By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

It rained on Cincinnati's biggest parade Thursday. And rained. And rained. And rained.

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Photos of Race Day

But that did not stop a field of about 10,000 from running in the 94th Thanksgiving Day Race.

"It wasn't only the runners," former Bengal Anthony Munoz said. "But all the people out on the course. It says a lot about the people and this race."

Munoz, whose foundation is one of the beneficiaries of the 10K race, also participated. He finished in 52 minutes, 7 seconds - a respectable time for a former All-Pro tackle.

Thursday's race was the soggiest in recent memory.

It rained from the time the early arrivers were stretching until the last finishers completed the race.

"It rained. It was cold," said Jen Scheerer, the women's winner. "But that's this time of year."

The weather slowed times.

Henry Dennis won for the second straight year. His time of 31:07 was more than a minute slower than last year.

"Not to make any excuses," said Dennis, who ran at Colerain High and Wisconsin. "People run fast in this kind of weather. But I got cold. My arms were really cold. I could barely see because of the rain. But it was fun, though."

Dennis, 29, was a late entry. He had planned on running the Cal Marathon in Sacramento next week. But his training wasn't where he wanted it to be.

"I stopped feeling good," he said. "I had a couple of bad weeks.

So he signed up for Thanksgiving Day Race instead. "I wanted to use this as a confidence booster," he said. "Hopefully run a fast time, get my confidence up."

He knew that a fast time wasn't going to happen when he looked out his window Thursday morning. But he took the approach of the rest of the field:

"I paid my money so I got to run," he said, and he ran away from the field early.

Jerry Claunch, 22, a Lakota East graduate, finished second in 31:58. Claunch, who is red-shirting at Miami University this year, had his best finish at the Thanksgiving Day race.

"I was cold," he said. "My shoes are pretty heavy from the water. I haven't raced for long a time, so it was good to get out."

Scheerer, 23, is from Louisville. She recently graduated from Bellarmine University, where she starred in cross country and track. She was in Cincinnati for Thanksgiving at her fiancÈe's house.

"I haven't been running a whole lot," she said. "I said: If I feel good, I'll race. If not, I'll just run it."

Her time - 37:17 - was well off her personal best of 36:12. "It was OK. I'm satisfied," she said. "I'm ready to eat."

Results online

•  www.thanksgivingdayrace.com