Sunday, October 11, 2015

Miedema and Skalski are tough at Tall Timbers in the Pine Run

Ben MiedemaDothan, Alabama, athlete Ben Miedema won Gulf Winds Track Club's 37th Pine Run 20K on Saturday morning, 10 October 2015, running 1:27:59. Doug Bell of Tallahassee was the first master runner and second overall in 1:29:08. Tallahassee's Jane Skalski was the first woman in the race, coming in twelfth overall in 1:38:11, while Ruffian Tyner was the top woman master and fourth female finisher, 26th overall in 1:47:48. 151 athletes finished the 12.4-mile event through Tall Timbers Research Station, north of Tallahassee.


The course for the 2015 Pine Run was all natural surfaces, grass and dirt, sometimes punctuated with a tree root. Sandy stretches were dry and loose. The grass was mostly ankle height and heavy with dew. Some of the eighth mile had been shredded by feral hogs, rooting for food. There were level patches here and there among the hills, but no one was talking about them. This wasn't Cascade Park in downtown Tallahassee, tame, paved, and adorned with fountains. This was Tall Timbers in the quail country along the Florida-Georgia border, land managed to be as wild as it was in pre-Columbian days. The running was cross country, and a large helping of it. High school athletes compete in five kilometer cross country races, and the college men go ten kilometers. In the World Cross Country Championships the men race twelve kilometers. But the Pine Run is more cross country than any of those, a full twenty kilometers of field and forest, with the occasional patch of mud.


Jane SkalskiThe long run started just after 7:30 AM. Tallahassee master runner Tony Guillen was the early pacesetter with Lee Morrison, an alumnus of the Ocala Vanguard cross country team, a step behind. Just over a kilometer into the race Ben Miedema was in third, trailing the leaders by twenty seconds. Charn McAllister was another three seconds back.


Around eight kilometers Guillen was in total command of the race. Morrison was nearly two minutes behind, still in second, but Miedema was closing in on him. Miedema caught Morrison, and was almost a minute ahead of him by thirteen kilometers. Guillen was still out in front, though, leading by close to three minutes. Guillen was even farther ahead of Miedema with three kilometers to go, the start of a long climb up to the Beadle House. Morrison clung to third even as Douglas Bell and Charn McAllister moved in on him.


Doug Bell, Joel PiotrowskiBut in the final kilometer the leader took a wrong turn. Guillen may not have known where he was going, but the runners chasing him had no such problem. Morrison flawlessly navigated to the finish line, first in 1:27:59. Bell was second in 1:29:08, just ahead of McAllister at 1:29:14. Guillen, finally back on track, was fourth in 1:29:54.


On the women's side, Jane Skalski was ahead after one kilometer, farther ahead after seventeen kilometers, and even farther ahead at the finish line, winning the women's title in 1:38:11. Meaghan Faletti was second in the women's standings, 15th overall in 1:42:25. Kate Chunka was the third female finisher, 21st overall in 1:45:38, and at 1:47:48 master runner Ruffian Tyner was the fourth woman in the race.


Athletes had a three-hour time limit to finish the Pine Run--plenty of time to run twenty kilometers, but not nearly enough time to spend among the birds and trees and wildflowers at Tall Timbers. But everyone can look forward to another three hours next October at the 2016 Pine Run 20K.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2015 Pine Run 20KTony Guillen
  1. 1:27:59 ~ Benjamin Miedema (M, 33) Dothan, AL
  2. 1:29:08 ~ Douglas Bell (M, 46)
  3. 1:29:14 ~ Charn McAllister (M, 32)
  4. 1:29:54 ~ Tony Guillen (M, 46)
  5. 1:30:09 ~ Joel Piotrowski (M, 46)
  6. 1:33:40 ~ Philip Sura (M, 45)
  7. 1:34:02 ~ Andy Roberts (M, 48)
  8. 1:34:43 ~ Carter Hay (M, 44)
  9. 1:35:15 ~ David Yon (M, 59)
  10. 1:36:24 ~ Lee Morrison (M, 18)

