Top runners defend CRR Grand Prix titles – Daily Press

The Colonial Road Runners had 24 Grand Prix races in 2022, from early February to mid-December, and the final standings had two very familiar names at the top. Roger Hopper, 31, of Chesapeake won his eighth consecutive CRR Grand Prix title, while Emily Honeycutt, 31, of Newport News won her fourth consecutive title and fifth in six years. Both are William & Mary graduates.

In the overall category, points are compiled going 10 deep, with a maximum of 12 scoring races. Hopper raced 19 of the 24 races and won 13 of them, and had a total of 178 points, and with a perfect score of 120 points in his best 12 races. Second overall went to Adam Otstot, 40, of Williamsburg, who ran in 11 races and won three of them, scoring 97 points.

The closest battle was for third place, where Jonathan Torres, 32, of Newport News came from behind in the final race of the year to score five points and pass Isaac Lamprecht, 16, of New Kent, 69-66. Torres had placed an agonizing fourth overall the previous two years, so he gets his first-ever overall CRR plaque.

Due to his national-class triathlon schedule, as well as his high school cross country and track meet schedule, Lamprecht, one of the faster high school runners in Virginia, for New Kent High, could only run eight CRR races in 2022 (where he usually placed third overall, trailing only Hopper and Otstot). He did win the Queens Lake 5K in 16:15, in the absence of those two, and had a yearly 5K PR of 15:45 from DOG Street.

The major Grand Prix awards are the top three overall men and women, and also the first place Masters (ages 40-and-over) male and female. In addition, each 10-year age group, from 19-and-under to 70-and-over, along with the race walk, goes two deep for the awards plaques, a total of 40 Grand Prix awards.

As with Hopper for the men, Honeycutt, a math teacher and cross country/track coach at Tabb High, was the dominant female runner throughout the year. She ran 15 CRR races and won 10 of them for 135 total points, and a near-perfect 117 scoring points. Runner-up for the second consecutive year was Svitlana Honcharova, 24, of Williamsburg, who scored in 17 CRR races with a total of 111 points, and scored 95 points in her top 12 races. Honcharova had one race win, at the Run for Mental Strength, defending her championship at that trail race.

Formerly known as Svetlana Goncharova, she recently changed the spelling of her name from the Russian spelling to the Ukrainian spelling in response to the invasion of her home country of Ukraine. She has been in the U.S. since September 2017, and attended Williamsburg Christian Academy, then a year at Old Dominion University.

As with the men, there was a close battle for third place overall with Karen Grabowski, 38, of Toano and Deelyn Robinson, 57, of Williamsburg close throughout the year. Grabowski scored overall points in 13 races with a total of 90 points, with 86 in her top 12 races. Robinson scored in 16 races, with a total of 85 points, but scored 75 for her best 12. Robinson, though, was the dominant runner in the Masters category, easily winning that category.

For the men, the Masters winner was Tim Suhr, 51, of Williamsburg. Suhr also placed fifth overall with 45 points (Sean Bush, 32, of Williamsburg was fourth overall with 56 points).

The last runner not named Hopper to win a CRR men’s Grand Prix title was Victor Flemming of Smithfield, back in 2014. Hopper emailed, “Winning the CRR Grand Prix is a top priority for me, right up there with running fast times and the HRSGP [Hampton Roads Super Grand Prix]. Having won the CRR GP 8 years in a row now, and the HRSGP 7, it has been fun seeing how long I can keep the streak going. Luckily, the most enticing CRR races, like the Colonial Half, DOG Street 5K, Democracy Dash 10K, and Weighted Angels 5K, often have the toughest competition, are on some of the fastest courses for running good times, and are also HRSGP and/or have prize money, so I’ll certainly be lining up for those races every year. And then of course there’s always a few other courses, like the Queens Lake 5K, Fire Chiefs 5K, First Colony 5K, Jamestown Island 5K, Freedom Park 8K, Chickahominy 10K, and Governor’s Land 5K, among others, that make for great PR opportunities.”

