Chris O'Kelley and Nancy Stedman rush through Phipps Park to get Potluck cross-country wins

Gulf Winds Track Club's Potluck Four Mile is an annual cross-country race in Tallahassee, Florida with a different course each year. You can do that in Phipps Park. Because there is a prediction division at the event, there are no mile marks and runners aren't allowed to wear watches. So when I asked Chris O'Kelley when it was that he broke out into the lead, his answer didn't rely on course markers or clocks, but on his running experience and his knowledge of the Phipps Park trails.

Chris O'Kelley

"It was about a mile?" opined O'Kelley. "I broke away going up the hill near Gate B, then put in a surge on the downhill to widen the gap.


"I got impatient."


After that, he was in a hurry to get to the finish line. O'Kelley arrived there more than 600 meters ahead of everyone else in the race, winning in 26:15. Tallahassee master runner Nancy Stedman was the first woman in the four miler, coming in twelfth overall in 36:31.

Early Leaders

Before he became short on patience, O'Kelley had been running in a group with Alex Marshall, Andrew Nix, and Duane Evans. Marshall and Nix were rising juniors on the Wakulla High cross-country team, but it was Evans, the master runner, who hung on to finish runner-up in 29:01. Another master runne, Paul Guyas, took third in 30:55. Nix ended the race fifth in 32:28 while Marshall was eighth in 35:51.


Early in the race, while Andrew Nix was setting the pace for the leaders around the Meadows Soccer Complex, Nancy Stedman was already well ahead of the rest of the women's field. There wasn't a late-race challenge after that, nor a dramatic break-away move. Stedman simply went on to win the women's title by more than 400 meters, covering the course in 36:31. Martha Guyas took second in the women's standings, placing thirteenth overall in 39:11. Master runner Beth Alexander was the third woman and eighteenth overall in 41:19.

Nancy Stedman

The speed winner was known as soon as the first runner finished, but you had to wait till the last runner finished to determine who won the prediction competition. That turned out to be Joe Vega, who run just under 39:31--less than one second off his predicted finish time of 39:30. The second-best forecast was turned in by another master runner, Sarala Hermes, who also had the closest prediction among the women. Hermes ran 52:51 after predicting 53:02.


A brief rain shower soaked the course before the race, but mostly it just settled the dust and made the surface more resilient. True, it also made the air a bit steamy, but rain at Potluck is almost traditional--like the traditions of a new course every year, a post-race potluck dinner supplemented with a low country boil, and the announcement of the Chenoweth awards at the end of the evening.


48 athletes finished the 2022 Potluck Four-Mile. Gulf Winds Track Club chip-timed the race. Potluck will return in 2023 for the 25th running of the race. Look for it in Phipps Park on either the first or second Saturday in June.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2022 Potluck Four Mile

1. 26:15, Chris O'Kelley (M, 29)
2. 29:01, Duane Evans (M, 54)
3. 30:55, Paul Guyas (M, 44)
4. 32:17, Joel Piotrowski (M, 53)
5. 32:28, Andrew Nix (M, 17)
6. 34:37, Kevin Malfa (M, 38)
7. 35:00, Trent Parsons (M, 13)
8. 35:51, Alex Marshall (M, 16)
9. 35:59, John Baughman (M, 45)
10. 36:10, Brian Pensky (M, 53)

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2022 Potluck Four Mile

1. 36:31, Nancy Stedman (F, 60)
2. 39:11, Martha Guyas (F, 37)
3. 41:19, Beth Alexander (F, 58)
4. 42:44, Rosie Ramirez (F, 65)
5. 43:53, Jo Lena Bryan (F, 50)
6. 44:36, Francee Laywell (F, 60)
7. 45:40, Sonya Dudley (F, 53)
8. 47:51, Katherine Yaun (F, 42)
9. 48:40, Amal Ibourk (F, 44)
10. 52:44, Laura Parsons (F, 37)

