The good news for Bridgeport’s David McCollam is that when he realized the 17^th Annual Challenger 5K was coming up, he figured the cause of running for participants of the Challenger Little League was more important than a minor injury that has kept the long-time 
runner from running as much as usual. Of course, the good news for McCollam proved to be bad news for the rest of the field.

 

On what turned out to be a relatively cool July morning, McCollam rolled to the overall title. He finished with a time of 16 minutes,29.2 seconds. His time was almost 37 seconds faster than runner-up Matt Dearth, a member of the Bridgeport High School track and cross country team who posted a time of 17 minutes, 6.1 seconds. Keefe Kiser of Weston rounded out the top three with a time of 17 minutes, 47.9 seconds.

 

For the 34-year-old McCollam, the race was personal on more than one front. Along with wanting to participate in the race raising funds for the Challenger League, which provided the Little League experience for physically and mentally challenged youth, he also is professionally involved with those who participate in the league.

 

“I’m a special education teacher at Lincoln High School so I thought I should run. Those kids are such a blessing,” he said. “The joy that they live with, well, we can learn a lot from them.”

 

Those in the race could certainly have learned plenty from watching the dominant display put on by McCollam. Unlike past races where a pack of several racers separate themselves from the crowd and usually stay together until late, McCollam took this race and made it his own.

 

McCollam stayed near the front as the race progressed from the BHS track to Johnson Avenue. By the time the group turned onto Philadelphia Avenue, he was already making separation. In fact, as he turned onto Worthington, his lead over Dearth was roughly 30 yards. The advantage only grew as the runners cut over Pearcy and down Stout Street back onto Philadelphia and eventually back to Johnson Avenue. By the time McCollam was in full stride passing Bridgeport Middle School, Dearth – who also had a strong race – was just coming into view on Johnson Avenue.

 

“The course is pretty challenging, which I guess since it’s the Challenger 5K it’s appropriate,” said McCollam. “It’s a little hilly and it was a little humid, but temperature wise for July it was nice. Overall, it’s a good race that is also a pretty course that goes through Bridgeport neighborhoods.”

 

Today’s race was only the second Benedum Festival 5K McCollam has competed in. However, he’s a long time runner. He ran at the prep level for Capital High School through 1997 and then ran collegiately at Alderson-Broaddus. And McCollam is far from a novice.

 

In fact, McCollam’s last major race was the 2013 Boston Marathon. And he didn’t do too shabby. Incredibly, McCollam finished 80^th out of more than 17,500 runners with an impressive time of 2 hours, 29 minutes and 49 seconds.

 

Today’s race was among the first competitive racing since the April event that had the unfortunate terrorist attack that killed several individuals at the Boston Marathon. However, that’s not what kept him off the running and training circuit as he’s done in the past. It was a foot injury that is healing up from the Boston Marathon – not the event itself – that has kept him a little less busy than usual.

 

“It was a tragedy, but I finished (the Marathon) quite a bit before that happened and didn’t find out about it until after I was in the car on my way back,” McCollam said. “It was hard to process thinking how jubilant the finish line was and then thinking about all of those things that ended up happening just a short time later.

 

“The jubilation you get from running is great, but my goal in running is that I run for Jesus. The ultimate goal is to spread the message, the freedom that is found in a relationship with Christ,” McCollam continued after being asked if he was hesitant to run again after the Boston events. “With Him, there is nothing to fear. My life is in his hands. Living in fear is not in my life. With God all things are possible and with Him I don’t have to live in fear.”

 

Fairmont’s Erica Rucker was the top female finisher. She came in 16^th overall and posted a time of 20 minutes, 36.8 seconds. Rounding out the top 10 finishers, overall, were – in order starting with 4^th place – Jeremy Pevahouse, Jesse Canaday, Arryn Tennant, Jacob Funk, Timmy Kinney, Michael Duez and Zach Canaday.

 

Organizer Jack Spatafore said the field was among the biggest ever for the event.

 

“We had about 190 register and we were pushing to get 200,” said Spatafore. “The weather was great for us and that was good news for us and it’s good news for the festival.”

 

Spatafore also thanked those who assisted in making the event a success.

 

“I get so much support from my wife, my family, and the volunteers and from the (Bridgeport Physical Therapy) work place,” he said. “It’s nice to have that and see those efforts rewarded with so many individuals out racing. It’s great to see people trying to stay healthy and take care of their body. To tie this in with the Benedum Festival is wonderful.”

 

Complete results this evening or tomorrow will be posted on Connect-Bridgeport.com.  Individuals can check the Web site www.smileymiles.com to see if they have been posted. An official with that outfit, which served as the official race timers, expected them to be posted later this afternoon or early this evening.

 

Click HERE for a pre-race photo gallery.

 

Click HERE for complete race results.

 

Editor's Note: Bottom three photos by Ben Queen of www.benqueenphotography.com. Visit his site to purchase the very best in Bridgeport photography.