Mike Martinez and Mo Palmer get Trash Dash 5K wins on the classic cross-country course at ARPXC

What New York's Yankee Stadium is to baseball, Tallahassee, Florida's Apalachee Regional Park could very well be to cross-country. The Apalachee Regional Park Cross-Country Course first opened in 2009, so it isn't nearly as old as the House That Ruth Built. But during those years, ARPXC has hosted two USATF National Championship Cross-Country Meets, a variety of other national championships, and several NCAA Regional Championships. The course has become the regular venue for Florida's high school state championship meet and the junior college state championship. It's the home course for the Florida State University Seminoles.


But while no one is going to let you onto the field at Yankee Stadium for a game of catch, you can head out to the Apalachee Regional Park Cross-Country Course for a run on almost any day of the year. And there are even a few days a year where there are races that anyone can run, not just the pros. One of those days was Saturday morning, 26 October 2019, and the race was the ninth annual Trash Dash 5K. Tallahassee master runner Michael Martinez won the 3.1-mile cross-country race, running 19:14. The first woman in the race and overall runner-up was Morgan "Mo" Palmer, who covered the course in 19:43.

2019 Trash Dash 5K Overall Winners, Mike Martinez and Mo Palmer

Palmer, an alumna of Palmer High, has run faster at ARPXC, notable running 19:15 just fifteen days before the Trash Dash at the FSU Invitational. That day she was suited up for the Florida State University women's cross-country team. So was Riley Bahr, the women's runner-up at the Trash Dash, who placed third overall in 19:38. Ashley David, the third woman and sixth overall in 20:03, is also a Florida State harrier. In fact, the first seven women in the race were all Florida State Seminoles. If the Trash Dash had been a cross-country meet, the Florida State women would have scored a perfect fifteen.


Ashton Smith was second in the men's standings, placing fourth overall in 19:43. Tallahassee master runner Tony Guillen was the third male finisher and fifth overall in 19:54.


100 athletes finished the 2019 Trash Dash 5K. Gulf Winds Track Club chip-timed the race.


[All photos used in the article were taken by Fred Deckert]


Top Ten Men, 2019 Trash Dash 5K

1. 19:14, Mike Martinez (M, 53)
2. 19:43, Ashton Smith (M, 18)
3. 19:54, Tony Guillen (M, 50)
4. 20:28, Matthias Laywell (M, 21)
5. 20:51, Duane Evans (M, 52)
6. 20:56, Dillon Garrett (M, 20)
7. 21:38, Andrew Wilber (M, 29)
8. 22:10, Jack Matthews (M, 14)
9. 22:25, Michael Kennett (M, 46)
10. 22:54, Jon Oxley (M, 27)

Top Ten Women, 2019 Trash Dash 5K

1. 19:37, Mo Palmer (F, 18)
2. 19:38, Riley Bahr (F, 19)
3. 20:03, Ashley David (F, 18)
4. 20:30, Sidney Oakes-Lottridge (F, 20)
5. 20:48, Autumn Schutt (F, 20)
6. 20:59, Kaia Stevenson (F, 19)
7. 21:34, Emma Jane Warren (F, 19)
8. 24:07, Natalie Laywell (F, 18)
9. 26:32, Isabel Davis (F, 13)
10. 28:12, Kelley Coe Elurfali (F, 55)

Trash Dash winners, 2011 - 2019
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
19 November 2011	17:53, Brian Corbin	21:28, Sheryl Rosen
10 November 2012	17:52, Roger Schmidt	20:33, Katie Showman	98
16 November 2013	15:54, Stanley Linton	19:06, Emily Ness	136
8 November 2014	17:12, Roger Schmidt	20:07, Katie Sherron	80
14 November 2015	15:10, Ricardo Estremera	19:28, Tara Rooney	99
29 October 2016	18:13, Thomas Howell	17:54, Militsa Mircheva	84
28 October 2017	15:30, Caleb Pottorff	18:34, Katie Sherron	171
27 October 2018	16:40, Micah Kemp	18:38, Fatema Jaffer	85
26 October 2019	19:14, Mike Martinez	19:37, Mo Palmer	100

Links

• Complete results of the 2019 Trash Dash 5K
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQMEt8Izqaok9wGEW_8-aHgNrJ7x6gtaG2g2-rnOzp5TWfXk1T6UlIkNy_DOxTmPSfKMay4218zsphH/pubhtml
  
  
• Fred Deckert's photos of the 2019 Trash Dash 5K
  https://photos.app.goo.gl/oJbhLMB6aXHAZaxU9
  
  
• 2018 story, “Caleb Pottorff goes 15:30, Katie Sherron 18:34 in Apalachee Regional Park”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2018/10/trash-dash-2018.html
  
  
• 2017 story, “Caleb Pottorff goes 15:30, Katie Sherron 18:34 in Apalachee Regional Park”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/10/trash-dash-2017.html
  
  
• 2016 story, “Militsa Mircheva cranks a 17:54 Trash Dash 5K at Apalachee Regional Park”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/10/trash-dash-2016.html
  
  
• 2015 story, “Estremera goes 15:10 at Apalachee Regional Park in the Trash Dash 5K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/11/trash-dash-2015.html
  
  
• 2014 story, “Schmidt and Sherron take out the Trash”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/11/trash-dash-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “No rubbish runs for Linton or Ness at the Trash Dash”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/11/trash-dash-2013.html
  
  
• 2012 story, “Schmidt and Showman dump their competition in the Trash Dash”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2012/11/trash-dash-2012.html
  
  
• 2011 story, “Corbin and Rosen weren't talking trash”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/11/trash-dash-2011.html
  
  
• Find the next trash dash, rubbish run, or garbage gallop on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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