Jim Halley and Monica Toth headline the return of the Swarm 10K

If you want to run a 10K in Tallahassee, there’s the Springtime Road Race. A downtown race, Springtime has been around for more than forty years and there are hundreds of other athletes to keep you company. But what if you were doing something else that day?


“I was doing an adventure race in Steinhatchee with Monica and Kristen,” said Jim Halley. “Six hours! Five-and-a-half hours.”

Jim Halley

Anyone who missed Springtime, like Halley, didn’t have to wait long for another chance to race 10K. Just a week later, on Saturday morning, Apr. 6, Conley Elementary hosted the Yellow Jacket Swarm 10K in Southwood. Halley won that 6.2-mile race, running 42:25. Monica Toth, who had run Springtime, got to log a second 10K. She was the first woman at the Swarm, placing third overall in 50:50.


It’s not that Halley has never raced Springtime; he’s run there four times. How does the Swarm compare?


“It’s harder, harder,” said Halley. “You don’t have a net downhill like Springtime. I think Southwood is hillier.”

Gavin Jameson

Springtime starts on top of the same hill that the state capital rests on. Similarly, the Swarm starts at Conley Elementary near the crest of the Cody Escarpment, a slope marking the transition from the Red Hills to the coastal plane. Springtime, though, never returns to the hilltop near the capital. Runners in the Swarm have to climb back up the Cody Escarpment to Conley Elementary and the finish line.


Southwood was covered with fog when the Swarm 10K started at 8:30 AM. The Swarm 5K started at the same time, and athletes in both races headed south through the mist on Four Oaks Boulevard. After two kilometers, the courses for the two events separated, leaving Halley alone in front of the 10K field.

Monica Toth

“I had humidity to keep me company,” said Halley.


That was his only companion for the rest of the race. Gavin Jameson was a distant runner-up in 47:48.

Samantha Fillmore

In the women’s competition, master runner Samantha Fillmore was leading when the 10K and 5K courses split, reaching that point more than half a minute ahead of Monica Toth and Shelly Herman. Toth overtook Fillmore during the second half of the race, and was fifteen seconds up by the end of the eighth kilometer. That margin grew on the way back to the school, where Toth took the women’s title in 50:50. Fillmore was second in 51:53, and Herman third in 54:23.


Top Five Men, 2019 Conley Yellow Jacket Swarm 10K

1. 42:24.80, Jim Halley (M, 39)
2. 47:47.19, Gavin Jameson (M, 33)
3. 53:10.40, Mark Jeter (M, 53)
4. 56:08.53, Tolar Griffin (M, 42)
5. 62:17.30, Billy Miller (M, 53)

Top Five Women, 2019 Conley Yellow Jacket Swarm 10K

1. 50:49.45, Monica Toth (F, 30)
2. 51:52.49, Samantha Fillmore (F, 43)
3. 54:22.78, Shelly Herman (F, 35)
4. 58:47.05, Lyssa Oberkreser (F, 48)
5. 60:18.80, Kristen Powell (F, 40)

Halley trailed only two 5K runners at the split, and one of those was the pacesetter of the shorter race, master runner Michael Martinez. Martinez continued to lead the 5K, running a winning 19:15. Steven Wilson was second in 21:06, and Cadden Maxwell, a sixth-grader on the Raa Middle School cross-country team, placed third in 24:02.

Michael Martinez

At 25:40, Bridget Joyner was the first woman in the 5K. Sarah Durrance was the women's runner-up in 32:00. Katrina Harris was the first woman master and third female finisher, running 33:56.

Bridget Joyner

The Swarm was run annually each autumn from 2011 to 2013, but was on hiatus until being revived as a spring race this year. Miles and Minutes, LLC, of Tallahassee timed the 5K and 10K races at the 2019 Swarm, as well as a one-mile fun run.


Top Five Men, 2019 Conley Yellow Jacket Swarm 5K

1. 19:14.52, Michael Martinez (M, 53)
2. 21:05.67, Steven Wilson (M, 37)
3. 24:01.20, Cadden Maxwell (M, 12)
4. 27:40.94, Chris Maxwell (M, 37)
5. 27:47.47, Anthony Carpanini (M, 29)

Top Five Women, 2019 Conley Yellow Jacket Swarm 5K

1. 25:39.62, Bridget Joyner (F, 23)
2. 31:59.89, Sarah Durrance (F, 29)
3. 33:55.88, Katrina Harris (F, 55)
4. 33:57.62, Rosie Fry (F, 7)
5. 33:58.38, Deirde McCarthy (F, 39)

Conley Yellow Jacket Swarm winners, 2011 - 2019
Date	Distance	Men	Women	Finishers
15 October 2011	10K	34:11, Charlie Johnson	41:09, Katie Showman	102
	5K	18:53, Evan Francis	19:00, Lisa Johnson	131
3 November 2012	10K	37:16, Tony Guillen	41:37, Katie Showman	95
	5K	25:13, Leyssa Helgeson	25:33, Carl Mikyska	67
2 November 2013	10K	37:32, Tony Guillen	42:47, Renee Cox	43
	5K	19:58, Duane Evans	19:11, Lisa Johnson	71
6 April 2019	10K	42:25, Jim Halley	50:50, Monica Toth	23
	5K	19:15, Michael Martinez	25:40, Bridget Joyner	56

Links

• Complete results of the 2019 Conley Elementary Yellow Jacket Swarm
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRAKmhxw4o40AcgEU98qlRcfd0uf7H4Jgq_cfI5-O_-Gu3Bl-8f4Q4mqwQ4sV10VGZYufpaiDz85HNZ/pubhtml
  
  
• More photos of the 2019 Conley Elementary Yellow Jacket Swarm
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10113395884726473
  
  
• 2013 story, "Tony Guillen and Renee Cox fly at the Swarm 10K"
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/11/conley-2013.html
  
  
• 2011 story, "Charlie Johnson swats the swarm at Conley 10K"
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/10/conley-2011.html
  
  
• USATF course certification map FL11084EBM for the 2019 Conley Yellow Jacket Swarm 10K
  http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL11084EBM
  
  
• USATF course certification map FL19038TY for the 2019 Conley Yellow Jacket Swarm 5K
  http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL19038TY
  
  
• Mike Conley
  http://www.seminoles.com/genrel/conley_mike00.html
  
  
• Find another race to run on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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