Avenger and Cherry leave 'em behind for the buzzards

Georgia can be justly proud of its state parks. Reed Bingham State Park, less than eight miles west of Adel, is a good example. A 1,613-acre park straddling the border of Cook and Colquitt Counties, Reed Bingham features the Little River, a lake created by a 1970 damming of the river, camping, nature trails, and abundant wildlife. Among the creatures that make their home in their park are gopher tortoises, indigo snakes, and (most notoriously) turkey and black vultures. Huge flocks of vultures winter in the park. On a winter evening, if you're walking the nature trail on the boardwalk along the Little River, you'll disturb scores of the winged scavengers in the trees above as they try to roost for the night. And if you look down at the boardwalk, you'll see ample evidence of vulture presence. Vultures are big, and their toilet training is no better than that of any other bird.


The park celebrates its vulture with an annual "Buzzard Day" (although any bird watcher will tell you that vultures are not buzzards--right before you throw something heavy at him). In the past, Buzzard Day has been during the winter, when the big birds fill Reed Bingham. This year, though, the vultures didn't get their day till 19 May 2012, when most of them had gone somewhere else. In the past, Buzzard Day included a 10K run on the park's trails. This year, though, it was scaled back to a 5K on the roads. On the plus side, the course was USATF certified (GA11076WC).


Valdosta's Masked Avenger won the 2012 Road Kill Run, covering the 5K tour of Reed Bingham State Park in 18:34. Tifton teen Samuel Greene was the runner up, finishing nearly 400 meters back in 19:59. In a duel of Tallahassee master runners, Mike Baker beat out Brad Adams for third place and top master honors, 20:53 to 21:04. The first female in the field was Christy Cherry of Moutrie, Georgia; Cherry placed 12th overall in 24:24. The fastest woman master was another Moultrie runner, Lisa Ulakovits, the sixth female finisher and 25th overall in 28:12. 71 athletes finished the race.


Top Ten Men, 2012 Road Kill Run 5K

1. 18:34 ~ Masked Avenger (M, 33) Valdosta, GA
2. 19:59 ~ Samuel Greene (M, 17) Tifton, GA
3. 20:53 ~ Mike Baker (M, 43) Tallahassee, FL
4. 21:04 ~ Brad Adams (M, 43) Tallahassee, FL
5. 21:57 ~ Joel Harper (M, 35) Valdosta, GA
6. 21:58 ~ Seth Bryan (M, 17) Adel, GA
7. 22:00 ~ Cody Pezent (M, 11) Adel, GA
8. 23:42 ~ Rhett Harper (M, 14) Nashville, GA
9. 23:43 ~ Zack Ulakovits (M, 17) Moultrie, GA
10. 23:53 ~ Blayton Duncan (M, 11) Doerun, GA

Top Ten Women, 2012 Road Kill Run 5K

1. 24:24 ~ Christy Cherry (F, 34) Moultrie, GA
2. 26:36 ~ Angela Pezent (F, 38) Adel, GA
3. 27:18 ~ Whitney West (F, 11) Nashville, GA
4. 27:36 ~ Joanna Bryan (F, 33) Sparks, GA
5. 27:44 ~ Heather Kelly (F, 33) Valdosta, GA
6. 28:12 ~ Lisa Ulakovits (F, 44) Moultrie, GA
7. 29:14 ~ Catherine Rouse (F, 38) Hartsfield, GA
8. 29:24 ~ Kalley Sangster (F, 23) Moultrie, GA
9. 29:42 ~ Skylar Grubbs (F, 21) Doerun, GA
10. 29:55 ~ Shannon Fernandez (F, 41) Valdosta, GA

Links

• Road Kill Run 5K course certification map (USATF #GA11076WC)
  http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=GA11076WC
  
  
• Reed Bingham State Park
  http://www.gastateparks.org/ReedBingham
  
  
• Looking for another bird-themed race in the Tallahassee region? Try Trouble Afoot!
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1