Ash top local runner at Azalea Trail Run
Published 8:50 am Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Atmore native Alan Ash was the first local runner to finish the Azalea Trail Run 10K race in downtown Mobile on Saturday morning.
Ash finished 17th overall, with a time of 32 minutes, 48 seconds.
After the race, Ash told The Mobile Press-Register that he had run in the event every year from age 5 through 17, but had to give it up when he started running cross country at Vanderbilt University.
Alan Ash
Ash recently graduated from Vanderbilt and is now a high school teacher, which allowed him to compete in the Mobile race once again.
Professional runner Julius Kogo of Kenya was the overall men’s winner, finishing with a time of 27:58. Janet Bawcom of Flagstaff, Ariz., was the overall women’s finisher, with a time of 32:03.
Mary Finn of Mobile was the top local women’s finisher, with a time of 40:55.
Ash, 22, is a teacher at Jefferson Davis High School in Montgomery, with the “Teach For America” program. He teaches sociology and contemporary issues, and helps coach cross country and track and field at the school.