DeVeau and Rosen take the Fallen Heroes 5K

Charging ahead in the second half of the race, Zach DeVeau won Operation One Voice's annual Fallen Heroes 5K on Saturday morning, 6 August 2016. DeVeau covered the 3.1-mile course through Tallahassee, Florida's Maclay Gardens State Park in 18:07. Sheryl Rosen took the women's title in 20:13, placing seventh overall. 151 athletes, including the entire Maclay School football team, finished the race.

Zach DeVeau

The race started just after 8:30 AM, with the runners headed uphill from the Lake Hall recreation area. Matt Page and Dustin Reynolds jumped out to an early lead. Page, a Florida State University undergraduate, had run cross country at Pasco High School. Reynolds was still on the cross country team at Seminole County High in Donalsonville, where he was about to start his senior year.


"This was to set the mood for cross country season," said Reynolds.


The middle mile of the Fallen Heroes 5K had a real cross country mood to it. Shortly after the end of the first mile the course left the pavement, taking the runners onto the Lake Overstreet trails. Those trails were where Zach DeVeau and Tallahassee Community College cross country coach Gary Droze overtook Page and Reynolds.

Matt Page & Dustin Reynolds

"I didn't know who they were and neither did Gary," said DeVeau. "We passed them between a mile and a quarter and a mile and a half into the race. Then I crept up on Gary just past two miles."


Just before the course returned to the pavement, DeVeau went by Droze and took the lead. There was still nearly a mile of racing left, though.


"I was running out of gas near the end," said DeVeau. "But then I made the last turn and it was a downhill finish after that."

Gary Droze

DeVeau maintained his lead over Droze on that final downhill, winning the race in 18:07. At 18:15 Droze was runner-up and top master in the race. Paul Guyas ran down Reynolds and Page in the final mile to take third in 18:53. Reynolds placed fourth in 18:58 and Page fifth in 19:35.


Sheryl Rosen didn't wait till the second half of the race to wrap up the women's title. The Tallahassee lawyer led the women's field from the start, ultimately finishing half a kilometer ahead of the next woman. Rosen's 20:13 was the fastest time by a woman ever at the Fallen Heroes 5K. Samantha Reilly took second in the women's standings, placing fifteenth overall in 22:42. Connie Lewis, a recent alumna of the Wakulla High cross country team, was the third woman and sixteenth overall in 22:54.

Sheryl Rosen

The Fallen Heroes 5K was hosted by Operation One Voice Florida. Operation One Voice raises funds to support children and families of wounded and fallen members of United States Special Operations Forces. The race was timed by Miles and Minutes, LLC, of Tallahassee.


Top Ten Men, 2016 Fallen Heroes 5K

1. 18:06.63 ~ Zach DeVeau
2. 18:14.27 ~ Gary Droze
3. 18:52.70 ~ Paul Guyas
4. 18:57.47 ~ Dustin Reynolds
5. 19:34.24 ~ Matthew Page
6. 19:57.56 ~ Jonathan LaBarre
7. 20:20.98 ~ Duane Evans
8. 21:38.09 ~ David Yon
9. 21:54.30 ~ Marcial Lopez-Marrero
10. 22:05.45 ~ Michael Savage

Top Ten Women, 2016 Fallen Heroes 5K

1. 20:12.40 ~ Sheryl Rosen
2. 22:41.68 ~ Samantha Reilly
3. 22:53.02 ~ Connie Lewis
4. 23:55.45 ~ Lexi Gray
5. 24:17.19 ~ Katie Sherron
6. 24:28.44 ~ Eva Mustian
7. 24:40.72 ~ Martha Bademan Guyas
8. 25:08.63 ~ Jennifer Powell
9. 25:59.64 ~ Kendall Ward
10. 26:27.95 ~ Anna Grant

Winners of the Fallen Heroes 5K, 2009 - 2016
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
1 August 2009	17:02, Christian Minor	22:07, Olivia Swedberg	164
4 September 2010	18:27, Robert Abellera	23:50, Karima Anderson	140
13 August 2011	17:14, Gary Droze	21:38, Tiffany Barz	232
7 September 2013	15:45, Stanley Linton	21:04, Jillian Heddaeus	94
20 September 2014	18:21, Michael Martinez	20:25, Brittney Barnes	107
5 September 2015	16:57, Gary Droze	25:01, Deborah Congdon	77
6 August 2016	18:07, Zach DeVeau	20:13, Sheryl Rosen	151
The 2009 Fallen Heroes 5K was run on a slightly long course in Tom Brown Park. The 2010-2016 races were run in Maclay Gardens State Park. There was no Fallen Heroes 5K in 2012.

Links

• Complete results of the 2016 Fallen Heroes 5K at gulfwinds.org
  http://gulfwinds.org/raceresults/2016/OOV%202016.asp
  
  
• More photos of the 2016 Fallen Heroes 5K
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10107993865032243.1073742208.5215641&l=09f222c109
  
  
• Fred Deckert's photos of the 2016 Fallen Heroes 5K
  https://get.google.com/albumarchive/112560881455823075870/album/AF1QipMLKG9aK4A-z5LQ3d1L45qg-XbOlhChv6s3Kj3_
  
  
• 2015 story, “Droze and Congdon run fast for Fallen Heroes”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/09/fallen-heroes-2015.html
  
  
• 2014 story, “Martinez and Barnes make fast tracks at the Fallen Heroes 5K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/09/fallen-heroes-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “Linton and Heddaeus rewrite the records at the Fallen Heroes 5K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/09/fallen-heroes-2013.html
  
  
• 2011 story, “Droze and Barz fly to firsts at Fallen Heroes 5K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/08/fallen-heroes-2011.html
  
  
• 2010 story, “Abellera and Anderson prevail at Fallen Heroes 5K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/09/fallen-heroes-2010.html
  
  
• 2009 story, “2009 Fallen Heroes Run, Tallahassee, Florida”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2009/08/2009-fallen-heroes-run-tallahassee.html
  
  
• Operation One Voice
  http://www.operationonevoice.org/
  
  
• Use the Trouble Afoot! calendar to help plan your fall racing schedule!
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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