A new face in first place: Rockford’s Langford dominates women’s field to win in first try

DIXON – The bad news for women looking to win the annual Reagan Run 5K in the future is that Jessica Langford really liked the course.

The 38-year-old from Rockford made her first appearance in the event on Saturday and cruised to the women’s title.

She finished in 18 minutes, 34 seconds, well over a minute ahead of the second-place runner, Polo native Terah Cheatham, who had won the last two years.

“When we walked the course, I didn’t think that I was going to like running her very much,” Langford said. “With all the hills and running on grass and in the woods, I just thought I wasn’t going to enjoy it.

“I couldn’t have been more wrong. I really loved it. It was fun because it was different from all the other road races that I do. I am definitely going to have to make sure that I come back next year.”

Langford, who ran at Winnebago High School and at the University of Minnesota, decided to make a change this year as part of her Independence Day celebration.

“Usually, I run up in Rockford during the Fourth of July, but I wanted to do something different,” Langford said. “I am really glad I did. It was great with all the people lined up on the street. This town just gets a lot more excited about this and it makes it more fun to have that kind of encouragement.”

Langford’s time also sets the women’s race record. The old time was set last year by Cheatham at 19:12.40.

She also becomes the sixth woman to claim the Reagan Run title in the event’s 10-year history. Dixon graduate Jessica Schuaff won four of them (2001,  ’03,  ’04,  ’05). Other past winners are Cheatham (’07, ’08), Barb Lauff (’06), Ellie Pinzarrone (’02) and Tascha Atchley (’00).

Cheatham, who runs cross country and track at DePaul University, was using the run as a little bit of a stress reliever.

“This has been such a stressful week that I wasn’t even thinking about winning,” Cheatham said. “I’ve spent all my time this week studying for the MCAT [Medical College Admission Test] so that’s all that has been on my mind.”