MARIETTA - Jenn Feenstra of Duluth took the aggressive approach to running her first U.S. 10K Classic on Monday. She got out in front early and finished strong.

Feenstra, 28, was the first women's runner to cross the finish line with a time of 36:36.90 and eighth overall. She said afterwards she wasn't afraid of the mostly uphill 6.2-mile race that took place on Cobb Parkway, starting at Cumberland Mall and ending in front of the White Water parking lot.

After finishing the U.S. 10K, Feenstra said the hilly course was tamer than she was led to believe.

"I knew it would be hilly, but it wasn't as bad as everyone was making it up to be," Feenstra said. "Everyone was telling me that it was going to be awful."

Her difficulty was maintaining pace without runners close in front of her or behind her. With no runners nearby, Feenstra used the long up hills as motivation to maintain a consistent pace. She said she paced herself for the first 4.5 miles before pushing herself on the last uphill prior to the Big Chicken.

Tamara Karrh of Marietta took second among the women and 17th overall with a time of 38:11.50.

The remaining top five women's runners finished about 1 minute apart with Allison Kreutzer of Lilburn coming in third (39:13.70), Julie Seymour of Greenwood, S.C. taking fourth (40:07.42) and Sesalie Smathers claiming fifth (41:20.75).

Feenstra grew up a runner in London, Ontario before a Georgia State cross country and track scholarship brought her to Atlanta in 2000. She's currently training for her first Toronto Marathon, a course known to be flatter and the U.S. 10K, on Sept. 27

During her Georgia State career, Feenstra was one of three women's runners in the history of the program to claim all-conference honors all four years.

She was named Atlantic Sun Conference Runner of the year in 2004 before Georgia State switched to the Colonial Athletic Association.