Schmidt and Busby take the Hospice Half titles home to Tallahassee

After a four-year run of annual races from 2011 to 2014, the Hospice Half Marathon was absent from the South Georgia racing calendar in 2015. But the race returned to Dasher, Georgia on Saturday morning, 27 February 2016, and Roger Schmidt of Capital City Runners starred in the comeback. The Tallahassee, Florida athlete took three-and-a-half minutes off the event record, winning the 13.1-mile race in 1:17:14. Making it a Tallahassee sweep, Anna Busby won the women's title, finishing tenth overall with a 1:32:31.


Roger Schmidt was the first athlete to break 80:00 at the Hospice Half Marathon, but less than three minutes after he crossed the finish line he was no longer the Dasher race's only sub-80:00 performer. Nick Graves, a Georgia Tech computer science student, ran 1:19:52, placing second. Another Atlanta-based runner, Georgia Tech student Gautam Sowda, took third in 1:21:00. Jeremy Storey of Valdosta, Georgia was the top master in the race, placing twelfth overall in 1:33:45.


Sarah Ecker was second in the women's standings, finishing eighteenth overall in 1:43:43, while Angela Rao was third on the women's side, ninteenth overall in 1:47:23. Valdosta's Martha Mazurkiewicz was the top woman master and fourth female finisher, coming in 24th overall in 1:51:17.


56 athletes finished the 2016 Hospice Half Marathon. The race benefits the patients and families cared for by Hospice of South Georgia and the Langdale Hospice House. A Course/Line, LLC, of Valdosta, Georgia provided timing and finish line services.


Top Ten Men, 2016 Hospice Half Marathon

1. 1:17:14 ~ Roger Schmidt (M, 24) Tallahassee, FL
2. 1:19:52 ~ Nick Graves (M, 20) Atlanta, GA
3. 1:21:00 ~ Gautam Sowda (M, 19) Atlanta, GA
4. 1:22:14 ~ Parker Childree (M, 26) Valdosta, GA
5. 1:24:00 ~ Dan Butzin (M, 30) Valdosta, GA
6. 1:24:43 ~ Ryan Kelly (M, 37) Lake Park, GA
7. 1:25:20 ~ Joshua Anderson (M, 23) Atlanta, GA
8. 1:25:27 ~ Florian Hauer (M, 29) Atlanta, GA
9. 1:27:10 ~ Christopher Tromp (M, 19) Atlanta, GA
10. 1:32:54 ~ François Desjardins (M, 23) Atlanta, GA

Top Ten Women, 2016 Hospice Half Marathon

1. 1:32:31 ~ Anna Busby (F, 25) Tallahassee, FL
2. 1:43:43 ~ Sarah Ecker (F, 22) Atlanta, GA
3. 1:47:23 ~ Angela Rao (F, 19) Atlanta, GA
4. 1:51:17 ~ Martha Mazurkiewicz (F, 48) Valdosta, GA
5. 1:52:05 ~ Uma Rajagopalan (F, 20) Atlanta, GA
6. 1:56:54 ~ Penny Bell (F, 42) Hahira, GA
7. 1:58:50 ~ Kristen Goldie (F, 19) Atlanta, GA
8. 1:59:25 ~ Nicole Lane (F, 24) Valdosta, GA
9. 1:59:30 ~ Katie Allen (F, 22) Gainesville, FL
10. 2:00:21 ~ Joanna Bryan (F, 36) Sparks, GA

Hospice Half Marathon champions, 2011 - 2016
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
19 February 2011	1:25:36, Masked Avenger	1:43:03, Brandi Faircloth	72
17 February 2012	1:23:09, Stan Darsh	1:37:58, Amy Sharon	76
16 February 2013	1:20:45, Ryan Kelly	1:32:23, Beth Sweeny	107
15 February 2014	1:21:44, Ryan Kelly	1:30:28, Beth Sweeny	84
27 February 2016	1:17:14, Roger Schmidt	1:32:31, Anna Busby	56
The race was not held in 2015.

Links

• Complete results of the 2016 Hospice Half Marathon, courtesy of A Course/Line, LLC
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WGGyLjBy7AcfPbPud3YJptjznyZ8fJEL4CHzyW04eBM/pubhtml
  
  
• 2014 story, “Ryan and Sweeny repeat at Dasher half marathon”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/02/hospice-half-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “Kelly and Sweeny set records in third annual Hospice Half”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/02/hospice-half-2013.html
  
  
• 2011 story, “Avenger, Faircloth dash through Dasher to Hospice Half victories”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/02/hospice-half-2011.html
  
  
• Sweeny and Sweeny's engagement race
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/04/2010-palace-saloon-5k.html
  
  
• Hospice Half Marathon web site
  http://www.hospicehalfanddash.com/
  
  
• If there's another new half marathon, you'll find it on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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