Lighthall Wins 'Turkey Trot' for Third Time DEC. 5, 2002– Redding, Calif.
Cal State Fullerton junior Bryce Lighthall won the 17th annual Turkey
Trot at Caldwell Park in Redding on Thanksgiving Day for the third year
in a row.
Lighthall, 21, who is a graduate of Enterprise High School in Redding,
won in a modest time of 31 minutes, 31 seconds over the 6-mile course.
He had driven home the day before from Fullerton.
"I was really tired during the race," Lighthalll told the Redding
Record-Searhlight. "I only got a couple of hours of sleep, so I wasn't
going to be at my best, but Iknew that I could outkick him at the end."
Lighthall was referring to Jeremy Redding, whom he beat by one second.
Lighthall led for the first four miles but Redding stayed close. Eventually
the Jefferson, Oregon, resident caught up and the two ran shoulder to
shoulder until the final few hundred yards. Redding surged in front crossing
the bridge on Benton Drive, but Lighthall caught him at the end of the
bridge and passed him on the final turn into the United Way of Northern
California parking lot where the finish line was located.
Lighthalll was the top Fullerton runner at this year's Big West Conference
championship meet, finishing 12th overall on Nov. 2.
Michelle Hannaford, 32, won the women's title for the third time as well,
adding to her trophies from 1998 and 2000. She is the cross country coach
at Shasta College and ran 35:46 or behind only eight male runners.
A total of 732 runners competed with 1,352 running in a more casual two-mile
run/walk event. The race is run by the Redding Medical Center as a fundraiser
for the United Way.
