Garcia and Sherron headline a field of 214 milers at Breakfast on the Track

Joseph Garcia has run Gulf Winds Track Club's Breakfast on the Track Mile before. In 2013 he placed sixth in the race, running 4:46.95. In 2014 he was second with a 4:35.41. But before Saturday, 15 August 2015, the Florida A & M University distance runner had never won the Gulf Winds Track Club Mile before. That morning he did, running 4:35.42 on the Maclay School track in Tallahassee, Florida. Garcia wasn't the only one that morning to improve on a 2014 runner-up finish. Katie Sherron, second place in the women's division at the previous year's Breakfast on the Track, ran 5:17.98 in 2015 to win her first women's title in the event.

214 athletes wanted to run the mile at the Breakfast on the Track, so the race had to be run in twelve sections. The fastest section was the first, with Joseph Garcia among the starters. Garcia set the pace from the beginning, trailed by three Maclay School cross country runners--junior Jake Mazziotta, frosh Clay Milford, and sophomore James McClure. They were soon trailing by a lot, five seconds at the end of the first quarter-mile lap and then seconds at the half mile. Garcia continued to pull away on the third lap, but during the last lap Milford started to narrow the gap. Milford couldn't overtake Garcia, though, and the FAMU runner crossed the finish line first in 4:35.52. Milford held off a charging Nate Kaiser on the homestretch to take second, 4:42.58 to 4:43.58. Roger Schmidt of Capital City Runners overtook McClure and Mazziotta on the homestretch, placing fourth in 4:46.84. McClure was fifth in 4:48.69 and Mazziotta sixth in 4:49.49. Bryan Koon was the fastest master runner in the race, coming in ninth overall in 4:53.14.


Garcia's performance wasn't of the same calibre as the 4:04.43 1500-meter he had run for FAMU during the spring 2015 track season, but it was good enough to win. As a former Hope College athlete, FSU professor Katie Sherron also brought collegiate track experience to the Breakfast on the Track, just not in the middle distances.


"I only ran short stuff," said Sherron. "I had never raced the mile before. I first ran the Breakfast on the Track Mile in 2011."


In 2011 Sherron ran 5:22.37 for fifth in the women's standings. In 2014 she had run 5:27.12, moving up to second place. Racing in the second section in 2015, she improved both time and place, winning the women's division with a 5:17.98.


"It was a PR," said Sherron. "I was hoping for 5:20 so I was really happy with it."


Sherron's win still wasn't assured after she finished. A faster time by a woman in a later section could rob her of the championship, and the 2014 champion, Maclay School junior Caroline Willis, was running in section three. No one in the third section could touch Sherron's time, though, and Maclay senior Katie Whitworth ended up second in the women's standings in 5:27.98, just ahead of Willis' third-place 5:28.11. At 5:47.47 Maclay School seventh-grader Lindsay James was the fourth female miler. Tallahassee athlete Angela Dempsey was the first woman master and ninth female finisher, running 6:12.13.


In the Maclay School gym, pancakes were served to the finishers throughout the meet. Leftovers were used as exchange batons in the "Pancake Relay" that followed the twelfth section of the mile. Unlike the usual 4 x 400-meter relays, the Pancake Relay was a true mile relay with four quarter-mile legs. You couldn't expect otherwise at the Breakfast on the Track, though, a track meet devoted entirely to the mile.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2015 Breakfast on the Track Mile

1. 4:35.32 ~ Joseph Garcia (M, 19)
2. 4:42.58 ~ Clay Milford (M, 15)
3. 4:43.58 ~ Nate Kaiser (M, 35)
4. 4:46.84 ~ Roger Schmidt (M, 24)
5. 4:48.69 ~ James McClure (M, 16)
6. 4:49.49 ~ Jake Mazziotta (M, 17)
7. 4:51.84 ~ Ryan Truchelut (M, 29)
8. 4:51.91 ~ Zach Deveau (M, 27)
9. 4:53.14 ~ Bryan Koon (M, 43)
10. 4:58.18 ~ Paul Guyas (M, 37)

