Haynes and Centner gather roses in Thomasville

On Saturday morning, 29 April 2017, for the 40th year in a row athletes converged on Thomasville, Georgia for the annual Rose City Run. This time nearly 400 athletes made the ten-kilometer tour of the Thomasville streets, and this time the fastest runner was Chris Haynes of Tallahassee, who won the race in 32:57. Ann Centner of Blakely, Georgia was the top woman, running 40:56 and placing eighth overall.

Chris Haynes

As in the 39 previous Aprils, the athletes gathered on Broad Street for the start of the race. Just as in many of those Aprils, race director Dr. Jim Story informed the competitors, “When the gun fires, you go. If the gun doesn’t fire, you go anyway.” The gun fired. The runners went.


Dustin Reynolds, a senior on the Seminole High cross-country team, bolted to the front of the pack. He was stalked by two Tallahassee runners, Chris Haynes and Leon High senior Matt Cashin. Just two weeks earlier, Haynes had run a 15:43 for 5K, placing second at the Palace Saloon Run. Cashin had races even more recently, going 9:38 in the 3200 two days previously at the FHSAA 3A Region 1 track meet. The two runners weren’t strangers.

Chris Haynes & Matt Cashin

“He’s our assistant coach at Leon,” said Cashin. “We’ve been training a lot together.”


Haynes and Cashin, coach and athlete, soon overtook Reynolds.


“He was still with us at the mile,” recalled Cashin.

Mickey Moore

But not much longer. By the uphill climb near Cherokee Lake during the second mile, Reynolds was already half a minute behind Haynes and Cashin. Soon after that Haynes took over completely.

“Right before the two-mile mark is where we started splitting,” said Cashin.


After that Haynes was alone with the heat, humidity, and hills, ultimately building up a lead of more than half a kilometer--not that he ever looked back to check.


“I thought Matt was closer,” said Haynes. “If he had been with me when I crested Heartbreak he could have gone right by me, because I was toast.”

Ann Centner

The Rose City Run’s Heartbreak Hill, though, is less than half a mile from the finish line, and no one was close to Haynes. He was home with the win in 32:57.Cashin took second in 34:51. Mickey Moore of Tallahassee was the top master runner in the race, taking third overall in 38:05. Dustin Reynolds was fourth in 38:16 and Perry, Florida master runner Michael Rhodes was fifth in 39:02.


Haynes did his collegiate running at the University of North Florida. Women’s champ Ann Centner, on the other hand, was a University of Georgia distance runner. The former Bulldog was ahead of the rest of the women’s field almost immediately after the start of the Rose City Run.

Ann Centner & Katie Sack

“I have trouble with going out too fast,” said Centner. “I have to work on that.”


Poor pacing didn't have any dire competitive consequences for Centner that morning, though, as attested by Tallahassee runner Katie Sack, who spent the entire race chasing Centner.


“I closed in a little between three and four miles,” said Sack. “But that was it.”

Alyssa Terry

Centner ran home in 40:56 for the women’s title. Sack was the women’s runner-up and eleventh overall in 41:44. Alyssa Terry of Tallahassee was third in the women's standings and 26th overall in 44:52. Leon High junior Cynthia Paterson was the fourth woman and 43rd overall in 47:30. The top woman master and fifth female finisher was Tallahassee realtor Nancy Stedman, 46th overall in 48:01.


Neither Chris Haynes nor Ann Centner had raced Rose City before. There were some veterans of past Rose City Runs in the field, but few if any who were at the first race in 1978. But even as the faces in the race have changed, much else about Rose City has stayed the same. The runners have covered the same course for 40 Aprils, the band still plays on the fourth mile, and the Big Oak still provides shade during the awards presentations. And in spite of testimony to the contrary, Heartbreak Hill hasn’t got any steeper in the last 40 years. Thomasville’s Rose City Run has had a good first 40 years, and I hope it’s not asking too much to wish for at least 40 more.


Top Ten Men, 2017 Rose City Run 10K

1. 32:57, Christopher Haynes (M, 24) Tallahassee, FL
2. 34:51, Matthew Cashin (M, 17) Tallahassee, FL
3. 38:05, Mickey Moore (M, 47) Tallahassee, FL
4. 38:16, Dustin Reynolds (M, 18) Brinson, GA
5. 39:02, Michael Rhodes (M, 48) Perry, FL
6. 39:12, Travis Parks (M, 22)
7. 40:31, Joseph Ashebo (M, 15)
8. 41:01, Tim Unger (M, 57) Tallahassee, FL
9. 41:39, Tad David (M, 48)
10. 41:53, Duane Evans (M, 49)