Potluck champions, 1998 - 2022
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
20 June 1998
5 June 1999	29:29, Zack Heissner	32:26, Sarah Docter-Williams	58
3 June 2000	24:42 Paul Hoover	25:59, Kim Wynn
2 June 2001	24:59, Reid Vannoy	25:33, Sarah Docter-Williams	53
8 June 2002	22:47, Ryan Deak	26:04, Sarah Docter-Williams	132
7 June 2003	25:17, Tim Unger	25:36, Sarah Docter-Williams	91
5 June 2004	23:05, Caleb Carmichael	25:59, Kara Newell	136
4 June 2005	23:22, Caleb Carmichael	27:21, Kara Newell	110
3 June 2006	23:06, Jared Black	25:58, Sheryl Rosen	155
2 June 2007	24:26, Tony Guillen	27:36, Jane Johnson	115
7 June 2008	23:00, John Robida	25:09, Sarah Docter-Williams	144
13 June 2009	22:40, Jay Wallace	27:05, Micah Adriani	177
5 June 2010	22:14, Matt Mizereck	27:39, Micah Adriani	173
4 June 2011	22:57, Vince Molosky	26:33, Summer Calder	196
2 June 2012	22:33, Vince Molosky	27:18, Katie Showman	232
1 June 2013	21:17, Kevin Sullivan	26:24, Micah Adriani	237
31 May 2014	23:34, Kevin Sullivan	32:17, Katie Sherron	165
6 June 2015	25:45, Vince Molosky	30:35, Carrie Seiberlich	179
11 June 2016	22:52, Stanley Linton	30:02, Ann Centner	160
3 June 2017	32:22, Scott Lloyd	35:53, Jillian Heddaeus	107
9 June 2018	23:10, Stan Linton	28:47, Sheryl Rosen	155
8 June 2019	25:37, Charlie Johnson	27:35, Ann Centner	128
5 June 2021	26:52, Leonardo Canete	29:19, Katie Sherron	73
11 June 2022	26:15, Chris O'Kelley	36:31, Nancy Stedman	48
The race was five miles in 1998 and 1999, and four miles thereafter.

Links

• Complete results of Gulf Winds Track Club's 2022 Potluck Four Mile
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTCi0PM4jev6uZn5GWiUmKZQ3VWqAVDw0qoWtJXzA6kFqL5tg6dpVK4qcC4IJYmn_uRYYBg6ry7QtGI/pubhtml
  
  
• More Trouble Afoot! photos of Gulf Winds Track Club's 2022 Potluck Four Mile
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10119257008158133
  
  
• 2019 story, “Potluck was good luck for Charlie Johnson and Ann Centner”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/06/potluck-2019.html
  
  
• 2018 story, “Stan Linton returns to the Tallahassee trails at Potluck”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2018/06/potluck-2018.html
  
  
• 2017 story, “After the yellow flag is lifted, Lloyd and Heddaeus win the Potluck Four”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/06/potluck-2017.html
  
  
• 2016 story, “Linton and Centner take their first Potluck”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/06/potluck-2016.html
  
  
• 2015 story, “Predictable wins for Molosky and Seiberlich at Potluck”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/06/potluck-2015.html
  
  
• 2014 story, “Sullivan and Sherron come back for seconds at Potluck”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/06/potluck-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “Sullivan and Adriani are the big dogs at Potluck”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/06/potluck-2013.html
  
  
• 2012 story, “Potluck turns 15, Molosky and Showman turn wins”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2012/06/potluck-2012.html
  
  
• 2011 story, “Molosky and Calder champs at 14th annual Potluck Run”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/06/potluck-2011.html
  
  
• 2010 story, “Mizereck and Adriani outrun the field at Potluck”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/06/potluck-2010.html
  
  
• 2009 story, “2009 Potluck Bash 4 Mile, Tallahassee, Florida”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2009/06/2009-potluck-bash-4-mile-tallahassee.html
  
  
• Photos of the 2008 Potluck Four Mile
  
  • Part 1 - https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2445933&id=5215641&l=25e13dc662
    
  • Part 2 - https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2445931&id=5215641&l=2beecd73bd
    
  • Part 3 - https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2445921&id=5215641&l=234be2fd1b
    
  
  
• Upcoming prediction runs and non-prediction runs in the Tallahassee region
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

#2837