SYRACUSE — Three straight titles is nothing to scoff at, but Elias Rojas is keeping it in perspective.

Rojas won his third straight 3.3-mile run at the 40th annual Flotilla Road Race at Lakeside Park in Syracuse Tuesday. Although the threepeat may have been impressive, Rojas isn’t getting a big head about it.

“It feels good, but when the record is 13 in a row it puts things in perspective,” said Rojas after clocking 16:54 in the 3.3-mile run and before taking off to complete the 8-mile course Tuesday. “That’s something that is impressive. Coach (Brian) Shepherd holds it. Thirteen in a row, that is a testament to a lot. I’m OK, but it’s just another race.”

Shepherd, who won the men’s Grandmaster division 3.3-mile race in 19:40, helped attract some of the top talent to Tuesday’s short races.

Actually, both the 3-3-mile runs were won by employees at West Noble School Corporation, where Shepherd serves as principal. While Rojas won his third straight Flotilla run on the men’s side, Kirstin Alles won her second consecutive women’s title with a 21:47 stop Tuesday.

“Mr. Shepherd is my principal. I work at West Noble primary, so whenever he puts on races we try to go to those as much as we can,” explained Alles.

Alles said she is recovering from three weeks off due to sciatic pain and still building her endurance back up. The Flotilla race was her second straight win after she claimed top honors at the Old Settler’s Main Street Mile in Columbia City June 24. She shared credit for Tuesday’s win with her husband, who ran side-by-side with her through the 3-3-mile course at Lakeside Park before continuing on to the 8-mile course.

“I’m still trying to get back in shape right now, so it wasn’t the best race ever, but it was still good. Good to have my husband running with me as well. It was great to have his encouragement throughout it,” she said.

While both short runs were repeat wins, the overall men’s and women’s 8-mile winners were both first-timers.

Matthew Helm clocked a winning time of 44:17 to win the long race in his first entry into the event in roughly seven years.

“It felt good. It was a nice day for this time of year, better than you could’ve hoped for,” said Helm. “I’m happy with the run. It’s a good, challenging course. It’s got some hills, which I don’t always train on so it’s a good strength-builder, I think.”

In the women’s race, Colleen Dabler finished first with a winning time of 55:18.

Dabler, a 43-year-old mother of four who is training for her 10th marathon, says she runs in races like Tuesday’s 8-mile Flotilla Run as tune-ups for her longer races. She hopes she can inspire other mothers that they can do it, too.

“I like to stay competitive. I hope to inspire other moms and women that working hard, you can see results,” she said.

“I’m just really grateful for the race director and the great community here in Syracuse to put on a 4th of July race.”

Tuesday’s holiday runs pulled in roughly 350 entrants, down a bit from last year’s attendance, said race director and wife of Brian Shepherd, Lorri Shepherd. She explaining that the Flotilla races were up against a Fort Wayne race this year, and that that may have explained the drop in attendance from last year.

“We were at about 350 this year. Last year we were at just over 400, but Fort Wayne started up their July 4th race again, so we had some people tell us they went down there,” she said.

Although there may have been a few less runners in this year’s Flotilla races, all in all, Lorri was pleased with Tuesday’s event. Besides the temperate conditions at the lake, things also moved more smoothly this year after she made some modifications to race day sign-ups this year.

“Today went pretty smoothly,” she said. “We were able to get the preregistered their shirts. I think having it inside here helped to separate the people because when we do it in the park, everybody is real close together. Separating the preregistered people in that room and the registration day-of in this room was very helpful. It made things go more smoothly for registration purposes.”

Listed below are the division and age group winners to Tuesday’s races:

• 2017 FLOTILLA ROAD RUN WINNERS

3.3-mile

Male

Overall — Elias Rojas 16:54

Master —Mike Flora 19:22

Grand master — Brian Shepherd 19:40

12 and under — Drew Hasbrook 25:17

13-15 — Ethan Clapacs 20:21

16-19 — Chase Leffers 20:34

20-24 — Joshua Howell 24:35

25-29 — Chuck Wysong 18:38

30-34 — Brian Miller 22:40

35-39 — Andy Mehl 22:42

40-44 — Chris Kaufman 19:48

45-49 — Jeff Dunithan 21:56

50-54 — Todd McCulloch 23:12

55-59 — Steve Chamness 28:23

60-69 — Justin Frerick 25:51

70 and up — Dan Johnston 32:13

Female

Overall — Kirstin Alles 21:47

Master — Lisa Kipfer 28:25

Grand master — Resia Rinker 26:43

12 and under — Bailey Freese 28:34

13-15 — Audrey McKinney 22:49

16-19 — Carmen Yoder 24:02

20-24 — Amy Walker 22:18

25-39 — Marta Wysong 23:48

30-34 — Lucretia Cardenas 24:57

35-39 — Stacy Weisser 23:46

40-44 — Misty Glandin 28:52

45-49 — Lisa Dehart 30:33

50-54 — Jenna Morris 29:32

55-59 — Christy Leffers 28:26

60-69 — Annie Wills 32:43

70 and up — Betty Nelson 38:00

8 mile

Male

Overall — Matthew Helm 44:17

Master — Joey Nelson 50:45

Grand Master — Steve Leffers 49:57

16-19 — Derrick Miller 46:06

20-24 — Josiah Waltz 68:38

25-29 — Addison Lopp 57:36

30-34 — Christopher Schenkel 59:23

35-39 — Robert Martin 39:42

40-44 — Jason Klagg 58:15

45-49 — Paul Walker 74:31

50-54 — Todd Hoffer 53:27

55-59 — Tom Gorgol 61:49

60-69 — Dean Warstler 67:52

70 and up — Lawrence Scholl 2:01.57

Female

Overall — Colleen Dabler 55:18

Master — Barb Martz 62:32

Grand master — Lisa Hurst 65:19

20-24 — Stephanie Homme 68:58

25-29 — Brooke Keudell 55:45

30-34 — Ginny Patterson 62:04

45-49 — Pam Kenninger 69:05

50-54 — Mae Miller 77:12

55-59 — Jenny Isenbarger 67:00