Top Ten Women, 2017 Rose City Run 10K

1. 40:56, Ann Centner (F, 25)
2. 41:44, Katie Sack (F, 25) Tallahassee, FL
3. 44:52, Alyssa Terry (F, 23)
4. 47:30, Cynthia Paterson (F, 17) Tallahassee, FL
5. 48:01, Nancy Stedman (F, 55) Tallahassee, FL
6. 48:56, Christina Linton (F, 36)
7. 49:38, Rosalie White (F, 22)
8. 50:26, Jennifer Douglas (F, 43) Thomasville, GA
9. 50:55, Courtney Krick (F, 30) Santa Rosa Beach, FL
10. 51:04, Angie Cipriani (F, 18) Thomasville, GA

40 years of Rose City Run 10K champions, 1978 - 2017
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
29 April 1978	31:25, Gary Slayton	36:45, Janice Hochstein
28 April 1979	31:47, Mike Rasper	37:49, Janice Hochstein
26 April 1980	31:18, George West	38:14, Colleen Joiner
25 April 1981	30:21, Mabry McCray	40:26, Nicole Batchelder
1982	30:33, Ernie McKee	38:31, Nicole Batchelder
1983	30:47, Noel Shuman	34:57, Darien Andreu
1984	33:05, Gary Slayton	37:51, Barbara Balzer
27 April 1985	32:36, Rick Miller	37:41, Barbara Balzer
26 April 1986	32:05, Rick Miller	37:35, Janice Hochstein
1987	29:57, Herb Wills	37:39, Karen MacHarg
1988	31:55, Jessie Close	37:59, Karen MacHarg
1989	31:39, Jessie Close	36:49, Karen MacHarg
1990	31:56, Jessie Close	37:04, Karen MacHarg
1991	31:15, Jessie Close	38:33, Vikki Saga
1992	33:04, Trent Smith	37:48, Vikki Saga
24 April 1993	31:28, Gary Droze	38:24, Vikki Saga
23 April 1994	30:19, Robin Rogers	37:37, Lisa Herman
29 April 1995	31:52, Jessie Close	35:37, Suzanne Rigg
27 Aprl 1996	32:18, Jessie Close	39:37, Carrie Weyant
26 April 1997	32:29, Brian Erb	36:40, Sarah Docter-Williams
25 April 1998	31:58, Alan Black	36:07, Sarah Docter-Williams
24 April 1999	32:21, Alan Black	37:14, Sarah Docter-Williams
29 April 2000	34:15, Sean Daniels	35:20, Anna Pichrtova
28 April 2001	32:05, Paul Spangler	36:22, Sarah Docter-Williams
27 April 2002	30:53, Alan Black	39:35, Jane Johnson
26 April 2003	31:58, Matt Kalinski	41:53, Julie Carico
25 April 2004	33:44, Jessie Close	39:52, Kate Remillard
23 April 2005	33:44, Jessie Close	37:08, Sarah Docter-Williams
29 April 2006	34:32, Jessie Close	38:38, Barbara Jarnagin
28 April 2007	31:21, Alan Black	39:02, Sheryl Rosen
26 April 2008	33:10, Malcolm Campbell	37:40, Donna Garcia
25 April 2009	32:34, Nathaniel Haskins	41:38, Mary Anne Grayson
24 April 2010	32:51, Chris Lake	37:42, Amy Hines
23 April 2011	32:46, Chris Lake	38:58, Donna Garcia
28 April 2012	32:51, Chris Lake	36:51, Sheryl Rosen
27 April 2013	32:52, Will Stanford	37:08, Sheryl Rosen
26 April 2014	33:21, Chris Lake	38:58, Amy Hines
25 April 2015	32:04, Nathan Haskins	41:32, Beth Sweeny
23 April 2016	34:37, Roger Schmidt	38:11, Ani Veltcheva	358
29 April 2017	32:57, Christopher Haynes	40:56, Ann Centner	392

Links

• Complete results of the 2017 Rose City Run 10K at gulfwinds.org
  http://gulfwinds.org/raceresults/2017/Rose%20City%202017.asp
  
  
• More photos of the 2017 Rose City Run 10K
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10109608126419483.1073742271.5215641&type=1&l=63b11ead1c
  
  
• 2016 story, “Schmidt and Veltcheva bloom at the Rose City Run”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/04/rose-city-2016.html
  
  
• 2015 story, “Warriors of the Roses, Haskins and Sweeny win the Rose City Run”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/04/rose-city-2015.html
  
  
• 2014 story, “Fog and Flowers, Lake and Hines win again at Rose City”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/04/rose-city-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “No stopping to smell the roses for Stanford or Rosen”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/04/rose-city-2013.html
  
  
• 2012 story, “Lake and Rosen collect more Rose City titles”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2012/04/rose-city-2012.html
  
  
• 2011 story, “Lake and Garcia go for two at Rose City”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/04/rose-city-2011.html
  
  
• 2010 story, “Lake and Hines beat the storm at Rose City”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/04/rose-city-2010.html
  
  
• USATF course certification map GA12003WC for the 2015 Rose City Run 10K
  http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=GA12003WC
  
  
• Find the next Rose City Run on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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