Corbin and Rosen weren't talking trash

"It looks like Michael Jackson in 'The Wiz,'" said Gordon Cherr.


It reminded me of the Heap, from the pages of 1950s comic books. It actually was a man dressed in a few thousand shopping bags that waved and rustled as he walked--part of America Recycles Day, 19 November 2011, at the Leon County Solid Waste Facility in Apalachee Regional Park. Another part of the festivities was the Trash Dash 5K.


The Trash Dash 5K started at 8:30am, following an 8:00am one-mile fun run. The runners started by heading east on a road over the old landfill--one of the few times a local road race had absolutely no traffic. The early pacesetter was Dustin Rhodes, champion of the Sgt. Dale Green Memorial 5K just seven days earlier. After a kilometer of racing, Rhodes was ten seconds ahead of Elijah Ingram, with master runners Brian Corbin and Mike LaBossiere another six seconds back. During the second kilometer Rhodes continued to hold the lead while Corbin dropped LaBossiere and caught up with Ingram. By the end of the third kilometer Ingram had fallen back to third and Corbin was threatening to overtake Rhodes. Corbin moved past Rhodes into first during the fourth kilometer. Rhodes never gave up, but he never caught Corbin, either. Corbin went on to win in 17:53, while Rhodes was second in 17:58. LaBossiere caught Ingram about the four kilometer mark and went on to finish third in 18:43; Ingram settled for fourth in 19:26.


About one kilometer into the race, Sheryl Rosen was leading the women, close to ten seconds ahead of Jamie Nikas. For the next four kilometers the only thing that changed was the size of Rosen's lead, which steadily grew. The Tallahassee lawyer crossed the finish line ninth overall in 21:29, more than 300 meters ahead of Nikas's 22:59. Jenn Bacile was the third woman, placing 19th overall in 24:16. Following Bacile across the line was Birgit Maier-Katkin (20th, 24:24), the first woman master.


Variety is the one word that summarizes the course. There was pavement, grass, and dirt roads; industrial looking landscapes and pristine woods. Some of the best scenery along the route was grassy hills that looked like the downs in England--but were actually vast heaps of household waste covered over with dirt and planted with grass. Only a ventilation pipe here and there betrayed what was below the ground. A few pipes were aflame as methane from below burned. Even though it was all right next to the Apalachee Park Trail, the course was one that not many runners will see again. At least not until the second annual Trash Dash.


Top Ten Men

1. 17:52.25 ~ Brian Corbin (M, 44) Tallahassee, FL
2. 17:57.76 ~ Dustin Rhodes (M, 27) Tallahassee, FL
3. 18:42.91 ~ Mike LaBossiere (M, 45) Tallahassee, FL
4. 19:25.44 ~ Elijah Ingram (M, 15)
5. 19:47.82 ~ Tyler Jones (M, )
6. 20:31.12 ~ John Hemanes (M, )
7. 21:03.58 ~ Geoff Fischer (M, )
8. 21:13.00 ~ Mike Baker (M, )
9. 21:33.21 ~ Tom Krick (M, )
10. 21:40.02 ~ Mike Culligan (M, )

Top Ten Women

1. 21:27.71 ~ Sheryl Rosen (F, ) Tallahassee, FL
2. 22:58.19 ~ Jamie Nikas (F, 23)
3. 24:15.30 ~ Jenn Bacile (F, 32) Tallahassee, FL
4. 24:23.93 ~ Birgit Maier-Katkin (F, 49) Tallahassee, FL
   
5. 25:55.25 ~ Miloafef Ghazi (F, )
6. 26:04.57 ~ Brandy Lucas (F, )
7. 26:13.29 ~ Lennox Hardin (F, 25)
8. 26:30.19 ~ Gingy Sampson (F, 47)
9. 27:19.46 ~ Jamie Schindewolf (F, 21)
10. 27:29.56 ~ Chantel Telemacque (F, 25)

Links:

• Complete results of the 2011 Trash Dash 5K at gulfwinds.org
  [ Coming soon! For sure! Check back here for the link! ]
  
  
• More photos of the 2011 Trash Dash 5K
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101175428079553.3238687.5215641&l=f03e18508b
  
  
• More upcoming races in parks, garbage dumps, roads, and wherever
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1