Saturday, November 24, 2012

Lake and Rosen take titles as 6,000 runners take in Turkey Trot

On Thanksgiving morning Chris Lake took time out from his studies at the University of Florida School of Medicine to outrace a field of 437 runners in Gulf Winds Track Club's 37th annual Tallahassee Turkey Trot 15K. It was Lake's fifth year in a row winning the 9.3-mile race through the streets of Southwood as well as his fastest Turkey Trot time yet, 49:53. No other athlete has cracked 50 minutes on the Southwood course; the last sub-50 Turkey Trot was Jessie Close's 49:12 in 1995, when the race was run from the Fairgrounds. While Lake collected his fifth Turkey Trot 15K title, Tallahassee lawyer Sheryl Rosen was grabbing her fourth. Rosen, who had won the women's division in the 15K each year from 2006 to 2008, returned to the winner's circle with a 57:27, finishing eighth overall.


Asked to describe the conditions at the start of the Thursday morning race, most runners answered, "Perfect!" It was clear, calm, and cool, optimal for distance running. Lake trailed initially; at the mile mark he was six seconds behind Caleb Carmichael, an assistant cross-country coach at the University of West Florida. Lake pulled even, and at the halfway point he and Carmichael were running side by side, far ahead of the rest of the field. With just over three miles to go, Lake made a move, something he had been practicing. "I've been trying to work on picking up the pace the last few miles in races," he explained. It was effective. Lake broke away from Carmichael and went on to win by nearly 300 yards, 49:53 to 50:47. The rest of the field was way behind; third-place runner Roger Schmidt was almost three-quarters of a mile farther back in 55:01. Maclay School coach Gary Droze was the fastest master runner in the field, finishing fourth overall in 55:34.


Sheryl Rosen led the women's field from wire-to-wire, but that's what you would expect of a runner who finished a 9.3-mile race with a 1.3-mile lead. That's how far Rosen was ahead of the women's runner up, 2010 Turkey Trot 15K champion Allison Eagen. Eagen ended the race 34th overall in 66:44. At 67:15 Karen Geletko was the third woman finisher. Jane Johnson ran 67:19 to finish as the first woman master for what may have been the 11th time--it's hard to keep track, especially when three of those top master finishes were among the four years that Johnson won the women's division outright.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2012 Turkey Trot 15K
  1. 49:53 ~ Chris Lake (M, 25) Tallahassee, FL
  2. 50:47 ~ Caleb Carmichael (M, 28) Pensacola, FL
  3. 55:01 ~ Roger Schmidt (M, 21) Tallahassee, FL
  4. 55:34 ~ Gary Droze (M, 51) Tallahassee, FL
  5. 55:50 ~ Jack McDermott (M, 43) Tallahassee, FL
  6. 56:07 ~ Jacob Brewer (M, 29) Bellevue, WA
  7. 57:06 ~ Raul Portillo (M, 32) Englewood, CO
  8. 57:40 ~ Drew Farrington (M, 25) Lansing, MI
  9. 58:02 ~ John Robida (M, 32) Tampa, FL
  10. 58:53 ~ Jake Mazziotta (M, 14) Tallahassee, FL

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2012 Turkey Trot 15K
  1. 57:27 ~ Sheryl Rosen (F, 28) Tallahassee, FL
  2. 1:06:44 ~ Allison Eagen (F, 33) Tallahassee, FL
  3. 1:07:15 ~ Karen Geletko (F, 33) Tallahassee, FL
  4. 1:07:17 ~ Jane Johnson (F, 53) Tallahassee, FL
  5. 1:07:44 ~ Brittney Barnes (F, 24) Tallahassee, FL
  6. 1:08:22 ~ Kate Gates (F, 27) Gainesville, FL
  7. 1:08:24 ~ Mary Masterton (F, 26) Orlando, FL
  8. 1:08:24 ~ Ashley Daily (F, 25) Tallahassee, FL
  9. 1:09:42 ~ Jill Haglund (F, 27) Tallahassee, FL
  10. 1:09:55 ~ Dana Black (F, 47) Port St. Joe, FL

