Abdirahman Runs in Memory of His Best Friend (Ryan Shay)

CHARLEVOIX — That Ryan Shay would be honored by a mile race must seem fitting to some area track fans, who recall his high school battle with Charlevoix’s John Bush in the Buckmaster 1600-meter run at Petoskey’s Curtis Field in the mid 1990s.That was one of the rare races Shay didn’t win, as he was a four-time cross country state champion and six-time track state champion at Central Lake, and a nine-time All-American at Notre Dame.Shay, then 28, died last November from a heart attack during the Olympic marathon trial in New York City. A select field — 10 runners in the men’s race, 11 in the women’s — gathered for the first Ryan Shay Mile, to compete in the sport its namesake gave his life to, Saturday in downtown Charlevoix.Grant Robison of East Lansing won the men’s road race in 4 minutes 3.2 seconds, while Dot McMahan of Rochester Hills was first in the women’s race with a time of 4:35

“In 2005, I was a teammate of Ryan’s on the half-marathon national team,” McMahan said. “I remember what an intense competitor he was. This is a great way to honor him. It was a fun race.”McMahan, an 800-meter runner at Wisconsin-Milwaukee who now does distance for elite Detroit-area running club Hanson-Brooks, took home $1,000 for winning the race, plus $250 for leading at the halfway point.“I haven’t been running middle distance, but I got off to a nice start, then the last quarter mile was downhill,” McMahan said. “In a mile race, you just do what you can.”Former Grand Valley State star Mandi Zemba was second in the women’s race in 4:37.55, followed by former Arizona State runner Desi Davilla, 4:42.31; former Michigan State runner Lisa Senakiewicz of Davison, 4:47.30; and Andrea Parker of Livonia who ran at the University of Michigan, 4:49.15.Second in the men’s race was Jeremy Doherty of Missouri, 4:04.21, followed by Ben Rosario of Missouri, 4:06.98; Derek Scott of Indiana, 4:07.77; and Clint Verran of Hanson-Brooks, 4:08.96. Rondell Ruff was the half-mile leader.“Rondell took it out pretty fast, and then by the three-quarters mark there was a group of three of us up front,” said Robison, a 2004 Olympian and 1,500-meter NCAA champion at Stanford. “Then I just started sprinting with all I had.”Robison had competed almost solely on the track during the spring, so a road race took a little adjusting.“The biggest difference is on the track, you always know where you are,” Robison said. “In a road race, even though there were quarter-mile markers, you don’t have as accurate a pace. And, there are no spikes.”Also on Saturday, Stephan Shay, Ryan’s younger brother, who runs for BYU, won the Jeff Drenth Memorial 10K in 31:23. Justin Zanotti was second, 32:22, and Tyler Noble third, 35:18. Andrea Osika was the women’s winner, in 42:19.Stephen Fuelling of Milford won the Drenth 5K, in 16:30. Ben Wynsma was second, 16:38, and Tecumseh Adams of Harbor Springs third, 17:02. Ashley Casevant was first among women, 18:15