Speed counts for Nicol and Reich at the Character Counts 6K

Six kilometers isn't the most typical distance for a road race. Nevertheless, when 2017 opened, there were four USATF-certified six-kilometer road courses in the state of Florida, corresponding to four different races. The first of these was "Character Counts!" 6K--or more completely, the "Character Counts! in Saint Johns County Six Pillars 6K." In the interest of brevity, let's just call the race the Character Counts 6K, and note that it started and finished at Saint Augustine, Florida's Palencia Elementary School on Saturday morning, 4 February 2017.


Saint Augustine master runner Andy Nicol was the first of 215 athletes to cross the finish line in the six-kilometer race, running a winning 23:32. Trailing Nicol by less than 50 meters, thirteen-year-old Lucas Bouquot of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida took second in 23:43. Another Ponte Vedra Beach Bouquot, master runner Jean Bouquot, was third in 24:26.


Deanna Reich of Saint Augustine took the women's title, racing the six kilometers in 26:59 and placing seventh overall. Saint Augustine's Michelle Fredette was the top woman master and second female finisher, thirteenth overall in 27:34. Jennifer Ashe of Saint Johns, Florida was third in the women's standings and fourteenth overall in 27:39.


Top Ten Men, 2017 Character Counts 6K

1. 23:32, Andy Nicol (M, 57) St. Augustine, FL
2. 23:43, Lucas Bouquot (M, 13) Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
3. 24:26, Jean Bouquot (M, 45) Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
4. 25:43, Kurt Hubbard (M, 47) St. Augustine, FL
5. 26:14, Ty Clarke (M, 12) Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
6. 26:41, Brian Drilling (M, 28) Jacksonville, FL
7. 27:24, Billy Massey (M, 40) St. Augustine, FL
8. 27:28, Christopher Leveille (M, 12) Ponte Vedra, FL
9. 27:21, Kenny Johnson (M, 37) St. Augustine, FL
10. 27:19, Paul Studivant (M, 48) St. Augustine, FL

Top Ten Women, 2017 Character Counts 6K

1. 26:59, Deanna Reich (F, 33) St. Augustine, FL
2. 27:34, Michelle Fredette (F, 59) St. Augustine, FL
3. 27:45, Jennifer Ashe (F, 34) St. Johns, FL
4. 28:17, Marina Dean (F, 13) St. Augustine, FL
5. 28:37, Jennifer Conway (F, 44) Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
6. 28:44, Angel Baer (F, 45) St. Augustine, FL
7. 29:01, Heather Hentzee (F, 37) Jacksonville, FL
8. 29:34, Aubrie Dean (F, 13) St. Augustine, FL
9. 30:39, Kimberly Baier (F, 37) Ponte Vedra, FL
10. 30:59, Victoria Davenport (F, 50) St. Augustine, FL

The 2017 Character Counts Six Pillars races included not only the six-kilometer event, but also a three-kilometer run on a USATF-certified course. Just as the 6K was won by a master runner, a master runner also took first place in the 3K. Saint Augustine's Bill Phillips was that master runner, winning the shorter race in 11:37. Another master runner, Robert Dews of Middleburg, was second in 11:45. Continuing to make it a morning for the masters, master runner Shelly Allen of Fleming Allen was the first woman and third overall finisher in the 3K, running 12:03.


Top Ten Men, 2017 Character Counts 3K

1. 11:37, Bill Phillips (M, 62) St. Augustine, FL
2. 11:45, Robert Dews (M, 47) Middleburg, FL
3. 13:25, Hector Menjivar (M, 14) Honduras
4. 13:25, Christopher Knox (M, 34) Palm Coast, FL
5. 13:26, Edward Farmer (M, 8) Ponte Vedra, FL
6. 13:31, Christian Baeza (M, 9) Palm Coast, FL
7. 13:45, Charlie Carlson (M, 8) Ponte Vedra, FL
8. 14:12, Stephen Wells (M, 12) St. Augustine, FL
9. 14:20, David Nyquist (M, 63) St. Augustine, FL
10. 14:26, Alexander Crim (M, 15) St. Augustine, FL

Top Ten Women, 2017 Character Counts 3K

1. 12:03, Shelly Allen (F, 53) Fleming Island, FL
2. 14:54, Emma Berna (F, 11) St. Augustine, FL
3. 15:23, Windsor Lockhart (F, 10) Ponte Vedra, FL
4. 15:35, Emily Wells (F, 9) St. Augustine, FL
5. 15:42, Britney Wells (F, 34) St. Augustine, FL
6. 15:50, Mackenzie Conway (F, 13) Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
7. 15:50, Sadie Bryant (F, 9) Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
8. 16:05, Celesta Mitchell (F, 37) St. Augustine, FL
9. 16:20, Mckenna Getka (F, 10) Ponte Vedra, FL
10. 17:16, Heather Jahr (F, 40) Middleburg, FL

Both the Character Counts 6K and 3K were chip-timed by RaceSmith, Inc. Jacob Smith of RaceSmith measured and obtained USATF certification the course of each race.

Character Counts! in Saint Johns County Six Pillars winners, 2013 - 2017
Date	Distance	Men	Women	Finishers
9 February 2013	6K	21:33, Yaro Middaugh	26:24, Beth Sweeny	205
	3K	13:02, John Prosceno	13:24, Jenn Hayes	203
8 February 2014	6K	23:02, Mike Beaman	26:53, Katie Dingler	123
	3K	12:16, James Ramsden	14:31, Alyssa Rodale	141
7 February 2015	6K	24:15, Bryan Thompson	26:36, Zahra Crim	218
	3K	11:13, Nicholas Parker	13:56, Humrei Thompson	264
6 February 2016	6K	21:32, Yaro Middaugh	23:54, Ani Veltcheva	253
	3K	10:51, Winston Fletcher	14:42, Tori Balser	243
4 February 2017	6K	23:32, Andy Nicol	26:59, Deanna Reich	215
	3K	11:37, Bill Phillips	12:03, Shelly Allen	254

Links

• Complete results of the 2017 Character Counts 6K and 3K
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Mt2aKmmhdpUE9Nrt5SyThztbhvyIM2cX-5J2PrPJmQI/pubhtml
  
  
• USATF Course Certification maps for the 2017 Character Counts 6K and 3K
  
  • 6K: http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL12089EBM
    
  • 3K: http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL12090EBM
    
  
  
• More about six-kilometer road racing in Florida
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/12/six-km-2016.html
  
  
• Find upcoming races in the Tallahassee region of just about any distance at Trouble Afoot!
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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