Portsmouth Runner Soars in Norman Bird Sanctuary 5K

Two 24-year-old Middletown men placed first and second in Saturday's fifth annual Norman Bird Sanctuary 5K Road Race.

In a field with 265 contestants, overall winner Josh Parks covered the scenic course at a breezy pace of 5:41 minutes per mile and finished with a time of 17:40.6 (gun time of 17:41.9).

Close behind Parks by 14 seconds was Steven Lang, with an overall time of 17:54.1 (17:55.7 gun time) and pace of 5:46 per mile.

The first female finisher was Florida resident Tracy Silso, 38, who ran the course at 6:15 minutes per mile and finished in 19:23.5 (gun time of 19:25.9).

The fastest Aquidneck Island women were Jacki Corseri, 22, of Portsmouth, and Kellie Tabor-Hann, 42, of Middletown. Corseri ran the course in 20:36.8 (gun time 20:51.0), and Tabor-Hann was right on her heels at 20:52.0 (gun time 20:54.9).

In the under-18 division, the top finisher was Middletown resident Nick Schmidt, 15, who finished in 20:41.8 (gun time 20:47.5).

The event drew its majority of participants from Aquidneck Island and southern Massachusetts, as well as racers from throughout the United States as far south as Florida and as far west as Utah.

See the complete results from Saturday's 5th Annual Norman Bird Sanctuary 5K Road Race.