Jason Pyles of South Charleston is the first West Virginian to win the Charleston Distance run since St. Marys' Steve Taylor in 1989.
Advertiser
The city's hottest summer in 67 years had given way almost magically to 58-degree air and the virtual disappearance of humidity.
It was a great day to run, Jason Pyles thought as he arrived at the Capitol on a crystal-clear Saturday morning for the start of the 38th annual Charleston Distance Run.
Before setting off on the 15-mile race through the city's streets, Pyles warmed up by jogging two miles on Kanawha Boulevard, knowing that all the elements seemed in place to fulfill a lifetime dream.
"Right from the get-go,'' said Pyles, "I knew the weather was perfect. The legs felt good. I felt a good race could be coming on.''
And sure enough, the South Charleston resident hurried out to a quick quarter-mile lead, encountered no challenges whatsoever and cruised to a lopsided victory in one hour, 25 minutes, 44 seconds - nearly two minutes ahead of runner-up Craig Swisher of Barboursville, his old college roommate at Marshall.
"I knew he was very fit right now,'' said Swisher, a physical therapist at St. Marys Medical Center in Huntington, "and I wasn't even going to try and go with him.''
Pyles, a track and cross country coach at the University of Charleston, ran more than three minutes faster in last year's race, posting a 1:22:23 but finishing eighth in a field bolstered by semi-professional runners in pursuit of prize money.
Without prize money for the first time in the event's history, Saturday's race was noticeably less challenging.
Nevertheless, said Pyles, it was still wonderful to win and thus become the first West Virginian to do so since St. Marys native Steve Taylor won in 1985, '87 and '89.
"I know it's not a normal field. I understand that,'' said Pyles. "If I'm the first West Virginian to win since like 1982 and only the second ever, it's cool to be able to say I won, even though I'm not on Steve Taylor's level.''
Pyles' time, in fact, was the slowest in race history, surpassing the previous low of 1:22:48 run by 41-year-old Gideon Mutisya of Hartford, Conn., two years ago.
The 5-foot-9, 135-pound Pyles, 29, has been training 95 miles a week in attaining what he believes is the best fitness of his life, and he's convinced he could have run faster on Saturday.
Article Preview
This article is available only to our premium digital content subscribers.
Cool -- a win for a West Virginian
Pyles first state native to finish in Distance Run first since '89
The city's hottest summer in 67 years had given way almost magically to 58-degree air and the virtual disappearance of humidity.
It was a great day to run, Jason Pyles thought as he arrived at the Capitol on a crystal-clear Saturday morning for the start of the 38th annual Charleston Distance Run.
Before setting off on the 15-mile race through the city's streets, Pyles warmed up by jogging two miles on Kanawha Boulevard, knowing that all the elements seemed in place to fulfill a lifetime dream.
"Right from the get-go,'' said Pyles, "I knew the weather was perfect. The legs felt good. I felt a good race could be coming on.''
And sure enough, the South Charleston resident hurried out to a quick quarter-mile lead, encountered no challenges whatsoever and cruised to a lopsided victory in one hour, 25 minutes, 44 seconds - nearly two minutes ahead of runner-up Craig Swisher of Barboursville, his old college roommate at Marshall.
"I knew he was very fit right now,'' said Swisher, a physical therapist at St. Marys Medical Center in Huntington, "and I wasn't even going to try and go with him.''
Pyles, a track and cross country coach at the University of Charleston, ran more than three minutes faster in last year's race, posting a 1:22:23 but finishing eighth in a field bolstered by semi-professional runners in pursuit of prize money.
Without prize money for the first time in the event's history, Saturday's race was noticeably less challenging.
Nevertheless, said Pyles, it was still wonderful to win and thus become the first West Virginian to do so since St. Marys native Steve Taylor won in 1985, '87 and '89.
"I know it's not a normal field. I understand that,'' said Pyles. "If I'm the first West Virginian to win since like 1982 and only the second ever, it's cool to be able to say I won, even though I'm not on Steve Taylor's level.''
Pyles' time, in fact, was the slowest in race history, surpassing the previous low of 1:22:48 run by 41-year-old Gideon Mutisya of Hartford, Conn., two years ago.
The 5-foot-9, 135-pound Pyles, 29, has been training 95 miles a week in attaining what he believes is the best fitness of his life, and he's convinced he could have run faster on Saturday.
Click here to sign up for a one month subscription.
1 Month Online + Print Delivery
$31.99
Click here to sign up for our Premium subscription package.
The city's hottest summer in 67 years had given way almost magically to 58-degree air and the virtual disappearance of humidity.
It was a great day to run, Jason Pyles thought as he arrived at the Capitol on a crystal-clear Saturday morning for the start of the 38th annual Charleston Distance Run.
Before setting off on the 15-mile race through the city's streets, Pyles warmed up by jogging two miles on Kanawha Boulevard, knowing that all the elements seemed in place to fulfill a lifetime dream.
"Right from the get-go,'' said Pyles, "I knew the weather was perfect. The legs felt good. I felt a good race could be coming on.''
And sure enough, the South Charleston resident hurried out to a quick quarter-mile lead, encountered no challenges whatsoever and cruised to a lopsided victory in one hour, 25 minutes, 44 seconds - nearly two minutes ahead of runner-up Craig Swisher of Barboursville, his old college roommate at Marshall.
