Phillips and Williams win the Gnat Days 5K

Conditions in Camilla, Georgia on Friday evening, 11 May 2018, were hot and relatively calm with no prospect of rain. It was perfect weather--for gnats. For the runners in the 31st annual Gnat Days 5K, a different set of conditions might have been preferable.


Benjamin Phillips was unperturbed by either the weather or by Camilla's notorious swarms of gnats. A sophomore cross-country runner at Lee County High in Leesburg, Georgia, Phillips won the race by nearly 60 meters, crossing the finish line at Courthouse Square in 20:06. Donica Williams of Cairo, Georgia was the first woman in the race, placing twelfth overall in 22:54.


Kerry Underwood of Ty Ty, Georgia was the fastest master runner in the Gnat Days 5K, finishing runner-up to Phillips in 20:20. Cairo master runner Justin Williams took third in 20:40, and John Coleman of Decatur, Georgia was fourth in 20:52.


Ramsay Miller, a graduating senior on the Lee County High cross-country team, was second in the women's standings and sixteenth overall in 23:14. Miller had won the women's title in the 2017 Gnat Days 5K. Victoria Feyedelem of Albany, Georgia was the first woman master and third female finisher, nineteenth overall in 23:56. Thirteen-year-old Camilla athlete Hannah Glass was fourth in the women's standings and 21st overall in 24:15.


164 athletes finished Camilla's 2018 Gnat Days 5K.


Top Ten Men, 2018 Gnat Days 5K

1. 20:05.10, Benjamin Phillips (M, 16) Leesburg, GA
2. 20:19.19, Kerry Underwood (M, 54) Ty Ty, GA
3. 20:39.80, Justin Williams (M, 40) Cairo, GA
4. 20:51.10, John Coleman (M, 35) Decatur, GA
5. 21:02.75, Michael McGahee (M, 41) Camilla, GA
6. 21:26.30, Chris Holt (M, 36) Thomasville, GA
7. 21:55.28, David Lewis (M, 31) Camilla, GA
8. 21:58.49, Walt Cochran (M, 16) Baconton, GA
9. 22:22.96, Chris Phillips (M, 38) Leesburg, GA
10. 22:24.65, Phillip Morris (M, 52) Pelham, GA

Top Ten Women, 2018 Gnat Days 5K

1. 22:54.00, Donica Williams (F, 38) Cairo, GA
2. 23:13.48, Ramsay Miller (F, 18) Leesburg, GA
3. 23:55.08, Victoria Feyedelem (F, 46) Albany, GA
4. 24:14.99, Hannah Glass (F, 13) Camilla, GA
5. 24:32.71, Penny Peters (F, 50) Tifton, GA
6. 25:14.72, Caroline Taylor (F, 17) Leesburg, GA
7. 25:46.61, Gunawati Gunawan (F, 46) Tifton, GA
8. 26:09.36, Sharanda Hurst (F, 36) Camilla, GA
9. 26:26.62, Juli Degrummond (F, 48) Tallahassee, FL
10. 26:31.63, Ashley Coleman (F, 33) Decatur, GA

Gnat Days 5K champions, 2005 - 2018
Date	Men	Women
11 May 2018	20:06, Benjamin Phillips	22:54, Donica Williams
12 May 2017	18:22, Jared Hammond	21:30, Ramsay Miller
13 May 2016	17:04, Chase Harris	20:32, Melissa Thompson
1 May 2015	16:11, Patrick Whitehead	22:13, Beverly Hamilton
2 May 2014	18:32, Arnoldo DeJesus	18:50, Elena Oslund
3 May 2013	19:06, James Taylor	24:33, Ashtin Banks
4 May 2012	17:51, Stephen Robbins	19:47, Mary Anne Grayson
6 May 2011	17:35, Masked Avenger	23:53, Jenna Willingham
30 April 2010	17:36, Kyle Harris	19:59, Mary Anne Grayson
1 May 2009	17:39, Nathan Norton	19:51, Mary Anne Grayson
2 May 2008	18:12, Todd Smoot	22:35, Diane Johnson
4 May 2007	16:59, Todd Smoot	22:49, Diane Johnson
5 May 2006	17:27, Clint Watkins	22:02, Lori Rawlings
6 May 2005	17:06, Dr. Robert Feldman	21:12, Debbie Wittmer
1 May 2004
3 May 2003
14 May 1994
12 June 1993
13 June 1992
8 June 1991	15:33, Louis Floyd	18:20, Vikki Saga
9 June 1990
10 June 1989*
11 June 1988**	14:14.7, John Tuttle	16:28, Carla Borovicka

Links

• Complete results of the 2018 Gnat Days 5K
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQAzkXjNtucmZ6MUHejRHJnAcrfK2aUaRD54qXw7Faep8fmXHU6QF3A7UzC0bcwQAaoh3Q4ewmqh3fV/pubhtml
  
  
• 2017 story, “Hammond and Miller swat the competition at Camilla's Gnat Days 5K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/05/gnat-days-2017.html
  
  
• 2016 story, “Harris and Thompson have their day at Gnat Days”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/05/gnat-days-2016.html
  
  
• 2015 story, “Whitehead and Hamilton outrun everyone but the gnats in Camilla”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/05/gnat-days-2015.html
  
  
• 2014 story, “De Jesus and Oslund flit through Gnat Days 5K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/05/gnat-days-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “No flies on Taylor or Banks in Camilla”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/05/gnat-days-2013.html
  
  
• 2012 story, “Robbins and Grayson beat the swarm in Camilla”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2012/05/gnat-days-2012.html
  
  
• 2011 story, “Avenger and Willingham in a cloud of...gnats”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/05/gnat-2011.html
  
  
• Find races not requiring insect repellent on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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