It certainly wasn’t the fastest winning time for the overall winner of the annual Pueblo to Pueblo Run, but John Harris said he enjoyed it nonetheless.

"Most of the top Durango runners weren’t there to push me so it wasn’t very fast," Harris of Farmington, N.M., said immediately following his finish of the approximate 11-mile run on Saturday, May 6. "I ran in a 10K (kilometer) run in Farmington a few weeks ago, but other than that this was my first run of the season. I feel pretty good about it considering it is so early in the season."

Harris, 39, works at the San Juan Generating Station near Fruitland. He enjoys running distance races.

"I won the Shiprock Marathon a year ago, but it was canceled this year. This race is usually held in mid-April and I use it as a training for the marathon (26.2 miles). I wanted to run and I found out they had moved it this year to this date (normally the date for the marathon)," Harris remarked.

He was able to break away from the starting pack fairly easily.

"There was a couple of us for the first mile or so. I just kind of moved on down the hill and set a little faster pace. It was a little breezy at first but it was all right. The overcast conditions helped keep the temperature down a bit which was nice," he added.

Harris finished second in the race a couple years ago to Ken Flint of Durango. Flint, who had won the last four straight men’s division titles, was not at the event this year. He said that was his fastest time, about four minutes faster than this year, in which he clocked 1 hour, 5 minutes, 04 seconds.Brian Hutcheson came in second in 1:11:21. Dave Francisco followed right behind in 1:11:30, Tap Harris, John’s older brother, came in fourth in 1:11:55 and Eric Sakadinsky rounded out the top five in 1:12:43.

The 11-mile course started at the Anasazi Heritage Center. Runners headed east on Colorado Highway 189 to the junction with Colorado 145. They ran south for approximately 3 1/2 miles to County Road P. They headed west to Mildred Road and the south to Montezuma Avenue, then turned on Market Street finished at the Cortez Cultural Center.

"This is a good race. I enjoy running it. Cortez always puts on a great race. It has the best races around. I also run in the race in the fall (Mesa Verde-Cortez Indian Summer Run held in October)," he commented.

Mark Junkerman holds the record of 58:24. On the women’s side of the ledger, Ann Cornice of Los Alamosa, N.M., won in 1:18:03. Christine Junkerman broke all previous marks the year before in the female division with a time of 1:17:46.

journal/jim thomas JANET SNYDER OF LEWIS crosses under the finish line on Saturday during the annual Pueblo to Pueblo Run. She was the first female to finish the 11-mile race which started at the Anasazi Heritage Center and finished at the Cortez Cultural Center.

Janet Snyder of Lewis was the first female runner to cross the finish line. Snyder, also a Shiprock Marathon winner (1998), is coming off a knee injury. She did not compete very much last year and this was her first run of this year.

"It was a nice run," she said after the race. "I had good time. I want to give God glory for giving me the strength to run a strong race."

She was able to break out ahead of the large field of runners at the starting line.

"I got in front quickly. I started out running right in front right away. A few guys passed me and I was expecting that. But then I passed three of them right back. I couldn’t quite catch the fourth one who went by me. I stayed ahead of the rest of them (females) the whole time. I never saw anyone else," Snyder reported.

Cindy Putnam was the second female to cross under the finish pipe. She clocked 1:23:14. Leslie Stewart came in third in 1:24:45, Cindy Slim fourth 1:31:07, and Linda Paris fifth 1:35:00.

This was Snyder’s first run of the year. She ran the Indian Summer Run last fall but that was about it because of her injury.

"I did not do a lot of running last year. The half-marathon (Indian Summer) was my first big run since my injury. My knee is doing better. I might do the Pike’s Peak Marathon this summer and the Indian Summer in the fall," Snyder remarked.