If you want your race to be the last of the year in your city, you could schedule it on the final Saturday in December. Your chances would be better still if the race in on the 31st of December. A race director absolutely obsessed with hosting an annual curtain closer would plan his event for late evening on the 31st.The Panhandle Runners and Triathletes Club of Panama City, Florida took the middle path for their fifth annual New Year's Eve Ball Drop 5K, staging the race on Sunday morning, 31 December 2023. Frisco, Texas master runner and marathoner Meng Zhao took first, covering the 3.1 miles through Frank Brown Park in Panama City Beach in 17:15. A seventh-grader on the Chestatee Academy Middle School cross-country team, Emma Dobson, won the women's title, placing ninth overall in 20:40.
Blake Hazelwood of Centerton, Arkansas finished runner-up to Zhao in 17:50. Grayson Parker of Florence, Kentucky, a sophomore member of the Cooper High cross-country team, placed third in 18:41.
Emma Dobson wasn't the only middle school athlete in the women's division. Sophia Huff, a seventh-grader at Panama City's Merritt Brown Middle School, placed second to Dobson in 21:18, finishing tenth overall. Destiny McClintock of Santa Rosa Beach, Florida was the third woman and 27th overall in 24:16. The first woman master in the race was Monika Swanson of Panama City Beach, the fifth female finisher and 32nd overall in 24:56.
225 athletes finished the 2023 Ball Drop 5K.
Top Ten Men, 2023 Ball Drop 5K
- 17:15, Meng Zhao (M, Overall) Frisco, TX
- 17:50, Blake Hazelwood (M, 35-39) Centerton, AR
- 18:41, Grayson Parker (M, 15-19) Florence, KY
- 18:48, Greg Solarek (M, 45-49)
- 19:26, Matthew Butcher (M, 30-34) Cedar Park, TX
- 19:54, Mark Edwards (M, 35-39) Gallatin, TN
- 20:05, Michael Koch (M, 15-19) Panama City, FL
- 20:21, Ryan Butcher (M, 25-29) Cedar Park, TX
- 21:19, Louis Price (M, 40-44) Panama City Beach, FL
- 21:22, Nathan Pyron (M, 11-14) Diamondhead, MS
Top Ten Women, 2023 Ball Drop 5K
- 20:40, Emma Dobson (F, Overall) Gainesville, GA
- 21:18, Sophia Huff (F, 11-14) Panama City, FL
- 24:16, Destiny McClintock (F, 20-24) Santa Rosa Beach, FL
- 24:21, Isabella Marie Cottrill (F, 11-14)
- 24:56, Monika Swanson (F, 55-59) Panama City Beach, FL
- 25:53, Ella Urban (F, 15-19) Lebanon, TN
- 26:18, Joselyn Murray (F, 15-19) Vandalia, IL
- 26:26, Dora Anisa Delawar (F, 35-39) Fort Benning, GA
- 26:30, Jamie Bolen (F, 35-39) Panama City, FL
- 26:37, Amy Butcher (F, 30-34) Cedar Park, TX
| Panama City Beach, Florida Ball Drop 5K winners, 2018 - 2023 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Men | Women | Finishers |
| 31 December 2018 | 17:57, Robert Friedman | 20:35, Rory Claussen | 133 |
| 31 December 2019 | 16:22, Brian Horneck | 19:56, Oriana Horneck | 243 |
| 31 December 2021 | 18:01, Tim Goldy | 21:23, Donna Garcia | 225 |
| 31 December 2022 | 16:52, Matthias Wilder | 16:54, Rachel Kennedy | 211 |
| 31 December 2023 | 17:15, Meng Zhao | 20:40, Emma Dobson | 258 |
Links
- Complete results of the 2023 Panama City Beach, Florida Ball Drop 5K
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQNfDxQhHAIlZvrKw-lFK9TnpDfT8o56UZb4K1yzRzxn0CorauuF5olOP6-WhvW1kSuIrMrm8xyI22n/pubhtml
- 2020 story, “Tim Goldy and Donna Garcia roll to wins in the Ball Drop 5K”
https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2021/12/tim-goldy-and-donna-garcia-roll-to-wins.html
- 2018 story, “Robert Friedman and Rory Claussen drop the competition at the Ball Drop 5K”
https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2018/12/pcb-ball-drop-2018.html
- Find an upcoming race in the New Year on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
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