Saturday, March 19, 2011

Hudson and Rosen lose their way but not the race at Doggie Dash 5K

"Did you see the lead cyclist take me the wrong way?" asked Sean Hudson.


That's not a typical post-race question, but it was the first thing Hudson said to me after the Doggie Dash 5K in Southwood on Saturday morning, 19 March 2010. Almost four kilometers into the race, the lead cyclist had gone left at a fork where he should have gone right on the nature trail in Southwood's Central Park, and the first few runners had followed him before realizing their error and doubling back. But when everyone had reached the finish line (some by a longer route than others), master runner Sean Hudson had won the race in 18:48. Sheryl Rosen was the first female finisher, fourth overall in 18:55. The second woman in and top woman master was Julie Clark.


The race started normally enough, albeit a few minutes late because no one expected quite the size of crowd that showed up. "We were hoping for 50, and we got 400!" boomed the master of ceremonies on the public address system. That could be why there were only two portable toilets in Central Park for the runners. Eventually everyone got registered, out of the toilet, and on the starting line; and the race got under way not long after the scheduled 9:00am.


As at the Shamrock Scurry 5K the previous week, Stephen Robbins jumped into the early lead, pacing the field through the first kilometer. By the end of the second kilometer, though, Hudson had moved to the front. On the third kilometer Robbins trailed Hudson up the hill on Merchants Row Boulevard, up toward the Southwood Town Center. Bing Xu and Jeff Armstrong were next in the chase, followed by the leading woman, Sheryl Rosen.


The fourth kilometer took the runners downhill from the town center to the central park and the wrong turn. Hudson noticed that the lead cyclist was hesitant and turned back. The other front runners followed suit, and soon they were all back on course--albeit closer together and in a slightly different order. With a kilometer to go, Hudson was back up front, then Bing Xu, Armstrong and Rosen, and Robbins. Hudson held on to the lead, while Robbins moved up into second, Bing Xu running just off his shoulder. Hudson crossed the finish line, victorious at 18:48. Seconds later Bing Xu lunged past Robbins to take second, both runners clocked in 18:52. Rosen was a few steps back in 18:55, while Armstrong placed fifth overall in 19:05.


Over 270 runners finished the inaugural Doggie Dash 5K. The race was run on the same loop as the FSECC 5K, but with the start and finish in Southwood's Central Park instead of on Esplanade Way. A one-mile fun run followed the main event, swelling the number of registered athletes to around 400. The Doggie Dash was hosted by the Florida Department of Corrections Foundation; the Foundation plans to use proceeds from the race to benefit a pair of programs: Corrections' six dog obedience programs, where inmates train animal shelter dogs to make them more adoptable; and to purchase GPS collars for law enforcement bloodhounds.


Top Ten Men
  1. 18:48, Sean Hudson
  2. 18:52, Bing Xu
  3. 18:52, Stephen Robbins
  4. 19:05, Jeff Armstrong
  5. 19:21, Michael Kennett
  6. 19:48, David Yon
  7. 19:52, Matthew Curran
  8. 19:56, Juan Ordoñez
  9. 20:08, Travis Collins
  10. 20:10, Christopher Cobb

Top Ten Women
  1. 18:55, Sheryl Rosen
  2. 20:54, Julie Clark
  3. 21:12, Brook Pace
  4. 21:25, Lee Moss
  5. 21:54, Nancy Stedman
  6. 21:55, Kim Curran
  7. 22:10, Mandy Hudson
  8. 22:22, Kellie Gerbers
  9. 22:42, Kirsten Baggett
  10. 22:45, Jessica Parker

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Posted by Herb Wills at 5:42 PM
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