Saturday, April 20, 2013

Linton and Rosen lead a record crowd to the Palace Saloon

Stanley LintonUndeterred by forecasts of rain, the specter of the bombings at the Boston Marathon, or the rigors of 3.1-miles of running, a record crowd of athletes turned out for Gulf Winds Track Club's 39th annual Palace Saloon 5K Road Race in Tallahassee on Saturday morning, 20 April 2013. When the race was over, Stanley Linton was the latest of almost four decades of Palace Saloon 5K champions, winning a race where less than three seconds separated the first three runners. Linton's time was 15:46, his first sub 16:00 effort on the roads, although he has run faster on the track. Sheryl Rosen was the first female finisher, covering the 3.1 miles in 17:49.


Stanley LintonAs the sun came up on the morning of the race, an overnight rain had ceased. Even though the skies were still cloudy hundreds of runners were arriving at Messer Park to run the Palace Saloon 5K. The crowds reflected the fact that the race had grown in recent years, grown so much that this year the start had to be moved from Dupree Street to the wider Jackson Bluff Road. Cool air and a slight breeze did nothing to stifle that growth in 2013. By 8:00 AM a record crowd of around 1,400 athletes had gathered on the starting line. Then they were loose, thundering west toward Appleyard Drive. After a run north on Appleyard, the race turned onto Municipal, about 1200 meters into the run. Florida State University NROTC midshipman Stanley Linton was first onto Municipal, with about seven other runners right behind, including the Palace Saloon 5K defending champion, Josh Meyers. Closest to Linton, though, were Tallahassee runners Will Stanford and Peter Wood. Stanford and Wood were less than three seconds behind Linton when the runners turned south onto Dupree Street, and they were no farther back at the halfway point on Jackson Bluff Road.


Peter Wood and Will StanfordThe second half of the race was a dash east on Jackson Bluff Road to the door of the Palace Saloon. Linton continued to lead, but he couldn't get more than three seconds ahead of Wood and Stanford. Wood and Stanford continued to chase, but they couldn't draw closer than three seconds behind Linton. 800 meters from the finish, the runners crested the single hill on the course, coming into sight of the crowd waiting at the finish line. Linton was first runner they saw, then Wood and Stanford. Behind them, more athletes topped the ridge and started to race downhill toward the finish.


Jack RedwingThe race remained close, but Linton remained ahead. Sprinting across Budweiser Creek, he arrived at the Palace Saloon and the finish line, securing the win with a 15:46. A breath behind, Wood won the fight with Stanford for the runner-up spot, both runners clocked in 15:49. Another 100 meters back, Jack Redwing was fourth in 16:09. 2012 Palace winner Josh Myers ended up ninth in 16:46. Top master honors went to four-time Palace Saloon 5K champion Gary Droze; the Maclay School track coach was 25th overall in 17:26.


Sheryl RosenSheryl Rosen first ran the Palace Saloon 5K in 2006; the 2013 race was her sixth. It was also the fastest Palace Saloon 5K yet for the Tallahassee lawyer. Finishing 36th overall, Rosen crossed the finish line in 17:49, good enough to take the Palace Saloon 5K women's title, Rosen's first. After being a few steps ahead at the mile mark, Rosen had gone on to build up a lead of about 80 meters on the women's runner-up, Katie Showman. Showman was 44th overall in 18:07. For the fifth year in a row, Thomasville's Mary Anne Grayson was the top woman master at the Palace Saloon 5K. Grayson was the seventh female finisher in the 2013 race, placing 84th overall in 19:47.
Palace Saloon 5K finishers

Long after the top finishers had left the course, a river of runners continued to flow down Jackson Bluff Road to the Palace Saloon. When the last athlete was counted, 1,390 had finished, the most that had ever made the 3.1-mile trip in the 39-year history of the Palace Saloon Road Race. Some came because of the race's reputation as the fastest 5K in town. Others came in remembrance of the victims of the bombings at the Boston Marathon, just five days before. A few probably even came to have the traditional beer at the finish line.


