Thurlow, Plissey win County Open half-marathon last Saturday in Island Falls

WINNER — Susan Plissey of Stockholm reaches for a water cup at the first water station of the County Open half-marathon. She was the overall female winner with a time of 1:34:16.
    Ty Thurlow of Millinocket and Susan Plissey of Stockholm were the winners of the County Open Half-Marathon held last Saturday in Island Falls. Under sunny skies, they crossed the finish line in 1:17:56 and 1:34:16, respectively, on the scenic, rolling course.  
    Finishing next for the men were Joe Capehart (1:18:17) from Bangor and Thomas Beckum (1:19:40) from Caribou. The next women coming across the finish line were Marie Strouse (1:37:31) from Caribou and Samatha Matoush (1:38:35) from Orrington. The Masters winners were Phillip Caporizzo (1:28:08) from Orono and Linda Mountain (1:46:33) from Mapleton.
    The four-person relay winning team, in a time of 1:22:21, was Marco Gudino, Thomas Beckum, Erik Sjoberg and Dana Morrison. The winning two-person team was Leo and Kelly Kashian in a time of 1:30:28. 
PARTICIPANTS — Participating in The County Open half-marathon were, from left, Daphne Nason, who completed the course in 2:01:49 and Dana Morrison, whose relay team finished first with a time of 1:22:21.
    The age bracket winners were as follows:  60 plus, Waldo Libby; 50-59, Leo Kashian and Linda Mountain; 40-49, Larry Hodge and Anna Bernard; 30-39, Nick Lyons and Steph Caverhill; 20-29, Jared Drake and Kristina Stephens; and under 20, Lauren Hodge.
    In all 44 runners participated in the full half-marathon and there were 22 runners in the relay portion. Money raised from this event went to the Health Services Foundation. Nearly a half million dollars has been raised since this race and the County Open Golf Tournament started over two decades ago.
THROUGH THE WOODS – Runners were on the home stretch of last Saturday’s County Open half-marathon. Coming through the woods were, from left, Renee Ennis, Bruce Gauthier, Shawn Serra, Peter Urban and Jason Ennis.
    The winners received their choice of numerous gift certificates from many local and area businesses. In addition, all racers received door prizes that totaled more than $2,000. Many thanks to the generosity of the many area businesses which donated gifts and prizes for this event.
    Many volunteers on race day, and the days prior, making the event ‘run’ smoothly included: Ken and Paige Coville, Sharon and Colby Walker, Steve and Hunter Walker, Connie and Bill Hollis, Libby Moulton, Tracy Willigar, Bailey Donovan, and Norma Levesque.