Thanksgiving usually marks the return of family members to their home towns, so it wasn’t too surprising last week when some familiar faces from showed up as winners in the Cardinal Track Club’s annual 8K road race in Carrboro.

Former East Chapel Hill High School runner Kaleb Keyserling won Thursday’s Gallop and Gorge with a time of 25:50.01, while former Olympian Joan Nesbit Mabe won the women’s division in 31:37.51.

Keyserling, who won the 20-29 men’s division in last month’s Pumpkin Run, made sure to watch his early pace.

“I felt really good,” he said, noting he had finished second more than once in the Thanksgiving run. “I didn’t go out too fast: around 5:20 (for the first mile). Then I just stayed with the lead pack. Then with about 800 meters to go I made a move."

Keyserling, 25, came in with a time not too far off his best in the 8K while running for Kenyon College. He clocked a 25:35.9 in the 2008 North Coast Athletic Conference Cross-country 8K championship at Oberlin.

Nesbit Mabe, 50, set a new mark for women 50-54 in the Gallop & Gorge, bettering the previous best of Katie Ludlow (34:50.9) in 2009. Nesbit Mabe, a repeat champion in several Cardinal Track Club events, still holds the G&G’s records for the masters females (28:54.8 in 2002), the women’s 40-49 division (also 2002) and the women’s 45-49 division (30:07.0 in 2007).

Former Chapel Hill High School teammates Ahna Weeks and Sarah Jane Kerwin (who’s also Nesbit Mabe’s oldest daughter) finished second and third respectively in the Gallop and Gorge, just weeks after seeing each other at the NCAA Div. III championships.

On the men’s side, Mitch VanBruggen of Durham took second in 26:01 and Matthew Waller of Apex was third in 26:12.

More than 1,400 runners signed up for the Gallop and Gorge, the third and final event in the Cardinal Track Club’s Le Tour de Carrboro.

Women’s age-group winners included: Alicia Parr, Masters Females (33:55.73); Nora Daley, 9 and under (44:00.47); Simone Seizer, 10-14 (35:19.49); Camilla Dolman, 15-19 (37:37.74); Lai Weiner, 20-24 (33:03.23); Whitney Heavener, 25-29 (32:58.48); Andrea Nelson, 30-34 (33:41.73); Natalie Bowman, 35-39 (33:37.47); Edie Oakley, 40-44 (36:20.73); Jamie Dilfer, 45-49 (36:36.23); Susan Chaser, 50-54 (39:42.76); Doris Alexander, 55-59 (36:11.50); Diana Kettle, 60-64 (47:16.51); Selah Anderson, 65-69 (48:31.76); Sharon Roggenbuck, 70 and up (55:53.57).

Men’s age-group winners included: Christopher Zieman (Masters male, 27:06.76); Lucas Daley, 9 and under (38:11.73); Klaas van Kempen, 10-14 (32:12.76); Ryan Brady, 15-19 (27:34.76); Daniel Lane, 20-24 (26:29.76); Creighton Irons, 25-29 (30:01.02); James Pearce, 30-34 (27:43.51); Harsha Thirumurthy, 35-39 (27:38.02); Crystian Kumnick, 40-44 (29:55.01); Bart Bechard, 45-49 (29:56.26); Charlie Schaefer, 50-54 (32:14.76); Kevin Nickodem, 55-59 (30:18.78); Gary Moss, 60-64 (32:10.53); Stefan Collini, 65-69 (36:27.23); Lawson Noyes, 70 and up (35:27.73).

CHN columnist Randy Young contributed to this report.