Feb. 14, 2005 – V.I. National Track & Field Team member Billy Bohlke finished 6th in the Austin Half-Marathon Sunday in Austin, Texas; he ran the 13.1-mile race in 1 hour 13 minutes and 10 seconds. The time placed him third in his age-group.
The total number of runners in the race was 4,414, according to a release from the V.I. Track and Field Federation. Bohlke was selected to compete in the North America and Central America Cross-Country Championships in Orlando and the World Cross-Country Championships in France in March but due to military commitment (he is currently taking pilot training in Texas in the U.S. Air Force) he will not able to compete.
"The Federation is pleased that he continues to run and maintain a level of fitness," Wallace Williams, federation secretary said. "He e-mailed me [before the race] indicating that since the half-marathon was in Texas and nearby, he wouldn't have to request leave to be able to run; it's hard to imagine how he does it with the workload of the military flight training hitting hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month. He's got eight months left and then it's back to serious training," Williams continued.
A number of runners with the St. Croix Road Runners also competed in the Austin Marathon on Sunday:
— Joel Holt ran his first marathon in 4:24.20 for 2,443 place out of 6,330.
— Michele Freiburghouse finished 2,451 in 4:25.40.
— Karen Van Heckman finished 2,493 in 4:26.48.
— Kathy Bennett finished 2,903 in 4:36.10.
— Debra Aronstein finished 4,356 in 5:39.08.
St. Croix runners Susan Ellison and Robert Stamper did not finish the race.
Editor's note: Material for this story was supplied to the Source by V.I. Track and Field Federation secretary Wallace Williams.