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2015 Breakfast on the Track Mile

1. 5:17.98 ~ Katie Sherron (F, 33)
2. 5:27.98 ~ Kathleen Whitworth (F, 17)
3. 5:28.11 ~ Caroline Willis (F, 16)
4. 5:47.47 ~ Lindsay James (F, 12)
5. 5:55.82 ~ Jillian Heddaeus (F, 32)
6. 5:59.48 ~ Rachel Rumana (F, 16)
7. 6:00.28 ~ Jainey Coates (F, 14)
8. 6:01.70 ~ Katie Sack (F, 23)
9. 6:12.13 ~ Angela Dempsey (F, 47)
10. 6:14.38 ~ Emma Spencer (F, 34)

“Breakfast On The Track” Mile champions, 1998 - 2015
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
8 August 1998	4:36, Robert Pautienus	5:21, Jane Johnson	101
14 August 1999	4:26, Lee Willis	5:27, Jane Johnson	123
26 August 2000	4:42.97, Gary Droze	5:09.08, Sarah Docter-Williams	112
18 August 2001	4:21.47, Ryan Deak	5:08.94, Sarah Docter-Williams	130
17 August 2002	4:35.07, Lee Willis	5:10.33, Sarah Docter-Williams	123
16 August 2003	4:45.20, David Huntzinger	5:02.28, Sarah Docter-Williams	122
14 August 2004	4:32.40, Lee Willis	5:11.79, Sarah Docter-Williams	162
13 August 2005	4:46.26, Art Remillard	5:07.13, Sarah Docter-Williams	157
12 August 2006	4:47.58, Whitney Strickland	5:09.85, Sarah Docter-Williams	202
18 August 2007	4:48.04, Michael Martinez	5:12.91, Sarah Docter-Williams	163
16 August 2008	4:31.39, Whitney Strickland	5:12.79, Jana Stolting	190
15 August 2009	4:43.40, Patrick Swain	5:05.66, Jana Stolting	176
21 August 2010	4:33.30, Trevor Touchton	5:00.97, Stefanie Kurgatt	191
20 August 2011	4:26.90, Kevin Sullivan	5:05.82, Stefanie Kurgatt	231
18 August 2012	4:40.52, Travis Covert	5:01.74, Stefanie Kurgatt	210
17 August 2013	4:34.92, Remy Tamer	5:12.07, Sheryl Rosen	178
16 August 2014	4:22.11, Matt Mizereck	5:26.81, Caroline Willis	213
15 August 2015	4:35.32, Joseph Garcia	5:17.98, Katie Sherron	214

Links

• Complete results of Gulf Winds Track Club's 2015 Breakfast on the Track Mile
  http://gulfwinds.org/raceresults/2015/BOT%202015.asp
  
  
• More photos of Gulf Winds Track Club's 2015 Breakfast on the Track Mile
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10106569882978693.1073742113.5215641&l=94e9924208
  
  
• Fred Deckert's photos of Gulf Winds Track Club's 2015 Breakfast on the Track Mile
  https://picasaweb.google.com/112560881455823075870/BOT_15
  
  
• 2014 story, “Morning mile honors for Mizereck and Willis”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/08/breakfast-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “Tamer and Rosen eat up the field at Breakfast on the Track”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/08/breakfast-2013.html
  
  
• 2012 story, “Covert and Kurgatt master the mile and a morning meal”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2012/08/breakfast-2012.html
  
  
• 2011 story, “Making a meal of the mile”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/08/breakfast-2011.html
  
  
• 2010 story, “A mile for breakfast”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/08/breakfast-2010.html
  
  
• 2009 story, “Patrick Swain wins 2009 'Breakfast on the Track' Mile”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2009/08/patrick-swain-wins-2009-breakfast-on.html
  
  
• Upcoming races on road, track, and trail in the Tallahassee region
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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