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July 30, 2014 · 3:00 pm

Pat Fullerton wins again in Yankee Homecoming 5K

Tekeste Nurelign cruises to ten-mile win.

Katie Misuraca celebrates being top finisher among women in the ten mile

Pat Fullerton (2806) already in the lead at one mile ahead of Eric McDonald (1524), Lucas Parsons (3492), Stephen Robertson (1988) and obscured Brendan Sullivan

Beverly Antunes was the top woman 5K finisher

The races included young and old

(Newburyport MA) Pat Fullerton (15:04) successfully defended his 5K title on an overcast Tuesday night. The other three winners in the 55th Yankee Homecoming 5K and ten mile were new to the race.

Last year in the ten mile race, the top three finishers were all in view at the end of the race. Not this time. Tekeste Nurelign (49:54) of New York City won by over thirty seconds. Ruben Sanca (50:30), who took second, had nearly a two-minute lead over Kebede Abu (52:27) in third. Well spread out to say the least!

Beverly Antunes (18:29) from Somerville topped the female entrants in the 5K finishing 29th overall.

Katie Misuraca (59:54) from Gloucester led all women in the ten mile coming in 40th.

One certainty that I’ve figured out after watching a number of these Yankee Homecoming races is that leaders after a mile are usually the top finishers at the end. That’s why I like to see what both races look like at the one-mile mark, which is close to the Cushing Museum.

This is what the ten mile looked like at the same spot:

The top three finishers in the ten mile are already in place (Tekeste Nurelign, Ruben Sanca, and Kebede Abu) after one mile

The same formula is usually true for the women.

Second place finisher Aregash Abate (2976) and Katie Misuraca (1595) together after a mile

Another certainty is that there will be a significant turnover in the runners competing. In the 5K, Pat Fullerton (1st), Stephen Robertson (3rd), Lucas Parsons (4th), and Joe Santo (5th) ran it last year. In the ten mile, the returnees were former winner Justin Freeman (5th), Pat Rich (6th), and Jose Ortiz (7th).

ambulance crosses the finish line

One thing you hope not to see next year is for an ambulance to cross the finish line. That unsettling occurrence took place as the 5K was winding down and the lead 10-milers were heading to the finish at the high school. The logistics of getting an ambulance into the finish line area were almost as difficult as getting the ambulance back out. The ambulance headed back out just as 10-miler Ruben Sanca in second place was ending his race. Fortunately the gentleman needing the assistance appeared to have recovered from the effects of the 5K he had run before he left in the ambulance.

Weather? Looked as if it would rain before the race started but it didn’t. The cooler/cloudy conditions were surely enjoyed by the runners.

5K and 10 mile official results

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Teskeste Nurelign

Justin Freeman (3064) and Brandon Newbould (1696)

Carly Curcuru (519), Deidre Martyn (3740), and Julia Shorter (2144) battle for 2nd in the 5K

Nathaniel Webber (2446), Joe Santo (2936), and Stephen Leonard (1327) chase the leaders in the 5K

Michael Carlone 8th in 10 mile

Layce Alves of Rockport 3rd in 10 mile

Aregash Abate

battle for 9th in the 10 mile between Anthony Walsh (left) and Ian Nurse (right)

Aschalew Mekete and Meseret Kitata win 2013 Yankee Homecoming 10 mile race

Aschalew Mekete wins with fellow Ethiopians Mengistu Nebsi and Tariku Bokan close behind.

Meseret Kitata takes the female division with Aimaz Fekade in sight behind her.

(Newburyport) They represented the West Side Runners of New York City, as well as Ethiopia, extremely well.

The top three spots in the 54th Yankee Homecoming 10-mile race in both male and female divisions were captured by newcomers to this race from WSX/Ethiopia in terrific times.

With temperatures in the low 70s, the Tuesday evening event was pleasant for both runners and spectators.

Dan Hocking narrowly won last year’s race with a time of 51:49. Granted it was a hot evening. In this year’s event, that time would have earned him 10th. That’s how fast the male field was this time around.

As the photo above shows, the top three (Aschalew Mekete, Mengistu Nebsi, and Tariku Bokan) were all in view in the final stretch at Newburyport High School. They were five seconds apart with Aschalew winning at 49:07.

Tariku, in 3rd, completed the course over a minute ahead of fourth place finisher Amos Sang (Abilene Christian/Kenya). Amos was part of the lead pack in the early going.

Early leaders in 10 mile

Another person in the early-lead pack was Tadesse Biratu who ended up 7th.

The winners in the female side were: Meseret Kitata, Aimaz Fekade, and Hirut Beyene. These women finished 17th, 18th, and 19th overall. Meseret’s time was 56:22 and Aimaz was only seven seconds after her.

Pat Fullerton runs alone at one-mile mark

Pat Fullerton dominated the 5K part of the racing program and that’s putting it mildly. I try to position myself one mile into the race (Cushing Museum) to get a sense of the early going. As my picture shows, Pat was at the museum as his pursuers are at the State Street/High Street traffic light. (What those cars in the picture are doing I’ll never know!)

Pat won the race (15:21) by over thirty seconds over Lucas Parson of Umass Lowell.

Alanna Poretta #1702

Alanna Poretta paced the 5K women (18:25) finishing 23rd overall. I saw her win the Cape Ann League championship running for Pentucket at Bradley Palmer Park a few years ago.

Rebecca Morse, also a Pentucket grad, finished third just four seconds behind Jana Schulson of Newburyport.

The races attracted a total of more than 3,000 runners ranging from the serious to the casual. The course provides a nice look at two of Newburyport’s most scenic areas: High Street and the downtown area.

In researching the West Side Runners of New York City, I found Alene Reta mentioned as a member. Alene won the Yankee Homecoming 10-mile event several times. Maybe he had something to do with getting this year’s participating club members involved in the Newburyport race??

This is the link to the complete race results for 2013.

(All of the pictures above and below enlarge considerably if you click on them.)