BATAVIA – One year ago, Batavia High School’s Chris Spadafora emerged from the city’s Windmill Whirl 5-kilometer run as the overall winner by just a few milliseconds.

Spadafora’s margin of victory in this year’s 5K could not have been more different.

Spadafora (17:09.4) won Friday night’s Windmill City Whirl by more than a full minute over second-place finisher Neil S. Weerakoon (18:23)

“Last year I ran a 17:30 and won it, too. It felt good [to repeat],” Spadafora said. “There were a few guys that were up there at the front again. But last year was even closer. I had one of my buddies, we were competing at the end. It came down to a couple milliseconds, but it was a pretty good run this time. There was really no competition. I took it from the get-go and just kind of held it.”

Spadafora was challenged by several runners for the first mile, including Weerakoon, but the Batavia senior’s persistence, speed and endurance helped him pull away for an easy victory.

“I stayed with him after one mile, but he just took off from me,” said Weerakoon, who entered the race under the name “Neil The Night Train” – a nickname given to him by his brother-in-law because of his dark complexion. “I tried to keep the gap shorter, but he’s a pretty good runner.”

The majority of the race’s participants live in the Tri-Cities. But for two of the race’s top runners – Weerakoon lives in Downers Grove, and top female finisher Murphee Hayes is from Marathon, N.Y. – the Windmill Whirl offered a less-crowded opportunity to compete in their first 5K of the year.

“I ran this 5K because of my sister,” said Weerakoon, whose sister is from the area. “Basically, I run marathons. I’m not fast enough for the 5K or 8K or 10K. So this is my first 5K of the year and my PR.”

“My husband and I own a home in Plainfield that we’re in the midst of selling, so I just happened to be here,” Hayes said. “And my cousin’s from here as well, so we just got together this evening to run the race.”

The Whirl was Hayes’ first race since Dec. 31, 2010. She has been battling a stress fracture in her foot ever since and Friday night’s 5K forced her to take a leap of faith in both her level of fitness and her foot.

“I’m usually much faster,” Hayes said. “I’m in recovery from a couple injuries, so I was excited to come out and support this festival and just be able to run steady and feel good.

“I just jumped in because they said, ‘Come along tonight.’ I took the chance. Hopefully I won’t hurt too much tomorrow.”

Similarly to Spadafora, Weerakoon and Hayes had nothing but positive things to say about the Whirl, praising both the course and the race’s atmosphere.

“I just think it’s really positive because there are so many families and so many kids and everybody just cheers everybody on,” Hayes said. “I don’t know anybody [here], but it’s just a nice event.”