Saturday, March 22, 2025

The Bowlegs 5K was delayed, but not Hawthorne Hay or Charlotte Sikes

For the last 20 years, Gulf Winds Track Club's Bowlegs 5K Run For Scholarship has been a January race. Conditions have ranged from cool to frigid--or as frigid as Tallahassee, Florida ever gets. The 40th annual Bowlegs was scheduled for 25 January 2025, but had to be postponed when Florida State University closed the course--something about ice on the roads left over from a freak sleet storm that had closed the university campus. So the race was rescheduled for Saturday, 22 March 2025. And although the calendar said it was spring, the thermometer said otherwise, with race-day morning temperatures in the 40s. True Bowlegs weather.

Hawthorne Hay
Hawthorne Hay

"We got lucky with the weather," said Hawthorne Hay. "It could have been in the 70s with high humidity."


Luck didn't figure into Hay's performance at Bowlegs. The Tallahassee athlete won the race by just over 200 meters, posting a 17:36. Charlotte Sikes took first in the women's division, running 20:44 for ninth overall.


The postponement turned out to be fortunate for Hay.

Ryan Kunz
Ryan Kunz

"I was out of town on the original date," he said. "So when they moved the day, I thought: why not? I mainly ran just to enjoy the moment."


For the most part, Hay had to enjoy the moment on his own. Shortly after leaving the starting line on Potsdamer Street, he was alone out in front of the field. Hay likely never saw another athlete in the race till he made the turnaround on Dirac Drive, more than three kilometers into the 5K. He made it to the finish line unchallenged in a winning 17:36.


Ryan Kunz was the top master runner in the race, finishing runner-up to Hay in 18:21. Master runner Hong-Guo Yu took third in 18:50.

Hong-Guo Yu
Hong-Guo Yu

"The Palace Saloon 5K is my next serious race," said Hay. "I'll be doing the Springtime 5K as a tune-up for that."


The Springtime 5K is slated for one week after Bowlegs; the Palace Saloon 5K is another two weeks after Springtime.


Although this was Hay's first Bowlegs win, it wasn't his first appearance in the race. Nor was it his fastest Bowlegs; he went 17:23 in the 2019 race. Hay has raced at Bowlegs six times going back to 2015. Charlotte Sikes is also a Bowlegs veteran.

Charlotte Sikes
Charlotte Sikes

"I did it at least last year and the year before," recalled Sikes.


Actually, Sikes has also done the race six times. She can be excused for losing count; she first raced Bowlegs as a seven-year-old back in 2018. 2025 was her first Bowlegs women's title, and her 20:44 equaled her personal best on the course from two years earlier. In 2023, though, Sikes was chasing women's leader Brittney Barnes. In 2025 Sikes led the women's field from start to finish.

Melanie Leitman
Melanie Leitman

Early in the race, Tallahassee master runner Jillian Heddaeus held the second women's spot behind Sikes. Heddaeus was eventually overtaken by another master runner, Tallahassee's Melanie Leitman. The two were close all the way to the finish, but Leitman arrived first, second in the women's standings and fifteenth overall in 21:57. Heddaeus was the third woman and sixteenth overall in 22:01.


Bowlegs may very well be the last road race for Sikes for a while, because the Swift Creek Middle School eighth-grader will soon be starting her final season of middle school track and field.


"Our first meet is in less than two weeks," said Sikes.

Jillian Heddaeus
Jillian Heddaeus

116 athletes finished the 2025 Bowlegs 5K Run For Scholarship. Gulf Winds Track Club chip-timed the race.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2025 Bowlegs 5K Run For Scholarship
  1. 17:36, Hawthorne Hay (M, 23) Tallahassee, FL
  2. 18:21, Ryan Kunz (M, 42) Tallahassee, FL
  3. 18:50, Hong-Guo Yu (M, 56) Tallahassee, FL
  4. 19:08, Mickey Moore (M, 55) Tallahassee, FL
  5. 19:27, Stephen Andrews (M, 39) Tallahassee, FL
  6. 19:30, Nathan Kollett (M, 39) Tallahassee, FL
  7. 20:20, Chase Sims (M, 13) Tallahassee, FL
  8. 20:40, Paul Guyas (M, 47) Tallahassee, FL
  9. 20:57, Camp Andrews (M, 14) Tallahassee, FL
  10. 21:03, Dan Manausa (M, 55) Tallahassee, FL

