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Kaminski and Roman-Duval are Victors in the 2019 Celtic Solstice 5-Miler

By mitchpa on December 21, 2019 • ( 0 )

by Karen Mitchell

Baltimore, MD, December 14, 2019—-We’ve been covering this race for many years, likely as long as the event has been around. In the early years we ran it. It’s always well-organized by Karen Menge and Jim Adams and the premium – always a winner!

The weather is often a subject of much talk. It’s beautiful, or rainy, or icy, or a combination. A couple years ago the weather was icy and cold. It seemed there might be a cancellation, but happily, the race directors “turned on a dime” and quickly found a short version of the course on roads that were not icy. The finish line was moved into the huge tent and runners could choose between an out and back and a double out and back. 2019 was predicted to be quite rainy, although warm, but the rain held off until the race was over, making this photographer a happy girl.

And there’s the pre-race festivity. Race director Karen Menge said it well: “My favorite moment – the parting of the crowd accompanied by bagpipes, Irish wolfhounds, the four runners who have run every year, and Jim Adams [Karen’s husband and the other race director] in a kilt. Goosebumps every time.”

The runners range from very fast, to not. This year there was a great field up front, plus many costumed, happy people after the fast people. Some of the people were both fast and costumed, such as Teresa Wojtasiewicz, who was wearing a gorgeous evening gown with her running shoes, and finished in 32:59. A friend asked me how I managed to get so many people to smile for my camera – answer, they were happy.

27-year old Zach Kaminski, who represented the US at the 2019 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final in Lausanne (SUI) and performed well at the Baltimore Half Marathon in October, took 1st place at Celtic in 25:49. Second place was Tristram Thomas in 26:05 and 3rd was Eric Schuler in 26:23. Jeremy Ardanuy, who won this year’s Baltimore Marathon in 2:27:17, was 4th in 26:33. (He ran five marathons in 2019.) Arthur Leathers was 5th in 26:40.

Julia Roman-Duval, a French-born 37-year old astrophysicist and a world class runner, was 8th overall and 1st among women in 27:27. Hannah Cocchiaro, who finished in an OQ of 2:40:08 at this year’s Richmond Marathon, was 2nd at Celtic in 28:07. 3rd place was Caroline Bauer in 28:49. Caroline ran an OQ (2:44:03) in Chicago. Rounding out the top five women were Selvi Rajagopal in 29:02 and Natalie Atabek, who won this year’s Baltimore Marathon in 2:59:13, was 5th at Celtic in 29:09.

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