Wallace and Busby Scurry to Wins

Jay Wallace broke away from Tony Guillen at the halfway point of the Shamrock Scurry 5K, going on to win in 17:25, while Guillen finished runner-up at 17:54. Master runners ruled the day--Wallace and Guillen were both masters, and in fact all but one of the top seven runners fell into that 40-and-over category. Youth still held the advantage in the women's competition though, as Anna Busby edged out Thomasville master Mary Anne Grayson for the win, 21:03 to 21:09. Nearly 500 runners completed the 13 March 2010 run through the streets of Tallahassee's Killearn Estates.

Starting slightly later than the scheduled 8:30am race time, the runners headed north from Killearn United Methodist Church, down Shamrock Street. "Down" is actually quite descriptive, as the runners descended a hundred feet before turning off of Shamrock onto Edenderry Drive. That turn was not quite halfway through the race, and from there the runners had to climb back up to the church. Guillen and Wallace reached the turn running side by side, well ahead of the rest of the field. Then the uphills started and Wallace began to pull away. By three kilometers Wallace had a lead on Guillen, a lead he continued to increase, crossing the line over 130 meters ahead of Guillen. The rest of the field was another half a kilometer behind, led by Steve Barraco in third at 19:54. Former Leon High School (c/o 2008) distance runner Anna Busby didn't enjoy quite as large a margin in the women's race, but still finished about 20 meters ahead of Mary Anne Grayson.

The 2010 race marked the return of the Shamrock Scurry to the Tallahassee racing schedule after a two-year hiatus. In fact, this is at least the second time that the race has returned from the dead. This time, though, the Scurry returned to its original starting location near Killearn United Methodist Church, and a version of its original course. KUMC hosted the race and did an excellent job of getting the word out, as evidenced by the 700 runners who showed up to finish either the five-kilometer race or the one-mile fun run. Volunteers were at each intersection on the course, their safety efforts supplemented by traffic barricades. And there was a pancake breakfast afterwards. I suppose that you could complain about the weather, but you'd have to find someone else who doesn't care for cool air and clear skies to listen to you.

Links:

• Complete results of the 2010 Shamrock Scurry 5K at gulfwinds.org
  http://www.gulfwinds.org/raceresults/2010/Shamrock%20Scurry%202010.htm
  
  
• My photos of the 2010 Shamrock Scurry 5K
  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2816934&id=5215641&l=006cda0984
  
  
• Fred Deckert's photos of the 2010 Shamrock Scurry
  http://picasaweb.google.com/Freddecka/Scurry10
  
  
• USATF course certification map of the Shamrock Scurry 5K (FL10021EBM)
  http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL10021EBM