Saturday, January 23, 2010

Droze and Killinski take titles at 5K for Special Olympics

In Tallahassee, Saturday, 23 January 2010 started with one of those humid, slightly chilly mornings that Floridians irritate the rest of the nation by complaining about. Still, 189 athletes showed up to finish the fifth annual Leon County Special Olympics 5K, led by Gary Droze. Droze moved into the lead early, chased by Tony Guillen. After two kilometers the rest of the field had lost contact, but Droze still only had a few steps on Guillen. During the second half of the race, though, Droze steadily moved away from the challenger, ultimately winning 17:00 to 17:16. Both Droze and Guillen were master (over 40) runners, as was third-place finisher Mike Martinez, who ran 18:12. The first runner to break the master monopoly on the top places was Justin Dickieson, who finished fourth in 18:17. Fifteen-year-old Kyle Harris of Bainbridge, Georgia had tried to run with Droze and Guillen in the early going, but faded to fifth in the latter stages of the race, finishing in 18:34.

Jennifer Kilinski of Crawfordville was the top woman finisher, placing 24th overall in 20:52. Killinski crossed the finish line about 40 meters ahead of the second women, Mary Anne Grayson of Thomasville, Georgia, who finished 28th overall in 21:01. Grayson was the top woman master in the race, finishing six seconds ahead of the second master and third woman, Kim Walters of Lilburn, Georgia. Walters was 30th overall in 21:07.

The race is a fund raiser for Special Olympics of Leon County. The course is USATF certified and tours the west end of the Florida State University campus, starting and finishing on Mike Long Track. While not absolutely flat, there are no major hills on the course. Course marking was excellent, as was traffic control (not that there is going to be much traffic Saturday morning on a college campus).

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Posted by Herb Wills at 6:58 PM
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