Kaus and Herman are Tallahassee's fastest Downtown Dashers

Ever since Cascades Park opened in Tallahassee this spring, local runners have anticipated the first race in the park. For future races and training runs on the Capital Cascades Trail, Gulf Winds Track Club donated a set of permanent distance markers, at least two of which have already been placed in the pavement of the trail. Capital City Kiwanis scheduled their 4 July 2014 Firecracker 5K to start and finish in the park. But Access Tallahassee ended the speculation when their inaugural Downtown Dash 5K went through Capital Cascades Park on Saturday morning, 10 May 2014.


The race started and finished downtown at the Chain of Parks, which meant that the runners would not only be descending almost 130 feet to get from the high ground of downtown Tallahassee to the banks of the St. Augustine Branch in Cascades Park, but they would also be ascending that same amount to get back to the finish line. Most of that climb would come on the way to the three-mile mark on the infamous Call Street hill between Franklin Boulevard and Calhoun Street.


"The hill on Call was tough," recalled Peter Kaus.


Tough or not, Kaus was the first runner up that hill, and the first runner across the finish line of the 3.1-mile race. Kaus had been challenged early by some of the other athletes in the race. The most tenacious was Adam Greenstein, winner of the Springtime 5K just two months earlier.


"Adam was close at two miles," said Kaus. "But then he fell back."


After that it was just Kaus alone with the hills. He won the first-year race in 18:08, with Greenstein runner-up in 18:41. At 18:52 Michael Martinez was third overall and first master. Tallahassee master runner "Marathon Jack" McDermott was fourth in 19:03.


Shelly Herman was the first woman finisher in the race, placing ninth overall in 25:27. Ten-year-old Kate Krizner was the second female finisher, coming in 11th overall in 25:42. Loranne Ausley was the third woman finisher and top woman master, finishing 13th overall in 25:45.


173 athletes finished the Downtown Dash 5K, not including another 14 who took a wrong turn and ran a shortened version of the course.


Top Ten Men, Access Tallahassee's 2014 Downtown Dash 5K

1. 18:07.78 ~ Peter Kaus (M, 30)
2. 18:40.84 ~ Adam Greenstein (M, 22)
3. 18:51.34 ~ Michael Martinez (M, 48)
4. 19:02.95 ~ Jack McDermott (M, 45)
5. 19:45.71 ~ David Plack (M, 44)
6. 20:00.39 ~ Michael Cipriano (M, 56)
7. 21:01.59 ~ Zechariah Lange (M, 24)
8. 25:19.59 ~ Nishanth Krishnamurthy (M, 32)
9. 25:34.82 ~ Nathan Marshburn (M, 37)
10. 25:41.93 ~ Bill Krizner (M, 39)

Top Ten Women, Access Tallahassee's 2014 Downtown Dash 5K

1. 25:26.30 ~ Shelly Herman (F, 30)
2. 25:41.12 ~ Kate Krizner (F, 10)
3. 25:44.98 ~ Loranne Ausley (F, 50)
4. 26:30.35 ~ Dale French (F, 28)
5. 26:38.29 ~ Anna Dower (F, 22)
6. 26:50.10 ~ Kelley Coe El-Urfali (F, 50)
7. 26:56.16 ~ Joy Ramirez (F, 37)
8. 27:13.24 ~ Julie Kritz (F, 38)
9. 27:27.49 ~ Lisa Starling (F, 48)
10. 28:02.75 ~ Michelle Robinson (F, 26)

Links

• Complete results of Access Tallahassee's 2014 Downtown Dash 5K at gulfwinds.org
  http://www.gulfwinds.org/raceresults/2014/Access%20Downtown%20Dash%202014.asp
  
  
• USATF course certification map FL14049EBM for the 2014 Downtown Dash 5K
  http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL14049EBM
  
  
• Look for the next race through Cascades Park on the Trouble Afoot! race calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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