More tales of the Swamp Forest Trail

North of Tallahassee, Florida, most of the 670 acres of Phipps Park is on a slope descending west to the shore of Lake Jackson. It’s not an uninterrupted descent. Streams, swamps, and steepheads punctuate the terrain. There are gullies, too; relics of poor soil management practices back when the land was planted in cotton. The cotton is gone, as are the men and mules that worked it. The park is mostly forest now.

Jim Halley

There are roads through the trees, narrow and unpaved, leftovers from when the land was a hunting preserve. Cyclists, equestrians, and runners use the roads. Runners are especially active during the fall cross-country season, coming to Phipps Park for the Miller Landing Madness, the Cougar Cross-Country Challenge, and the Red Hills Cross-Country Invitational.


Phipps Park also has a network of hiking trails, separate from the roads but going up and down the same hills. Those paths are frequented by walkers and trail runners. The trail runners are experiencing the same topography as the cross-country runners, but never seeing the same paths. It’s like an episode of “The Twilight Zone,” where aliens occupy the same space as we do, but in a different dimension, so that we never encounter each other.

Laura Sellati

More than a few trail aficianados were in the park on Saturday morning, 5 January 2019, for Gulf Winds Track Club’s sixth annual Swamp Forest Trail Races. After Hurricane Michael in October, the park was missing some of the trees from previous years, but nearly all of the damage had been cleared from the trails. Trees don’t need a storm to fall, though. Sometimes it’s just a tree’s time.


“A big one was down on the course this morning,” reported Bobby York, the race director. “It fell after we marked the course.”

Tristan Lanasa

In addition to the fallen tree, the athletes had to negotiate mud, sand, leaves, gravel, pine needles, tree roots, and terrain that you rarely see this side of the piedmont. It was a trail runner’s dream.


Four races started at 8:00 AM, a quarter-marathon, a half-marathon, a marathon, and a 50-kilometer. The actual distances were a bit longer than posted, being one, two, four, and five laps around a loop that York said was 6.85 miles, while some runners claimed it was seven miles or more.

Alyssa Terry and friends

The first finishers of the morning were in the quarter-marathon, led by Jim Halley. Halley, the director of the Swamp Forest Trail Races in 2017 and 2018, won the race in 52:50. The first master runner across the finish line was Camilo Ordonez, second overall in 1:03:05. Laura Sellati was the first woman in the quarter-marathon, placing fourth overall in 1:04:14. Sonya Dudley was the first woman master and fourth female finisher, eleventh overall in 1:14:10.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Swamp Forest Trail Quarter Marathon

1. 0:52:50, Jim Halley (M, 39)
2. 1:03:05, Camilo Ordonez (M, 40)
3. 1:03:41, Chris Bracken (M, 41)
4. 1:04:53, Juan Ordonez (M, 44)
5. 1:08:27, Stephen Gensits (M, 63)
6. 1:12:25, Taylor Van Winkle (M, 28)
7. 1:12:43, Frank M McDaniel (M, 30)
8. 1:15:54, Jack Weaver (M, 63)
9. 1:17:15, Jon Dropco (M, 41)
10. 1:17:25, Scott Nelson (M, 25)

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Swamp Forest Trail Quarter Marathon

1. 1:04:14, Laura Sellati (F, 39)
2. 1:06:15, Sherri Wise (F, 37)
3. 1:09:00, Kristin Halley (F, 37)
4. 1:14:10, Sonya Dudley (F, 50)
5. 1:16:49, Kim Sims (F, 39)
6. 1:17:44, Brittany Bevis (F, 33)
7. 1:20:15, Jennifer Gensits (F, 55)
8. 1:20:56, Sarah Logan Beasley (F, 27)
9. 1:21:53, Jasmine Spitler (F, 24)
10. 1:25:52, Megan Jones (F, 22)

Some athletes in the short race were still on the course when Tristan Lanasa won the half marathon in 1:57:14. Will Hanley was the first master runner in the half marathon, finishing runner-up to Lanasa in 2:02:34. Alyssa Terry took the women's title, running 2:07:27 for fifth overall. Lourena Maxwell was the top woman master and runner-up in the women's standings, coming in tenth overall in 2:12:35.

Kevin Hanna

Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Swamp Forest Trail Half Marathon

1. 1:57:14, Tristan Lanasa (M, 25)
2. 2:02:34, Will Hanley (M, 44)
3. 2:07:00, Joel Piotrowski (M, 49)
4. 2:07:00, Kyle Kraeft (M, 29)
5. 2:09:39, David Yon (M, 63)
6. 2:11:17, Jimbo Smart (M, 49)
7. 2:11:27, Kevin Malfa (M, 35)
8. 2:11:52, Alex Braun (M, 21)
9. 2:14:28, Philip Sura (M, 48)
10. 2:17:10, Julian Strickland (M, 53)

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Swamp Forest Trail Half Marathon

1. 2:07:27, Alyssa Terry (F, 25)
2. 2:12:35, Lourena Maxwell (F, 44)
3. 2:16:17, Laura Reina (F, 54)
4. 2:16:25, Monica Toth (F, 30)
5. 2:17:03, Melissa Hooke (F, 40)
6. 2:27:50, Deirdre McCarthy (F, 39)
7. 2:29:45, Megan Orcutt (F, 33)
8. 2:32:20, Martha Guyas (F, 34)
9. 2:32:25, Karima Anderson (F, 32)
10. 2:34:43, Shealyn Sullivan (F, 18)

Master runner Kevin Hanna won the marathon by over an hour, running 4:39:22. Master runner Anne Carroll was the first woman in the marathon, placing third overall in 6:04:00.

