The seventh annual Kingswood Klam 5K run was the most competitive race ever as two women were well below the previous course record and eight women broke age group records. Two men were below the previous men’s mark, with a third just three seconds off, and five men broke age group records. Besides being the 10th Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix race of the year, a huge appeal for the CRR regulars was the annual CRR picnic afterwards, with the Kingswood Pool hosting an all-day open swim and the CRR providing pizza and adult beverages to all members. The adult drinks are an exception for most CRR races, as the majority are held at schools and parks, where that’s not allowed.
This year’s race had 133 finishers in the 5K, and an additional 30 in the one-mile fun run. The race proceeds benefit the Kingswood Pool, with the race director again Gina Waddell. The course is a tour of the Kingswood neighborhood roads, with out-and-backs on West Kingswood and Oak roads, and a loop of Dover-Kingswood, with the start and finish within feet of the Kingswood Clubhouse. Compared to other recent CRR 5K races, it’s not the fastest course as it has three turnaround points and three modest hills.
Nevertheless, numerous fast times were had. For the women, Grafton High grad Bethany Spector, 33, of Virginia Beach, the 2021 Kingswood winner in a course record 19:02, improved her time to 18:27, yet lost by that same 35 seconds to a heretofore unknown runner from Richmond, Laurel Labuschaigne, 27, who timed in a course record 17:52.
For the men, William & Mary grad Roger Hopper, 32, of Chesapeake won his eighth CRR Grand Prix race of the year in a course record 15:33. The previous record was 15:42 by another W&M grad, Adam Otstot, in 2021. Otstot, 41, of Williamsburg, was second in 15:39 and Will Jeter, 24, of Newport News, part of the three-man pack which dominated the race (fourth overall was Labuschaigne) was third in 15:45.
All five leaders broke Kingswood age-group records, Hopper for men 30-34, Otstot for men 40-44, Jeter for men 20-24, Labuschaigne for women 25-29 and Spector for women 30-34. Two other men’s records were broken, by Maddox Byrd, 13, of Chester (14-and-under, 19:23) and by Alexey Popov, 40, of Newport News (race walk, 28:32). For the women, additional age-group records were broken by Isabella Strumke, 9, of Toano (women 14-and-under, 21:40), Tricia Murphy, 42, of Williamsburg (women 40-44, 22:04), Aimee Gianoukos, 47, of Williamsburg (women 45-49, 21:59), Deelyn Robinson, 57, of Williamsburg (women 55-59, 21:23), Marie Shay, 67, of Williamsburg (women 65-69, 25:55), and Jan Barry, 70, of Williamsburg (women 70-74, 29:25).
Despite the challenging course, nine runners were above the national-class 80% level age grades, as compiled by CRR statistician Jim Gullo. Otstot led the way with his 87.11%, followed by Rob Whitaker, 64, of Yorktown (19:28, 84.42%), Pete Gibson, 67, of Murfreesboro, N.C. (20:10, 83.80%), Deelyn Robinson (83.48%), Hopper (82.85%), Labuschaigne (82.46%), Strumke (81.85%), Jeter (81.59%) and Spector (80.04%). Above 75% were Steve Menzies, 59, of Williamsburg (19:46, 79.60%), Shay (78.01%), Ken Alberg, 62, of Suffolk (21:02, 76.78%), Margaret Pittman, 11, of Williamsburg (22:08, 75.90%, and a Kingswood Pool member) and Chris Abelt, 66, of Williamsburg (22:38, 75.33%, benefiting by a course that passed by his house twice on the West Kingswood out-and-back section). An additional 15 were above the regional class level of 70%, including age group record breakers Gianoukos, Barry and Byrd, and third female overall Haley Uliasz, 27, of Newport News (20:59).
