The United States may not embrace trail running, but trail running is certainly important in the history of the nation. Consider the episode of the Walking Purchase. During the 1730s, John and Thomas Penn produced a document dated 1686 stating that the Delaware Indians had promised to sell their lands to the colony of Pennsylvania to a limit as far as a man could walk in a day and a half. The Penns then proceeded to hire three professional distance runners, clear a trail, and set up aid stations. The "walk" began on 19 September 1737. After a day and a half of running the swiftest of the athletes, Edward Marshall, had covered 70 miles and the Delaware had lost 1.2 million acres of their land. Perhaps the Native Americans should have hired some race-walk judges.
Search history, but you won't find that kind of outcome riding on a baseball game.
Tallahassee's Gulf Winds Track Club decided to celebrate the American tradition of trail running with a Summer Trail Series of four races, organized by Bobby York. On Saturday morning, 22 June 2013, athletes gathered in Tom Brown Park for the first race of the series, five to six miles of racing on the Cadillac Trail. The event wasn't without problems. After marking the course the previous day, a summer shower washed away the chalk arrows. York and his team went back to the trail in the dark and re-marked the course, this time with pin flags. Then on the morning of the race, York had to delay the start of the trail run--three participants in the children's mile had run off course and had to be found before the main event could begin. Finally, at 8:30, all of York's work and planning came to fruition as 121 competitors set off to run the Cadillac Trail. Kevin Sullivan of Capital City Runners went right to the front, which is what you would expect from a four-time Big Ten Conference cross-country champion and seven-time member of the Canadian national cross-country team. True to expectations, Sullivan stayed out front for the entire tour of the Cadillac trail, finishing with a winning 37:38 for the run. Sullivan was followed across the finish line by runner-up Charn McAllister at 39:26, then Bryce Van Dam at 39:57 and Eric Godin at 40:15. In fifth place at 43:04, Tony Guillen of Tallahassee was the first master finisher.
Triathlete Stephanie Liles-Weyant was the first woman as well as the first woman master. Liles-Weyant placed ninth overall in 45:07, finishing more than two minutes ahead of the female runner-up, Brook Pace. Pace was 14th overall in 47:12.
The Gulf Winds Track Club's Summer Trail Series continues with a 4.5-mile run over the Swamp Forest Trail in Phipps Park at 8:00 AM on July 13, a 3.5-mile run over the Magnolia Trail in Tom Brown Park at 8:00 AM on July 27, and concludes with a 4.5-mile run over the Redbug Trail in Phipps Park at 6:00 PM on August 3.
Top Ten Men, Race #1 of Gulf Winds Track Club's 2013 Summer Trail Series
- 37:38 ~ Kevin Sullivan (M, 39) Tallahassee, FL
- 39:26 ~ Charn McAllister (M, 30)
- 39:57 ~ Bryce Van Dam (M, 26)
- 40:15 ~ Eric Godin (M, 29)
- 43:04 ~ Tony Guillen (M, 44)
- 43:20 ~ Doug Bell (M, 41)
- 43:27 ~ Paul Guyas (M, 35)
- 43:39 ~ Michael Kennett (M, 38)
- 45:20 ~ Hal Fravel (M, 32)
- 45:31 ~ Duane Evans (M, 46)
Top Ten Women, Race #1 of Gulf Winds Track Club's 2013 Summer Trail Series
- 45:07 ~ Stephanie Liles-Weyant (F, 41)
- 47:12 ~ Brook Pace (F, 34)
- 49:00 ~ Ashley Daily (F, 26)
- 50:29 ~ Melissa Hooke (F, 34)
- 52:45 ~ Carla McDonald (F, 35)
- 53:10 ~ Beverly Hamilton (F, 35)
- 53:40 ~ Martha Bademan (F, 29)
- 55:04 ~ Michelle Perry (F, 28)
- 55:40 ~ Sarah Dugas (F, 34)
- 56:14 ~ Jamie Harris (F, 36)
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