Sometimes in the pursuit of distance running you feel the need to do something different. This is especially true in the summer when the temperatures are high and the miles seem especially long. "Something different" could be a shorter distance, or a run on trails instead of the roads, or an outrageous format like the Devil Take The Hindmost. In the Valdosta area, "something different" comes in the form of the annual Cumulative 5K.The Cumulative 5K is not a 5K race, but the competitors end up doing 5K of racing. Each athlete completes three separate runs on the track--a 3200m, a 200m, and a 1600m--that total up to 5000 meters. Standings are determined by comparing sums of the three times. This isn't a decathlon, where the 100 meters counts as much as the 1500 meters. It's more like a stage race. Compare it to the Tour de France--except on foot instead of bicycles, in one morning rather than many days, and without the involvement of the pharmaceutical industry.
The 2013 Cumulative 5K started at 7:30 AM ET on Saturday morning, 27 July 2013 on the Valwood School track in Hahira, Georgia. Section one of the 3200 saw 2012 Cumulative 5K champion, Tyler Thurman of Lowndes High School, challenged by Lake Park's Ryan Kelly. It was Thurman's race in the end though, 11:22.8 to 11:23.8. Thurman took that one-second lead over Kelly to the 200 meters. Valdosta High grad Milo Mirate, third in the standings after the 3200, had the best 200 time of the morning at 28.7. Unfortunately, he was still over a minute behind Thurman and Kelly, but it did give him some breathing room over master runner Tom Phillips. Phillips had finished the 3200 in fourth, only 0.6 seconds behind Mirate. A 30.3 200 gave Phillips the second-best sprint of the morning, but put him another 1.6 seconds behind Mirate. Thurman used the sprint event to add another 2.7 seconds to his lead over Kelly; the two leaders ran 33.0 and 35.7 for the 200.So going into the 1600, Tyler Thurman was leading Ryan Kelly by 3.7 seconds, while Milo Mirate held a 2.2 second edge over Tom Phillips.
Thurman went on to dominate the 1600, putting up a 5:29.8 and finishing with a 100 meter lead. That mark gave him a 17:25.8 total and the Cumulative 5K title for a second straight year. It was nearly a 13-second improvement on his 2012 winning effort of 17:38.4. Ryan Kelly had the second-best 1600 time at 5:53.0, giving him the second-best sum of 11:23.8. Milo Mirate and Tom Phillips stayed locked in a close fight for third, but Mirate knocked off Phillips 6:08.9 to 6:09.3 in the four-lap event. Mirate finished the Cumulative with a third place 19:25.9 total, while Phillips scored 19:28.5 to take fourth and the top master spot.Coming in fifth in the final standings with a 19:53.3, Lowndes High distance runner Alison Peters was the top female in the Cumulative. Elizabeth Smith (8th, 21:21.4) edged out Alice Smoot (9th, 21:36.9) for the second woman's spot. Smoot, the 2012 female champion of the Cumulative, was the top master woman in this year's final standings.
Second annual Cumulative 5KValwood School Track, Hahira, GeorgiaSaturday, 27 July 2013
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Links
- More Valdosta-area race coverage
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/Valdosta
- More wins by Alison Peters
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/Alison%20Peters
- Lots and lots of upcoming races in the region
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