This year Hopper ran a 15:15 at DOG Street, one second slower than his 15:14 PR from the 2021 Weighted Angels 5K. He PR’d at 8K with a 25:12 at the Ice-aholics 8K, and PR’d at 10K with a 31:52 at the Democracy Dash 10K on Jamestown Island. His 5K PRs have steadily improved during his Grand Prix reign, from 16:25 in 2015, to 16:02 in 2016, 16:05 in 2017, 15:57 in 2018, 16:00 in 2019, 15:44 in 2020, 15:14 in 2021, and 15:15 in 2022. Similarly his 10K PRs have dropped from 34:37 in 2015, to 35:10 in 2016, 34:09 in 2017, 33:29 in 2018, 32:39 in 2019, 32:25 in 2020, 32:03 in 2021, and this year’s 31:52.

His highlight races in 2022 were winning DOG Street, Democracy Dash, and Ice-aholics, all with lifetime PRs. For 2023, his goals will be to win CRR Grand Prix #9, go sub-15 for 5K, sub-25 for 8K, sub-31:34 for 10K (the all-time CRR record by Will Christian), sub-52 for 10 miles, sub-1:09 for the half marathon, and sub-2:22 for the marathon.

Honeycutt has also continued to improve through the years of her CRR Grand Prix titles. She emailed, “The CRR Grand Prix is always one of my main focuses. Highlight CRR races were Vineyards (18-second PR of 19:08 and possibility of breaking 19 arose), Ice-aholics 8K (broke 32 minutes for 8K with 31:17), Democracy Dash 10K (broke 40 minutes with 39:42), Weighted Angels 5K (broke 19 minutes with 18:52), Logy Bear 8K (race directed, finished first for women and second overall in 31:41).”

Honeycutt’s 5K times have steadily improved through the years, from the 21s to the 20s, finally breaking 20 minutes, and now breaking 19 (three times in 2022). Her 10K times have improved from the 44s, and now down to the 39s (twice this year). She has gone from being a good runner who won CRR Grand Prix titles because she ran lots of CRR races, to one of the elite female runners in all of Hampton Roads. In non-CRR races in 2022, she PR’d at 5K (18:38 in Dallas), 8K (31:09 at Surf-n-Santa 5 miler) and 10K (39:06 at Elizabeth River Run).

For 2023, her goals: “I would like to try to earn a sixth Grand Prix title, to break 39 minutes for the 10K, to break 31 minutes for the 8K, and 18:30 for the 5K.”

Otstot gave Hopper great competition for the second straight year, and beat him on occasion (this year at the Jamestown High School Swamp Run 5K and the Run for the Hills 5K). He also won the All Shades 5K at Jamestown Island, in the absence of Hopper, but had seven runner-up finishes to Hopper.

Otstot emailed, “For me, the most important thing is having fun and continuing to see what my limits are. This year was my first year as a Masters athlete, so it was exciting to enter that competition and aim for some Masters records. The Grand Prix is a great series, and definitely where I focused most of my competitive attention in 2022. The highlight race for me was the Weighted Angels 5K. Not only was I able to set an all-time Masters CRR record of 15:24, but it’s the race that means the most to me personally, and I was happy to be able to run so fast in memory of my nephew Ellett. Second would be winning the Jamestown Swamp Run 5K. I took a risk and it paid off.” [He pulled away from both W&M coach Forest Braden, and from Hopper, in the final half mile for an upset win].

Otstot is one of the top age-graded runners in all of Hampton Roads, scoring 87.42% at DOG Street and 87.88% at Weighted Angels, with 80% considered national class, and 90% world class. In addition to his all-time CRR record for men 40-44 at 5K, he also broke all-time CRR records for 40-44 at 8K (25:48 at the Greensprings 8K) and 10K (33:19 at Democracy Dash). At age 40, he’s still running times close to his lifetime PRs (15:13 for 5K, 25:22 for 8K, 32:31 for 10K), a remarkable accomplishment.

Also emphasizing fun is Karen Grabowski, who placed third overall in the Grand Prix for the second straight year. She emailed, “My only running priority is to compete with myself, I want to keep setting PRs in 2023 and again in 2024 when I turn 40. I set two lifetime PRs this year, 5K at Virginia Regional Ballet 5K [First Colony, 21:29] and 8K at Toano Icy 8K [35:25].”

“I think the picture of Deelyn and I highlights our love of running and having each other on the course. Any race Deelyn is there makes things more challenging and competitive, whether she is a target ahead of me to try to catch up with, or if it is the knowledge that she is right behind me and I can’t slow my pace. The picture from the Sleighbell with both of us smiling is such a great representation of how I feel when she is on the course with me.”

Rick Platt is president of Colonial Road Runners.