Hunter Potts takes the Possum Trot in Wausau

For more summers than anyone seems able to remember the northwest Florida village of Wausau has hosted the Possum Trot 5K road race. The run is part of Wausau's annual Possum Festival which has been around since 1970, but it doesn't seem likely that the Possum Trot goes back that far. The area's veteran runners are as perplexed by the question as I am, and tend to confuse the race with the Hot Trot in nearby Chipley. After a few decades, one hot humid 3.1-mile run starts to seem like another.


Hot and humid was indeed the order of business on Saturday morning, 3 August 2013, when athletes started to gather at the Possum Palace for the umpteenth annual renewal of the race honoring Wausau's favorite marsupial. You could hardly expect any other sort of conditions in August, though, and the Wausau Volunteer Fire Department, the host of the race, was ready for the weather, with plenty of water sprays on the course.


The course itself was out and back, starting and finishing on Jefferson Street on the east side of Possum Palace Park. After 300 meters on that shady lane, the course spilled the runners out onto Pioneer Road, where shade was only a memory. Not that many competitors were thinking about the sun; they were too busy trying to negotiate the hills on their way to and from the turnaround on Pioneer Road. Each quarter mile was marked, with the additional course marking shaped like squashed possums to reassure the runners that they were on course.


The race got under way at 7:30 AM CT. Ben McLain led the field at the turn onto Pioneer Road, with Tallahassee master runner Michael Martinez pacing the pursuit seven seconds back. Graceville's Hunter Potts was tucked back in fourth place, but he wouldn't stay there long. Potts quickly moved up into third on Pioneer Road, then passed Martinez and set his sights on McLain. By the time Potts finished the first mile in 5:41 he was out in front, thirteen seconds ahead of McLain. Potts was still way out front at the turnaround, and was even farther ahead when he hit the two mile mark at 11:16. Maintaining his pace, Potts crossed the finish line first in 17:28. Behind Potts, Martinez caught McLain during the final mile, then pulled ahead with 600 meters to go to take the runner-up spot  in 19:10, finishing as first master. McLain was third in 19:37.


Bonifay, Florida master runner Val Lichner was the first woman off of Jefferson Street. On the long, rolling trek along Pioneer Road, though, another master runner pulled even with Lichner--Kim Allan of Panama City . Just half a kilometer from the finish Lichner and Allan were still racing side by side. Allan opened a gap on the final stretch along Jefferson, charging across the line to take the women's title with a 24:28, good for 19th overall. Lichner was the women's runner up, finishing 20th overall in 24:34.


145 athletes completed the course of Wausau's 2013 Possum Trot 5K.


Top Ten Males, 2013 Wausau Possum Trot 5K

1. 17:28 ~ Hunter Potts (M, 21) Graceville, FL
2. 19:10 ~ Michael Martinez (M, 47) Tallahassee, FL
3. 19:37 ~ Ben McLain (M, 38) Conyers, GA
4. 20:11 ~ Mark Clements (M, 36) Alford, FL
5. 20:39 ~ Dale Thomas (M, 50) Taylor, AL
6. 20:57 ~ Nicholas Lewis (M, 28)
7. 22:08 ~ Thomas Newell (M, 27) Dothan, AL
8. 22:26 ~ Dale Nash (M, 62) Dothan, AL
9. 22:45 ~ Jay Wrenn (M, 49) Dothan, AL
10. 22:54 ~ Eric Hudson (M, 40) Bonifay, FL

Top Ten Females, 2013 Wausau Possum Trot 5K

1. 24:28 ~ Kim Allan (F, 43) Panama City, FL
2. 24:34 ~ Val Lichner (F, 54) Bonifay, FL
3. 26:44 ~ Gina Spease (F, 33) Southport, FL
4. 26:49 ~ Robin Walters (F, 51) Panama City, FL
5. 26:54 ~ Jill Wofsey (F, 50) Alford, FL
6. 27:08 ~ Lila Taylor (F,
7. 27:18 ~ Shannon White (F,
8. 27:20 ~ Marty Kirkland (F, 60) Southport, FL
9. 27:24 ~ Cindy Weir (F,
10. 27:28 ~ Kristina Bennett (F, 40) Dothan, AL

Known champions of the Wausau Possum Trot 5K, 1981-2013
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
3 Aug 2013	17:28, Hunter Potts	24:28, Kim Allen	145
4 Aug 2012	18:22, Hunter Potts	19:48, Hadley Nyquist	144
6 Aug 2011	17:41, Matt Dobson	20:17, Hadley Miller	97
7 Aug 2010	17:12, Matt Dobson	19:32, Hadley Nyquist	102
1 Aug 2009	17:59, David Shearon	20:48, Sara White	141
2 Aug 2008	16:13, Matt Dobson	21:43, Lou Ellen Jayroe	107
4 Aug 2007	18:19, Brian Goddin	22:37, In-Mi Matsunaga	92
5 Aug 2006	17:24, Brian Goddin	21:56, Lauren Eschbach	87
No race held 1998-2005; revived by Frank and Carol Kreis in 2006.
2 Aug 1997	17:10, Matt Dobson	20:37, Julie Clark	56
3 Aug 1996	???	???	???
5 Aug 1995	17:14, Dale Thomas	22:08, Marty Kirkland	70
6 Aug 1994	15:55, Gary Droze	20:00, Sammy Calder	89
7 Aug 1993	17:11, Dale Thomas	20:43, Val Casalini	70
2 Aug 1992	???	19:26, Donna Duty
3 Aug 1991	15:30, Matt Dobson	19:48, Belinda Warnack	111
4 Aug 1990	15:52, Swag Hartel	18:39, Chris Myers	120
5 Aug 1989	18:44*, David Keen	22:15*, Sylvia Sanchez	166
6 Aug 1988	15:40, Paul Buchanan	20:33, Tracey Pepoon	183
1 Aug 1987	15:54, Scott Simmons	19:06, Janice Hochstein	159
3 Aug 1985	16:52*, Paul Hough	22:21*, Donna Duty	145
4 Aug 1984	9:43*, Paul Buchanan	12:16*, Donna Duty	121
6 Aug 1983	16:00, Paul Buchanan	20:05, Donna Duty	141
7 Aug 1982	15:46, Keith Lee	19:26, Sarah Kramer	176
1 Aug 1981	15:59, Paul Hough	19:25, Terri Cramer	97
* Problems controlling the turn-around point on the Possum Trot's  out-and-back course during the 1980s led to uncertain distances. The 1984 race is believed to have been 2 miles, the 1985 race about 3.4 miles, and the 1989 race 3.8 miles. A huge thank you to Larry Dykes of the Dothan Runners Club for most of the information in this table!

Links

• Complete results of the 2013 Wausau Possum Trot 5K
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AuBsYKIIn3TCdHF1STNuUFBkR081ZFhHelc1N2pEZUE
  
  
• More photos of the 2013 Wausau Possum Trot 5K
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10103380393072033.1073741876.5215641&l=7eaecdaa55
  
  
• 2011 story, "Marsupials and masters have their day in Wausau"
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/08/wausau-2011.html
  
  
• Whether the mascot is a mammal, a marsupial, or a monotreme, you'll find your race on this schedule
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1