Displaying the kick of a 4:17.02 1600-meter runner, Leon High senior Adam Wallenfelsz won the Jingle Bell Run in downtown Tallahassee, Florida, on Saturday evening, 5 December 2015. Jillian Heddaeus repeated as the women's champion.Wallenfelsz ran 9:09 and Heddaeus 10:38, although times don't mean much in Tallahassee's Jingle Bell Run. During nearly three decades during which the race has been held annually, the course has changed almost every year. Although it's usually listed as three kilometers, the actual distance has been shorter some years and longer others. 2015 was one of the rare years when the course was the same as the previous year, so it was possible to compare times from 2014. Well, it was possible for athletes who had run both years, as Heddaeus had.
"I wonder what my time was last year?" said Heddaeus. "I'd like to know whether I was faster both tonight and this morning."
That was because "this morning," Heddaeus had run Gulf Winds Track Club's Ten-Mile Challenge, just as she had the morning before her 2014 win at the Jingle Bell Run. In the 2015 ten mile Heddaeus had run 71:34, improving substantially on her 2014 time of 74:50. In the Jingle Bell Run, she had gone from 10:46 to 10:38.
"That course is hard!" declared Heddaeus.
It's no easier when you've raced ten miles just nine hours earlier.
Running, walking, or stumbling along, thousands finished the Jingle Bell Run, many wearing Santa hats and blinking lights. Other than Wallenfelsz and Heddaeus, no one's time or place of finish was recorded. The athletes who Wallenfelsz outkicked for the win remain anonymous. But you can't get a Boston qualifier at the Jingle Bell Run. You can run through city streets usually choked with cars, enjoy the lighting of Tallahassee's holiday decorations, and celebrate the beginning of what passes for winter in North Florida. Participants also contribute to the Tallahassee Friends Of Our Parks Foundation, which is no humbug.
| Recent winners of Tallahassee's Jingle Bell Run, 2009 - 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Men | Women |
| 19 December 2009 | Matt Mizereck, 9:45 | Kirsten Hagen, 12:44 |
| 4 December 2010 | Jacob Slupecki, 10:05 | Kirsten Hagen, 12:32 |
| 3 December 2011 | Stanley Linton, 9:57 | Stefanie Kurgatt, 12:18 |
| 1 December 2012 | Stanley Linton, 10:04 | Katherine Resavage, 13:24 |
| 7 December 2013 | Connor Hollander, 8:34 | Lindsay Taylor, 11:14 |
| 6 December 2014 | Joseph Garcia, 8:27 | Jillian Heddaeus, 10:46 |
| 5 December 2015 | Adam Wallenfelsz, 9:09 | Jillian Heddaeus, 10:38 |
| I've included times, but the figures aren't meaningful because the course and distance change frequently. | ||
Links
- Complete results of Tallahassee's 2015 Jingle Bell Run
Bah! Humbug!
- A few more photos of the 2015 Tallahassee Jingle Bell Run
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10106963845469703.1073742158.5215641&l=b967118079
- 2014 story, “Tallahassee Jingle Bell victories for Garcia and Heddaeus”
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/12/tlh-jingle-bell-2014.html
- 2013 story, “Rain on their parade doesn't dampen Hollander or Taylor's Christmas spirits”
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/12/tlh-jingle-bell-2013.html
- 2012 story, “Jingle Bells peal victory for Linton and Resavage”
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2012/12/tlh-jingle-bell-2012.html
- 2011 story, “Linton and Kurgatt head the horde at Jingle Bell 3K”
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/12/tlh-jingle-bell-2011.html
- 2010 story, “Slupecki and Hagen lead a cast of thousands at the Jingle Bell 3K”
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/12/tlh-jingle-bell-2010.html
- 2009 story, “Mizereck masters the mob at Jingle Bell Run”
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2009/12/mizereck-masters-mob-at-jingle-bell-run.html
- Find upcoming races that include timing and results on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
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