Yoga enthusiast Ann Mazur from Charlottesville, Va., rambled to first place in the female division of the 38th annual Brentwood Firecracker 5K Run held July 4 on Brownsville Road. Mazur, 35, won it with an 18:35 performance, ahead of Gina Bolla, 18, of Whitehall, and Lenna Birchard, 12, of Pittsburgh, who placed second and third in 19:16 and 20:19. It was the second win for Mazur, a Notre Dame and Seton LaSalle graduate, at the holiday event. She breezed to a decisive victory in 2017, completing the rolling course in 19:08. "I do a lot of yoga to supplement my training,” Mazur said. "Since college, I’ve continued to run and started my own yoga business for runners.” Mazur, who earned a doctorate in English literature at Virginia, grew up in Robinson Township in a big-time athletic family. Her sister, Jill, was a diver at Notre Dame; her brother, Mark, played baseball at Emory. Dan, another brother, was captain of the men’s swimming and cross country teams at Rollins College. Her dad was a Harvard baseball player, and her mom was a gymnast at West Virginia. The Brentwood Firecracker 5K annually takes place on July 4. It was held virtually last summer because of coronavirus pandemic concerns and was limited this time around in the number of registered participants. There were two new co-race directors in 2021, Taylor Lee and Steve Evans, while race committee members Jeanne Berk, Pat Cunningham, Tina Famiglietti, Kira Kellner, Mary Lou Nees, Alicia Reece, Laura Wenger and Rich Wright, plus a host of other local volunteers, assisted in the planning process. "The race was great to see. It was small but nice,” said Wright, a long-standing pillar in the race community. "It was great to see the runners back on Brownsville, and it was great to see so many people, young and old. The field had many of the top high school and college runners. "Brentwood is a great community with great people running it. We had awesome support from the police, fire department and EMS. And hats off to all the competitors. It was a great day for racing, and it completed an awesome weekend for Brentwood. There were fabulous fireworks on Sunday and firetrucks visiting kids.” Kellner formerly was the 5K race director. She stepped down from that position after moving to Florida but still was able to help out this year. "We love that this race attracts not just so many runners from around the region but also the country,” Kellner said following a previous race. "We try to highlight Brentwood in every aspect of this race and love to celebrate our neighbors with a division of their own. "Our favorite part of this race is seeing the runners who return every year.” Bolla is a 2021 Baldwin graduate who lives almost within shouting distance of the race. Her family resides just a half-mile from the 5K starting-line area. The Whitehall teen lowered her personal-best time by more than a minute at this year’s event, going from 20:27 to 19:16. "The race was definitely smaller than it has been in the past,” Bolla said. "Because I decided to race at the last minute, I never really thought about if I was going to place or not. "The weather was very hot, typically like every Fourth of July. It is always fun to see other runners and old friends, and the vibe was still a typical high-energy 5K like it would be any other year.” Bolla was a cross country, indoor and outdoor track athlete in high school and was the first girl from Baldwin to earn a state medal in cross country since Carole Zajac placed fifth, first and first between 1987-89. Wright, who coaches at Baldwin, was ecstatic over Bolla’s performance at the race as well as in Hershey at the state finals. "Gina has been a constant bright spot in our program,” Wright said. "She has worked so hard. She worked harder, longer and reached a level few achieve. She’s a dream to coach. She never complains.” Bolla plans to attend Duquesne, where she will compete in cross country and track while majoring in speech and language pathology with the health sciences department. "I really like their health department programs,” Bolla said. "My Baldwin cross country years are very bittersweet. I had the pleasure of running with some of the best talent in the WPIAL and have many lasting friends. "It is very hard to leave my teammates and an excellent coaching staff that has mentored me since my middle school years.” Rounding out the list of top 10 female runners at the Firecracker were Tessa Franchi, 22, (20:20), Laura Ehrenberger, 22, (20:20), Jessica Horvath, 34, (20:30), Lydia Rhodes, 16, (20:30), Elizabeth White, 17, (20:56), Lena Barakat, 18, (21:05) and Kari King, 48, (21:45). Barakat, a senior at Baldwin in 2020-21, was an 800-meter champion at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field finals in the spring. She also was a WPIAL medalist in the 3,200 relay, along with Bolla, sophomore Rebekah Priano and freshman McKenzie Hirt. Barakat plans to attend Chatham to major in sustainability on a track for veterinary school. Turning to the Firecracker’s male division, it was dramatic. In fact, the fight for first proved to be one of the closest in race history. Jacob Halasowski, 24, of Pittsburgh narrowly defeated 15-year-old Ryan Pajak from nearby Eighty Four, winning by a tight two-second margin of 15:42 to 15:44. "The two winners, Jacob and Ann, are great runners and kept up the Firecracker lore of attracting talented runners, with Ann coming up from Virginia,” Wright said. "Jacob and Ann really show how we’ve always had first-class talent. Their winning times were good for any year.” Halasowski, Pajak and Eli Anish, 19, (15:59), took first, second and third in the male division and were the only competitors to break the 16-minute barrier. "Both runners-up (Pajak and Bolla) are great athletes,” Wright said. "It was just great to see the race back.” Other top 10 male runners were John Mihalek, 26, (16:40), Tyler Paszkowski, 17, (17:12), Al Lindstrom, 22, (17:38), Steve Spang, 35, (17:40), Connor Downs, 18, (17:41), Eric Anish, 52, (17:44) and Neil Christopher, 26, (17:51). Anish, 52, and King, 48, captured the master’s division championships. Anish (50-54) also finished first in his age group and placed ninth overall. King (45-49) also secured the top spot in her age group. Anish is a doctor and sports medicine specialist at UPMC and the team physician at Duquesne University. He has served as a volunteer at the Olympics and Pan-Am Games. Ray Fisher is a freelance writer.