Thursday, July 9, 2015

Kemp and Townsend celebrate wins at the Celebrate Freedom 5K

Tallahassee's Firecracker 5K isn't the only Independence Day road race out there. Valdosta, Georgia, has an Independence Day 5K as well, and I understand that a few people even run a 10K in the streets of Atlanta on July 4. In the Florida Panhandle, the Celebrate Freedom 5K has been contested in Jay on Independence Day annually since 2000. The 3.1-mile race returned to the streets of Jay on Saturday morning, 4 July 2015.


Micah Kemp won the race for the second year in a row, completing all five kilometers before any other runner had finished the first four. Two months earlier Kemp had run his last race as a Jay High Royal, but graduating didn't mean that he was giving up racing. For one thing, Kemp has signed to run cross country next year at the University of West Florida in Pensacola. As further evidence that he is still an athlete, Kemp ran 16:30 at the 16th annual Celebrate Freedom 5K. Casey Delong, a rising sophomore on the cross country team at Pace High, placed second in 20:58. Jon Tyner was third in 21:34. The fastest master runner in the Celebrate Freedom 5K was Russell Orr, fourth overall in 22:28.


Prep runners also turned in top performances on the women's side of the race. The women's title went to Tarah Townsend, a rising junior at Miller High in Brewton, Alabama. Townsend was eighth overall in 23:57. Tate High rising sophomore Riley Orr took second in the women's standings, placing 16th overall in 26:13. Betsy Wooten was the top woman master in the race, 38th overall in 31:31.


72 athletes finished the 2015 Celebrate Freedom 5K. Expect the 17th annual Celebrate Freedom 5K on 4 July 2016.


Top Ten Men, 2015 Celebrate Freedom 5K
  1. 16:30 ~ Micah Kemp (M, 15 - 19)
  2. 20:58 ~ Casey DeLong (M, 15 - 19)
  3. 21:34 ~ Jon Tyner (M, 35 - 39)
  4. 22:28 ~ Russell Orr (M, 40 - 44)
  5. 22:49 ~ Billy Bryant (M, )
  6. 22:53 ~ Austin Gonzalez (M, 15 - 19)
  7. 23:37 ~ Rider Jernigan (M, 13 - 14)
  8. 24:01 ~ Doug Darby (M, 50 - 54)
  9. 24:15 ~ Chuck Mooney (M, 50 - 54)
  10. 24:40 ~ Andy Williamson (M, 50 - 54)

Top Ten Women, 2015 Celebrate Freedom 5K
  1. 23:57 ~ Tarah Townsend (F, )
  2. 26:13 ~ Riley Orr (F, 15 - 19)
  3. 27:33 ~ Elyse Carmichael (F, 00 - 10)
  4. 28:13 ~ Angela Henry (F, 30 - 34)
  5. 29:06 ~ Gracey Gilman (F, 13 - 14)
  6. 29:09 ~ Casey Bonner (F, 35 - 39)
  7. 29:14 ~ Michelle Tidwell (F, 20 - 24)
  8. 29:30 ~ Alexis Quick (F, 25 - 29)
  9. 30:40 ~ Leslie Specht (F, 35 - 39)
  10. 31:19 ~ Abby Hendricks (F, 00 - 10)

Some past winners of the Jay, Florida, Celebrate Freedom 5K
DateMenWomenFinishers
4 July 2011
4 July 201216:42, Caleb Carmichael21:49, Sandy Ebanks66
4 July 2013
4 July 201417:00, Micah Kemp21:19, Susan Smith97
4 July 201516:30, Micah Kemp23:57, Tarah Townsend72


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