Wallace and Stevens tear up the trails at "Salute to Prefontaine"

You never know what you're going to find at the Salute to Prefontaine 5K. Typically you'd expect soft sugar sand in the woods outside Tallahassee, but rain may have changed that. The Apalachicola National Forest rangers may have taken a backhoe and dug vehicle barriers on the course. Silver Lake Recreation Area, lately the race site, may be open, or it may be closed due to federal budget woes. There may be a rattlesnake in the recreation area, or there may be a black bear. And it's always possible that the race director has changed the course, as Jeff Nielsen had done again this year.


None of this seemed to worry Jay Wallace on Saturday, 25 September 2010, as he ran 18:53 to win the 35th annual Salute to Prefontaine 5K. Wallace finished a bit over 200 meters ahead of the runner up, Chris Coutts who covered the five kilometers of trails in 19:44. David Victor outkicked his fellow Wakulla High student, Stanley Linton, for third place, both clocking an identical 19:53. The defending Prefontaine 5K champion, Joel Piotrowski, finished 40th in 23:46.


A week earlier, Wallace had finished runner-up at the Tallahassee Women's Distance Festival. The same day, Kelly Stevens had finished runner-up in the women's division at the Women's Distance Festival. Just as Wallace moved up to the champion spot at the Prefontaine 5K, Stevens raced to the champion's place in the women'd division at Prefontaine, placing 22nd overall in 22:17. Stevens finished nearly 300 meters ahead of the second-place woman, Micah Adriani, who ran 23:36 for 36th place overall. Olivia Swedberg (42nd, 23:59) was the third woman in, and Nancy Stedman (54th, 25:06) crossed the line as the fourth woman and first woman master.


As to what to expect at the 36th annual Salute to Prefontaine 5K, it could be anything--a tropical storm, higher admission fees at Silver Lake, or an entirely new venue. But expect it to happen in autumn of 2011.

Winners of the ten most recent Salute to Prefontaine 5K races 2001-2010
Date	Men	Women
29 September 2001	Scott Poindexter (19:37)	Allie Hunter (22:17)
5 October 2002	David Yon (22:17)	Yvonne Gsteiger (25:47)
27 September 2003	Shawn Patterson (18:35)	Angela Dempsey (23:49)
25 September 2004	Gary Droze (17:43)	Seeley Lovett (22:46)
24 September 2005	Gary Droze (18:13)	Jane Johnson (24:06)
23 September 2006	Gary Droze (17:24)	Stephanie Liles (19:59)
29 September 2007	Chris Gregory (17:29)	Micah Adriani (20:26)
27 September 2008	Daniel Lee (18:16)	Kati Gosnell (21:10)
26 September 2009	Joel Piotrowski (20:28)	Micah Adriani (21:20)
25 September 2010	Jay Wallace (18:53)	Kelly Stevens (22:17)

Links:

• Complete results of the 2010 "Salute to Prefontaine" 5K at gulfwinds.org
  http://www.gulfwinds.org/raceresults/2010/Prefontaine%202010.htm
  
  
• Fred Deckert's photos of the 2010 "Salute to Prefontaine" 5K
  http://picasaweb.google.com/Freddecka/Prefontaine10#