Monday, June 24, 2019

Zach DeVeau and Rachel Durbin stumble but don't tumble at Red Bug Trail

In any race, the first goal is to finish. Winning may be an objective, or a certain performance, but finishing comes first. In a trail race, the second goal is to not fall down. Tight turns, roots, mud, rocks, and all other varieties of bad footing stand in the way of this goal. This was the case in Tallahassee, Florida at Phipps Park on Saturday morning, 22 June 2019. Runner were trying to finish and stay upright at the first event in Gulf Winds Track Club’s seventh annual Summer Trail Series, the Red Bug Trail Race.


“I didn’t go down,” said Zach DeVeau. “But I lost my glasses and had to go back for them.”

Zach DeVeau
Zach DeVeau

DeVeau kept his feet and won the race in 35:24. Rachel Durbin also stumbled during the race, slipping on a footbridge and almost falling into a creek. Durbin stayed up, though, and was the first woman finisher, placing fourth overall in 38:53.


The race started from Forestmeadows Athletic Center just after 7:30 AM. After just a couple of hundred meters, the course funneled down onto a narrow footpath. The middle-of-the-pack runners had to come to a complete stop, waiting their turn to get onto the single-file-only trail. This wasn’t the case up front, though, where Morgan Castano darted onto the trail first, unimpeded. DeVeau, a few steps back, also avoided the traffic jam.


Before the halfway point of the race, DeVeau had overtaken Castano, a rising senior on the cross-country team at Florida High. Ryan Kunz also passed Castano, then snatched the lead from DeVeau.

Ryan Kunz
Ryan Kunz

“I actually stopped to get water at the water table and he [Kunz] went by me,” said DeVeau. “It took me half a mile to catch up.”


DeVeau did catch Kunz, regained the lead, and went on to win in 35:24. Kunz took second in 35:54. Castano, the early leader, was third in 38:46. Paul Guyas was the first master runner in the race and the sixth male finisher, placing seventh overall in 39:29.


“I did the Trail Series in 2015 or 2016 and won, but since then I’ve helped [race director Jim Halley] with the event,” said DeVeau, reflecting on his history with the Series. DeVeau did indeed run three of the four Summer Trail Series races in 2015, placing first all three times. That year, Michigan native Rachel Durbin was at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where she ran both cross-country and track for the Falcons through 2018. This was Durbin’s first time racing in the Summer Trail Series.

Rachel Durbin
Rachel Durbin

“I loved it!” said Durbin. “I liked the hills and the winding course. There wasn’t a single straightaway, so it was never boring.”


There was also the thrill of nearly tumbling off a bridge. There was no competitive excitement, though, because Durbin led the women’s field from start to finish, covering the course in 38:53. Cecilia Bouaichi took second in the women's standings, coming in seventeenth overall in 42:14. Lourena Maxwell was the first woman master and third female finisher, 23rd overall in 44:00.

Cecila Bouaichi
Cecila Bouaichi

125 athletes met the first goal of racing, finishing the 2019 Red Bug Trail Race. Most of them also achieved the second goal of trail racing by not taking a fall.


“Nothing happened!” proudly announced one smiling runner, as she neared the end of the course. There was no mud above her ankles to prove differently.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Red Bug Trail 4½-Mile Trail Race
  1. 35:27, Zach DeVeau (M, 33) Tallahassee, FL
  2. 35:54, Ryan Kunz (M, 36) Tallahassee, FL
  3. 38:46, Morgan Castano (M, 17) Monticello, FL
  4. 38:54, Austin Dodson (M, 21)
  5. 39:08, Ryan Baumbach (M, 39) Tallahassee, FL
  6. 39:29, Paul Guyas (M, 41) Tallahassee, FL
  7. 39:44, Kyle Kraeft (M, 30) Tallahassee, FL
  8. 40:07, Jack Schwenkler (M, 12) Tallahassee, FL
  9. 41:22, Geoffrey Paine (M, 40) Robbinsville, NC
  10. 41:33, Brian Molen (M, 43) Tallahassee, FL

