In these parts, high school cross country season ends in November and track season starts around mid February. This gives high school distance runners about three months to pile in the mileage and get ready for racing on the track. Of course, there is no rule that says that you can't accent your off-season training with a local road race. So last Saturday, Jan. 28, Lincoln High junior and 4:19 1600-meter runner Trevor Touchton did just that, winning the third annual Red Fox Trot 5K in a course record time of 17:00.
The 3.1-mile race started from Roberts Elementary School. During the first mile, Maclay School track coach Gary Droze paced a lead pack of half a dozen runners across Centerville Road and into the Dublin Downs neighborhood. Hunter Scott, Jasen Fulghum, Peter Kaus, Trevor Touchton, and Red Fox Trot record-holder Tony Guillen shadowed Droze.
But the pace was too stiff for most of the leaders. Guillen was the first to drop back, falling off before the end of the first mile. Others followed. Before the end of the second mile it was just Touchton out in front, with Droze an ever wider gap behind. Touchton made it to the finish line back at the school in 17:00, more than 100 yards ahead of Droze. Droze ran 17:22 to finish as runner-up and first master. Lincoln High freshman Hunter Scott was third in 17:43.
The women's competition developed into a rematch between defending champion Laura Hanlon and Thomasville, Georgia master runner Mary Anne Grayson. Hanlon had won their 2011 Red Fox 5K face-off, 20:48 to 20:55, and for most of the 2012 race Hanlon was ahead of Grayson by a similar margin. But late in the race Grayson began to close the gap. It came down to the kick. In the end, Hanlon held off Grayson, but just barely, 20:19 to 20:22. It had taken a new women's course record to win the race. Hanlon had her second straight Red Fox Trot title, and for the second straight year Grayson had to settle for runner-up and first woman master honors.208 runners finished the 2012 Red Fox Trot 5K, making it the first time that over 200 ran. The race is a benefit for Roberts Elementary School’s Relay For Life campaign, and has been run approximately annually since late 2009. (There was a little more than a year from the first race to the second when the event date was moved from October to January.)
Top Ten Men
17:00 ~ Trevor Touchton (M, 16)- 17:22 ~ Gary Droze (M, 50)
- 17:43 ~ Hunter Scott (M, 15)
- 18:00 ~ Jasen Fulghum (M, 28)
- 18:07 ~ Peter Kaus (M, 27)
- 18:16 ~ Tony Guillen (M, 43)
- 19:25 ~ Cole Tessier (M, 28)
- 19:36 ~ Trent Mills (M, 24)
- 19:40 ~ Peter Falcone (M, 19)
- 19:57 ~ Mike La Bossiere (M, 45)
Top Ten Women
20:19 ~ L. A. Hanlon (F, 33)- 20:22 ~ Mary Anne Grayson (F, 46)
- 20:51 ~ Kate Chunka (F, 28)
- 21:26 ~ Mary Vancore (F, 48)
- 22:36 ~ Jennifer Bacile (F, 33)
- 23:01 ~ Alison Thumm (F, 34)
- 23:27 ~ Molly Mccann (F, 12)
- 24:45 ~ Sandra Canada (F, 49)
- 24:57 ~ Debbie Peters (F, 50)
- 24:59 ~ Emily Molen (F, 10)
| Red Fox Trot 5K winners, 2009-20012 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Men | Women | Finishers |
| 17 Oct 2009 | 17:29, Tony Guillen | 22:22, Cora Atkinson | 148 |
| 29 Jan 2011 | 19:13, Cole Tessier | 20:48, Laura Hanlon | 199 |
| 28 Jan 2012 | 17:00, Trevor Touchton | 20:19, Laura Hanlon | 208 |
Links
- Complete results of the 2012 Red Fox Trot 5K at gulfwinds.org
http://www.gulfwinds.org/raceresults/2012/Red%20Fox%20Trot%202012.asp - More photos of the 2012 Red Fox Trot 5K
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101488518553733.3282610.5215641&l=605b470d61 - Fred Deckert's photos of the 2012 Red Fox Trot 5K
https://picasaweb.google.com/Freddecka/RedFox12 - 2011 story, "Tessier and Hanlon fox the field in the Red Fox Trot 5K"
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/01/red-fox-trot-2011.html - Locate your next race in the Tallahassee region on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
Great write-up, Herb! Thanks for coming out.
ReplyDeleteHerb, thanks for covering the Red Fox Trot. I didn't even see you! We appreciate it very much.
ReplyDeleteHey, I do my work quietly, and I move on. You wouldn't think it from watching College Game Day, but sports isn't about the people providing coverage.
ReplyDeleteHerb.