Johnson and Cauthen win a two-legged race at a six-legged festival

In the novel Sweet Thursday, John Steinbeck writes about the Pacific Grove Butterfly Festival. The Festival itself isn't fictional; it's an annual celebration of the return of migrating monarch butterflies to Pacific Grove, California. Ashburn, Georgia has its own annual insect-themed event, the Fire Ant Festival. The festival doesn't celebrate the return of the fire ants. The ants never actually leave Ashburn, and if they did, you probably wouldn't throw a party when they came back. But as long as Ashburn and the rest of South Georgia are stuck with the fire ants, the insects are as good an excuse as any to host a festival on the fourth Saturday of March each year. Part of festivities is the Fire Ant 5K.


Ashburn's own Adam Johnson won the Fire Ant 5K on Saturday morning, 26 March 2016, finishing the race more than 200 meters ahead of the next runner. Johnson ran the 3.1-miles through the Ashburn streets in 21:01. Mitchell Sinyard of Hawkinsville, Georgia was the fastest master runner in the race, coming in second overall in 22:06. LaGrange, Georgia master runner Lou Hartley took third overall in 22:51.


Allison Cauthen just keeps coming back to the Fire Ant 5K, and she keeps running faster. Her time in the 2013 race was 25:50, which she improved to 24:33 in 2014. Running faster still in the 2015 Fire Ant 5K, she won the women's title in 23:27. In 2016 Cauthen ran her fastest Fire Ant 5K yet, 23:10, earning her a second straight women's title. Kerri Lee of Forsyth, Georgia placed runner-up in the women's standings, sixth overall in 23:55. Gina Purvis of Tifton, Georgia was the top woman master in the race and third female finisher; Purvis placed twelfth overall in 27:00.


51 athletes finished the 2016 Fire Ant Festival 5K. RANREB timing services of Cordele, Georgia timed the race and provided results. The Fire Ant Festival 5K returns to Ashburn on 25 March 2017; the ants will already be there.


Top Ten Men, 2016 Turner County (Georgia) Fire Ant Festival 5K

1. 21:00.53 ~ Adam Johnson (M, 29) Ashburn, GA
2. 22:05.06 ~ Mitchell Sinyard (M, 55) Hawkinsville, GA
3. 22:50.23 ~ Lou Hartley (M, 49) LaGrange, GA
4. 23:25.98 ~ Stephen Williford (M, 30) Ashburn, GA
5. 24:09.44 ~ Gaylon Reed (M, 59) Littlefield, TX
6. 24:12.78 ~ David Slauenwhite (M, 57) Cordele, GA
7. 25:25.29 ~ Jorge Gonzalez (M, 23) Ashburn, GA
8. 25:53.05 ~ Matt Crowder (M, 42) Atlanta, GA
9. 26:50.20 ~ Monty Watson (M, 44) Cordele, GA
10. 27:15.35 ~ Wayne Kountis (M, 57) Tifton, GA

Top Ten Women, 2016 Turner County (Georgia) Fire Ant Festival 5K

1. 23:09.77 ~ Allison Cauthen (F, 27) Lizella, GA
2. 23:54.41 ~ Kerri Lee (F, 37) Forsyth, GA
3. 26:59.92 ~ Gina Purvis (F, 57) Tifton, GA
4. 27:28.73 ~ Adrienne Worley (F, 35) Cordele, GA
5. 29:03.90 ~ Jenny Mitchell (F, 32) Atlanta, GA
6. 30:08.07 ~ Amy Hightower (F, 39) Rebecca, GA
7. 30:19.85 ~ April Jowers (F, 35) Tifton, GA
8. 31:10.66 ~ Erin Espinoza (F, 35) Ocilla, GA
9. 31:12.04 ~ Wendy Pate (F, 44) Tifton, GA
10. 31:19.36 ~ Rebecca Walker (F, 37) Cordele, GA

Turner County Fire Ant Festival 5K winners, 2003 - 2016
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
24 March 2001
23 March 2002
22 March 2003	16:37, David Coody, Jr	21:52, Kara Clark
27 March 2004	18:23, Kerry Underwood	27:26, Stephanie Langley
26 March 2005	17:22, Robert Feldman	20:20, Brooke Withers	60
25 March 2006	17:52, Ryan McDaniel	21:22, Rue Chitwood	50
24 March 2007	16:01, David Marley	20:08, Elizabeth Lambert	76
22 March 2008	16:47, David Marley	19:45, Brittney Skiles	106
28 March 2009	18:15, Nathan Norton	22:56, Amy Bartholomew	63
27 March 2010	17:54, Daniel Chevez	21:53, Susan Breeding	91
26 March 2011	17:52, Robert Smith	20:46, Ashley Duncan	97
24 March 2012	18:09, Benjamin James Weston	23:37, Jeanette MacDonald	141
23 March 2013	19:02, Robert Bledsoe	25:24, Adrienne Worley	80
29 March 2014	18:38, Jared Hammond	23:21, Amelia Gibbs	47
28 March 2015	19:35, Lorenzo Gomez	23:27, Allison Cauthen	52
26 March 2016	21:01, Adam Johnson	23:10, Allison Cauthen	51

Links

• Complete results of the 2016 Turner County (Georgia) Fire Ant Festival 5K
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10B_KliKE8tnoSONzsdvAZ8_cZguQdnigfzwQH3U9J2g/pubhtml
  
  
• 2015 story, “Gomez and Cauthen and the ants of Ashburn”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/03/fire-ant-2015.html
  
  
• 2014 story, “No creeping or crawling for Hammond and Gibbs at the Fire Ant 5K”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/03/fire-ant-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “Bledsoe and Worley winners at 2013 Fire Ant 5K”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/03/fire-ant-2013.html
  
  
• 2011 story, “ASU athletes Smith and Duncan achieve ant honors at Ashburn”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/03/fire-ant-2011.html
  
  
• Upcoming races in the region, with or without pests for mascots
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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