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2015 Pine Run 20KMeaghan Faletti
  1. 1:38:11 ~ Jane Skalski (F, 30) Tallahassee, FL
  2. 1:42:25 ~ Meaghan Faletti (F, 23)
  3. 1:45:38 ~ Kate Chunka (F, 32)
  4. 1:47:48 ~ Ruffian Tyner (F, 40)
  5. 1:49:19 ~ Deborah Congdon (F, 45)
  6. 1:50:51 ~ Emma Spencer (F, 34)
  7. 1:52:44 ~ Nancy Stedman (F, 53)
  8. 1:52:57 ~ Sarrah Carroll (F, 33)
  9. 1:53:34 ~ Kelly Garland (F, 44)
  10. 1:53:55 ~ Sarah Dugas (F, 36)

Champions of Gulf Winds Track Club's Pine Run 20K, 1977 - 2015
DateMenWomenFinishers
15 October 197767:19 ~ Herb Wills86:21 ~ Rosemary Desloge124
14 October 197869:30 ~ Jim Eastman81:21 ~ Janice Gage167
13 October 197971:28 ~ Louis Floyd86:29 ~ Laura Ledbetter144
11 October 198071:57 ~ Kirk Fechter98:20 ~ Michelle Jernigan134
10 October 198175:05 ~ Jeff Doherty99:40 ~ Marianne Crawford101
9 October 198267:00 ~ Herb Wills97:17 ~ Kathe Brookover106
22 October 198369:32 ~ Herb Wills85:43 ~ Patti Sudduth128
20 October 198472:37 ~ Kirk Fechter89:55 ~ Donna Miller107
19 October 198568:54 ~ Herb Wills88:22 ~ Patti Sudduth71
18 October 198671:20 ~ Bill Crooks87:31 ~ Janice Gage Hochstein146
17 October 198768:58 ~ Tom Swiersz85:56 ~ Kay Capozzi125
15 October 198865:36 ~ Herb Wills82:29 ~ Paula Johnson170
14 October 198969:46 ~ Herb Wills89:53 ~ Jodi Waldron139
13 October 199069:55 ~ Herb Wills85:10 ~ Donna Miller113
12 October 199165:43 ~ Jessie Close88:16 ~ Mary Jean Yon150
17 October 199266:34 ~ Gary Droze82:17 ~ Carrie Hunnicutt141
16 October 199375:26 ~ Paul Hoover80:53 ~ Paula Johnson134
15 October 199472:45 ~ Tim Simpkins80:18 ~ Jane Johnson147
14 October 199577:39 ~ Tim Simpkins82:46 ~ Jane Johnson146
12 October 199674:32 ~ Tim Simpkins80:30 ~ Jane Johnson172
11 October 199771:36 ~ Gary Droze80:12 ~ Sarah Docter-Williams156
10 October 199873:12 ~ Gary Droze81:35 ~ Jane Johnson125
9 October 199980:41 ~ Robert Pautienus82:23 Sarah Docter-Williams170
14 October 2000 79:28 ~ Art Remillard82:43 ~ Jane Johnson150
13 October 200180:57 ~ Tim Unger84:03 ~ Sarah Docter-Williams128
12 October 200283:37 ~ Tim Bolton86:46 ~ Jane Johnson137
11 October 200384:14 ~ David Yon97:27 ~ Lisa Whitworth79
9 October 200483:01 ~ David Guerra91:55 ~ Jane Johnson94
9 October 200579:41 ~ Myles Gibson89:55 ~ Jane Johnson136
14 October 200678:22 ~ Jay Wallace81:31 ~ Sheryl Rosen108
No race held in 2007
11 October 2008 77:45 ~ Vince Molosky 87:32 ~ Kati Gosnell142
2 October 2009 75:22 ~ Jay Wallace 86:21 ~ Sheryl Rosen155
9 October 2010 73:39 ~ Vince Molosky 90:21 ~ Jane Johnson243
8 October 2011 73:15 ~ Kevin Sullivan 84:02 ~ Sheryl Rosen180
13 October 201274:48 ~ Vince Molosky95:05 ~ Jane Johnson199
12 October 201374:27 ~ Stanley Linton85:36 ~ Sheryl Rosen171
11 October 201472:10 ~ Chris Lake87:09 ~ Elspeth Turner164
10 October 201587:59 ~ Benjamin Miedema98:11 ~ Jane Skalski151
From 1977 to 2006 the race was run at International Paper's Southlands
Experimental Forest south of Bainbridge, Georgia.
From 2008 to 2015 the race has been run at Tall Timbers Research Station
at the north end of Leon County, Florida.


Links
#1515

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