Green and Green put the "fast" in "fast food" at Valdosta's Chik-Fil-A 5K

When the Chik-Fil-A race series came to Valdosta, Georgia, on Saturday morning, 19 January 2015, it was an alumnus of the Lowndes High cross country squad who won the 5K race. Former harrier Jackson Green posted a 19:07 for the 3.1-mile run on the north side of Valdosta, finishing more than 250 meters ahead of the next runner. Valodsta's Rick Mazurkiewicz was the top master runner in the race, placing second overall in 20:12. Peter MacDonough took third in 20:22.


Valdosta master runner Debbie Green was the first woman in the 5K, coming in fourteenth overall in 22:34. Coffee Middle School seventh-grader Gracie Woods was second in the women's standings, sixteenth overall in 23:33. 21sr overall in 24:15, Valdosta's Martha Mazurkiewicz was the third female finisher and second woman master.


137 athletes finished the 5K, which started and finished at Crossroads Baptist Church. The race was run on Valdosta's only USATF-certified course, assuring the runners that their times could be legitimately compared with performances on other certified courses. In days gone by, distances in road racing were treated rather casually. During the 1930s seven-time Boston Marathon winner Clarence Demar observed that a ten-mile road race might actually be anywhere from six to twelve miles long. Decades later Ted Corbitt formulated a procedure for measuring road-race courses; events that used his method could apply to have their courses certified. No method of measurement is perfect, and you can argue that a USATF-certified 10K course isn't actually ten kilometers long. However, such a course is the same length as any other ten-kilometer course measured by the same method, or at least close enough to allow comparison of performances.


Proceeds from the Chick-Fil-A Race Series Valdosta 5K benefited the Georgia Sheriffs' Boys Ranch. The Valdosta race was the last on the series schedule for 2015, which had included 32 events in eleven different states.


Top Ten Men, 2015 Chik-Fil-A Race Series Valdosta 5K

1. 19:07 ~ Jackson Green (M, 15-19)
2. 20:12 ~ Rick Mazurkiewicz (M, 45-49)
3. 20:22 ~ Peter MacDonough (M, 30-34)
4. 20:31 ~ Matthew White (M, 40-44)
5. 21:09 ~ Oscar Norton (M, 30-34)
6. 21:11 ~ Mitchell Kallam (M, 10-14)
7. 21:53 ~ Kelly Barcol (M, 45-49)
8. 21:54 ~ David Smothers (M, 30-34)
9. 21:59 ~ Rob Sheridan (M, 55-59)
10. 22:01 ~ Leland Kent (M, 10-14)

Top Ten Women, 2015 Chik-Fil-A Race Series Valdosta 5K

1. 22:34 ~ Debbie Green (F, 45-49)
2. 23:33 ~ Gracie Woods (F, 10-14)
3. 24:15 ~ Martha Mazurkiewicz (F, 45-49)
4. 25:03 ~ Kelly Yates (F, 40-44)
5. 25:06 ~ Shelby Joyner (F, 15-19)
6. 25:11 ~ Kelly Davis (F, 25-29)
7. 26:04 ~ Josie Mazurkiewicz (F, 20-24)
8. 26:27 ~ Amy Rogers (F, 30-34)
9. 26:49 ~ Rhonda Barrett (F, 40-44)
10. 27:04 ~ Meshea Hardeman (F, 25-29)

Links

• Complete results of the 2015 Chik-Fil-A Race Series Valdosta 5K
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PcDOVFTox7dTjwhG-dFrsvlj9y0snrYQlycRkGLE_AA/pubhtml
  
  
• USATF course certification map GA15099WC for the 2015 Chik-Fil-A Race Series Valdosta 5K
  http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=GA15099WC
  
  
• Chik-Fil-A Race Series
  http://cfaraceseries.com/
  
  
• Find upcoming races associated with other fast food chains on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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