Mud couldn't stop the Brian Dowling 5K or Michael Warner

Nothing stops the Brian Dowling Memorial 5K Trail Race, or at least nothing has since the Dothan Runners Club established the annual race in 2001. In 2018, though, nature came close to canceling the race.


The eighteenth annual Brian Dowling 5K was scheduled for 26 May 2018, but that came at the end of a week where nearly eight inches of rain fell on Dothan, Alabama. The course in Westgate Park was a mess. Rather than call off the race, though, the Dothan Runners Club rescheduled for a later Saturday morning, 16 June 2018. After three weeks the trails had recovered and the race was on.


Michael Warner won the five-kilometer cross-country race, finishing almost half a kilometer ahead of the next runner. It was Warner's second win in the Brian Dowling 5K; he had also finished first in 2016 when he was a senior on the Enterprise High cross-country team. Dale Thomas, the runner-up in the 2018 Dowling 5K, was also a past champion of the race, having won in 2014. Thomas was the fastest master runner in 2018, posting a 21:30 on the 3.1-mile tour of Westgate Park. Trevor Shaw, a rising junior on the Dothan High cross-country team, took third in 22:20.


Molly Crawford was the women's champ, placing sixth overall in 24:37. Wendy Jones was the first woman master and second female finisher, eighth overall in 25:39. Master runner Kristi Holland was third in the women's standings and thirteenth overall in 27:17.


45 athletes finished the 2018 Brian Dowling Memorial 5K Trail Race. Using race proceeds, the Dothan Runners Club will present a $1500 check to the Wiregrass Humane Society of Dothan, Alabama.


Top Ten Men, 2018 Brian Dowling Memorial 5K Trail Race

1. 19:25, Michael Warner (M, 19)
2. 21:30, Dale Thomas (M, 54)
3. 22:20, Trevor Shaw (M, 16)
4. 23:28, Scott Childers (M, 44)
5. 24:21, Tom Warner (M, 44)
6. 25:08, Andrew Naylor (M, 22)
7. 25:59, David Forrester (M, 39)
8. 26:32, Chad Tyson (M, 52)
9. 27:08, Ricardo Farias (M, 30)
10. 27:15, David Andrews (M, 63)

Top Ten Women, 2018 Brian Dowling Memorial 5K Trail Race

1. 24:37, Molly Crawford (F, 27)
2. 25:39, Wendy Jones (F, 49)
3. 27:17, Kristi Holland (F, 41)
4. 27:55, Katie Barrentine (F, 33)
5. 29:07, Kristin Atwell (F, 43)
6. 31:19, Jill Wofsey (F)
7. 31:41, Caitlin Rogers (F, 27)
8. 33:16, Carol Goguen (F, 56)
9. 34:07, Susan Anderson (F, 55)
10. 36:14, Laney Gresco (F, 13)

Past winners of the Brian Dowling Memorial 5K, 2001 - 2018
Date	Men	Women
7 April 2001	20:05, Jerry Armstrong	24:08, Piper Stockman
13 April 2002	19:12, Jonathan Braun	21:57, Piper Stockman
12 April 2003	18:58, Shane Gingrich	24:04, Chris Fox
1 May 2004	18:59, Douglas Holt	24:19, Amy Padgett
7 May 2005	19:12, Brian Hickey	22:21, Teresa Lafleur
6 May 2006	18:39, Matt Fechan	23:24, Lou Ellen Jayroe
28 April 2007	18:13, Gabe Mitchell	23:08, In-Mi Matsunaga
17 May 2008	18:44, Zalin Smith	23:20, Lou Ellen Jayroe
25 April 2009	19:08, Nick Vance	26:06, Kristina Bennett
22 May 2010	19:10, Theron Carter	24:35, Amber Hodor
23 April 2011	18:50, Sean Kent	20:46, Megan Howell
7 April 2012	20:05, Jeff Dasinger	24:40, Abby Rogers
18 May 2013	21:00, Justin Cagle	24:21, Carolyn Houston
10 May 2014	20:32, Dale Thomas	24:45, CJ Parrish
16 May 2015	18:26, Myles Gibson	24:25, CJ Parish
21 May 2016	21:17, Michael Warner	23:12, Natalie Warner
3 June 2017	18:49, Sean Kent	26:43, Charlotte Haberstroh
16 June 2018	19:25, Michael Warner	24:37, Molly Crawford
In 2000 Dothan Runners Club member Brian Dowling was killed during a training run, struck by a hit-and-run driver. The Woofstock 5K was started in his memory in 2001. In 2002 DRC officially renamed the race the Brian Dowling Memorial 5K. Kudos and a big thank you to Larry Dykes for much of the information in this table!

Links

• Complete results of the 2018 Brian Dowling Memorial 5K Trail Race
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQh9E35zxn4GoiAxrofdAcVg2-CcmcvumHgZ14meDgsX5Blo8RHjYY2xk-M8VkuZJD9LpDX-V_oe3XK/pubhtml
  
  
• 2017 story, “When Sean Kent is a repeat winner, he's really a repeat winner”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/06/dowling-2017.html
  
  
• 2015 story, “Gibson and Parrish keep on winning at the Brian Dowling 5K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/05/dowling-2015.html
  
  
• 2014 story, “Thomas and Parrish triumph on the trail at Brian Dowling 5K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/05/dowling-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “Cagle and Houston add Brian Dowling 5K wins to their running resumés”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/05/dowling-2013.html
  
  
• 2011 story, “Kent and Howell hit the trail at Brian Dowling 5K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/04/dowling-2011.html
  
  
• Find upcoming trail runs in Dothan and other cities in the region on the Trouble Afoot! calendar:
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

#2286