They both had incentives.
Nitro's Mikey Guinn and Morgantown's Erin O'Reilly knew their tasks would not be easy, but they were still able to claim the West Virginia men's and women's division titles of the Greater Clarksburg 10K on Saturday.
Guinn, who runs cross country at Alderson-Broaddus, is in a battle with Fayetteville's Larry Taylor for the Clarksburg Area Racing Series crown, while O'Reilly was running against United States Olympic Trials qualifier Heather Bury.
"It's a big race, and I figured it would be close all the way through (the event)," Guinn said.
He finished with a time of 33:23, while Taylor finished with a time of 34:15.
It was also Guinn's best time in the Clarksburg 10K.
"The last two weeks I've cut my mileage down a little bit trying to peak for this race," Guinn said.
"I was trying to beat my time last year by a minute and I just missed by six or seven seconds. That was pretty much what I was trying to do."
O'Reilly, who is a West Virginia University cross country and track and field assistant coach, was very familiar with Bury and with the course.
The two are roommates, and both ran the 10K last year.
However, Bury won the individual battle.
Bury finished with a time of 36:22, while O'Reilly finished with a time of 41:08.
O'Reilly was awarded the West Virginia championship when Bury claimed the third-place prize money in the United States women's category.
"We run together all the time," O'Reilly said. "I don't work out with her because she's a level above right now."
O'Reilly was happy with her time, which she cut by 1:34.
"I knew what to expect," she said. "The weather was a lot cooler (than last year) even though the humidity was really bad."
Assistant sports editor Danny Carpenter can be reached at 626-1444.
