Charlie Johnson and Katie Sherron each repeat as Ten-Mile Challenge champions

"I decided to go hard today and see what happens!" called out Charlie Johnson.


Johnson was racing toward the three-mile mark of Gulf Winds Track Club's 42nd annual Ten-Mile Challenge. What happened was that Johnson ran 56:26, winning the race for the second year in a row and crossing the finish line nearly half a mile ahead of the next runner. Johnson wasn't the only repeat winner in the Challenge. Katie Sherron took the women's title in the ten-mile race for a fourth straight year, placing fifth overall in 64:26.

Charlie Johnson

The race started at 8:00 AM on Saturday morning, 2 December 2017, in the Ox Bottom Manor neighborhood of Tallahassee, Florida. Patches of fog lingered on parts of the course as the runners got under way. The defending champion, Charlie Johnson, took the lead almost immediately. Matt McCurdy and Chris O'Kelley ran together behind Johnson, his nearest pursuers. After the first of two five-mile laps around the course, though, Johnson was already more than a quarter-mile ahead of McCurdy and O'Kelley and continuing to pull away. Racing alone, Johnson finished the race in a winning 56:26--almost three minutes faster than the 59:10 he had run in the 2016 Challenge, and the fastest time in the race since 2013, when Stan Linton had gone 55:30.


Johnson and McCurdy were left to contend for second place. With a quarter-mile to go, O'Kelley was still racing alongside McCurdy. But the last few hundred meters of a race is not when you want to racing next to McCurdy, who used to run the 4 x 400 relay on the Centre College track team.

Chris O'Kelley and Matt McCurdy

"I could split a 48-high in the four-by-four," said McCurdy.


With the finish line approaching, McCurdy sprinted ahead to take second in 59:14. O'Kelley was third in 59:18. David Graf placed fourth overall in 63:13, the top master runner in the race.


Katie Sherron has raced the Ten-Mile Challenge each of the last eight years, starting in 2010--the year the race moved from Killearn Lakes to the present course in Ox Bottom Manor. In those eight outings, she has won the women's division five times.

Katie Sherron

"I know this course," said Sherron. "You have to start out easy and the hills only get steeper the second time around."


Whether or not any woman knows the Ten-Mile Challenge course better than Sherron, certainly no other woman ran the course faster in 2017. When Sherron finished the ten miles in 64:26, no other woman in the race had even reached the nine-mile mark yet. Allison Eagen is the only woman who has covered the ten miles in Ox Bottom Manor faster, going 64:25 when the course debuted in 2010.

Brittney Barnes

Brittney Barnes overtook Alyssa Terry during the second lap around the course to take second in the women's standings and sixteenth overall in 72:04. Terry was the third woman and nineteenth overall in 72:42. Laura Reina was the first woman master and sixth female finisher, 34th overall in 79:08.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2017 Ten-Mile Challenge

1. 56:26, Charlie Johnson (M, 38)
2. 59:14, Matthew McCurdy (M, 24)
3. 59:18, Chris O'Kelley (M, 24)
4. 63:13, David Graf (M, 41)
5. 65:24, Tony Guillen (M, 48)
6. 65:47, Jim Halley (M, 38)
7. 65:57, Don Smith (M, 38)
8. 66:13, Brad Busboom (M, 29)
9. 66:58, Carter Hay (M, 46)
10. 67:51, Paul Guyas (M, 40)

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2017 Ten-Mile Challenge

1. 64:26, Katie Sherron (F, 36)
2. 72:04, Brittney Barnes (F, 29)
3. 72:42, Alyssa Terry (F, 24)
4. 73:14, Jillian Heddaeus (F, 34)
5. 74:59, Deanna McVay (F, 34)
6. 79:08, Laura Reina (F, 53)
7. 79:15, Kenya Rich (F, 45)
8. 82:48, Nancy Proctor (F, 56)
9. 83:20, Jamie Harris (F, 41)
10. 83:20, Lori Abbey (F, 50)

Each year since 2004 a five-mile race has been held concurrently with the Ten-Mile Challenge. Tristan Cravello won the shorter race in 2017, going 29:44. Cravello, a first-year student at Florida State University, was seeing the course for the first time.


"It was a beautiful neighborhood to run in," said Cravello. "But the fourth mile--that hill was tough."

Tristan Cravello

Tallahassee Community College cross-country coach Gary Droze gave up more than twenty seconds to Cravello in the first mile, then remained about that far behind for the rest of the race, finishing second overall in 30:10. Droze was the first master runner in the five-mile race.


Cravello had run with Ten-Mile Challenge competitors McCurdy and O'Kelley for the first three miles of his race. He wasn't the only runner in the five mile to pace off of athletes in the longer race. In the women's division, Katerina Caltova ran a step or two behind Katie Sherron for the first four miles. Sherron had no way of knowing that Caltova was racing the five mile; Caltova had no way of knowing that Sherron was racing the ten mile.


