Monday, March 31, 2025

Adam Lassila and Annie-Grace Funderburg prevail on Payne-ful trails

2025 Trail Of PaynePayne's Prairie, a geographic oddity in Florida between Gainesville and Micanopy, has been home to camels, mastodons, giant ground sloths, bison, cattle-herding Seminoles, and (in the years when the prairie was flooded) steamships. Since 2011 Payne's Prairie has also been home to a trail race, the Trail Of Payne 10K, a tour of Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. On Saturday morning, 29 March 2025, Gainesville athlete Adam Lassila won the thirteenth annual Trail of Payne 10K, finishing over a kilometer ahead of the competition in 38:57. Annie Grace-Funderburg of Orlando, Florida was the first woman in the race, placing third overall in 47:58.


William Cunningham, a sophomore on the Buchholz High cross-country team, was back for more Payne after first running the race in 2024. In the 2025 event, Cunningham took the runner-up spot in 44:37, improving on his time (49:40) and place (6th) from the previous year. Ocala, Florida's Lucas Burkley took third in 46:30. Jeff Carney of Gainesville was the first master runner in the race and the fourth male finisher, coming in fifth overall in 48:22.


It was Adam Lassila's first experience with Payne, but women's champ Annie Grace-Funderburg was a veteran of the race. Grace-Funderburg's debut at the Trail Of Payne 10K was in the 2022 race, where she finished in over an hour. The Orlando athlete was back in 2023, running 49:06 and placing runner-up in the women's division. In 2024 Grace-Funderburg was again second in the women's standings, this time with a 52:36. 2025 was her fastest as well as her most successful outing at the Trail Of Payne, as she went 47:58 for the women's title.


Lillian Hamman of Gainesville was second to Grace-Funderburg on the women's side, placing eleventh overall in 49:40. Another Gainesville athlete, Shauna Dixon, was the first woman master and third female finisher, seventeenth overall in 52:31.


Top Ten Men, 2025 Trail of Payne 10K
  1. 38:57, Adam Lassila (M, 38) Gainesville, FL
  2. 44:37, Will Cunningham (M, 16) Gainesville, FL
  3. 46:30, Lucas Burkley (M, 33) Ocala, FL
  4. 48:22, Jeff Carney (M, 49) Gainesville, FL
  5. 48:33, John Engels (M, 53) Gainesville, FL
  6. 48:33, Sean Black (M, 56) Melbourne, FL
  7. 48:34, Matt Detwiler (M, 36) Gainesville, FL
  8. 48:46, Chris Vulpe (M, 59) Gainesville, FL
  9. 49:32, Jonathan Mays (M, 50) Gainesville, FL
  10. 49:45, Seth Johnson (M, 26) Gainesville, FL

Top Ten Women, 2025 Trail of Payne 10K
  1. 47:58, Annie-Grace Funderburg (F, 34) Orlando, FL
  2. 49:40, Lillian Hamman (F, 26) Gainesville, FL
  3. 52:31, Shauna Dixon (F, 63) Gainesville, FL
  4. 52:58, Mindi Iannarelli (F, 40) Saint Augustine, FL
  5. 53:01, Karen Stukes (F, 54) Crystal River, FL
  6. 56:56, Verity Mathis (F, 46) Gainesville, FL
  7. 56:58, Nykki Ross (F, 31) Gainesville, FL
  8. 60:22, Julia Graddy (F, 21) Gainesville, FL
  9. 60:38, Madison Steen (F, 23) Gainesville, FL
  10. 60:51, Lauren Rogers (F, 32) Gainesville, FL

In 2024 race management added a 5K to the program for any athlete who wanted a little less Payne. The Trail Of Payne 5K returned in 2025, and Toni Illaru of Finland won the race, running 21:19. Another master runner, Gainesville's Benjamin Wilkinson, ran 23:11 for second. Harlan Carney, a frosh on the track team at P. K. Yonge School, took third with a 23:49.


Master runners swept the top three places in the women's standings, with Andrea Galinski of Gainesville first. Galinski was Galinski was ninth overall in 27:42. Brandy Nethery of Micanopy, Florida was the second woman, tenth overall in 28:10. At 28:47, Kim Swinehart of Dunellon, Florida was the third woman and twelfth overall.


88 athletes finished the 2025 Trail Of Payne 10K, while another 83 completed the 5K.


Top Ten Men, 2025 Trail of Payne 5K
  1. 21:19, Toni Illaru (M, 53) Huhmari, FIN
  2. 23:11, Benjamin Wilkinson (M, 44) Gainesville, FL
  3. 23:49, Harlan Carney (M, 12) Gainesville, FL
  4. 25:41, Randy Bayas (M, 30) Ocala, FL
  5. 26:08, Cane & Ash Stringer (M, 23) Gainesville, FL
  6. 26:54, Thomas Goss (M, 20) Alachua, FL
  7. 26:59, Aedan Mandapat (M, 16) Gainesville, FL
  8. 27:23, Richard Howard (M, 56) Gainesville, FL
  9. 28:19, Jack Gustke (M, 25) Gainesville, FL
  10. 29:37, Kirk Webster (M, 32) Gainesville, FL

Top Ten Women, 2025 Trail of Payne 5K
  1. 27:42, Andrea Galinski (F, 46) Gainesville, FL
  2. 28:10, Brandy Nethery (F, 44) Micanopy, FL
  3. 28:47, Kim Swinehart (F, 45) Dunnellon, FL
  4. 29:40, Veronica Dansby (F, 32) Gainesville, FL
  5. 30:33, Jaime Block (F, 36) Gainesville, FL
  6. 30:39, Katie White (F, 36) Gainesville, FL
  7. 32:07, Miriam Rutzen (F, 34) Gainesville, FL
  8. 32:30, Stefanie Jones (F, 46) Gainesville, FL
  9. 32:37, Kat Perlstein (F, 29) Gainesville, FL
  10. 32:44, Rachel Mallinger (F, 41) Gainesville, FL

Trail of Payne 10K winners, 2011 - 2025
DateDistanceMenWomenFinishers
19 March 201110 km35:56, Christian Kern41:06, Tatiana Titova271
17 March 201210 km34:37, Mike Hensley40:33, Tenley Godfrey342
16 March 201310 km37:12, Christopher Raye40:22, Stephanie McGrail273
29 March 201410 km37:16, Nick Auyeung41:30, Carol Rowe244
28 March 201510 km34:02, Mike Hensley42:12, Meredith DeFranco271
26 March 201610 km35:42, Bobby Hensley43:11, Stephanie McGrail194
25 March 201710 km33:16, Enoch Nadler39:44, Stephanie McGrail207
24 March 201810 km35:56, Bobby Hensley43:30, Meredith DeFranco180
23 March 201910 km36:10, Chris Cabret43:20, Courtney Rouse227
21 March 2020No Race, COVID-19
27 March 2021No Race, COVID-19
26 March 202210 km41:30, Dan Stoner47:14, Noelle Lucke-Wolde143
25 March 202310 km36:46, Wrigley Longstreet45:12, Noelle Lucke-Wolde107
23 March 202410 km45:56. Johnathon Johnson51:06, Noelle Lucke-Wold143
5 km19:23, Jack Neubert23:34, Tamlynn Leatt65
29 March 202510 km38:57, Adam Lassila47:58, Annie-Grace Funderburg88
5 km21:19, Toni Illaru27:42, Andrea Galinski83


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Posted by Herb Wills at 9:42 AM
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