Ryan Root told himself that as soon as his streak of six straight wins in the Freedom 5K in Champaign ended, he'd be finished with the race. And as former North Central College teammate and Monticello graduate Matt Norvell pulled away with half a mile left, Root thought his run was over.
Then, he found a second wind. As he crossed Fourth Street on Kirby, in between Memorial Stadium and State Farm Center, he pulled even and then ahead of Norvell to win the race for the seventh straight time with a time of 15:02.
"He pushed, and I thought I was done," said the Centennial graduate, who also finished in front of third place Ryan Thompson, a former North Central College runner, and fourth-place Gabe Pommier, who will head to North Central College this fall after graduating from Mahomet-Seymour.