"I was aware of her and tried to stay ahead," said Sherron.

Kateřina Caltová

"I tried to keep up with her," said Caltova. "But on the last hill I said, 'Okay!' and let her go."


While Sherron went on to finish as the top woman in the ten mile, Caltova finished as the top woman in the five mile, placing third overall in 32:36. A visitor from the Czech Republic, Caltova first started running two years ago to train for basketball. She started racing, and now she's exclusively a distance runner.


Paula O'Neill was the first woman master and fourth female finisher in the five mile, crossing the line thirteenth overall in 39:04.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2017 Five-Mile Road Race

1. 29:44, Tristan Cravello (M, 18)
2. 30:10, Gary Droze (M, 56)
3. 34:08, Zach Deveau (M, 30)
4. 37:07, Ryan Poage (M, 12)
5. 37:54, Bradley Eisenburg (M, 29)
6. 37:55, Chris Hinson (M, 43)
7. 38:02, Joel Blakeman (M, 55)
8. 38:38, Doug Gorton (M, 59)
9. 38:49, Jack Schwenkler (M, 10)
10. 39:33, Scott Nevitt (M, 54)

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2017 Five-Mile Road Race

1. 32:36, Katerina Caltova (F, 23)
2. 38:21, Kate Chunka (F, 34)
3. 38:42, Becky Cahill (F, 34)
4. 39:04, Paula O'Neill (F, 56)
5. 40:06, Amelia Wilson (F, 27)
6. 40:12, Tsige Tadesse (F, 45)
7. 40:37, Elana Boehm (F, 34)
8. 43:28, Alexa Poage (F, 13)
9. 43:34, Catherine Jones (F, 58)
10. 43:39, Stacey Poage (F, 42)

133 athletes finished the 2017 Ten-Mile Challenge, and another 82 completed the five-mile race. Gulf Winds Track Club chip-timed both races.

Champions of Gulf Winds Track Club's Ten-Mile Challenge, 1977 - 2017
Date	Distance	Men	Women	Finishers
January 1977	20 Km	67:06, Herb Wills	89:20, Rosemary Desloge
28 January 1978	20 Km	65:18, Joe Germano		85
13 January 1979	20 Km	67:33, Jim Eastman	85:31, Rosemary Desloge
15 December 1979	20 Km	66:23, George West	89:51, Rosemary Desloge
20 December 1980	20 Km	Mike Bordel	Laura Ledbetter
19 December 1981	20 Km	67:42, Rick Miller	90:12, Chris Levi
18 December 1982	20 Km	63:14, Noel Shumann	80:28, Donna Miller
3 December 1983	20 Km	68:20, Noel Shumann	79:25, Margaret Coomber
1 December 1984	20 Km	70:13, Steve Meade	76:24, Barbara Matthews	154
7 December 1985	20 Km	69:40, Felton Wright	80:00, Karen McHarg	158
6 December 1986	20 Km	67:29, Tim Simpkins	81:18, Karen McHarg	157
5 December 1987	20 Km	65:04, Jessie Close	79:42, Karen MacHarg	157
3 December 1988	10 Miles	51:05, David Keen	65:19, Janice Hochstein	165
2 December 1989	10 Miles	52:05, Jessie Close	64:09, Paula Johnson	163
1 December 1990	10 Miles	51:39, David Keen	62:53, Paula Johnson	181
7 December 1991	10 Miles	54:20, Jessie Close	63:40, Paula Johnson	151
5 December 1992	10 Miles	54:32, Jessie Close	63:09, Paula Johnson	159
4 December 1993	10 Miles	55:30, Steve Wilcox	61:53, Paula Johnson	148
3 December 1994	10 Miles	54:16, Herb Wills	61:43, Jane Johnson	164
2 December 1995	10 Miles	55:30, Gary Droze	65:55, Carrie Weyant	120
7 December 1996	10 Miles	56:27, Brian Erb	66:21, Carrie Weyant	113
6 December 1997	10 Miles	55:06, Lee Willis	62:38, Sarah Docter-Williams	133
5 December 1998	10 Miles	58:45, Robert Pautienus	62:27, Breeda Willis	127
4 December 1999	10 Miles	56:24, Gary Droze	69:44, Carrie Weyant	188
2 December 2000	10 Miles	56:29, Zachery Heissner	66:07, Laurel Slyck	146
1 December 2001	10 Miles	60:11, Tim Unger	64:40, Sarah Docter-Williams	169
7 December 2002	10 Miles	54:30, Lee Willis	63:54, Sarah Docter-Williams	111
6 December 2003	10 Miles	61:33, Bill McCord	63:20, Sarah Docter-Williams	158
4 December 2004	10 Miles	55:29, Gary Droze	61:41, Sarah Docter-Williams	142
	5 Miles	26:45, Chris Nickinson	38:32, Kara Taylor	26
3 December 2005	10 Miles	56:46, Gary Droze	66:43, Kara Newell	167
	5 Miles	32:24, Conor Sweeney	39:14, Vicky Droze	37
2 December 2006	10 Miles	59:13, Jay Wallace	62:27, Sheryl Rosen	126
	5 Miles	28:53, Gary Droze	30:46, Amy Paine	84
1 December 2007	10 Miles	58:47, Tripp Southerland	64:04, Sheryl Rosen	150
	5 Miles	31:19, Tim Unger	38:11, Janice Hochstein	53
6 December 2008	10 Miles	55:56, Chris Lake	65:30, Sheryl Rosen	177
	5 Miles	32:59, Gennaro Scibelli	32:51, Amy Paine	80
5 December 2009	10 Miles	57:59, Vince Molosky	65:47, Sheryl Rosen	117
	5 Miles	30:15, John Robida	38:27, Claire Fruchtnicht	49
4 December 2010	10 Miles	57:19, Vince Molosky	64:25, Allison Eagen	180
	5 Miles	31:54, Chase Harris	31:37, Lisa Johnson	90
3 December 2011	10 Miles	56:13, Stephen Cox	68:15, Katie Showman	169
	5 Miles	30:16, Brian Manry	36:11, Kate Chunka	89
1 December 2012	10 Miles	56:18, Stanley Linton	68:05, Micah Adriani	183
	5 Miles	29:19, Zac Buchholz	38:24, Moriah Campbell	119
7 December 2013	10 Miles	55:30, Stanley Linton	73:42, Micah Adriani	151
	5 Miles	30:51, Tony Guillen	35:38, Vicky Droze	87
6 December 2014	10 Miles	56:37, Stephen Cox	72:48, Katie Sherron	109
	5 Miles	31:54, Gary Galvez	37:24, Paula O'Neill	82
5 December 2015	10 Miles	59:14, Zach DeVeau	65:19, Katie Sherron	89
	5 Miles	27:29, Joseph Garcia	33:58, Amy Hines	88
3 December 2016	10 Miles	59:10, Charlie Johnson	74:31, Katie Sherron	92
	5 Miles	29:30, Zach DeVeau	33:00, Brittney Barnes	132
2 December 2017	10 Miles	56:26, Charlie Johnson	64:26, Katie Sherron	133
	5 Miles	29:44, Tristan Cravello	32:36, Katerina Caltova	82