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2025 Bowlegs 5K Run For Scholarship
  1. 20:44, Charlotte Sikes (F, 14) Tallahassee, FL
  2. 21:57, Melanie Leitman (F, 40) Tallahassee, FL
  3. 22:01, Jillian Heddaeus (F, 41) Tallahassee, FL
  4. 22:32, Cathy Bond (F, 44) Tallahassee, FL
  5. 23:30, Lily Swanbrow Becker (F, 41) Tallahassee, FL
  6. 24:29, Nancy Proctor (F, 64) Tallahassee, FL
  7. 24:48, Kelsey Mezzina (F, 30) Tallahassee, FL
  8. 25:01, Olivia Hitchcock Howard (F, 30) Tallahassee, FL
  9. 25:14, Kim Sims (F, 46) Tallahassee, FL
  10. 25:21, Kelley Coe El-Urfali (F, 61) Tallahassee, FL

Bowlegs 5K Run For Scholarship winners, 1985 - 2025
DateMenWomenField
16 February 198516:44, Scott Hinkle18:48, Darien Andreu153
15 February 198616:12, Rick Miller20:00, Janice Hochstein150
7 February 198715:54, Randy Jordan20:00, Sarah Patterson186
13 February 198816:05, Rick Miller20:02, Janice Hochstein220
4 February 198915:44, Rick Miller20:02, Barbara Balzer165
10 February 199017:28, Felton Wright19:30, Paula Johnson112
16 February 199116:15, Bill Crooks20:37, Tina Davies67
15 February 199215:51, Mike Macinko18:37, Paula Johnson81
20 February 199315:33, Gary Droze19:33, Carrie Hunnicutt143
19 February 199416:02, Phillip Healy22:18, Chateau Mangaroo83
18 February 199515:41, Reid Montini18:09, Jane Johnson158
17 February 199616:12, Tim Simpkins19:33, Janice Hochstein77
15 February 199715:45, Gary Droze18:20, Jane Johnson163
14 February 199816:23, Damian Wilson17:47, Sarah Docter-Williams104
13 February 199915:57, Robert Pautenius16:54, Breeda Dennehy-Willis77
12 February 200015:49, Aaron Scheer20:42, Laurel Slyck83
10 February 200116:48, Gary Droze18:18, Sarah Docter-Williams
9 February 200216:20, Thomas Kunish20:20, Allison Eagen77
8 February 200316:56, Paul Orfield21:15, Fran McLean76
21 February 200417:06, Adam David Churchill18:21, Breeda Dennehy-Willis82
15 January 200517:42, Art Remillard18:10, Sarah Docter-Williams72
14 January 200616:43, Shawn Patterson19:22, Stephanie Liles152
20 January 200717:37, Matt Mizereck19:02, Sheryl Rosen109
19 January 200816:32, Tripp Southerland21:39, Carly Thomas121
10 January 200917:59, Tim Unger20:09, Micah Adriani117
9 January 201017:21, Stephen Cox21:01, Lauren Switzer84
8 January 201116:38, Vince Molosky19:26, Sheryl Rosen204
7 January 201217:10, Stanley Linton19:27, Katie Showman166
5 January 201316:12, Stanley Linton20:19, Katie Showman110
18 January 201415:46, Stanley Linton19:18, Lisa Johnson168
10 January 201516:08, Stephen Cox18:35, Sheryl Rosen132
9 January 201616:41, Nate Kaiser19:00, Ani Veltcheva201
14 January 201716:57, Vince Molosky18:55, Sheryl Rosen105
13 January 201816:15, Charlie Johnson18:59, Katie Sherron166
12 January 201915:29, Stan Linton17:59, Ann Centner97
11 January 202016:36, Trevor Sununu17:54, Ann Centner172
8 January 202218:09, Leonardo Canete19:25, Caroline Willis129
28 January 202317:25, Brian Erb20:12, Brittney Barnes82
27 January 202418:41, Hawthorne Hay18:11, Ann Centner129
22 March 202517:36, Hawthorne Hay20:44, Charlotte Sikes116
From 1985 to 1994 the Bowlegs 5K was run on the main campus of Florida State University,
starting and finishing near Tully Gym, on USATF certified course FL88014BH.

From 1995 to 2020 the Bowlegs 5K was run in Innovation Park, starting and finishing near
the College of Engineering on USATF certified course FL95008DL. The course was later re-
certified with number FL12001EBM. In 2022 the course was slightly modified and certified
with number FL21047JK.


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Posted by Herb Wills at 7:34 PM
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