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Red Bug Trail 4½-Mile Trail Race
  1. 38:53, Rachel Durbin (F, 24) Memphis, MI
  2. 42:14, Cecilia Bouaichi (F, 23) Tallahassee, FL
  3. 44:00, Lourena Maxwell (F, 44) Tallahassee, FL
  4. 45:03, Kaley Ford (F, 24) Tallahassee, FL
  5. 45:46, Megan Chapman (F, 28) Tallahassee, FL
  6. 45:46, Stella Lewis (F, 14) Tallahassee, FL
  7. 45:47, Clifton Lewis (F, 11) Tallahassee, FL
  8. 46:43, Laura Sellati (F, 40) Tallahassee, FL
  9. 48:46, Abbey Schultz (F, 20) Tallahassee, FL
  10. 49:17, Monica Toth (F, 30) Tallahassee, FL

Gulf Winds Track Club's Summer Trail Series race winners, 2013 - 2019
YearDateRaceTop MaleTop FemaleFinishers
2013June 22Cadillac Trail 5½M37:38, Kevin Sullivan45:07, Stephanie Liles-Weyant121
July 13Swamp Forest Trail 4½M30:19, Kevin Sullivan34:12, Micah Adriani124
July 27Magnolia Trail 3½M21:44, Kevin Sullivan24:45, Stephanie Liles-Weyant114
August 3Red Bug Trail 4½M33:31, Bryce Van Dam43:46, Stephanie Liles-Weyant92
2014June 21Red Bug Trail 4½M38:30, Charn McAllister42:02, Brook Pace114
July 12Swamp Forest Trail 4½M29:06, Charn McAllister33:13, Brook Pace109
July 26Magnolia Trail 3½M26:03, Charn McAllister30:16, Emily Molen108
August 2Cadillac Trail 5½M41:38, Brian Molen48:25, Emily Molen88
2015May 30Cadillac Trail 5½M39:15, Zach Deveau42:51, Alyson Churchill158
June 13Oak Hammock Trail 5M32:59, Zach Deveau35:10, Alyson Churchill129
July 18Coon Bottom Trail 4M28:42, Zach Deveau29:14, Alyson Churchill112
August 1Red Bug Trail 4½M35:14, Greg Bargo35:24, Alyson Churchill112
2016May 21Magnolia Trail 3½M25:18, Dan Baur27:05, Katie Gorman133
June 4Oak Hammock Trail 5½M42:53, Eric Godin45:24, Katie Gorman123
July 9Red Bug Trail 4½M33:14, Dan Baur35:04, Katie Gorman130
July 30Cadillac Trail 5½M43:06, Paul Guyas42:29, Alyson Churchill95
2017June 10Munson Hills 6M36:45, Chris O'Kelley46:34, Emily Molen87
July 1Red Bug Trail 4½M37:34, Chris O'Kelley48:24, Emily Molen90
July 15Oak Hammock/Swamp Forest 5M33:35, Charles Biberg39:36, Kat Sack89
August 5Tom Brown Park 4½M32:40, Chris O'Kelley36:36, Jennifer Bayliss71
2018June 23Munson Hills 6M38:02, Vince Molosky45:10, Emily Molen124
July 7Phipps Park 4M30:49, Jim Schafer33:39, Kat Sack127
July 21Maclay Gardens 5M38:26, Brad Busboom44:39, Kat Sack110
August 4Tom Brown Park 4½M28:39, Brad Busboom32:29, Kat Sack109
2019June 22Red Bug Trail 4½M35:27, Zach DeVeau38:53, Rachel Durbin125
July 6Munson Hills 6M
July 27Tom Brown Park 5M
August 24Maclay Gardens 4½M


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Posted by Herb Wills at 2:15 PM
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