The Tallahassee Turkey Trot doesn't include quite as many different races as a track meet, although sometimes it seems that way. A 10K and a 5K shared the 8:30 am start of the 15K, and over 900 folks started a one-mile fun run at 8:00 am. Close to 5,000 started in the three longer races. Crawfordville's Stanley Linton won the 10K with a 33:15, finishing over a quarter mile ahead of runner-up Nate Kaiser's 35:05. Stefanie Slekis was the first woman and third finisher overall, running 36:05.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2012 Turkey Trot 10K
  1. 33:15 ~ Stanley Linton (M, 18) Crawfordville, FL
  2. 35:05 ~ Nate Kaiser (M, 33) Tallahassee, FL
  3. 36:05 ~ Tony Guillen (M, 43) Tallahassee, FL
  4. 36:13 ~ Jay Wallace (M, 48) Tallahassee, FL
  5. 37:26 ~ Bryce Van Dam (M, 25) Tallahassee, FL
  6. 37:41 ~ Sean Hudson (M, 42) Tallahassee, FL
  7. 37:46 ~ Don Autore (M, 37) Tallahassee, FL
  8. 37:51 ~ Geb Kiros (M, 46) Tallahassee, FL
  9. 37:58 ~ Andrew Smyth (M, 26) Tallahassee, FL
  10. 38:17 ~ Robert Abellera (M, 20) Tallahassee, FL

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2012 Turkey Trot 10K
  1. 36:05 ~ Stefanie Slekis (F, 24) Tallahassee, FL
  2. 39:22 ~ Katie Showman (F, 31) Tallahassee, FL
  3. 39:38 ~ Micah Adriani (F, 35) Tallahassee, FL
  4. 41:46 ~ Adriana Piekarewicz (F, 24) Tallahassee, FL
  5. 41:52 ~ Elisha Boggs (F, 35) Tallahassee, FL
  6. 42:33 ~ Kristine Cox (F, 35) Tallahassee, FL
  7. 43:49 ~ Angela Wable (F, 39) Tallahassee, FL
  8. 43:49 ~ Cora Atkinson (F, 18) Crawfordville, FL
  9. 44:35 ~ Alana Taylor (F, 24) Tallahassee, FL
  10. 45:37 ~ Tiffany Roddenberry (F, 28) Tallahassee, FL

Former McNeese State University distance runner Ryan Barrow won the 5K race in 16:02, comfortably ahead of runner-up Kevin Hicks' 16:17. Florida State's All-American distance runner Violah Lagat won the women's division with a third overall 16:26. Only five days before the Turkey Trot, Lagat had placed eleventh in the NCAA Women's Cross-Country Championships.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2012 Turkey Trot 5K
  1. 16:02 ~ Ryan Barrow (M, 24) Tallahassee, FL
  2. 16:17 ~ Kevin Hicks (M, 28) Tallahassee, FL
  3. 16:38 ~ Chase Harris (M, 15) Bainbridge, GA
  4. 16:52 ~ Taylor Buzzard (M, 18) Tallahassee, FL
  5. 16:59 ~ Alex Smyth (M, 24) Tallahassee, FL
  6. 17:28 ~ Sean Mendes (M, 20) Tallahassee, FL
  7. 17:45 ~ Connor Q Hollander (M, 18) Tallahassee, FL
  8. 18:12 ~ Calvin Vannoy (M, 22) Tallahassee, FL
  9. 18:27 ~ Carl Strickland (M, 16) Greenville, SC
  10. 18:29 ~ Jasen Fulghum (M, 29) Tallahassee, FL

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2012 Turkey Trot 5K
  1. 16:26 ~ Violah Lagat (F, 23) Tallahassee, FL
  2. 18:20 ~ Lily Williams (F, 18) Tallahassee, FL
  3. 18:38 ~ Jodie McGuff (F, 19) Tallahassee, FL
  4. 19:11 ~ Sarah Docter-Williams (F, 48) Tallahassee, FL
  5. 25:44 ~ Bella Dennis (F, 5) Tallahassee, FL
  6. 25:46 ~ Meg Willowby (F, 35) Tallahassee, FL
  7. 25:45 ~ Paige Willowby (F, 7) Tallahassee, FL
  8. 26:03 ~ Teresea Dennis (F, 36) Tallahassee, FL
  9. 19:56 ~ Kelley Bahn (F, 20) Tallahassee, FL
  10. 20:12 ~ Michaela Ashley (F, 14) Panama City Beach, FL

The sheer number of runners was unprecedented for Tallahassee, with almost 6,000 trying to crowd into Southwood. If you’re planning on running next year, make a note to arrive early. And if you’re planning on competing with the likes of Chris Lake next year, make a note to start training now.


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1 comment:

  1. JudyNovember 25, 2012 at 2:35 PM

    GREAT wrapup, Herb!! Love the "start training now" comment at the end with reference to running with Chris Lake. Looking forward to pics!

    Thanks for taking & sharing with all of us!

    judy

    ReplyDelete