Caden Vandermeulen and Vicky Droze brought winning ways to the Nene Fest Two-Way 5K

Saturday, 26 April 2025, was the morning of Tallahassee, Florida's tenth annual Nene Fest 5K. It was also the fourth Nene Fest to feature the gimmick where athletes had their choice of running the course either clockwise or counterclockwise. Caden Vandermeulen chose to follow the course clockwise around the Indianhead Acres neighborhood. Vandermeulen also chose to run the course quickly--faster than anyone else as it turned out, as he won the race in 18:10. For the third year in a row master runner Vicky Droze ran the course counterclockwise and for the second year in a row she was the first woman in the race. This time around she was seventh overall in 22:13.


Ryan Kunz had finished second in the 2024 Nene Fest, choosing to navigate the course in a counterclockwise direction. For 2025 Kunz opted to go clockwise and finished runner-up again, but this time he was the first master runner. His time was 18:33. Nathan Kollett, another runner in the clockwise crowd, took third in 19:04.


Master runner Sarah Lester followed Vicky Droze's lead in taking on the course counterclockwise. Lester finished second in the women's division, coming in thirteenth overall in 23:28. Master runner Patch Nugent also ran counterclockwise; at 25:05 she was the third woman and sixteenth overall.


65 athletes finished the 2025 Nene Fest 5K.


Top Ten Men, 2025 Nene Fest 5K

1. 18:10, Caden Vandermeulen (M, 21)
2. 18:33, Ryan Kunz (M, 42)
3. 19:04, Nathan Kollett (M, 39)
4. 20:10, Nicholas Zembruski (M, 36)
5. 21:25, Bill McNulty (M, 66)
6. 21:41, Andy Steinbrink (M, 39)
7. 22:36, Ian Fitton (M, 32)
8. 22:42, Zander Smith (M, 22)
9. 22:49, David Newheiser (M, 43)
10. 23:15, Jordan Evans (M, 36)

Top Ten Women, 2025 Nene Fest 5K

1. 22:13, Vicky Droze (F, 49)
2. 23:28, Sarah Lester (F, 49)
3. 25:05, Patch Nugent (F, 49)
4. 25:08, Laura Dennis (F, 38)
5. 26:22, Nicole Balmer (F, 49)
6. 26:35, Kirsten M. Kinsley (F, 53)
7. 27:49, Sydney Usatine (F, 34)
8. 28:33, Helen Paulson (F, 40)
9. 29:40, Loranne Ausley (F, 61)
10. 30:48, Kathleen Alda Balthrop-Lewis (F, 41)

Nene Fest 5K winners, 2014 - 2025
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
3 May 2014	18:24, Reikan Lin	22:02, Paula O' Neill
9 May 2015	15:49, Chris Lake	22:28, Paula O'Neill	84
30 April 2016	16:26, Matt Mizereck	23:36, Laura Reina	86
29 April 2017	17:57, Jim Halley	21:39, Katie Sherron	88
28 April 2018	17:02, Vince Molosky	19:16, Katie Sherron	159
27 April 2019	17:53, Khalil Randell	20:23, Genevieve Printiss	73
30 April 2022	19:30, Andrew Steinbrink	22:14, Elyse Gallegos	46
29 April 2023	17:32, Dillon Brewer	17:42, Ann Centner	80
13 April 2024	18:38, Tony Guillen	22:01, Vicky Droze	68
26 April 2025	18:10, Caden Vandermeulen	22:13, Vicky Droze	65

Links

• Complete results of the 2025 Nene Fest 5K
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vT9bpDlfF70LG-MJct-qFswL1au6fQ-2-DDI7K6OWNWgNlHlzNfNE_awypSKrQGdXEo59jXiOX19oCZ/pubhtml
  
  
• 2022 story, “Andrew Steinbrink and Elyse Gallegos make many right turns to win the Nene Fest 5K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2022/04/nene-2022.html
  
  
• 2019 story, “Khalil Randell gets a big win and Genevieve Printiss a close win at Nene Fest”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/04/nene-2019.html
  
  
• 2018 story, “Vince Molosky and Katie Sherron add to their Indianhead victories at Nene Fest”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2018/04/nene-2018.html
  
  
• 2017 story, “Halley and Sherron handle the hills at Nene Fest”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/04/nene-2017.html
  
  
• 2015 story, “Chris Lake blasts a 15:49 at the Nene Fest 5K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/05/nene-2015.html
  
  
• 2014 story, “Lin and O'Neill find the Nene to victory”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/05/nene-2014.html
  
  
• Nene Fest 5K Facebook page
  https://www.facebook.com/nene5k
  
  
• USATF course certification map FL17042TY for the 2014 Nene Fest 5K
  http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL17042TY
  
  
• Indianhead Lehigh Neighborhood Association, hosts of Nene Fest
  http://ihlna.org/
  
  
• Road races, trail races, or nene races--you'll find 'em on the Trouble Afoot! racing calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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