As the 16th annual Nittany Valley Arts Festival 10K Road Race came to a close, the familiar name of Joe LeMay topped the men's division for the second year in a row. LeMay won the overall race in 31 minutes and 9 seconds, breaking the previous record of 31:40.

Lemay, 24, a University graduate student, has been running these types of races for the past 10 years.

"I guess I got involved in ninth grade when my friend talked me into running, and I've been running ever since then," he said.

And run he has. As the result of a 10K on a track about eight weeks ago, he qualified for the Olympic Time Trials in New Orleans. LeMay ran the distance in 28:35, qualifying by just 5 seconds.

In yesterday's race, he beat out the second-place runner, John Russell, a University freshman, by about one minute.

"The competition was very good and the course, especially the second time around was grueling," LeMay said. "It was really tough."

Another helpful factor for LeMay in his record-breaking race was the weather.

"A breeze was blowing when I ran the first lap, and my split was 15:13," he said. "I then knew that I needed about a 16 (minute) second lap to break it (the record), so I think the weather was conducive to the record being broken."

LeMay's long term goal is to compete well in the Olympic Time Trials and represent the United States in the Olympics to be held in Barcelona, Spain in 1992. Lemay hopes that his training will pay off for him down the road.

He said that his experiences in running have a lot in common with everyday life. It is just too easy to give up, and those who succeed are the ones who keep trying no matter what the odds are against them, no matter how great, he said.

"I think my training has paid off for me even though it is sometimes hard," he said.