by Bill Shaw

For the first time in the history of the Brazosport Run for the Arts in Clute/Lake Jackson, 10-milers and 5K runners started simultaneously with computer race chips attached to their shoes to ensure accurate and fair finish times.

Houstonian Carlo Deason took out fast with the 10-mile pack leaders and coasted to his second consecutive Wholesale Electric Run for the Arts 5K title. Deason finished the 3.1 mile distance on the USA Track & Field certified course in 16:56, a 5:28 mile pace.

When Deason, 31, crossed the finish line, he led second place finisher Kevin Tipton of Galveston, first in the men's masters competition by 36 seconds.

Bryan Arceneaux, 15, a Brazoswood High School cross-country runner, and Clint Stroud, 16, an Angleton High School cross- country runner, trailed Deason, respectively, by 58 seconds and 1:29. Arceneaux finished in 17:54, a 5:46 pace, and Stroud finished in 18:25, a 5:57 pace.

"I went out with the first guys in the 10-miler and kept the pace with them until the 5K turnoff," said Deason. "At the turnaround, I was about 100 yards from the next runner and just kept running."

With the temperature, in the mid-60s, the weather was perfect for racing, and Deason was not troubled much by the brisk southeast wind in his face after the 5K turnaround.

He was slowed some, however, by traffic problem about a half mile from the finish line, which may have accounted for slower time in this year's contest; last year Deason finished in 16:44. His mark fell 39 seconds short of the 16:17 contest record posted by former Brazoswood High School standout runner Bryan Kerr in 1999.

Second place open finisher Bryan Arceneaux and his cross-country comrades used a race strategy of their own to content with the wind.

"Clint Stroud, Clint Carter (another Angleton runner), and I switched off (taking the lead) and drafting for the first mile," said Arceneaux. But they soon lost sight of Deason. Tipton, 40, finished in 17:32, a 5:39 pace, and broke the men's masters record set by Scott Boyd of Dickinson by 37 seconds.

Finishing seventh overall, Susan Walters of Wallis finished first in the open women's competition in 20:08, a 6:30 mile pace. Walters, 36, like Deason won decisively and led the second woman to cross the line, master runner Rebecca Marvil, 42, of Houston, who finished in 20:53, by 45 seconds.

"I was just trying to keep up with some of the men," said Walters. "It was not a good day for me but it was better than two years ago when it rained."

In that race in January 2000, Walters did have a better day; she finished in a faster 19:40 and won the open competition. Walters fell 2:12 short of the 17:56 contest record set by Jones Creek local Melissa Hurta in 1998. Marvil's 20:53 finish fell 43 seconds short of the 20:10 women's masters record posted by Kathy King of Lake Jackson in 1999. Finishing second and third in the open female contest were Lake Jackson locals Mary Williams, 11, and Karen Muskopf, 14, in 21:36 and 21:37.