Nearly 80 runners converged upon the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail (LOViT) for the 11th annual LOViT Marathon. Chad Payne of Hot Springs was the overall winner and Laura Kearns of Little Rock won the women’s division.
There were 77 runners total who participated in the days festivities. The event traverses a portion of the LOViT and includes a climb of Hickory Nut Mountain. Race Organizer Phil Carr stated that conditions were perfect Saturday.
Chad Payne, age 40 of Hot Springs, led a field of 53 in the 26.2 mile marathon on the LOViT Saturday, December 7. He won the event with a time of three hours 33 minutes 22 seconds. Christophe Block of Roland finished in a close second with a time of 3:39. Micah Woods of Little Rock finished third with a time of 3:43, Jedd Kirby of Poteau, Oklahoma finished fourth with a time of 3:50 and Chris Lyle of Highfill finished fifth with a time of 3:58.47.
Laura Kearns, age 36 of Little Rock, finished 12th overall and was the top female finisher with a time of 4:41:12. Lindsey Berg of Greenwood finished second among all female competitors with a time of 5:08.12, followed by Ashley O’Neill of Little Rock with a time of 5:47:36, Erika Sparkman of Conway with a time of 6:12.05, and MIssy Harken of Little Rock with a time of 6:22.
Kylynn Ledbetter of Oden and Melissa Carmack of Mount Ida each finished the course in 6:36:35.
Caddo Hills alum and current UA Rich Mountain Buck Jordan Foster won the Half Marathon with a time of one hour 42 minutes. The 19 year old finished 39 minutes ahead of second place Stevie Chitwood of Wister, Oklahoma who finished with time of 2:23. Whit Kirby of Poteau, Oklahoma finished third with a time of 2:27, Tony Melugin of Bismarck finished fourth with a time of 2:40 and Tammy Melugin finished fifth with a time of 2:45. She was also the fastest female in the event.
Other local competitors included Chris Ledbetter of Oden who finished 15th with a time of 3:39 and Julie Lane also of Oden who finished 16th with a time of 4:09
There were 21 runners who competed in the half marathon.
Marathon times:
Chad Payne (age 40 Hot Springs) 1st 3:33:22; Christophe Block (age 38, Roland) 2nd 3:39; Micah Woods (age 27 Little Rock) 3rd 3:43; Jedd Kirby (age 36 Poteau, Oklahoma) 4th 3:50; Chris Lyle (age 44 Highfill) 5th 3:58:47; Samuel Young (age 28 Poteau, Oklahoma) 6th 4:02:34; Joshua Snyder (age 37 Poteau, Oklahoma) 6th 4:02:34; Benjamin Grice (age 20 Zachary, Louisiana) 8th 4:17.48; Jesse Ring (age 35 Russellville) 9th 4:22; Stewart Gray (age 26 Little Rock) 10th 4:27:55; Travis McConnell (age 28 Poteau, Oklahoma)11th 4:32:46; Laura Kearns (age 36 Little Rock) 12th 4:41:12; Shawn Sellers (age 34 Hot Springs) 12th 4:41:12; Thomas Smith (age 51 Little Rock) 14th 4:42:49; Michael Fibich (age 20 Katy, Texas) 15th 4:57:56; Stephen Campbell (age 48 Royal) 16th 4:57:57; Blake Miley (age 31 McCrory) 17th 4:57:58; Brett Ngueyn (age 50 Fort Smith) 18th 4:49:20; John Haddock (age 53 Springdale) 19th 4:49:50; Linsdey Berg (age 35 Greenwood) 20th 5:08:12; Brian Kearns (age 44 Little Rock) 21st 5:11:15; Bill Milton (age 57 Searcy) 22nd 5:12:14; Joshua Scherrey (age 46 Fort Smith) 23rd 5:13:15; Josh Rowland (age 36 Little Rock) 24th 5:15:10; James Dow (age 43 Morrilton) 25th 5:25:08; Shawn Barlow (age 46 Benton) 5:26:08; Mike Brown (age 36 Little Rock) 27th 5:34:04; Joshua Schmidt (age 29 Little Rock) 28th 5:35:33; Nate Smith (age 55 Alexander) 29th 5:40:35; Cliff Ferren (age 64 North Little Rock) 30th 5:42:15; Josh Crow (age 43 Belleville) 31st 5:43:12; Lionel Burnett (age 59 Fort Smith) 32nd 5:43:26; Ashley O’Neill (age 47 Little Rock) 33rd 5:47:36; Dan Sobkoviak (age 57 Maumell) 33rd 5:47:36; Ryan CGeeney (age 45 Little Rock) 35th 6:05:24; Erika Sparkman (age 33 Conway) 36th 6:12:05; Missy Harken (age 46 Little Rock) 37th 6:22; Kimmy Riley (age 58 Mabelvale) 38th 6:30.57; Chris Davis (age 46 Hot Springs) 39th 6:31:27; Lesley Humble (age 48 Hot Springs) 40th 6:32:31; Kim McAllister (age 47 Hot Springs) 40th 6:32:31; Kylynn Ledbetter (age 31 Oden) 42nd 6:36:35; Melissa Carmack (age 40 Mount Ida) 42nd 6:36:35; Stephen Ragu 44th 6:42:29; Chris Chalfant (age 40 Hot Springs) 45th 6:56:25; Michael Hirons (age 45 Bartlett, Tennessee) 46th 6:59:41; Brad Bates (age 36 Jonesboror) 46th 6:59:41; Tim Dockins (age 50 Conway) 48th 6:59:48; David Taylor (age 37, Cordova, Tennessee) 49th 7:06:45; George Peterka (age 59 Hot Springs) 50th 7:13:10; Mary McDonald (age 66 Conway) 51st 7:40:04; Johnny Eagles (age 67 Little Rock) 52nd 8:05:40; Darin Sanders (age 68 Hot Springs) 53rd 8:13:10.
Half Marathon Times:
Jordan Foster (age 19 Mena) 1st 1:42; Stevie Chitwood (age 42 Wister, Oklahoma) 2nd 2:23; Whit Kirby (age 35 Poteau, Oklahoma) 3rd 2:27; Tony Melugin (age 45 Bismarck) 4th 2:40; Tammy Melugin (age 49 Mismarck) 5th 2:45; Steve George (age 49 Dardanelle) 6th 2:54; Jim Tadel (age 63 Monticello) 7th 3:04; Susan Garrett (age 57 Little Rock) 8th 3:05; David Hochstedler (age 63 Hot Springs) 9th 3:15; April Owen (age 52 Little Rock) 10th 3:18; Susan Burgess (age 42 Bartlett, Tennessee) 11th 3:28; Jasus Zavala (age 22 Springfield, Missouri) 11th 3:28; Summer Hinojosa (age 35 Rogers) 13th 3:36; Josh Hinojosa (age 37 Rogers) 13th 3:36; Chris Ledbetter (age 33 Oden) 15th 3:39; Julie Lane (age 53 Oden) 16th 4:09; Angela Stone (age 39 Magnolia) 17th 4:13; Chrissy Ferguson (age 58 Maumelle) 18th 4:15; Jim Moon (age 52 Memphis, Tennessee) 19th 4:42; Carol Graves (age 49 Hot Springs) 20th 5:00; Susan Beckwith (age 51 Hot Springs) 20th 5:00
Other Distances:
Charles Sellers (age 61 Malvern) 10 miles 2:28:11; David Caillouet (age 61 Little Rock) 10 miles 2:35; Holly 10 miles 2:43; Charity Shaw (age 41 Hot Springs) five miles 1:28.
Results can be found at www.runarkansas.com
