Chuck Wysong enters the chute at the Dixie Day 5K in North Webster Saturday. Wysong clocked 16:35 for first place in the men’s race. (Photos by James Costello)

NORTH WEBSTER — The overall winners at Saturday’s ninth annual Dixie Day 5K had very different reasons for running.

Men’s winner Chuck Wysong was looking to continue shaving time off before the race season ends. Women’s winner Brigit Nemitz wasn’t running competitively, but rather just participating in memory of her recently deceased grandfather.

“I just wanted to get out here and run fast. It was a beautiful morning, and I’ve never run this course before but it was a nice course to run on. It was a very good quality race,” said Wysong.

Wysong clocked mile splits of 5:21 on the way to a blistering 16:35.46 finish, more than three minutes ahead of second-place finisher Michael Drabenstott’s 19:48.86. When he had finished his run, Wysong doubled back to cool down and helped encourage another runner, 9-year-old Alexander Macdonald of Yorktown, over the final stretch of the course.

“I didn’t know him. I just was cooling down on the course and saw him and thought I’d just cheer him on to the finish,” explained Wysong. “He looked like he was hurting a little bit, and it was a long ways for just a little guy.”

Wysong, a Wanatah resident, said his reason for running in the Dixie Day race was “to get a workout in”. He said his goal is to record a good 5K time before the end of summer. So does Saturday’s 16:35 qualify?

“I’d like to run faster,” he laughed. “You always want to run faster.”

Brigit Nemitz finishes up her race Saturday. Nemitz turned in a time of 21:52 for top women’s honors.

Nemitz, a sophomore cross country runner at Grace College, clocked 21:52.52 for the top overall women’s time. Like Wysong, she was hoping for a faster time, too, but that was far from the Pierceton native’s real reason for running Saturday.

The Dixie Day 5K was a race that was near and dear to her grandfather Arturo Obregon’s heart. After Obregon passed in April, Nemitz, who said she runs the race every year, decided to run this year in his honor.

“I was hoping to be under 21 minutes, and I wasn’t. I’m not training really hard right now. I just came out to run because my grandpa just passed away, and I wanted to run it for him,” she said. “He loved this race so I kind of ran it in memoriam to him.”

While Nemitz and Wysong took overall top honors, winners in numerous age categories received medals for their winning efforts. All told, roughly 59 runners showed up to race, according to director Brenda Peterson.

“I just thank everybody for coming out and enjoying the day,” she said.

That 59-runner tally was about the same as last year’s turnout, and Peterson said she and other organizers may consider trying different promotions to advertise the event leading into next year’s race.

“I think it’s about the same as what we had last year. We were really close to what we had last year, so holding steady,” she said.

“We’re going to try to figure out a way to promote it better next year so that we do get more runners.”

Pictured are the winners of Saturday’s ninth annual Dixie Day 5K. From left they are, back: Tim Fiechter (male 55-59), Daniel Hankins (male 25-29), Jay Jessen (male 45-49), Marc Bontrager (male 40-44), Whitewolf Kelly (male 65-69), Ruth Buell (female 70 and over), Danielle Bar (female 20-24); front: Deb Asher (female 50-54), Jody Brown (female 40-44), Michele Carey (female 55-59), Chuck Wysong (male overall), Michael Drabenstott (male 13-19), Melinda Roesly (female 35-39), John Hampton (male 2-12), Christianne Hampton (female 45-49), Emily Bugg (female 2-12).