Top Ten Males, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2013 Palace Saloon 5K
    Vince Molosky and Zac Buchholz
  1. 15:46 ~ Stanley Linton (M, 19) Crawfordville, FL
  2. 15:49 ~ Peter Wood (M, 25) Tallahassee, FL
  3. 15:49 ~ Will Stanford (M, 20) Tallahassee, FL
  4. 16:09 ~ Jack Redwing (M, 27) Tallahassee, FL
  5. 16:22 ~ Zac Buchholz (M, 18) Tallahassee, FL
  6. 16:23 ~ Vince Molosky (M, 33) Tallahassee, FL
  7. 16:27 ~ Charlie Johnson (M, 33) Tallahassee, FL
  8. 16:41 ~ Nate Kaiser (M, 33) Tallahassee, FL
  9. 16:46 ~ Josh Myers (M, 30) Jacksonville Beach, FL
  10. 16:53 ~ Joseph Garcia (M, 17) Tallahassee, FL

Top Ten Females, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2013 Palace Saloon 5K
    Seeley Gutierrez
  1. 17:49 ~ Sheryl Rosen (F, 28) Tallahassee, FL
  2. 18:07 ~ Katie Showman (F, 31) Tallahassee, FL
  3. 18:24 ~ Seeley Gutierrez (F, 36) Tallahassee, FL
  4. 18:56 ~ Micah Adriani (F, 35) Tallahassee, FL
  5. 19:11 ~ Melissa Thompson (F, 28) Thomasville, GA
  6. 19:17 ~ Lisa Johnson (F, 31) Tallahassee, FL
  7. 19:47 ~ Mary Anne Grayson (F, 47) Thomasville, GA
  8. 20:02 ~ Renee Cox (F, 25) Tallahassee, FL
  9. 20:26 ~ Cora Atkinson (F, 18) Crawfordville, FL
  10. 20:34 ~ Jillian Heddaeus (F, 30) Tallahassee, FL

Champions of the Palace Saloon 5K, 1975-2013
DateMenWomen
4/20/201315:46, Stanley Linton17:49, Sheryl Rosen
4/14/201216:07, Josh Myers17:20, Lindsay Zeiler
4/16/201115:48, Chris Lake 18:24, Lindsay Zeiler
4/10/201015:45, Chris Lake 17:42, Christina Woytalewicz
4/11/200916:21, John Robida 18:11, Lisa Johnson
4/12/200815:25, Nick Sunseri 18:46, Lisa Johnson
4/14/200716:12, J. P. Cook 17:14, Breeda Willis
4/15/200616:04, Justin Cross 18:33, Stephanie Liles
4/16/200516:06, Lee Willis 16:31, Breeda Willis
4/10/200416:39, Shawn Patterson 18:29, Breeda Willis
4/12/200316:26, Martin Littlefield 19:21, Tricia Snyder
4/13/200217:22, Chris Stanley 21:03, Allison Eagen
4/14/200116:51, Art Remillard 19:05, Kate Wallace
4/15/200015:39, Paul Spangler 17:19, Anna Pichrtova
4/17/199915:45, Robert Pautienus 17:22, Sarah Docter-Williams
4/18/199816:18, Jason Carter 17:29, Sarah Docter-Williams
4/19/199715:53, Gary Droze 17:37, Sarah Docter-Williams
4/6/199615:55, Gary Droze 17:59, Jane Johnson
4/8/199516:01, Tim Simpkins 17:48, Jane Johnson
4/2/199414:56, Robin Rogers 17:51, Lisa Herman
4/3/199315:30, Andy Palmer 19:37, Carrie Hunnicutt
4/11/199215:48, Gary Droze 17:45, Paula Johnson
4/13/199115:10, Gary Droze 18:20, Vikki Saga
4/14/199014:57, David Keen 18:38, Vikki Saga
4/15/198915:23, Rick Miller 19:05, Yvonne Gsteiger
4/9/198815:30, Rick Miller 17:55, Karen MacHarg
4/11/198715:03, Jacob Hoesly 17:33, Karen MacHarg
4/12/198614:36, Paul Waldron 18:44, Paige Dempsey
3/9/198515:39, Rick Miller 17:52, Margaret Coomber
2/18/198415:32, Greg Doss 16:34, Kristy McDermott
4/16/198314:52, Rick Miller 16:38, Darien Andreu
3/20/1982??????????
3/21/198115:02, Dennis Lunne 18:16, Janice Gage
3/8/198014:59, George West 19:37, Marty Graham
3/10/197914:55, Tom Herron 17:37, Kathy Moore
1/15/1977George West?????
2/25/197814:30, George West 17:45, Laura Ledbetter
8/14/197614:37, George West 18:05, Janice Gage
11/15/197518:17, David Price 19:56, Janice Gage


Links:
Bookmark and Share
Posted by Herb Wills at 11:01 PM
Labels: , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)