Gomez and Cauthen and the ants of Ashburn

In South Georgia, the town of Ashburn holds a Fire Ant Festival 5K in March. Nearby Camilla, Georgia, hosts the Gnat Days Festival 5K each May. The region is just one event short of a nuisance insect triple crown series of races. That's something to keep in mind if you were considering celebrating Locust Days in July, or holding a Deer Fly Festival. I doubt that Enterprise, Alabama, is willing to loan its Boll Weevil Festival, but you could always ask.


The series would have to open with the Fire Ant Festival 5K, though, which is alway held on the fourth Saturday in March, except when it's run on the fifth Saturday in March. In 2015 March only had four Saturdays, so the race was on 28 March 2015. Omega, Georgia, master runner Lorenzo Gomez won the 3.1-mile run in 19:35. In the 2014 race, Leesburg master runner Bruce Austin had taken the runner-up spot and Ashburn's own Mauricio Cervantes had taken third. This year their places were reversed. Cervantes, 15, grabbed second in 20:53, nearly a minute and a half faster than he had run the year before. Austin ran 21:01 to take third.


Bonaire, Georgia, athlete Allison Cauthen had placed second in the women's standings in 2013 and again in 2014. In 2015 she ran her fastest Fire Ant Festival 5K time yet, a 23:27, and it was good enough to earn her the women's title. Carrollton, Georgia, master runner Leslie Miles was the second woman finisher, Miles placed tenth overall in 24:16. Janet Urbanski, 45, of Warner Robins, Georgia, took third in the women's standings, finishing eleventh overall in 24:39. The 2013 Fire Ant Festival 5K women's champion, Adrienne Worley, was fourth in the women's division this year, coming in 13th overall in 24:52.


52 athletes finished the 2015 Fire Ant Festival 5K. Results and timing were provided by RANREB Timing Services of Cordele, Georgia. Expect the next Fire Ant Festival 5K in Ashburn on Saturday morning, 26 March 2016. The ants aren't invited, but they always show up anyway.


Top Ten Men, 2015 Turner County (Georgia) Fire Ant Festival 5K

1. 19:34.99 ~ Lorenzo Gomez (M, 49) Omega, GA
2. 20:52.79 ~ Mauricio Cervantes (M, 15) Ashburn, GA
3. 21:00.70 ~ Bruce Austin (M, 45) Leesburg, GA
4. 21:11.90 ~ Jeff Urbanski (M, 51) Warner Robins, GA
5. 22:04.32 ~ Lou Hartley (M, 48) Lagrange, GA
6. 22:57.37 ~ Evan Hobbs (M, 50) Carrollton, GA
7. 23:45.69 ~ David Slauenwhite (M, 56) Cordele, GA
8. 24:06.17 ~ Ke'shawn Walker (M, 17) Ashburn, GA
9. 24:49.39 ~ Shannon Dorman (M, 48) Tifton, GA
10. 25:01.99 ~ Ethan Golden (M, 38) Sylvester, GA

Top Ten Women, 2015 Turner County (Georgia) Fire Ant Festival 5K

1. 23:26.51 ~ Allison Cauthen (F, 26) Bonaire, GA
2. 24:15.03 ~ Leslie Miles (F, 44) Carrollton, GA
3. 24:38.08 ~ Janet Urbanski (F, 45) Warner Robins, GA
4. 24:51.44 ~ Adrienne Worley (F, 34) Cordele, GA
5. 25:24.31 ~ Rebecca Rhodes (F, 27) Abbeville, GA
6. 26:28.70 ~ April Jowers (F, 34) Tifton, GA
7. 26:45.47 ~ Brittany Pilkenton (F, 28) Sycamore, GA
8. 27:28.00 ~ Gina Purvis (F, 56) Tifton, GA
9. 28:08.69 ~ Laura Eidson (F, 26) Fitzgerald, GA
10. 28:52.19 ~ Raeanne Watkins (F, 61) Tucker, GA

Turner County Fire Ant Festival 5K winners, 2003 - 2015
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
24 March 2001
23 March 2002
22 March 2003	16:37, David Coody, Jr	21:52, Kara Clark
27 March 2004	18:23, Kerry Underwood	27:26, Stephanie Langley
26 March 2005	17:22, Robert Feldman	20:20, Brooke Withers	60
25 March 2006	17:52, Ryan McDaniel	21:22, Rue Chitwood	50
24 March 2007	16:01, David Marley	20:08, Elizabeth Lambert	76
22 March 2008	16:47, David Marley	19:45, Brittney Skiles	106
28 March 2009	18:15, Nathan Norton	22:56, Amy Bartholomew	63
27 March 2010	17:54, Daniel Chevez	21:53, Susan Breeding	91
26 March 2011	17:52, Robert Smith	20:46, Ashley Duncan	97
24 March 2012	18:09, Benjamin James Weston	23:37, Jeanette MacDonald	141
23 March 2013	19:02, Robert Bledsoe	25:24, Adrienne Worley	80
29 March 2014	18:38, Jared Hammond	23:21, Amelia Gibbs	47
28 March 2015	19:35, Lorenzo Gomez	23:27, Allison Cauthen	52

Links

• Complete results of the 2015 Turner County (Georgia) Fire Ant Festival 5K
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TZWK987Hs5H6Y8FSaLKZBsd7ys-EowZVq2zl8z8TwA8/pubhtml
  
  
• 2014 story, “No creeping or crawling for Hammond and Gibbs at the Fire Ant 5K”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/03/fire-ant-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “Bledsoe and Worley winners at 2013 Fire Ant 5K”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/03/fire-ant-2013.html
  
  
• 2011 story, “ASU athletes Smith and Duncan achieve ant honors at Ashburn”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/03/fire-ant-2011.html
  
  
• Upcoming races in the region, with or without pests for mascots
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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