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DANBURY, Conn. — Norwalk’s Elizabeth Campbell made one of her initial races in Connecticut count. Even with a bum foot she won the King of the Hill 5-kilometer road race Thursday at the Matrix Corporate Center in Danbury.
King of the Hill 5k Scenes
Campbell, 22, won the women’s division in 20:32. Kevin Boughan of Gaylordsville won the men’s race in 17:42.
Campbell, who graduated in May from the University of New Hampshire, won despite a stress fracture that has been bothering her since running a 10K race in her native New Jersey a few weeks ago. Campbell nursed the injury to prepare for Thursday’s race and felt fine running downhill early on. “For the first 2 miles, I felt good. Then on that hill on the last half-mile, it was brutal.”
Campbell ran cross country and track at New Hampshire. She moved to Norwalk in May and ran with a team from her employer, UTC Aerospace of Danbury. “I didn’t think I was going to win,’’ she said. “I really had no I idea how I was going to do because of the injury. I’m glad I was able to run well.”
Odeta Braga of Danbury finished second in 21:38, while Sawson Fayad was third in 22:48. Boughan won in 17:42, followed by Tom Cronin of Danbury in 19:38 and Dave Oelberg of Newtown in 19:39.
The race moved to the Matrix for the first time. The event was previously held at the Berkshire Corporate Center. The race, hosted by the United Way of Western Connecticut, moved to better service runners. The registration, awards ceremony and post-race food were held indoors. “We can have everything under here,’’ race director Denise Musser said. “Before we had to rent everything.”
The other big change for runners was the course. While the Berkshire race included a steep incline at the beginning, the course at the Matrix included a long hill in the final mile. There were 357 finishers, an increase of 51 from last year.
An impressive age group winner was 12-year-old Dan Nichols of Danbury, who ran 21:44 and finished 18th overall. Complete results are available online.
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