Racing five kilometers through the foggy streets of Southwood in a course record time of 17:55, Peter Kaus defeated a field of nearly 200 athletes in the third annual Run For Autism on Saturday morning, 26 March 2011. Finishing runner-up behind Kaus, Tony Guillen ran 18:12 to claim the top master spot. Florida State University swimmer Jamie Barrett successfully defended her 2010 Autism 5K title, coming from behind in the late stages of the race to beat women's runner-up Ashley Daily, 21:10 to 21:52. The fastest woman master in the race was Constance Mayo, who posted a 23:09 to finish 26th overall as the eighth woman.
The race started at the Southwood Town Center and circled Southwood's central park before returning to the Town Center for the finish. In a replay of the early stages of the Shamrock Scurry two weeks ago and the Doggie Dash a week ago, Cairo's Stephen Robbins went right to the front of the field. By the end of the first kilometer, though, Peter Kaus had taken over the lead, with Robbins chasing. On the second kilometer master runner Tony Guillen passed Robbins, closing in on Kaus. By the end of the third kilometer Kaus and Guillen were only a few steps apart and way out in front of the rest of the field. During the fourth kilometer Kaus started to move away, and built up a ten-second lead on Guillen, who was fifteen seconds ahead of Robbins. Guillen fell farther behind Kaus on the final kilometer, while Robbins closed in. The positions remained unchanged, though, and Kaus went on to a 17:55 win, Guillen placing second in 18:12, and Robbins third in 18:18.
Ashley Daily set the early pace for the women, but Eileen Flynn was right behind her, and Jamie Barrett back of Flynn. Those were the top three women, and at the end of the first kilometer they were less than twenty meters apart. As they circled the central park, the three settled into a tight lead group. After three kilometers they were still running in the same order but in a tight group. Barrett made a move on the fourth kilometer, passing both Flynn and Daily. Daily tried to respond, but Barrett opened up a gap, while Flynn fell even farther back into third. With a kilometer to go Barrett had a 50-meter lead on Daily, with Flynn another 30 meters back. Barrett won going away, crossing the finish line over 100 meters ahead of Daily.
Many runners mentioned the thick fog that enveloped Southwood on the morning of the race, but the one subject that everyone returned to was The Hill. The start and finish of the race was on Ivy Green Trail, which dropped from the Town Center to Central Park at the start, and climbed from Central Park back up to the Town Center at the finish. It wasn't particularly steep, and it was just over 100 meters long, but coming at the end of the race it tended to make an impression on people. In spite of the hill, the 5K had 192 recorded finishers, with another 35 athletes completing an earlier one-mile fun run. Proceeds of the event went to the Florida State University Autism Project, directly benefiting individuals in the Florida Panhandle with autism spectrum disorder.| Run For Autism 5K Champions, 2009-2011 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Men | Women |
| 18 April 2009 | Daniel Bradford, 19:21 | Jennifer Watts, 20:39 |
| 17 April 2010 | Brian Corbin, 18:01 | Jamie Barrett, 21:08 |
| 26 March 2011 | Peter Kaus, 17:55 | Jamie Barrett, 21:10 |
Top Ten Men
-
17:55, Peter Kaus (M, 27) Tallahassee, FL - 18:12, Tony Guillen (M, 42) Tallahassee, FL
- 18:18, Stephen Robbins (M, 14) Cairo, GA
- 19:10, Austin Todd (M, 25) Tallahassee, FL
- 20:07, Mike La Bossiere (M, 44) Tallahassee, FL
- 20:31, Mike Shank (M, 42) Tallahassee, FL
- 20:47, Kevin Brumfield (M, 39) Tallahassee, FL
- 21:07, Michael Quiggins (M, 38) Tallahassee, FL
- 21:21, Brad Adams (M, 41) Tallahassee, FL
- 21:42, Cory Perry (M, 35) Lorton, VA
Top Ten Women
21:10, Jamie Barrett (F, 20) Tallahassee, FL- 21:52, Ashley Daily (F, 24) Tallahassee, FL
- 22:10, Eileen Flynn (F, 35) Tallahassee, FL
- 22:26, Tiffany Roddenberry (F, 26) Tallahassee, FL
- 22:47, Corey Allison (F, 20) Bradenton, FL
- 23:02, Andrea Duffy (F, 35) Monticello, FL
- 23:04, Karima Anderson (F, 24) Tallahassee, FL
- 23:09, Constance Mayo (F, 44) Tallahassee, FL
- 23:12, Katie Howard (F, 20) Tallahassee, FL
- 23:48, Sarah Henry (F, 24) Tallahassee, FL
Links:
- Complete Results of the 2011 Autism 5K at gulfwinds.org
http://www.gulfwinds.org/raceresults/2011/run_for_autism_2011.htm - More photos of the 2011 Run For Autism 5K
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3105163&id=5215641&l=6ccf62b78b - Cole Tessier's photos of the 2011 Run For Autism 5K
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3104341&id=5217230&l=ac69682653 - About the 2010 Autism 5K: "It's Corbin and Barrett's race at the Autism 5K"
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/04/2010-autism-5k.html - The First and Fastest 5K Road Race in Florida's Capital City
http://www.palacesaloon.com/ - Find your next road race in the Tallahassee region on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
Herb, you mean Barrett defends her title...in your title?
ReplyDeleteCole,
ReplyDeleteYes, I do. I must have been mad with alliteration. Or maybe it's just one of the stupid things I do when I'm tired.
Herb.
Excellent commentary, Herb! Was it as exciting as it sounds? Thanks for sharing both the story & the photos!
ReplyDeletejudy
Thanks, Judy! The races were indeed exciting, but it wasn't like an event on the track, where you can sit in the bleachers and see the whole story unfold. I had to work pretty hard to check in on the leaders as often as I did, which wasn't even quite once per kilometer.
ReplyDeleteHerb.