Miedema and Skalski are tough at Tall Timbers in the Pine Run

Dothan, Alabama, athlete Ben Miedema won Gulf Winds Track Club's 37th Pine Run 20K on Saturday morning, 10 October 2015, running 1:27:59. Doug Bell of Tallahassee was the first master runner and second overall in 1:29:08. Tallahassee's Jane Skalski was the first woman in the race, coming in twelfth overall in 1:38:11, while Ruffian Tyner was the top woman master and fourth female finisher, 26th overall in 1:47:48. 151 athletes finished the 12.4-mile event through Tall Timbers Research Station, north of Tallahassee.


The course for the 2015 Pine Run was all natural surfaces, grass and dirt, sometimes punctuated with a tree root. Sandy stretches were dry and loose. The grass was mostly ankle height and heavy with dew. Some of the eighth mile had been shredded by feral hogs, rooting for food. There were level patches here and there among the hills, but no one was talking about them. This wasn't Cascade Park in downtown Tallahassee, tame, paved, and adorned with fountains. This was Tall Timbers in the quail country along the Florida-Georgia border, land managed to be as wild as it was in pre-Columbian days. The running was cross country, and a large helping of it. High school athletes compete in five kilometer cross country races, and the college men go ten kilometers. In the World Cross Country Championships the men race twelve kilometers. But the Pine Run is more cross country than any of those, a full twenty kilometers of field and forest, with the occasional patch of mud.


The long run started just after 7:30 AM. Tallahassee master runner Tony Guillen was the early pacesetter with Lee Morrison, an alumnus of the Ocala Vanguard cross country team, a step behind. Just over a kilometer into the race Ben Miedema was in third, trailing the leaders by twenty seconds. Charn McAllister was another three seconds back.


Around eight kilometers Guillen was in total command of the race. Morrison was nearly two minutes behind, still in second, but Miedema was closing in on him. Miedema caught Morrison, and was almost a minute ahead of him by thirteen kilometers. Guillen was still out in front, though, leading by close to three minutes. Guillen was even farther ahead of Miedema with three kilometers to go, the start of a long climb up to the Beadle House. Morrison clung to third even as Douglas Bell and Charn McAllister moved in on him.


But in the final kilometer the leader took a wrong turn. Guillen may not have known where he was going, but the runners chasing him had no such problem. Morrison flawlessly navigated to the finish line, first in 1:27:59. Bell was second in 1:29:08, just ahead of McAllister at 1:29:14. Guillen, finally back on track, was fourth in 1:29:54.


On the women's side, Jane Skalski was ahead after one kilometer, farther ahead after seventeen kilometers, and even farther ahead at the finish line, winning the women's title in 1:38:11. Meaghan Faletti was second in the women's standings, 15th overall in 1:42:25. Kate Chunka was the third female finisher, 21st overall in 1:45:38, and at 1:47:48 master runner Ruffian Tyner was the fourth woman in the race.


Athletes had a three-hour time limit to finish the Pine Run--plenty of time to run twenty kilometers, but not nearly enough time to spend among the birds and trees and wildflowers at Tall Timbers. But everyone can look forward to another three hours next October at the 2016 Pine Run 20K.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2015 Pine Run 20K

1. 1:27:59 ~ Benjamin Miedema (M, 33) Dothan, AL
2. 1:29:08 ~ Douglas Bell (M, 46)
3. 1:29:14 ~ Charn McAllister (M, 32)
4. 1:29:54 ~ Tony Guillen (M, 46)
5. 1:30:09 ~ Joel Piotrowski (M, 46)
6. 1:33:40 ~ Philip Sura (M, 45)
7. 1:34:02 ~ Andy Roberts (M, 48)
8. 1:34:43 ~ Carter Hay (M, 44)
9. 1:35:15 ~ David Yon (M, 59)
10. 1:36:24 ~ Lee Morrison (M, 18)

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2015 Pine Run 20K

1. 1:38:11 ~ Jane Skalski (F, 30) Tallahassee, FL
2. 1:42:25 ~ Meaghan Faletti (F, 23)
3. 1:45:38 ~ Kate Chunka (F, 32)
4. 1:47:48 ~ Ruffian Tyner (F, 40)
5. 1:49:19 ~ Deborah Congdon (F, 45)
6. 1:50:51 ~ Emma Spencer (F, 34)
7. 1:52:44 ~ Nancy Stedman (F, 53)
8. 1:52:57 ~ Sarrah Carroll (F, 33)
9. 1:53:34 ~ Kelly Garland (F, 44)
10. 1:53:55 ~ Sarah Dugas (F, 36)

