CEDAR RAPIDS — Daniel Docherty left the extra headwear at home.
Last year, the St. Paul, Minn., runner competed in the Fifth Season Races in Cedar Rapids for the first time and placed second in the 8K, but his participation came with a catch.
A trophy catch, so to speak. A lost fantasy football bet with a Cedar Rapids friend meant Docherty would run while wearing a trophy — with a fish on it — atop his head.
“It was a fun way to run a race, actually,” said Docherty, who returned to Cedar Rapids on Thursday and — sans the trophy fish — won the 8K in 24:21 at the annual Fourth of July event in downtown Cedar Rapids. “I didn’t want to wear it again because there is a pretty good prize here, so I was like, ‘I might as well go for that top spot and see if I can get that.’”
Docherty, 34, ran collegiately at Loyola-Chicago and is now with El Jefe Running in St. Paul. He claimed the $599 first-place prize by staying with the pack for the first two miles while taking stock of the field before he made his move to the front in the third mile and maintained the advantage for the next four until runner-up Jack Moran of Ames approached.
“I heard footsteps behind me so I made another move going up the hill,” said Docherty, who finished 64th at February’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando. “It was a long last half mile. … I think it was close. I don’t want to look back because that’s the cardinal sin. You don’t want to make that move.”
Moran finished four seconds behind Docherty in 23:25. Devin Allbaugh of Bettendorf, 34, finished third (24:31), Iowa City’s Luke Guttormson — a former Loras runner — was fourth (24:40) and Southeastern Community College track and field and cross country head coach Lucas Keifer was fifth in 24:48.
Two-time defending 8K champion Matt Lorenz — who ran at Cedar Rapids Prairie and the University of Iowa — placed eighth.
Cheruiyot wins women’s 8K for third time
For Pasca Cheruiyot, Cedar Rapids’ Fifth Season Races provides comfort and competition.
“I like the fun, it’s a home to me,” Cheruiyot said after winning the women’s division 8K for the third time Thursday in downtown Cedar Rapids. “It’s close by, so I know I have support and everything around it. I love Jim (Dwyer, Co-President of event organizer Corridor Running), he’s great with organizing the elite (runners).”
Cheruiyot, 37, is definitely in the “elite” category. A native of Kenya, Cheruiyot emigrated to the United States 17 years ago, became a citizen and has thrived as a competitive runner ever since. In college, Cheruiyot won NJCAA national championships in both cross country and track (5,000-meter run and the 10,000) at Rend Lake College in Ina, Ill. After a brief stop at Missouri State University, Cheruiyot transferred to Florida State and helped the Seminoles to consecutive runner-up finishes (2009, 2010) at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
“Growing up in Kenya, we walked three miles to school and back for lunch and even like three times a day,” Cheruiyot said. “So growing up, we were always on our feet. That is when I got into running in elementary school. In high school, I ran for two years and that is what brought me to America.”
Cheruiyot now runs for Runablaze Iowa in Des Moines and her 8K victory in 28:14 was 18 seconds better than Leah Rotich of Minneapolis, which provided Cheruiyot a light-hearted token of revenge for falling to Rotich in October’s Des Moines Marathon. It was the third Fifth Seasons 8K win for Cheruiyot, who also claimed top prize in 2013 and 2018.
“I have a few of my (Runablaze Iowa) teammates here, too,” Cheruiyot said. “In 2013, I ran 27-minute and something (27:05. Then back in 2018 (28:32). This is my third one.”
Former Linn-Mar prep and 2022 Mount Mercy cross country national-meet qualifier Deanna Newhouse placed third in 29:21. Fourth and fifth place in the women’s division was separated by a mere hundredth of a second when recently-graduated Wartburg runner Alexis Brown (29.26) edged out former Drake runner Casey McDermott (29:27).