"I knew he was very fit right now,'' said Swisher, a physical therapist at St. Marys Medical Center in Huntington, "and I wasn't even going to try and go with him.''
Pyles, a track and cross country coach at the University of Charleston, ran more than three minutes faster in last year's race, posting a 1:22:23 but finishing eighth in a field bolstered by semi-professional runners in pursuit of prize money.
Without prize money for the first time in the event's history, Saturday's race was noticeably less challenging.
Nevertheless, said Pyles, it was still wonderful to win and thus become the first West Virginian to do so since St. Marys native Steve Taylor won in 1985, '87 and '89.
"I know it's not a normal field. I understand that,'' said Pyles. "If I'm the first West Virginian to win since like 1982 and only the second ever, it's cool to be able to say I won, even though I'm not on Steve Taylor's level.''
Pyles' time, in fact, was the slowest in race history, surpassing the previous low of 1:22:48 run by 41-year-old Gideon Mutisya of Hartford, Conn., two years ago.
The 5-foot-9, 135-pound Pyles, 29, has been training 95 miles a week in attaining what he believes is the best fitness of his life, and he's convinced he could have run faster on Saturday.
"I felt like I was prepared today,'' he said. "If I needed to go 1:20, I'd go 1:20. If 1:30 was going to win, I was ready to go 1:30. I feel the fittest I've ever been in my life, so I feel like I could have pushed the 1:20 barrier. I felt like I could have run whatever I needed to - to the 1:20 limit.''
Whatever the final numbers, he relished the opportunity.
"I really wanted to win. That's a lifetime goal,'' he said. "God blessed me with the ability to be out here, and it was a beautiful day. It's almost a shame that there wasn't prize money because you would have seen some guys run it in some really fast times today.''
Pyles caught his first taste of the Charleston Distance Run about 10 years when he and his Marshall cross country teammates would run it simply as a conditioning workout.
"I quickly fell in love with it,'' he said. "I'm a running junkie as far as just following the sport. I've studied the race. I've seen some of the greatest runners of all time run here - Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers and one of the greatest West Virginia runners, Steve Taylor. And the race appealed to me. I love it. I just feel blessed to be able to come out here and do it. I know there's a lot of discussion about this race; I just hope it goes on for another 38 years.''
nn
BRIEFLY: The first six finishers and eight of the first 10 were state residents. ... A total of 494 runners completed the 15-mile race and 455 finished the 5-kilometer race. ... Pyles plans to compete in a 5K race in Pineville today with a chance to win $300. ... He also plans to run the Columbus (Ohio) Half-Marathon Oct. 17 and probably the Huntington Marathon Nov. 7. ... The Distance Run committee expects to meet later this month to decide whether the race continues as a 15-miler or changes to a half-marathon. ... Pyles and Swisher were not only Marshall roommates but competed against each other in Little League baseball. ... Swisher expects to run the Columbus Marathon on the same day Pyles runs the half-marathon.
This article is available only to our premium digital content subscribers.
Cool -- a win for a West Virginian
Pyles first state native to finish in Distance Run first since '89
The city's hottest summer in 67 years had given way almost magically to 58-degree air and the virtual disappearance of humidity.
It was a great day to run, Jason Pyles thought as he arrived at the Capitol on a crystal-clear Saturday morning for the start of the 38th annual Charleston Distance Run.
Before setting off on the 15-mile race through the city's streets, Pyles warmed up by jogging two miles on Kanawha Boulevard, knowing that all the elements seemed in place to fulfill a lifetime dream.
"Right from the get-go,'' said Pyles, "I knew the weather was perfect. The legs felt good. I felt a good race could be coming on.''
And sure enough, the South Charleston resident hurried out to a quick quarter-mile lead, encountered no challenges whatsoever and cruised to a lopsided victory in one hour, 25 minutes, 44 seconds - nearly two minutes ahead of runner-up Craig Swisher of Barboursville, his old college roommate at Marshall.
"I knew he was very fit right now,'' said Swisher, a physical therapist at St. Marys Medical Center in Huntington, "and I wasn't even going to try and go with him.''
Pyles, a track and cross country coach at the University of Charleston, ran more than three minutes faster in last year's race, posting a 1:22:23 but finishing eighth in a field bolstered by semi-professional runners in pursuit of prize money.
Without prize money for the first time in the event's history, Saturday's race was noticeably less challenging.
Nevertheless, said Pyles, it was still wonderful to win and thus become the first West Virginian to do so since St. Marys native Steve Taylor won in 1985, '87 and '89.
"I know it's not a normal field. I understand that,'' said Pyles. "If I'm the first West Virginian to win since like 1982 and only the second ever, it's cool to be able to say I won, even though I'm not on Steve Taylor's level.''
Pyles' time, in fact, was the slowest in race history, surpassing the previous low of 1:22:48 run by 41-year-old Gideon Mutisya of Hartford, Conn., two years ago.
The 5-foot-9, 135-pound Pyles, 29, has been training 95 miles a week in attaining what he believes is the best fitness of his life, and he's convinced he could have run faster on Saturday.
