Hot times on a cool day for Crowdis 5K winners Walker Elrod and Gabriella Baker

Since the Crowdis 5K was revived in 2012, no athlete has broken 17:00 in Blakely, Georgia's oldest road race. That changed in a single morning. Walker Elrod of Bainbrdige, Georgia led a fast field through the streets of Blakely on Saturday, 3 February 2024, winning the 2024 Crowdis in 16:29. Gabriella Barker of Dothan, Alabama was the first woman in the race, placing fifteenth overall in 20:34.


2024 also marked the elimination of the Crowdis 10K. The Crowdis had been a 5K race since it was first run in 1981. In 2017 a 10K was added to the annual program. Dr. Patrick Whitehead, an Albany State University professor of psychology, had won the last 5K-only Crowdis in 2016, then gone on to win the Crowdis 10K in 2017, 2018, and 2022. With the elimination of the 10K in 2024, Whitehead was back racing the shorter distance. Tallahassee, Florida master runner Michael Martinez, the 2019 Crowdis 5K champion, was also in the 2024 field; as was Donalsonville, Georgia's Myles Gibson--the Crowdis 5K winner in 1993, 2014, and 2015. But the Crowdis veterans were up against a corps of youth.


Leading that youth movement was the race winner, Walker Elrod, a sophomore-year cross-country runner at Grace Christian Academy. The runner-up, Rush Hatcher, ran 16:43, joining Elrod in breaking 17:00. Hatcher is a sophomore on the Worth County High cross-country team. Wesley Warren, a frosh on the Brookwood School cross-country squad, took third in 17:09. The next two athletes across the line were likewise high school harriers--Crosspointe Academy senior Graham Harrod (4th, 17:23) and Tift County High sophomore Owen Davies (5th, 17:51).


The stream of young distance runners was finally interrupted by the first master runner in the race, Russell Coleman, who placed sixth in 17:59. Coleman had won the Crowdis 10K in 2020 and 2023. As for the other past champions, Dr. Whitehead was seventh in 18:10, Martinez was tenth in 19:47, and Gibson thirteenth in 20:28.


The women's division was also dominated by high school cross-country runners, starting with first-place female Gabriella Baker, a junior on the Dothan High team. Emmalee Johnson was runner-up to Baker on the women's side, placing seventeenth overall in 22:09. Johnson is a junior at Southwest Georgia Academy. Kali Nicholson, the third woman and twentieth overall in 22:36, is a junior on Lee County High's cross-country squad. Fourth, fifth, and sixth for the women were also ran cross-country for their school--Seminole County junior Geisha Smith (22nd, 23:01), Baconton sixth-grader Madison Miracle (24th, 23:09), and Grace Christian Academy frosh Tatiana Smith (25th, 23:09).


Carolyn Houston of Dothan was the first woman master and the seventh female finisher, 27th overall in 23:54. Houston had been the first woman in the 2018 Crowdis 5K as well as the 2021 and 2023 Crowdis 10K races.


77 athletes finished the 2024 Crowdis 5K.


Top Ten Men, 2024 Dr. James H. Crowdis 5K

1. 16:28.1, Walker Elrod (M, 15)
2. 16:42.7, Rush Hatcher (M, 16)
3. 17:09.0, Wesley Warren (M, 14)
4. 17:22.7, Graham Harrod (M, 17)
5. 17:50.5, Owen Davies (M, 16)
6. 17:58.3, Russell Coleman (M, 46)
7. 18:09.2, Patrick Whitehead (M, 37)
8. 18:21.3, Russ Benton (M, 16)
9. 18:34.8, Ridley Eidson (M, 16)
10. 19:46.7, Mike Martinez (M, 58)

Top Ten Women, 2024 Dr. James H. Crowdis 5K

1. 20:34.0, Gabriella Baker (F, 18)
2. 22:08.1, Emmalee Johnson (F, 16)
3. 22:36.0, Kali Nicholson (F, 16)
4. 23:00.4, Geisha Smith (F, 17)
5. 23:08.9, Madison Miracle (F, 12)
6. 23:28.2, Tatiana Smith (F, 15)
7. 23:53.1, Carolyn Houston (F, 51)
8. 24:38.0, Lana Bray (F, 13)
9. 25:24.5, Crystal Sekula (F, 37)
10. 25:28.6, Kaylee Gattie (F, 15)

