Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Johnson and Sherron each collect a second Melon Run title

If there was ever a good year for repeat winners at Monticello, Florida's annual 5K Melon Run, it was 2017. At the 39th running of the event on Saturday morning, 17 June 2017, 2009 winner Charlie Johnson was the overall winner in 16:55. 2016's top master runner, Geb Kiros, successfully defended his title, placing third overall in 18:08. 2011 women's champ, Katie Sherron, won her second Melon Run women's title, finishing ninth overall in 19:13. And Andrea Duffy, the top woman master in 2016, repeated that feat in 2017, finishing 48th overall and seventh in the women's standings with a 22:54.

2017 Monticello Kiwanis Melon Run 5K
Overall winners of the 2017 Monticello Kiwanis Melon Run 5K

As it has so many times before, the race started at 8:15 AM on Washington Street with the Jefferson County Courthouse looming behind the runners. Tallahassee runner Chris O'Kelley set the early pace.


"Chris was leading for the first mile or so," recalled Charlie Johnson. "At around one-and-a-half miles I closed in on him and made the pass."


That left the second half of the race for Johnson to open a gap of nearly a minute on O'Kelley. Behind Johnson's winning 16:55, O'Kelley was second in 17:51 and Geb Kiros third in 18:08.


In the women's field, Katie Sherron wasn't the only past champion in the race. Sheryl Rosen, winner of the Melon Run women's title in 2013, was also on the starting line that morning.


"I ran with Sheryl for the first mile," said Sherron. "We didn't see any other ladies around us. Then I saw Zach and Barrett sneaking up on me so I started to pick up the pace and negative split the next two miles."


Zach is Sherron's husband, who was pushing their infant son, Barrett, in a stroller during the race.


""Nobody wants to get 'strollered' by their own baby!" declared Sherron.


Running away from Rosen (as well as from Zach and Barrett), Rosen was the first woman across the finish line, posting a time of 19:13--significantly faster the 19:28 she logged in her 2011 win. Kat Sack overtook Rosen to finish second in the women's standings and seventeenth overall in 19:52. Rosen was the third woman and 21st overall in 20:11.


(Zach DeVeau, pushing baby Barrett, was eighteenth overall in 19:55.)


It was a typically warm and humid June morning on race day in Monticello. As always, the course was challenging.


"I was really happy with my time and execution since it was so hot and those last two hills are no joke," assessed Sherron.


"That last uphill was brutal," agreed Johnson. "But it was all worth it once we got the endless supply of watermelon post race."


Sometimes the prize is commensurate with the price.


Top Ten Men, 2017 Melon Run 5K
  1. 16:55, Charlie Johnson (M, 37)
  2. 17:51, Chris O'Kelley (M, 24)
  3. 18:08, Geb Kiros (M, 50)
  4. 18:19, Ryan Truchelut (M, 31)
  5. 18:29, Jim Halley (M, 37)
  6. 18:39, Michael Rhodes (M, 48)
  7. 18:45, Mickey Moore (M, 47)
  8. 18:59, Charles Biberg (M, 24)
  9. 19:19, Eric Godin (M, 33)
  10. 19:23, Peter Kaus (M, 33)

Top Ten Women, 2017 Melon Run 5K
  1. 19:13, Katie Sherron (F, 35)
  2. 19:52, Kat Sack (F, 25)
  3. 20:11, Sheryl Rosen (F, 33)
  4. 21:33, Jillian Heddaeus (F, 34)
  5. 21:55, Alyssa Terry (F, 23)
  6. 21:57, Laura McDerrmott (F, 37)
  7. 22:54, Andrea Duffy (F, 41)
  8. 23:18, Brittney Barnes (F, 29)
  9. 23:32, Tsige Tadesse (F, 44)
  10. 23:38, Angela Dempsey (F, 48)

Known winners of the Monticello Melon Run 5K, 1979 - 2017
DateMenWomenFinishers
23 June 197915:39, Gary Slayton20:36, Carolyn Crochet
28 June 198015:28, Gary Slayton19:49, Debbie Dickson
1981

19 June 198215:10, Andy Whitener17:38, Laura Ledbetter
18 June 1983
23 June 198415:37, Gary Slayton19:45, Cindy Walker
22 June 198516:09, Felton Wright19:12, Barbara Balzer
21 June 198615:55, Bill Crooks18:32, Karen MacHarg
20 June 198716:14, Bill Crooks19:33, Peggy Johnson257
25 June 198815:47, Bill Crooks18:18, Karen MacHarg324
24 June 198915:02, Jeff Pigg19:05, Vikki Saga
23 June 199015:20, Jessie Close18:06, Karen MacHarg
22 June 199115:23, Phillip Rowan19:34, Vikki Saga
20 June 199215:10, Jessie Close18:35, Lynda Nilges386
26 June 199316:07, Bill Crooks19:37, Sue Kany
29 June 199416:13, Gary Droze18:49, Sarah Heeb
24 June 199514:57, John Charlton19:54, Sissi Carroll
22 June 1996

28 June 1997

27 June 199816:33, Tommy Kunish17:51, Sarah Docter-Williams
26 June 199916:23, Tommy Kunish21:05, Peggy Simpson193
17 June 200017:08, Tim Simpkins18:32, Kim Winn141
16 June 200116:29, Ryan Deak17:54, Sarah Docter-Williams238
22 June 200217:54, Doug Gorton21:41, Laura Atlee139
21 June 2003

19 June 200417:18, Tim Unger20:30, Kate Remillard121
18 June 200518:31, Jack McDermott18:07, Sarah Docter-Williams123
17 June 200617:36, Nathan Haskins22:35, Loranne Ausley170
16 June 200716:28, Nathan Haskins18:50, Sarah Docter-Williams261
21 June 200816:08, Nathan Haskins20:16, Deb Jones194
20 June 200916:54, Charlie Johnson23:49, Sandy Holt267
19 June 201018:07, Gabriel Leitz19:59, Micah Adriani283
18 June 201116:38, Sammy Palmer19:28, Katie Showman258
16 June 201216:28, Stephen Cox18:59, Seeley Gutierrez379
15 June 201316:42, Stanley Linton18:49, Sheryl Rosen284
21 June 201416:17, Chris Lake19:08, Seeley Gutierrez244
20 June 201518:03, Roger Schmidt20:49, Teresa Ristow232
18 June 201615:50, Stanley Linton19:44, Brittney Skiles212
17 June 201716:55, Charlie Johnson19:13, Katie Sherron326
Thank you to Pat Dugan for providing information about the 1987 race.


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Posted by Herb Wills at 9:26 PM
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