Martinez and McClay carry the day at Celtic 5K

"I think you set the record!" an enthusiastic race official told Michael Martinez, the winner of the Capital City Youth Services' 2013 Celtic 5K.


Actually, Martinez's 17:37 winning time was short of the 16:45 mark established by Peter Wood at the first Celtic 5K in 2012. But it was faster than Martinez himself had run at last year's event, and it was certainly fast enough to win the second annual race. In fact, it was fast enough to win the race by a lot. Martinez, a Tallahassee master runner, finished about 800 meters ahead of the runner up, Sam Littlefield, who covered the hilly course in 21:00.


The Celtic 5K started in downtown Tallahassee promptly at 10:30 AM ET on Saturday morning, 16 March 2013, heading west on College Avenue. Before the runners had gone a block, Tallahassee master runner Michael Martinez was already ahead. That never changed, except for the length of his lead, which increased as the race progressed. While Martinez went largely unchallenged, though, the women's competition was anything but settled. 800 meters into the race Ami McClay was setting the pace for the women's field, but twelve-year-old Arianna Neely was just half a step behind. Another few steps back, Kristen Klehr stalked them. Klehr was the first to give up the chase, leaving McClay and Neely. Finally, McClay got away from Neely, finishing third overall and taking the women's title in 22:19. Neely was the female runner-up, placing fifth overall in 22:39. Klehr hung on to the third women's spot, coming in 14th overall in 24:09.


The race served as a prelude to downtown Tallahassee's St. Patrick's Day festival. Florida's capital city doesn't dye the rivers green like they do in Chicago, but there were the expected pipers, beer vendors, and wearin' of the green. And for the second year in a row, there was the Celtic 5K.


Top Ten Males, 2013 CCYS Celtic 5K

1. 17:37 ~ Michael Martinez (M, 47) Tallahassee, FL
2. 21:00 ~ Sam Littlefield (M, 37)
3. 22:20 ~ Jon Shiver (M, 25)
4. 22:41 ~ Tommy Kristian (M, 33)
5. 22:59 ~ Brandon Krick (M, 27)
6. 23:13 ~ Matt Morris (M, 24)
7. 23:15 ~ Mike Terhune (M, 44)
8. 23:16 ~ Dylan Mahoney (M, 27)
9. 23:35 ~ Thomas Krick (M, 50)
10. 23:44 ~ Lucas Shaffer (M, 24)

Top Ten Females, 2013 CCYS Celtic 5K

1. 22:19 ~ Ami McClay (F, 27) Tallahassee, FL
2. 22:39 ~ Arianna Neely (F, 12)
3. 24:09 ~ Kristen Klehr (F, 25)
4. 24:49 ~ Abigail Showman (F, 24)
5. 24:54 ~ Karen Williams (F, 24)
6. 25:04 ~ Jami Gajos (F, 24)
7. 26:00 ~ Megan Smernoff (F, 26)
8. 26:04 ~ Rebekah Suwak (F, 25)
9. 26:25 ~ Stefani Pall (F, 21)
10. 26:59 ~ Erin Sylvester (F, 24)

Links

• Complete results of the 2013 CCYS Celtic 5K at gulfwinds.org
  http://www.gulfwinds.org/raceresults/2013/CCYS%20Celtic%205K%202013.html
  
  
• More photos of the 2013 CCYS Celtic 5K
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10102872882372543.1073741831.5215641&l=09c38969ac
  
  
• 2012 story, "'Erin Go Fast!' Wood, Hall capture Celtic 5K crowns"
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2012/03/celtic-2012.html
  
  
• Find upcoming races on St. Patrick's Day, St. Crispin's Day, or any day on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1