Potluck turns 15, Molosky and Showman turn wins

Saturday evening, 2 June 2012, Gulf Winds Track Club staged the 15th annual running of the Potluck Four Mile. Held continuously since 1998, the race is now as old as some of the high school athletes who are honored at the Chenoweth Awards ceremony that follows the race. It's a race of contradictions--a cross-country race that isn't held during any established cross-country season, a prediction run where many if not most of the entries are racing for speed. No one gets a T-shirt for running, but there is a post-race low-country boil--and while many runners have run out of room in their closet for race T-shirts, there are very few who can't find the room to put away some shrimp, sausage, corn, and potatoes.


The race started from the Meridian Road Youth Athletics Fields at 6:00 PM. By then, temperatures had declined to a moderate 82 °F. Vince Molosky, the defending champion of the Potluck Four Mile, was the first of the 232 runners to reach the Miller Landing Road soccer fields, almost half a mile from the start. By then, Molosky was already ten seconds ahead of his nearest pursuer, Nate Kaiser. Molosky continued to pull away as the trails of Phipps Park took the runners down to Lake Jackson and back up again. With a mile to go, Molosky's lead had grown to 25 seconds. But during the hilly circuit of Phipps Park, Maclay School assistant track coach Stephen Cox had moved up through the field, finally overtaking Kaiser. Moving into second place, Cox began to reel in Molosky. Cox narrowed the gap but never closed it over the last mile. Molosky may have been looking back over his shoulder at the end, but he still crossed the line seven seconds up ahead of Cox, 22:33 to 22:40, collecting his second straight Potluck win. Nate Kaiser hung on to finish third in 22:55, followed by Jasen Fulghum (23:37) and Peter Kaus (24:20). Tony Guillen was the fastest master runner in the race, placing fifth overall in 24:34.


Molosky already had a ten-second lead crossing the soccer fields, but in the women's competition Katie Showman was only a few seconds ahead of Kristine Cox, Micah Adriani, and Angela Wable on that same part of the course. Showman's margin grew steadily throughout the race, though, and she ran 27:18 to take the women's title, placing 22nd overall. Adriani, the 2009 and 2010 Potluck women's champion, settled for the runner-up spot in 2012, placing 27th overall in 27:43. Kelly Stevens moved up to take the third women's spot in 28:25, while Cox ran 29:10 to finish as the fourth female. 2007 Potluck women's champion Jane Johnson ran 29:56, finishing as the fifth female and first female master.


Top Ten Men, 2012 GWTC Potluck Four Mile

1. 22:33 ~ Vince Molosky (M, 32)
2. 22:40 ~ Stephen Cox (M, 28)
3. 22:55 ~ Nate Kaiser (M, 32)
4. 23:37 ~ Jasen Fulghum (M, 28)
5. 24:20 ~ Peter Kaus (M, 28)
6. 24:34 ~ Tony Guillen (M, 43)
7. 25:03 ~ Myles Gibson (M, 45)
8. 25:07 ~ Sean Hudson (M, 41)
9. 25:24 ~ Cole Tessier (M, 29)
10. 25:28 ~ Michael Martinez (M, 46)

Top Ten Women, 2012 GWTC Potluck Four Mile

1. 27:18 ~ Katie Showman (F, 30)
2. 27:43 ~ Micah Adriani (F, 34)
3. 28:25 ~ Kelly Stevens (F, 30)
4. 29:10 ~ Kristine Cox (F, 34)
5. 29:56 ~ Jane Johnson (F, 53)
6. 30:07 ~ Tiffany Roddenberry (F, 27)
7. 30:09 ~ Angela Wable (F, 38)
8. 30:09 ~ Kirsti Satterstrom (F, 27)
9. 30:55 ~ Kate Chunka (F, 29)
10. 31:17 ~ Nancy Stedman (F, 50)

Potluck champions, 1998-2012
Date	Men	Women
1998
5 June 1999	29:29, Zack Heissner	32:26, Sarah Docter-Williams
3 June 2000	24:42 Paul Hoover	25:59, Kim Wynn
2 June 2001	24:59, Reid Vannoy	25:33, Sarah Docter-Williams
8 June 2002	22:47, Ryan Deak	26:04, Sarah Docter-Williams
7 June 2003	25:17, Tim Unger	25:36, Sarah Docter-Williams
5 June 2004	23:05, Caleb Carmichael	25:59, Kara Newell
4 June 2005	23:22, Caleb Carmichael	27:21, Kara Newell
3 June 2006	23:06, Jared Black	25:58, Sheryl Rosen
2 June 2007	24:26, Tony Guillen	27:36, Jane Johnson
7 June 2008	23:00, John Robida	25:09, Sarah Docter-Williams
13 June 2009	22:40, Jay Wallace	27:05, Micah Adriani
5 June 2010	22:14, Matt Mizereck	27:39, Micah Adriani
4 June 2011	22:57, Vince Molosky	26:33, Summer Calder
2 June 2012	22:33, Vince Molosky	27:18, Katie Showman
The race was five miles in 1998 and 1999, and four miles thereafter.

Links

• Complete results of the 2012 GWTC Potluck Four Mile at gulfwinds.org
  http://www.gulfwinds.org/raceresults/2012/Potluck%20Bash%202012.asp
  
  
• More photos of the 2012 Gulf Winds Track Club Potluck Four Mile (Part 1)
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101997063924733.3344475.5215641&l=4ddd1bd4b0
  
  
• More photos of the 2012 Gulf Winds Track Club Potluck Four Mile (Part 2)
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101997421937273.3344545.5215641&l=32ec21612d
  
  
• Fred Deckert's photos of the 2012 Gulf Winds Track Club Potluck Four Mile
  https://picasaweb.google.com/Freddecka/PotBash12
  
  
• 2011 story, "Molosky and Calder champs at 14th annual Potluck Run"
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/06/potluck-2011.html
  
  
• 2010 story, "Mizereck and Adriani outrun the field at Potluck"
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/06/potluck-2010.html
  
  
• 2009 story, "2009 Potluck Bash 4 Mile, Tallahassee, Florida"
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2009/06/2009-potluck-bash-4-mile-tallahassee.html
  
  
• Photos of the 2008 Potluck Four Mile
• Part 1 - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2445933&id=5215641&l=25e13dc662
  
• Part 2 - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2445931&id=5215641&l=2beecd73bd
• Part 3 - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2445921&id=5215641&l=234be2fd1b
  


• Upcoming prediction runs and non-prediction runs in the Tallahassee region
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1