In the 30th annual Run For Sickle Cell 5K on Saturday morning, 10 September 2011, Gary Droze and Javier Zamparelli fought for over a quarter hour in the streets of Tallahassee's Jake Gaither neighborhood, but in the end it was Droze who prevailed 16:29 to 16:46. Droze, who first won the race twenty years ago, was also the fastest master in the field. Tiffany Barz ran 21:21 to finish 26th overall as first female, just ahead of women's runner-up Megan O'Connor (27th, 21:30). Paula O'Neill of Tallahassee's Gulf Winds Track Club was the third woman in and the first woman master, placing 30th overall in 21:55.
After an exceptionally brutal summer, it was a fine morning to race--clear, calm, and with temperatures in the mid-60s. Javier Zamparelli was the early leader, trailed closely by Gary Droze, Mike Nesius, and 2007 champion Michael Martinez. Those four opened a gap on the rest of the field, running together through the first kilometer. By halfway, though, Zamparelli and Droze had dropped Nesius and Martinez, and would spend the next 2500 meters deciding who was going to win. Droze made the decisive move late in the race. With half a kilometer to go Droze had opened up a ten-meter lead, which he widened as he drove toward the finish line. Droze went on to win by over 80 meters.
By 800 meters into the race, Tiffany Barz was ahead of the rest of the women, a step or two in front of Megan O'Connor and seven second up on the 2010 women's champion, Nancy Stedman. At the halfway point of the race Barz was still in front, twelve seconds ahead of O'Connor. Stedman, however, had just been passed by Paula O'Neill and was being stalked by Fran McLean. O'Connor started to gain on Barz during the second half of the race, and was just five seconds down with 500 meters to go. But Barz moved away again as the runners headed for home, and ended the race nine seconds up on O'Connor, 21:21 to 21:30. O'Neill made up some ground on the leaders during the second half, but not enough to catch either of them, and ended the race third in 21:55. McLean edged out Stedman for fourth, 22:29 to 22:40.
Tallahassee's Run For Sickle Cell hasn't always been on the same course or even the same distance, but for thirty years it has been hosted by the Sickle Cell Foundation as a fundraiser. The current course has been used since at least 1987 when it received USATF certification. The consensus seems to be that it's one of the fastest courses in Tallahassee (with dissenting opinions from runners who had slow times).Top Ten Men
16:29 Gary Droze (M, 50) Tallahassee, FL- 16:46 Javier Zamparelli (M, 22) Tallahassee, FL
- 17:21 Mike Nesius (M, 26) Tallahassee, FL
- 17:38 Michael Martinez (M, 45) Tallahassee, FL
- 18:24 Eric Godin (M, 27) Tallahassee, FL
- 18:25 Mickey Moore (M, 41) Tallahassee, FL
- 18:34 Jeff Armstrong (M, 36) Tallahassee, FL
- 18:35 Evan Francis (M, 14) Tallahassee, FL
- 18:47 Karl Hempel (M, 60) Tallahassee, FL
- 18:54 Anthony Walker (M, 15) Tallahassee, FL
Top Ten Women
21:21 Tiffany Barz (F, 24) Tallahassee, FL- 21:30 Megan O'Connor (F, 23) Tallahassee, FL
- 21:55 Paula O'Neill (F, 50) Tallahassee, FL
- 22:29 Fran McLean (F, 53) Tallahassee, FL
- 22:40 Nancy Stedman (F, 49) Tallahassee, FL
- 22:59 Kellie Gerbers (F, 25) Tallahassee, FL
- 23:33 Elizabeth Muller (F, 24) Tallahassee, FL
- 23:38 Sandra Canada (F, 48) Woodville, FL
- 23:43 Heather Wolbers (F, 33) Tallahassee, FL
- 23:54 Angela Newell (F, 35) Lakeland, FL
| Known Sickle Cell 5K winners, 1982-2011 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Men | Women |
| 1982 | ||
| 1983 | ||
| 8 September 1984 * | ||
| 31 August 1985 | ||
| 1986 | ||
| 19 September 1987 | Jessie Close (15:14.2) | Karen MacHarg (17:31.8) |
| 17 September 1988 | Jessie Close (15:12) | Carla Borovicka (16:40) |
| 16 September 1989 | Jessie Close (15:14) | Barbara Balzer (19:38) |
| 15 September 1990 | Bill Crooks (16:04) | Karen MacHarg (18:23) |
| 14 September 1991 | Gary Droze (15:18) | Vikki Saga (18:47) |
| 12 September 1992 | Gary Droze (15:07) | Carrie Hunnicutt (18:39) |
| 11 September 1993 | Peter Kirk (15:50) | Leah Bonds (21:06) |
| 10 September 1994 | Andy Palmer (15:47) | Jane Johnson (18:06) |
| 9 September 1995 | ||
| 1996 | ||
| 1997 | ||
| 12 September 1998 | Tim Simpkins (16:26) | Julie Clark (20:28) |
| 11 September 1999 | Robert Pautienus (16:24) | Kingsley Broughton (19:44) |
| 9 September 2000 | Tim Unger (16:55) | Sandra Williams (17:40) |
| 8 September 2001 | Tony Pearson (17:05) | Renata Strakova (19:39) |
| 14 September 2002 | Michael LaBossiere (19:15) | Jane Cormier (24:03) |
| 13 September 2003 | David Yon (18:24) | Kim Likens (22:25) |
| 11 September 2004 | Scott Ruplinger (18:32) | Krista Killius (22:29) |
| 10 September 2005 | Dan Pick (18:28) | Cathleen Willy (22:00) |
| 9 September 2006 | Chris Gregory (17:36) | Summer Shepherd (21:05) |
| 8 September 2007 | Michael Martinez (16:52) | Lindsay Thomas (20:18) |
| 13 Sepember 2008 | Chris Lake (16:05) | Sheryl Rosen (19:11) |
| 12 September 2009 | Chris Lake (15:44) | Julie Clark (22:27) |
| 11 September 2010 | Trey Edwards (18:36) | Nancy Stedman (22:13) |
| 10 September 2011 | Gary Droze (16:29) | Tiffany Barz (21:21) |
| * Four-mile run | ||
Links:
- Complete results of the 2011 Run For Sickle Cell 5K at gulfwinds.org
http://www.gulfwinds.org/raceresults/2011/Sickle%20Cell%202011.html - More photos of the 2011 Run For Sickle Cell 5K
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101002309849873.3203361.5215641&l=da57a533a8 - Fred Deckert's photos of the 2011 Run For Sickle Cell 5K
https://picasaweb.google.com/Freddecka/Sickle11 - 2010 story, "Edwards and Stedman are the 2010 Sickle Cell 5K champions"
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/09/sickle-cell-2010.html - Another race where Droze and Barz shared the winner's circle
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/08/fallen-heroes-2011.html - Schedule your next race using the Trouble Afoot! calendar of upcoming runs
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
0 comments:
Post a Comment