Butzin and Smith spare the scissors but not the speed

Valdosta Middle School's Don't Run With Scissors 5K has graced the racing calendar in Valdosta, Georgia annually since 2010. I don't know whether or not in the first eight years of the event anyone ever appeared on the starting line with a pair of those giant golden scissors that politician use at ribbon cuttings for bridges, highways, and wastewater treatment plants. I do know that on Saturday morning, 18 March 2017, Valdosta athlete Dan Butzin won the eighth annual Don't Run With Scissors 5K by over 150 meters, running 19:31. Elizabeth Smith took the women's title, placing fifth overall in 21:39.


Butzin had placed second at the Scissors 5K in 2015 and third in 2016, but this was his first win at the race. Parker Reid Jackson, a cross-country runner on the Valdosta Middle School team, was second behind Butzin in 20:08. Kasey Taylor took third in 20:34. Alan Sanderson was the first master runner in the race, coming in sixth overall in 22:07.


Like Butzin, women's champ Elizabeth Smith had some history at the Scissors 5K. Smith had placed second to master runner Alice Smoot in the women's standings of the 2016 race, running 21:57. Returning in 2017, Smith trimmed eighteen seconds off her previous year's time to claim the women's crown. Kelly Davis was second to Smith on the women's side, placing seventh overall in 22:59. Pollyanna Bass was the top woman master and third female finisher, ninth overall in 23:06.


136 athletes finished the 2017 Don't Run With Scissors 5K. A Course/Line, LLC of Valdosta timed the race and provided finish line services.


Top Ten Men, 2017 Don't Run With Scissors 5K

1. 19:30.6, Dan Butzin (M, 31)
2. 20:07.3, Parker Reid Jackson (M, 12)
3. 20:33.5, Kasey Taylor (M, 31)
4. 20:47.2, Rob McGhin (M, 37)
5. 22:07.0, Alan Sanderson (M, 42)
6. 22:58.6, Kevin Lunceford (M, 25)
7. 23:32.3, Karl Brown (M, 41)
8. 24:53.9, Nathan Smith (M, 38)
9. 25:18.2, Zach Bounds (M, 12)
10. 25:20.6, Keith Anson (M, 41)

Top Ten Women, 2017 Don't Run With Scissors 5K

1. 21:38.4, Elizabeth Smith (F, 38)
2. 22:58.3, Kelly Davis (F, 27)
3. 23:05.8, Pollyanna Bass (F, 44)
4. 24:40.8, Amanda Grover (F, 33)
5. 25:24.0, Penny Bell (F, 43)
6. 25:27.1, Jill Clark (F, 32)
7. 27:00.9, Misty Watkins (F, 34)
8. 27:05.3, Samantha Stiefel (F, 32)
9. 27:16.8, Jocelyn Zhuno (F, 24)
10. 27:22.9, Katina Petroff (F, 44)

Don't Run With Scissors 5K champions, 2010 - 2017
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
20 March 2010	17:33, Scott Gardner	20:56, Ashley Powell	247
12 March 2011	18:03, Masked Avenger	23:23, Angel Godwin	250
17 March 2012	18:29, Ryan Kelly	21:24, Alice Smoot	285
16 March 2013	18:09, Ryan Kelly	22:19, Kelsey Morse	279
15 March 2014	19:00, David Burnett	21:36, Makenzee Page	235
14 February 2015	18:24, Ryan Kelly	21:10, Sandra Griffin	219
19 March 2016	18:23, Ryan Kelly	21:48, Alice Smoot	139
18 March 2017	19:31, Dan Butzin	21:39, Elizabeth Smith	136

Links

• Complete results of the 2017 Don't Run With Scissors 5K, courtesy of A Course / Line, LLC of Valdosta
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14FrWFCOuZscHUtMVNgTx41MYl_AhSq3RHBHgLu4SfOM/pubhtml
  
  
• 2016 story, “With scissors or without, Kelly and Smoot keep running”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/03/scissors-2016.html
  
  
• 2015 story, “Kelly and Griffin Don't Run With Scissors; they just run fast”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/02/scissors-2015.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “Kelly and Morse flout safety for speed at Scissors 5K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/03/kelly-and-morse-flaunt-safety-for-speed.html
  
  
• 2011 story, “Cut and Run--Avenger and Godwin win the 'Scissors' 5K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/03/scissors-2011.html
  
  
• Choose your next race in the region from the listings on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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