Anne Carroll

Top Four Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Swamp Forest Trail Marathon

1. 4:39:22, Kevin Hanna (M, 41)
2. 5:41:59, Jeff Bryan (M, 51)
3. 6:04:30, Jimmy Williams (M, 45)
4. 6:49:12, Jeff Picker (M, 56)

Top Woman, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Swamp Forest Trail Marathon

1. 6:04:00, Anne Carroll (F, 52)

The 50K was a new addition to the Swamp Forest Trail Race in 2019, and master runner Zachary Grossman was the first winner of the event, running 5:27:12. Less than three minutes after Grossman finished, Rachel Wombles followed him across the finish line in 5:30:07, the first woman in the race. Monica Judd, last year’s women’s champ in the Swamp Forest Trail Marathon, was the first woman master in the 50K, placing third overall in 5:42:12.

Zachary Grossman

128 athletes finished one of the four events at the 2019 Swamp Forest Trail Run. Gulf Winds Track Club chip timed the races.


Top Two Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Swamp Forest Trail 50K

1. 5:27:12, Zachary Grossman (M, 41)
2. 7:32:32, Gary Johnston (M, 43)

Rachel Wombles

Top Three Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Swamp Forest Trail 50K

1. 5:30:07, Rachel Wombles (F, 39)
2. 5:42:12, Monica Judd (F, 44)
3. 6:52:33, Lisa Homann (F, 48)

Gulf Winds Track Club's Swamp Forest Trail Marathon winners, 2014 - 2019
Date	Distance	Men	Women	Finishers
4 January 2014	Marathon	4:07:10, Douglas Bell	5:26:39, Carla McDonald	23
	Half Marathon	1:54:23, Jon Mason	2:02:14, Brook Pace	65
	Quarter Marathon	56:03, David Hill	1:05:38, Shelley Yaun	35
3 January 2015	Marathon	4:06:02, Dink Taylor	5:04:46, Jamie Harris	21
	Half Marathon	1:43:54, Taylor Buzzard	2:17:32, Kenzie Mazziotta	82
	Quarter Marathon	54:34, Jim Halley	1:01:22, Angela Dempsey	55
3 January 2016	Marathon	3:59:49, Douglas Bell	5:07:47, Danielle Zemola	17
	Half Marathon	1:36:58, Taylor Buzzard	2:20:54, Isabel Anderson	56
	Quarter Marathon	54:17, Jose Fernandez	1:02:50, Lindsay James	68
7 January 2017	Marathon	3:28:44, Gary Gellin		15
	Half Marathon	1:34:17, Charlie Johnson	2:08:19, Sandy Johnson	56
	Quarter Marathon	52:34, Eric Sager	1:13:24, Sonya Dudley	56
6 January 2018	Marathon	4:24:26, Zachary Grossman	5:15:36, Monica Judd	25
	Half Marathon	1:28:44, Charlie Johnson	2:04:55, Kat Sack	58
	Quarter Marathon	52:51, Eric Sager	59:08, Rachael Stockel	70
5 January 2019	50K	5:27:12, Zachary Grossman	5:30:07, Rachel Wombles	5
	Marathon	4:39:22, Kevin Hanna	6:04:00, Anne Carroll	5
	Half Marathon	1:57:14, Tristan Lanasa	2:07:27, Alyssa Terry	56
	Quarter Marathon	52:50, Jim Halley	1:04:14, Laura Sellati	64

Links

• Complete results of Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Swamp Forest Trail races
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSTESObeY4CmiLQAHUeudUqZNo0J_rrKF1hwO1cmAu_O9HABDp2JtWNzFMwNGUX-dnT5AsbE1cmOlbA/pubhtml
  
  
• More photos of Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Swamp Forest Trail races
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10112972936358393&type=1&l=0219ddb7e0
  
  
• Fred Deckert's photos of Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Swamp Forest Trail races
  https://photos.app.goo.gl/zHoBivtdroxNL3tK7
  
  
• 2018 story, “Grossman and Judd were the top marathoners on the Swamp Forest Trail”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2018/01/swamp-forest-2018.html
  
  
• 2017 story, “Gary Gellin crushes the Swamp Forest Trail Marathon record”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/01/swamp-forest-2017.html
  
  
• 2016 story, “Bell and Zemola survive the Swamp Forest Trail”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/01/swamp-forest-2016.html
  
  
• Find upcoming trail races, long and longer, on the Trouble Afoot! racing calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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