It's difficult to say just how many participated in Tallahassee's three kilometer Jingle Bell Run on Saturday evening, 1 December 2012. The 2,200 shirts ordered for the event had already all gone out to entries by Thursday, two days before the run. On Saturday, the last of the Santa hats, blinking candy canes, and jingle bells were also gone. Certainly not everyone who entered actually ran. Conversely, not everyone who ran actually entered. But there were a lot of people on Monroe Street at 6:15 pm. Thousands. How many thousands is what's in question.
There was no question as to which runner on the street was fastest. For the second year in a row it was Stanley Linton, no longer a student at Wakulla High School but a freshman at Florida State University. Coming back from a victorious run in the Gulf Winds Track Club Ten-Mile Challenge that morning, Linton ran 10:04 to finish well in front of the blinking, shuffling hoard. Katherine Resavage, a sixth-grader on the Holy Comforter Episcopal School cross-country team, was the first female finisher, running 13:24.
As a disclaimer to the winning times, the published route for the 2012 run appeared to be more than a bit longer than three kilometers. The event shirts announced that this was the 25th anniversary Jingle Bell Run, and that quarter century has been a history of long courses, short courses, and no results. But for a few minutes on a Saturday evening, people were out moving around the streets of Tallahassee when they could have been parked on the couch watching television. Count that as a win for everyone.Links
- A few more photos of the 2012 Tallahassee Jingle Bell Run
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10102510119108033.3427265.5215641&l=200d578752
- 2011 story, "Linton and Kurgatt head the horde at Jingle Bell 3K"
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/12/tlh-jingle-bell-2011.html
- 2010 story, "Slupecki and Hagen lead a cast of thousands at the Jingle Bell 3K"
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/12/tlh-jingle-bell-2010.html
- 2009 story, "Mizereck masters the mob at Jingle Bell Run"
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2009/12/mizereck-masters-mob-at-jingle-bell-run.html
- Find upcoming races that include timing and results on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
"...not everyone who ran actually entered."
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