“The weather definitely cooperated,” said Kathleen Kaye of Jacksonville, women’s overall winner of the morning 5K run. “It was cool when you started, but when you got into the park, there wasn’t any wind.”

Overall winner of the men’s 3.1-miler was Jazz Tomassetti of Fernandina Beach, co-captain of this year’s cross-country team at Fernandina Beach High School. “I started off a little cold,” he said. “It took me maybe a mile and a half to get my legs completely warmed up and ready to go. At about the turnaround point I started getting into it, I could see who was left ahead of me and zoned in on them.”

Tomassetti, 17, earned his first overall win in a 5K road race with a time of 18:37. Kaye, at 50 a member of the “grandmaster” age category, finished in 20:59.

Among the “masters” runners, age 40 and up, overall winners were Bill Beaumont, 52, of Yulee in 18:56 and Alicia Parker, 47, of Fernandina Beach in 22:56. Dave Hoock, 52, of Ponte Vedra Beach was the top male grandmaster (50 and older), finishing in 20:53. With Kaye taking the overall award, the win in the women’s grandmaster category went to Susan McKittrick, 52, of Fernandina Beach at 31:01.

In the 10K race, overall winners were Ryan Price, 31, of Jacksonville in 36:13, and Tarla Millar, 35, of Amelia Island in 44:35.

“This was my first time doing the Reindeer Run,” Millar said. “It was a great race, and a great turnout.”

Overall 10K masters winners were Fernandina Beach residents David Vigh, 41, in 37:56 and Rosa Haslip, 45, in 44:53. The top grandmasters were George White, 61, of Orange Park in 43:43 and Elfrieda Wyner, 66, of St. Augustine in 45:29.

Wyner is one of the nation’s top-ranked runners in her age group, and has competed in the Reindeer Run 10K every year since 2004. She has seen the 5K/10K field grow from 145 finishers back then to more than 400 registered runners this year. And she has seen the route change; Saturday’s course crossed Atlantic Avenue to reach the finish line, to accommodate the electronic timing equipment used this year for the first time.

“Fort Clinch is a great venue for the race,” she said. “The Fernandina Beach Police did an excellent job in providing runners a safe passage across Atlantic Avenue.”

Also, she said, “I couldn't help but notice that this year there were more women runners than ever.” Women outnumbered the men in both the 5K and 10K races.

Wyner believes the increase in women runners nationally in the last two decades “boils down to confidence level.”

“Women are much more confident and comfortable with themselves and others in every aspect of life than in years past,” she said. “The fact that running makes women feel better, makes it easier to keep on doing it…. Running is also a family-oriented activity in which mothers can be great role models for their children. We all can have fun at a running event even if we come in last in our age group.”

The event also included a 1.5-mile noncompetitive walk, and children’s fun runs with Santa Claus. In the one-mile fun run, finishing first among the girls were Caroline Dobinski, 10, Ella Schoening, 7, and Paige Murphy, 10; and among the boys, Joe Lupone, 9, Xavier Sample, 10, and Grayson Roach, 9. Finishing first in the half-mile run were Cole Imrich, 6, and Madeline Mott, 9.

The club’s next event will be the Pirates on the Run 5K/10K, walk and children’s runs on Saturday, Feb. 21, Mardi Gras weekend. The 2009 edition will feature several changes, including a new race headquarters and new route. Details and registration information will be posted soon on this website.