@lendlb - She didn't! Mo Trafeh finished the race 6:18 faster than Janet Cherobon but since she got

Georgia woman crosses finish line first in Gate River Run Mo Trafeh wins third men s title, but Janet Cherobon claims equalizer bonus Posted: March 10, 2012 - 10:00am | Updated: March 10, 2012 - 10:37pm
Photos Back   Photo: 1 of 4   Next The elite women runners led by the Gate River Run winner Janet Cherobon, 33, of Atlanta, at right, exit the Main Street Bridge and head on to the main part of the course during the 35th Gate River Run Saturday March 10, 2012 in Jacksonville, Florida Back   Photo: 2 of 4   Next Francine King Gate River Run winner Janet Cherobon after crossing the finish grand canyon village lodging line. Back   Photo: grand canyon village lodging 3 of 4   Next Francine King Andrei Mastrogiovanni crosses the 5K finish line. Back   Photo: 4 of 4   Next Francine King Men's winner, Mo Trafeh
Mo Trafeh won his third consecutive Gate River Run title in 43:23, but he was unable to erase the head start. Trafeh and Cherobon each won $12,000 as champions, but the women's champion also claimed the $5,000 equalizer bonus.
A record 18,432 people registered in the 9.3-mile race that started near Metropolitan Park, crosses the Main Street and Hart bridges, and finishes outside EverBank Field. See video of the start lines and the finish lines with our Youtube playlist .
@lend - It hasn't happened very often. They bumped the head start up to 7 minutes this year in order to make it more competitive. In the past it was 5 and then 6 minutes. If they would have made it 6:30 we could have had a nice sprint to the finish line.
@lendlb - She didn't! Mo Trafeh finished the race 6:18 faster than Janet Cherobon but since she got a 7 min head start she crossed the finish line first. She actually finished 40th in the race. The concept of the "head start" is to obfuscate the fact that the fastest men are faster than the fastest women, in this case 39 men were faster than the fastest woman. The TU plays along by publishing such a misleading headline. It worked on you.
@navigate02 - Why not start all of the women 3hrs before the men. Then almost all of the women will "cross the finish line" before almost all of the men. Not sure what that means but it seams important to the knuckle heads that organize this race?
The race organizers added the head start to create another race within the race. It's men vs. men, women vs. women and men vs. women. Everyone accepts that the elite men are faster than the elite women. On the other hand, most men aren't nearly as fast as Cherobon.
@SDinJax - Doug and Jane Alred would not be considered "knuckle heads" to anybody but you. After all, they have led River Run to the largest 15K race in the USA (over 18,000 registrants this year), as well as it being the USA national 15K championship. And, did you know, that under the Alred's leadership, River Run has donated over $1 million to charities. My guess is, you are not a runner. I encourage you to start training tomorrow and participate in the River Run next year. If you are not up to the challenge, may I suggest you sign up as a volunteer!
@David Johnson - It is not a race within the race. Race implies a competition which it is not since the result is totally dependent on an arbitrary number assigned before the competition begins. If what they actually want is a man vs woman competition pay the one who comes closest to their respective World or US record. Of course that would be an actual competitive endeavor but would not have the desired result of a woman crossing the finish line before a man.
@jax runner - Don't understand what it has to do with the topic under discussion but your guess is correct, I did not run in the race this year and I'm not up to the challenge to train to run in it next year. Stage 4 cancer does that to a person. I don't need your suggestion to volunteer, I did this year and probably will next year if able.
@SDinJax - just wouldn't think that any runner would consider the Alreds "knuckle grand canyon village lodging heads." grand canyon village lodging That's what it had to do with it. And thank for sharing your time as a volunteer! It takes thousands of people like you to make an event like River Run become one of the nation's elite.