Saturday, March 9, 2024

Andy Merrill and Harlie Bassitt were tops at the Tortoise

O'Leno State Park bridgeThe fourteenth annual Race The Tortoise 5K started in O'Leno State Park on Saturday morning, 9 March 2024, just ahead of the storm sweeping east across North Florida. The stormfront still hadn't arrived when Lake Butler's Andy Merrill crossed the finish line in a wiining 16:47, more than a hundred meters ahead of the next runner. Gainesville marathoner Harlie Bassitt was the first woman in the 5K, coming in sixth overall in 19:01.


David Yinh, a Palm Beach Gardens master runner, placed runner-up to Merrill with a 17:08. Griffin East, an alum of the Canterbury High cross-country team, took third in 17:20.


Lisa Johnson of Gainesville was the first woman master and second female finisher, eleventh overall in 20:22. It was Johnson's third year in a row as the Tortoise 5K's top woman master; she had also been the first overall woman in the 2021 race. Gainesville's Natalie Wright was the third woman and nineteenth overall in 22:38.


193 athletes finished the 2024 Race The Tortoise 5K. The event is a fundraiser for the Friends of O'Leno State Park, who use the proceeds to help provide for the creatures in the park's Nature Center and to help expand the center's exhibits. Timing for the 2024 race was provided by Endurance Sports Timing.


Top Ten Men, 2024 Race The Tortoise 5K
  1. 16:46.59, Andy Merrill (M, 30) Lake Butler, FL
  2. 17:07.30, Daniel Yinh (M, 43) Palm Beach Gardens, FL
  3. 17:19.57, Griffin East (M, 23) Gainesville, FL
  4. 18:40.82, Robert Grote (M, 29)
  5. 18:55.50, Joseph Angelillo (M, 26)
  6. 19:09.68, Javier Prietu (M, 49) FL
  7. 19:13.14, Justin Holstein (M, 39) Jacksonville, FL
  8. 19:30.16, Robert Walkiewicz (M, 35) Gainesville, FL
  9. 20:19.67, Justin Maynard (M, 40) Gainesville, FL
  10. 20:21.59, Dashawn Davis-Anderson (M, 25) Gainesville, FL

Top Ten Women, 2024 Race The Tortoise 5K
  1. 19:00.16, Harlie Bassitt (F, 25) Gainesville, FL
  2. 20:21.29, Lisa Johnson (F, 42) Gainesville, FL
  3. 22:37.03, Natalie Wright (F, 38) Gainesville, FL
  4. 23:34.84, Lauren Porter (F, 31) Gainesville, FL
  5. 24:53.09, Leanne Harrison Forbes (F, 51) ,
  6. 25:22.45, Mary Drummond (F, 46) Gainesville, FL
  7. 26:30.19, Sally Chappell (F, 61) Ocala, FL
  8. 27:15.43, Elisabeth Diamond (F, 64) Bell, FL
  9. 28:07.98, Olena Carey (F, 60)
  10. 28:49.64, Katy Chapman (F, 41) Gainesville, FL

Race The Tortoise 5K winners, 2009 - 2024
DateMenWomenFinishers
7 March 200918:22.9, David Robison20:12.6, Michelle McCollum109
13 March 201016:27.5, Alex Phipps18:13.0, Elizabeth Duarte114
5 March 201119:21.6, Eric Drummond19:33.0, Tatiana Titova218
3 March 201216:09.8, Vladimir Tontchinski18:05.5, Averkova Anzhelika268
2 March 201316:39.7, Dan Clark20:37.4, Lyubov Denisova225
1 March 201416:52.8, Dan Clark19:13.4, Ani Veltcheva247
7 March 201518:15.6, Anton Matchev17:57.7, Lyubov Denisova165
5 March 201616:32, Bobby Hensley18:16, Ani Veltcheva177
3 March 201815:28, Enoch Nadler17:34, Ani Veltcheva215
2 March 201917:03, Hutson Rapier19:35, Courtney Rouse239
7 March 202017:08, Ravi Kumar19:51, Lara Drondoski219
5 March 202217:30, Michael Rosato20:00, Lisa Johnson203
3 June 202316:43, Jake Baldauf19:31, Grace Kelly193
9 March 202416:47, Andy Merrill19:01, Harlie Bassitt193
There was no Race The Tortoise 5K in 2017 or 2021.


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