Otstot emailed, “All of the credit for the fast times go to Will and Roger. I didn’t lead a single step of this race, as Will took the race out with a very honest and relentless pace through the first mile and three quarters, and then just before the two mile mark, Roger made his winning move and kept the pace scorching hot through the hilly section of the course. Very happy to have run faster than that old record time by a few seconds as a master [40+], and pleased with another race age grading over 87%.”
Hopper emailed, “Will took the race out at around 5:00 pace, and I was content with that and just followed his lead, with Adam right there as well. We hit the mile in 5:03, and as we were approaching two miles I saw we were going to be significantly slower than 10:00, so I picked up the pace and passed Will, knowing I would have to really push the rest of the way if I wanted to break the course record of 15:42, which was my goal. I hit two miles in 10:06 with Adam and Will just behind, and I continued to press, gapping the two of them on the hill up Dover Road. I continued to push the rest of the way, and was thankful my legs carried me comfortably under the course record. The weather was decent, hard to complain about mid-60s and 80% humidity in Williamsburg in June.”
Spector emailed, “I was looking forward to this 5K, hoping to improve on my best time from 2021. With 3 sharp turnarounds and many 90 degree turns, it’s a tricky course. I intentionally ran the turns a bit wide and slow on Saturday for safety. Based on my recent races, I wanted to run under 19 minutes, hoping to run around 18:30. My first mile was a bit fast (5:36, 5:58, 6:07, 5:40 finish) as I was trying to keep pace with Laura but quickly fell back. This is my first 5K under 19 minutes since 2021, and I’m very happy with an 18:27 on this course! Great race organization and pool party!”
The biggest surprise though was Labuschaigne. Although unknown to all at the race, she did have ties to Williamsburg, as a grad student who ran on the W&M women’s team in 2018-19 (cross country and indoor track), while getting her Master of Accounting degree at the Mason School of Business. She emailed, “honestly ran no noteworthy times here as I got a stress fracture a couple of weeks after joining the team and given my short tenure there did not have much time for a comeback.” However, Labuschaigne has very impressive credentials elsewhere. Last year she ran the New York Mini 10K in a PR 33:57 in the elite field (“a great experience for getting my feet wet at that level of racing. I hope to get back to this level of racing as soon as my body allows”). In her second half marathon, she ran a PR 1:14:54 at the 2021 Richmond Half Marathon.
Injuries have been a problem though. “I am working my way back to race fitness after being out with a tibial stress injury. This race seemed to fit well into the goal of regaining my sharpness. Kingswood Klam was only my second race this year. I ran the Capitol Hill Classic, a 3K road race in DC, in a time of 9:58 on May 21. Before that, the last race I ran was the Pony Pasture 5K in Richmond on July 23, 2022 in a time of 16:59.6. I was looking for more local race opportunities during the month of June, and after a lot of Googling, I stumbled upon the Colonial Road Runners website and noted that the Kingswood Klam 5K was a “grand prix” event and had historically fast times. It was an added bonus that I wouldn’t have to travel very far. I met Bethany after the race and we cooled down together. I’m so glad we did; it was great talking to her, hearing about her impressive history as well as what is to come, plus she was a great resource for all things running in Virginia. I am excited for our paths to cross again at future races. My goal for this season is merely to stay injury free and train consistently. I was very impressed with the race organization. Inquiries were responded to with lightning speed, and there were friendly faces from the time we arrived to the time we left the course. I can recommend this event to anyone looking for a 5K race!”
As an undergraduate at the University of South Alabama (2014-18, with a degree in accounting), Labuschaigne had bests of 4:50.90 for the indoor mile and 4:24.50 for the outdoor 1,500 meters. She was the Sun Belt conference champion in cross country. On the roads, her 5K PR is 16:21. Her hometown was Durbanville, Cape Town, South Africa, attending Paarl Gymnasium for high school, where she was third in the South African School Championships in the 1,500 meters. She is now an Audit and Assurance Senior at accounting firm Deloitte in Richmond.
Rick Platt is president of Colonial Road Runners.