Dr. James H. Crowdis Run champions, 1981 - 2024
Date	Distance	Men	Women	Finishers
28 March 1981	5K	17:14, Tony Gilbert	21:09, Connie Cullifer
27 March 1982	5K	17:20, Brian Doby	, Connie Cullifer	108
12 March 1983	5K	16:19, Kirk Thomas	20:10, Maurine Farley	143
10 March 1984	5K	15:50, Louis Floyd	21:16, Ann Lee	139
9 March 1985	5K	15:46, Mike Mead	19:54, Donna Duty	179
9 March 1986	5K	15:31, Mike Mead	19:36, Donna Duty	198
14 March 1987	5K	15:20, Lee Fidler	19:36, Donna Duty	158
12 March 1988	5K	15:53, John Devine	18:59, Janice Hochstein	151
11 March 1989	5K	14:59, Matt Parker	17:03, Kim Byrd	178
10 March 1990	5K	15:05, Matt Parker	19:47, Donna Duty	152
9 March 1991	5K	15:36, Matt Parker	18:29, Connie Robertson	130
14 March 1992	5K	14:52, Paul Waldron	20:09, Janice Hochstein	102
15 May 1993*	5K	16:54, Myles Gibson	20:22, Donna Duty	65
12 March 1994	5K	16:51, Scott Hoxie	18:32, Connie Robertson	97
11 March 1995	5K	16:54, Dale Thomas	19:19, Connie Robertson	105
No race held, 1996-2011
3 September 2012	5K	18:27, Jonathon Davison	23:13, Debra Hunter	87
13 July 2013	5K	17:34, Chase Harris	21:14, Paige Braswell	88
19 July 2014	5K	18:12, Myles Gibson	23:24, Margaret Winkler	103
11 July 2015	5K	18:10, Myles Gibson	23:02, Margaret Winkler	107
9 July 2016	5K	17:07, Patrick Whitehead	19:14, Sheryl Rosen	90
21 January 2017	10K	36:24, Patrick Whitehead	54:43, Katie Sheppard	33
	5K	19:23, Trevor Cleveland	20:23, Alli Hay	58
20 January 2018	10K	35:59, Patrick Whitehead	41:32, Ann Centner	26
	5K	19:20, Alan Flores	24:17, Carolyn Houston	71
19 January 2019	10K	31:41, Antonio Marchi	41:22, Vivianna Schuyler	18
	5K	18:50, Michael Martinez	23:24, Debra Hunter	83
11 January 2020	10K	39:02, Russell Coleman	46:06, Anna Haberzettl	30
	5K	17:18, Thomas Rischar	20:11, Brittney Skiles	70
9 January 2021	10K	35:58, Joshua Grant	48:47, Carolyn Houston	33
	5K	19:55, Richie Fernandez	19:41, Alli Hay	30
15 January 2022	10K	35:47, Patrick Whitehead	41:43, Alli Hay	22
	5K	17:48, Eyan Zupko	20:14, Brittney Skiles	67
11 January 2023	10K	35:32, Russell Coleman	48:12, Carolyn Houston	18
	5K	17:41, Timothy Ellis	22:07, Vivianna Schuyler	62
3 February 2024	5K	16:29, Walker Elrod	20:32, Gabriella Baker	77
* The 1993 race was originally scheduled for March 13, but was one of several races in the region that day postponed by a severe winter storm. A huge "thank you" to Larry Dykes of the Dothan Runners for his help in filling many blanks in the above history.

Links

• Complete results of the 2024 Dr. James H. Crowdis Run
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vS66pzK9NEQB31g0-WR4eR_BSP4hjbd1P8aLs1qvsL1d0kFqBwTgsCfMpW8o0MpEY7jYoSfPhfHYbBn/pubhtml
  
  
• 2020 story, “Russell Coleman and Anna Haberzettl lead a mob of master runners at Crowdis”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2020/01/crowdis-2020.html
  
  
• 2019 story, “Antonio Marchi rocks a 31:41 in the Crowdis 10K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/01/crowdis-2019.html
  
  
• 2018 story, “Good Life City Runners Whitehead and Centner win the Crowdis”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2018/01/crowdis-2018.html
  
  
• 2017 story, “Whitehead and Sheppard win the first 10K at the 21st Crowdis Run”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/01/crowdis-2017.html
  
  
• 2016 story, “Whitehead and Rosen bring speed to the Crowdis 5K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/07/crowdis-2016.html
  
  
• 2015 story, “Gibson and Winkler repeat at Crowdis”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/07/crowdis-2015.html
  
  
• 2014 story, “The Crowdis Run continues with wins by Gibson and Winkler”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/07/crowdis-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “Bainbridge High athletes Harris and Braswell conquer Crowdis 5K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/07/crowdis-201313.html
  
  
• 2012 story, “Early County harrier Jonathon Davison leads 87 runners in resurrecting the Crowdis 5K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2012/09/crowdis-5k.html
  
  
• Dr. James H. Crowdis Run web site
  http://crowdisrun.weebly.com/
  
  
• Find your next race in the Apalachee region using the Trouble Afoot! calendar:
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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