The first Saturday in December is coming up, and with it Tallahassee’s Ten-Mile Challenge.Up to about half a century ago, road-racing in the United States was largely confined to New England. American athletics still had an unashamed disdain for kilometers and other metric measurements, and the ten-mile run was the sub-marathon racing distance. Back then, “ten miles” was more of a figurative than a literal description. Seven-time Boston Marathon champion Clarence Demar noted in his memoirs that a New England ten-miler could be anywhere from six to ten miles. As late as the 1960s Runner’s World writer Hal Higdon reported a race director boasting that his ten-mile race was a bargain for the price of the entry fee because it was closer to twelve miles long.
Over time race course measurement methods became more accurate and standardized, and metric lengths began to replace the traditional ones. But in 1988, when Dave Iden took over the Gulf Winds Track Club’s annual 20-kilometer race, he changed the distance to 16.093 kilometers or ten miles, and the Ten-Mile Challenge was born. With the 23rd running coming up, local runners are still taking the Challenge.
The challenge might have been the distance itself, or it may have been the hilly course through Killearn Lakes on which the race was held up until 2005. The race venue has bounced around town since then, and will come to rest on its fourth course on 4 December 2010. The new route is a five-mile loop through Ox Bottom manor designed by the race’s new director, Reid Vannoy. The most polite description of the course has been “tough,” although more colorful phrases have been employed. Vannoy did express some concern that athletes would make one circuit of the loop, then then choose the five-mile run option rather than go on a second time around for the full Ten-Mile Challenge. But even in the Red Hills, Tallahassee’s terrain is hardly alpine; many runners should be up to the full Challenge. They’ll find out at 8:00am on that first Saturday in December, starting from the parking lot of Hawk’s Rise Elementary School.The first Saturday in December also means the Jingle Bell Run, part of the city of Tallahassee’s downtown Winter Festival. Where the morning Ten-Mile Challenge attracts hundreds, the evening Jingle Bell Run attracts thousands. The Ten-Mile Challenge has records and results for each year of over two decades of racing; no one is even sure of how old the Jingle Bell Run is. The Ten-Mile Challenge has a course measured by exacting USA Track & Field certification standards; the Jingle Bell Run is billed as three kilometers even in years when it’s barely longer than two. Mostly the Jingle Bell Runners are downtown to have fun, whether by racing through the streets or jogging down them wearing blinking lights and a pair of brown felt reindeer antlers. Running can be a challenge, but there’s nothing wrong with it being fun.
| GWTC Ten-Mile Challenge Champions, 1988-2009 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Men | Women |
| 3 DEC 1988 | 51:05, David Keen | 65:19, Janice Hochstein |
| 2 DEC 1989 | 52:05, Jessie Close | 64:09, Paula Johnson |
| 1 DEC 1990 | 51:39, David Keen | 62:53, Paula Johnson |
| 7 DEC 1991 | 54:20, Jessie Close | 63:40, Paula Johnson |
| 5 DEC 1992 | 54:32, Jessie Close | 63:09, Paula Johnson |
| 4 DEC 1993 | 55:30, Steve Wilcox | 61:53, Paula Johnson |
| 3 DEC 1994 | 54:16, Herb Wills | 61:43, Jane Johnson |
| 2 DEC 1995 | 55:30, Gary Droze | 65:55, Carrie Weyant |
| 7 DEC 1996 | 56:27, Brian Erb | 66:21, Carrie Weyant |
| 6 DEC 1997 | 55:06, Lee Willis | 62:38, Sarah Docter-Williams |
| 5 DEC 1998 | 58:45, Robert Pautienus | 62:27, Breeda Willis |
| 4 DEC 1999 | 56:24, Gary Droze | 69:44, Carrie Weyant |
| 2 DEC 2000 | 56:29, Zachery Heissner | 66:07, Laurel Slyck |
| 1 DEC 2001 | 60:11, Tim Unger | 64:40, Sarah Docter-Williams |
| 7 DEC 2002 | 54:30, Lee Willis | 63:54, Sarah Docter-Williams |
| 6 DEC 2003 | 61:33, Bill McCord | 63:20, Sarah Docter-Williams |
| 4 DEC 2004 | 55:29, Gary Droze | 61:41, Sarah Docter-Williams |
| 3 DEC 2005 | 56:46, Gary Droze | 66:43, Kara Newell |
| 2 DEC 2006 | 59:13, Jay Wallace | 62:27, Sheryl Rosen |
| 1 DEC 2007 | 58:47, Tripp Southerland | 64:04, Sheryl Rosen |
| 6 DEC 2008 | 55:56, Chris Lake | 65:30, Sheryl Rosen |
| 5 DEC 2009 | 57:59, Vince Molosky | 65:47, Sheryl Rosen |
| 4 DEC 2010 | ||
Links:
- Original appearance of this column in the 27 November 2010 Tallahassee Democrat
http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20101127/SPORTS/11270332/December-races-bring-competition-and-fun - Gulf Winds Track Club's Ten-Mile Challenge web page
http://www.gulfwinds.org/Club%20Races/Ten%20Mile%20Challenge/Ten%20Mile%20Challenge%20Index.htm - Entry form, 2010 GWTC Ten-Mile Challenge
http://www.gulfwinds.org/Fliers/2010Flyers/Ten%20Miler%202010.pdf - Online registration for the 2010 GWTC Ten-Mile Challenge at RaceIt.com
http://www.raceit.com/search/event.aspx?event=121849fa-5c75-429c-9495-95cad84ed9a8.aspx - Facebook event page for the 2010 GWTC Ten-Mile Challenge
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=158890230800259 - Plan your racing schedule in the Tallahassee region with the Trouble Afoot! calendar
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
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