Who to watch in the 2015 Tallahassee Marathon

I can't tell you what the Las Vegas line is on Gulf Winds Track Club's 2015 Tallahassee Marathon, but I can give you an idea of some of the athletes in the field worth watching. But just as you won't know the winner is until he crosses the finish line, you won't know who is running till the gun goes off. Athletes may show up on marathon day to race. Athletes who have already entered may fail to show up. The 2014 winner, Bryan Morseman, has already withdrawn from the race after originally announcing his intention to compete, and he hasn't been the only entry to drop out. Nevertheless, here are the elites that are expected to race on Sunday morning, 8 February 2015, in the 41st Tallahassee Marathon.


Chris Zablocki, a 26-year-old from Essex CT, won the Tallahassee Marathon in 2013, running 2:23:22. Six weeks later he ran his career best marathon, a 2:17:49 win at Virginia Beach. If that seems like a short recovery period, then you should also know that between those two races he also posted a runner-up 2:21:26 at the Albany (GA) Marathon. Zablocki will need that same kind of quick turn-around at the 2015 Tallahassee Marathon because he'll be racing just three weeks after finishing third in the Carlsbad Marathon on 18 January 2015 with a 2:24:53.


Fredison Costa, a 37-year-old from Brazil, will be racing with almost as short a recovery period as Zablocki. Four weeks before the Tallahassee Marathon, on 11 January 2015 Costa won the Walt Disney World Marathon in a career-best time of 2:18:06. It was the fourth Disney Marathon win for Costa, who also earned Disney titles in 2011, 2012, and 2014. In 2013 he finished runner-up at Disney, so Costa is just one place away from five wins in a row at the Mouse's Marathon. Racing in Florida seems to agree with Costa, but two marathons in less than a month may test that affinity.


Mark Kipkosgei Chepses is a 38-year-old Kenyan athlete based in Searcy AR, not far from where he has won the Little Rock Marathon four times in a row, 2011-2014. Among other races, Chepses also won the 16 February 2014 Mercedes Marathon in Birmingham, Alabama, where he went 2:20:26. His best marathon performance was a 2:16:41 from a 2010 race in Mexico.


Peter Omae Ayieni, another Kenyan athlete, is 36 years old. Omae has a 2:17:13 marathon PR, but that's a time from back in 2004. Most of this marathon times in recent years have been over 2:20, including a 2:23:48 at the 2013 Tallahassee Marathon where he finished third behind Zablocki and Chepses. Still, Omae was less than half a minute behind Zablocki that day, so don't rule him out.


Arturs Bareikis is a 26-year-old Latvian marathoner living and training in the Chicago IL area. He ran his best marathon, a 2:25:16, at the St Paul Marathon on 7 October 2012. Bareikis is young enough to have the potential to improve, and it will take improvement for him to contend for the win in Tallahassee.


Williams Sanders is a 27-year-old resident of Wethersfield, Connecticut. Sanders is a 2010 graduate of the University of Connecticut where he ran track for the Huskies, setting a personal best of 14:16.10 in the 5000 meters. Of the four 26.2-mile races on his resume the best is the most recent, a 2:27:16 seventh-place effort at the Hartford Marathon on 11 October 2014. Like Bareikis, Sanders is a younger runner who will have to outperform his credential in order to challenge for the title in Tallahassee.


Cole Atkins, a 29-year-old member of the Zap Fitness team living in Blowing Rock NC, is a bit of an anomaly. Atkins hasn't actually run a marathon, but he has qualified for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon by running a 64:37 half marathon in the 2014 US Championships at that distance in Houston, Texas. At this year's US Half Marathon Championships on 18 January 2015, Atkins lowered that to a 64:06. If you agree with USATF that running a 65:00 half marathon is the equivalent of running a 2:18:00 marathon, then Atkins has to be considered a contender in the Tallahassee Marathon.


Larry Smart, a 45-year-old Tampa FL athlete, is another runner with previous Tallahassee Marathon experience. Smart finished 14th overall in the 2012 Tallahassee Marathon, running 2:58:39. Even though he has run faster--Smart went 2:36:26 at the 2014 Boston Marathon--he's probably not a threat to win it all on 8 February 2015. However, look for him to contend for the master title.


Nina Kraft a 46-year-old-marathoner from Clermont FL, is as much of a Tallahassee Marathon veteran as anyone else in the women's field. Kraft was the top woman in the 2009 marathon, setting the course record for master woman. Since then, Kraft has been the Tallahassee Marathon women's champ in 2013, second in the women's standings in 2011, and third in 2014. In all four outings she was the fastest woman master.


Jordan Nelsen is a 23-year-old athlete training in St. Augustine FL. A few months ago on 12 October 2014 Nelsen ran 2:54:38 to finish as the women's runner-up in the Prairie Fire Wichita Marathon back in her home state of Kansas. Nelsen also ran 3:04:53 in some marathon in Massachusetts on 21 April 2014, but I understand that race was held on a downhill course. Uphill or downhill, Nelsen should be able to race with Kraft.


Shawanna White is a 35-year-old alumna of the University of West Georgia, where she ran on the cross country and track teams. White continued to compete after graduation; she ran a 2:52:42 marathon in 2012. Three weeks before the 2015 Tallahassee marathon, White ran a 1:25:46 half marathon in Charleston, South Carolina, so recovery time may be an issue on Sunday morning.


Sarah Crouch (nee Porter) has to be considered the class of the women's field. Another youngster, the 25-year-old from the Zap Fitness racing stable ran 2:32:44 last fall at the Chicago Marathon on 12 October 2014. Prior to hitting the roads, Crouch ran for Western Washington University where she was a 13-time NCAA-D2 All-American and 2011 NCAA-D2 champion in the women's 10,000 meters.


And that's it, with no offense intended toward any athlete that I've omitted. Keep in mind that any of these runners may not perform up to full capability on Sunday, and one or two may not show up at all. Likewise, some dark horse may show up Sunday morning, register, and then proceed to give everyone a run for their money. All of this has happened before. It's why we actually run the races, and part of why they're so fun to follow.


Links

• Trouble Afoot! coverage of previous Tallahassee Marathons
  
  • 2010: http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/02/tallahassee-marathon.html
  • 2011: http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/02/tallahassee-marathon-2011.html
  • 2012: http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2012/02/tallahassee-marathon-2012.html
  • 2013: http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/02/tallahassee-marathon-2013.html
  • 2014: http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/02/tallahassee-marathon-2014.html
  
  
• Gulf Winds Track Club's Tallahassee Marathon and Half Marathon
  http://www.tallahasseemarathon.com/
  
  
• Upcoming marathons and other races on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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