Champions of Gulf Winds Track Club's Pine Run 20K, 1977 - 2015
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
15 October 1977	67:19 ~ Herb Wills	86:21 ~ Rosemary Desloge	124
14 October 1978	69:30 ~ Jim Eastman	81:21 ~ Janice Gage	167
13 October 1979	71:28 ~ Louis Floyd	86:29 ~ Laura Ledbetter	144
11 October 1980	71:57 ~ Kirk Fechter	98:20 ~ Michelle Jernigan	134
10 October 1981	75:05 ~ Jeff Doherty	99:40 ~ Marianne Crawford	101
9 October 1982	67:00 ~ Herb Wills	97:17 ~ Kathe Brookover	106
22 October 1983	69:32 ~ Herb Wills	85:43 ~ Patti Sudduth	128
20 October 1984	72:37 ~ Kirk Fechter	89:55 ~ Donna Miller	107
19 October 1985	68:54 ~ Herb Wills	88:22 ~ Patti Sudduth	71
18 October 1986	71:20 ~ Bill Crooks	87:31 ~ Janice Gage Hochstein	146
17 October 1987	68:58 ~ Tom Swiersz	85:56 ~ Kay Capozzi	125
15 October 1988	65:36 ~ Herb Wills	82:29 ~ Paula Johnson	170
14 October 1989	69:46 ~ Herb Wills	89:53 ~ Jodi Waldron	139
13 October 1990	69:55 ~ Herb Wills	85:10 ~ Donna Miller	113
12 October 1991	65:43 ~ Jessie Close	88:16 ~ Mary Jean Yon	150
17 October 1992	66:34 ~ Gary Droze	82:17 ~ Carrie Hunnicutt	141
16 October 1993	75:26 ~ Paul Hoover	80:53 ~ Paula Johnson	134
15 October 1994	72:45 ~ Tim Simpkins	80:18 ~ Jane Johnson	147
14 October 1995	77:39 ~ Tim Simpkins	82:46 ~ Jane Johnson	146
12 October 1996	74:32 ~ Tim Simpkins	80:30 ~ Jane Johnson	172
11 October 1997	71:36 ~ Gary Droze	80:12 ~ Sarah Docter-Williams	156
10 October 1998	73:12 ~ Gary Droze	81:35 ~ Jane Johnson	125
9 October 1999	80:41 ~ Robert Pautienus	82:23 Sarah Docter-Williams	170
14 October 2000	79:28 ~ Art Remillard	82:43 ~ Jane Johnson	150
13 October 2001	80:57 ~ Tim Unger	84:03 ~ Sarah Docter-Williams	128
12 October 2002	83:37 ~ Tim Bolton	86:46 ~ Jane Johnson	137
11 October 2003	84:14 ~ David Yon	97:27 ~ Lisa Whitworth	79
9 October 2004	83:01 ~ David Guerra	91:55 ~ Jane Johnson	94
9 October 2005	79:41 ~ Myles Gibson	89:55 ~ Jane Johnson	136
14 October 2006	78:22 ~ Jay Wallace	81:31 ~ Sheryl Rosen	108
No race held in 2007
11 October 2008	77:45 ~ Vince Molosky	87:32 ~ Kati Gosnell	142
2 October 2009	75:22 ~ Jay Wallace	86:21 ~ Sheryl Rosen	155
9 October 2010	73:39 ~ Vince Molosky	90:21 ~ Jane Johnson	243
8 October 2011	73:15 ~ Kevin Sullivan	84:02 ~ Sheryl Rosen	180
13 October 2012	74:48 ~ Vince Molosky	95:05 ~ Jane Johnson	199
12 October 2013	74:27 ~ Stanley Linton	85:36 ~ Sheryl Rosen	171
11 October 2014	72:10 ~ Chris Lake	87:09 ~ Elspeth Turner	164
10 October 2015	87:59 ~ Benjamin Miedema	98:11 ~ Jane Skalski	151
From 1977 to 2006 the race was run at International Paper's Southlands Experimental Forest south of Bainbridge, Georgia. From 2008 to 2015 the race has been run at Tall Timbers Research Station at the north end of Leon County, Florida.

Links

• Complete results of the 2015 Pine Run 20K at Tall Timbers at gulfwinds.org
  http://gulfwinds.org/raceresults/2015/Pine%20Run%202015.asp
  
  
• More photos of the 2015 Gulf Winds Track Club Pine Run 20K at Tall Timbers
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10106782181161433.1073742132.5215641&l=9047e50d06
  
  
• Fred Deckert's photos of the 2015 Gulf Winds Track Club Pine Run 20K at Tall Timbers
  https://picasaweb.google.com/112560881455823075870/PineRun_15
  
  
• 2014 story, “Sterling debuts for Lake and Turner at Tall Timbers”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/10/pine-run-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “Linton and Rosen are the twin terrors of Tall Timbers in Tallahassee's Pine Run 20K”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/10/pine-run-2013.html
  
  
• 2012 story, “Molosky and Johnson take titles at Tall Timbers”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2012/10/pine-run-2012.html
  
  
• 2011 story, “Sullivan and Rosen tumble records at Tall Timbers”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/10/pine-run-2011.html
  
  
• 2010 story, “Molosky and Johnson find their way to wins at Pine Run 20K”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/10/pine-run-2010.html
  
  
• 2009 story, “Wallace, Rosen winners at the 2009 Pine Run”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2009/10/wallace-rosen-winners-at-2009-pine-run.html
  
  
• Beautyberry and other wildflowers on the Pine Run 20K course
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101068395887923.3217016.5215641&l=45b43048ac
  
  
• If there's another cross-country race like the Pine Run scheduled, it'll be listed here
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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