Novak, Zaleski Take Top Honors at Girdled Road

XTERRA Northern Ohio Series nearing stretch run

Thanks to his fast running, Charles Novak can be considered a fast learner.

Novak won the XTERRA Girdled Road Trail Run on Saturday, August 6. He completed the 10-kilometer course in 42 minutes, 41 seconds, and was more than a minute ahead of the rest of the field.

Novak, 43, is in his first year of trail running, but he has already earned two overall victories in the 2011 XTERRA Northern Ohio Trail Run Series. The Girdled Road race was the fifth of seven races in the 2011 Northern Ohio Series.

"I was introduced to trail running this year and so I wasn't sure what to expect," said Novak, who is from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. "I'm tickled to death with how things are going. The XTERRA Series has really been a blast. It makes me want to get out and train more and try to get faster."

Novak prevailed in the Girdled Road race despite taking a wrong turn midway through the course. At the halfway point of the race, he said he stopped to take a drink of water and then proceeded to take a right turn. Fortunately, course marshals were there to stop him and turn him around; but then he took another wrong turn and the same course marshals again had to stop him.

"By the time I figured it out, the other guys were right there and so I really had to push to get ahead again," Novak said. "I just went as hard as I could because I didn't want to lose and think that it was because I went the wrong way."

Novak proved to be too much down the stretch. Dan Mesh placed second with a time of 44:17, and Alex Clarke was third in 44:45.

Kelly Zaleski of Orrville, Ohio, placed 13th overall with a time of 49:31 and took top female honors. Zaleski has entered every race in the Northern Ohio Series so far this year, but this was her first overall victory.

She actually did not plan to participate in the race, and only did so as an injury replacement for her mother, Julie.

"I'm actually getting ready for school, so I wasn't planning to do any more races," said Kelly, who is a student at Cleveland State University. "But my mom rolled her ankle a couple of days before the race and she had already paid her entry so she asked me if I wanted to run."

Her mother said: "I was just happy that they let her take my place. And then for Kelly to win it, that made it even better."

Deb McMasters was second among the women with a time of 55:30.

Special recognition should go to Laurie Schroeder, who got lost on her way to the event and showed up 20 minutes after the race started. She convinced the race director to let her run anyway, and she proceeded to pass several runners along the way to placing first in her age group (women 25-29).

"The lesson learned, besides leaving early enough in case you get lost, was never give up," Schroeder said. "I always give everything I've got no matter what, and this just proves that you've got to keep fighting, even when you're down ... or late!"

There are two more races remaining in the 2011 season for the XTERRA Northern Ohio Trail Run Series: the XTERRA Oak Hill Trail Run on Aug. 27, and then the XTERRA Leave No Trace Trail Run on Sept. 3.

To enter a race or learn more about the series, please visit www.xterraohio.com or www.xterratrailrun.com.

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