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Runners return home to win inaugural Canton Cares 5K Road Race

Dean Yost, left, chats with Aidan O’Donnell after Saturday’s Canton Cares benefit road race.

CANTON, Nov. 26, 2022 – The two winners of Saturday’s inaugural Canton Cares 5K Road Race both live out of state. But in reality, they were both back home.

Two Canton High graduates and former participants in the cross country and track and field program won the benefit road race that began and ended near the Canton Volunteer Fire Department on Canton Springs Road.

Dean Yost now lives in Arlington, Virginia, where is a graduate student at the University of Virginia, studying chemical engineering. He won the race with a course-record time of 16:01.

Kim Krusell lives in Northampton, Mass. She was the first woman to cross the finish line. When she attended Canton High in the 2000s, she was known as Kim Powell.

Yost, who finished fifth at the Richmond Half Marathon earlier this month with a time of 1:10.29 for 13.1 miles, raced away from the start, sprinting with one of his former coaches Devin Glasson. “He wanted to see how far he could start with me,” Yost said with a grin.

Glasson fell off the pace leaving University of Lynchburg runner Max Sparks, another former Canton High All-State runner, to chase him down. But Yost kept up the pace to secure the win.

“I run each morning. I try to stay active,” said Yost, who caught with former teammates once the race was complete.

Kim and Brian Krusell run together in Saturday’s Canton Cares road race in Canton.

Sean Richard, a former Canton High runner who graduated in 2020, organized the race to give back to the community. His month, Nancy, passed away in 2013 due to cancer but he has always been touched by how the Canton communities rallied around his family while his mother was battling the disease.

Former Canton High cross country and track and field coach Tim O’Donnell and Glasson got the word out about the race to former Warrior runners in the area.

Krusell ran the race with her husband, Brian. They ran the Manchester Road Race on Thursday but were thrilled to reconnect with former classmates and coaches on Saturday. After the race, Kim and Brian were all smiles with their five-month-old daughter, Lydia, surrounded by the warm of family and friends.

Krusell’s brother, Ted Powell, finished fifth in the race.

Richard estimated that the race raised more than $1,000 which he plans to donate to Mary’s Place in Windsor.

“I set this up on November 5 so the turnout was better than I expected,” he said. “To see more than 50 people from the community was overwhelming. I am really appreciative of everyone coming out to support a good cause.”

Richard hopes to make this an annual event.

Runners race away from the start in Saturday’s Canton Cares 5K road race in Canton.

Canton Cares 5K Road Race
At Canton
Top finishers – 1. Dean Yost, Charlottesville, Va., 16:01 for 3.1 miles, 2. Max Sparks 17:03, 3. Aidan O’Donnell 19:24, 4. Ted Powell 20:20, 5. Ryan Weller 20:51, 6. Liam O’Donnell 20:58, 7. Tyler Fitzpatrick 21:00, 8. Andrew Swanson 21:49, 9. Kim Krusell, Northampton, Mass., 22:22, 10. Brian Krusell 22:22, 11. Cooper Glasgow 23:01, 12. Riley Keller 25:18, 13. Owen Weller 25:18. 14. Chris Tenczar 25:24
Top five women – 1. Kim Krusell, Northampton, 22:22, 2. Kim Weller 29:14, 3. Beth Vrabel 29:42

Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.

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