish took first place among 60-64-year-olds, and a winning time of 1:09:15.52 was posted by 70-and-over winner Sharon Roggenbuck.

Among the males, Drew Roeber (43:01.39) earned the 10-14 crown. Andrew May (37:52.91) crossed the line first among 15-19-year-old boys. Pierre Nyquist (37:55.60) struck gold among the 20-24 crowd, and Joshua Dixon's 39:09.94 was the best time among men 25-29. Soloman Kobes (35:51.25) was a winner in the men's 30-34 bracket, and Joseph Clancy (39:15.49) stood atop the 35-39 medal stand. Shahar Ayal (42:31.28) was the blue-ribbon winner in the men's 40-44 division, and Rene Villagran (38:21.74) took the 45-49 title.

Eric Paul (39:00.50) laid claim on the 50-54 title, and David Couper's 38:30.08 was good for 55-59-year-old gold. Michael Barlow (43:40.79) earned the men's 60-69 title, and Bill Powers (1:06:15.20) won among men 70-and-over.

The B2G2

Next up for the Cardinal Track Club will be the Double-B Gallop and Gorge 8K road race on Thanksgiving morning, the final stop in the Tour de Carrboro series. The race was re-named last year to honor Cardinal Track Club co-founder Bobby ("Double B") Biles, and traditionally the biggest race turnout of Cardinal's three races.

For info on registration, runners can visit the Cardinal Track Club website at www.cardinaltrack.com.

"We keep having 50-percent increases, so we're sort of wondering about the Gallop and Gorge" Paul noted. "If we went from the 900 runners we had last year up to around 1,700, that would be quite a turnout."

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