Links

• Complete results of the 2017 GWTC Ten-Mile Challenge at gulfwinds.org
  
  • 10 mi.: http://gulfwinds.org/raceresults/2017/10MC2017.html
    
  • 5 mi.: http://gulfwinds.org/raceresults/2017/5MC2017.html
    
  
  
• More photos of the 2017 GWTC Ten-Mile Challenge
  
  • Part 1: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10110983974703493.1073742327.5215641&type=1&l=336045402a
    
  • Part 2: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10111002055888653.1073742328.5215641&type=1&l=0c1afb7f0e
    
  
  
• Fred Deckert's photos of the 2017 GWTC Ten-Mile Challenge
  https://photos.app.goo.gl/PjvLKdCjne25LnuH2
  
  
• 2016 story, “Johnson and Sherron top the Ten-Mile Challenge”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/12/ten-mile-challenge-2016.html
  
  
• 2015 story, “DeVeau starts winning and Sherron keeps winning at the Ten-Mile Challenge”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/12/ten-mile-challenge-2015.html
  
  
• 2014 story, “For Cox and Sherron it's 2011 all over again at the Ten-Mile Challenge”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/12/ten-mile-challenge-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “Linton and Adriani make it two at the Ten”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/12/ten-mile-challenge-2013.html
  
  
• 2012 story, “Linton and Adriani take Ten”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2012/12/ten-mile-challenge-2012.html
  
  
• 2011 story, “Cox and Showman take on all Ten-Mile Challengers”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/12/ten-mile-challenge-2011.html
  
  
• 2010 story, “Molosky and Eagen take Ten-Mile Challenge”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/12/ten-mile-challenge-2010.html
  
  
• USATF course certification map (FL10078EBM) for Gulf Winds Track Club's 2015 Ten-Mile Challenge
  https://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL10078EBM
  
  
• USATF Course Certification map (FL10077EBM) for Gulf Winds Track Club's 2015 Five-Mile Road Race
  https://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL10077EBM
  
  
• Find upcoming challenges in the region on the Trouble Afoot! calendar of road races
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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