Courtesy: Dan Brannen, Running USA

Rudy Afanador, 43, of Medford, New York won his first national title here today, taking the USA 24- Hour Run Championship crown ahead of 145 starters in cool, clear weather on the 1.09-mile loop course at Olander Park. The race started at noon, Saturday, Sept. 15.

Sue Ellen Trapp, 55, of Fort Myers, Florida, surpassed Lynn Jennings' record for most wins by an American woman at a single national championship event, taking her seventh national all-day run crown and finishing seventh overall (among the men) in the event. Trapp, current holder of the U.S. record for the 24-hour run and world record holder for the 48-hour run, also extended her own record for being the most senior American ever to win an Open national championship title race.

Afanador, not considered among the favorites going into the event, led the race early, running 6:30 per mile pace for hours before slowing and being passed by many of the former national champions in the race. But the pharmaceutical lab worker found new reserves of energy and began a extended drive in the wee, dark hours of Sunday morning, just as the leaders and favorites were being slowed by temperatures in the mid-40s(F). He finally caught and passed the last of his foes, defending champion John Geesler of St. Johnsville, New York, after 21 hours of steady running with only a few brief walking breaks.

At the halfway point of the race, Trapp was over 5 miles behind ultra novice Jody-Lynn Reicher of Midland Park, New Jersey. But Reicher's early fast pace combined with the cool temperatures and high night-time humidity to stiffen her thigh muscles and reduce her to a hobble for the last 7 hours. The vastly experienced Trapp (a veteran of almost two dozen races of 24 hours or longer spread over a 21-year career) took the lead before hitting 100 miles and continued unchallenged to take her unprecedented seventh national title at the longest national championship event.