Abraham Lincoln Middle School athletes Veltcheva and Matchev conquer the Run For Peace

Saturday, 8 April 2017, was a good day in Saint Augustine, Florida for Abraham Lincoln Middle School. Ani Veltcheva--a student at the Gainesville, Florida school--was the first female and overall winner of the Betty Griffin Center's fourth annual Run For Peace 5K, running 17:43. A few steps behind Veltcheva, Anton Matchev--another Abraham Lincoln student--posted a 17:46 to finish as the first male and overall runner-up.


Matchev was the defending champion in the race, having run the 2016 event in 18:39. Veltcheva had her own history in the event. At the 2016 Betty Griffin race, she had run 18:47, setting a new road 5K single-age world record for nine-year old girls. That record had since been broken, but on in Clermont, Florida on 18 March 2017 Veltcheva had run a 17:17 road 5K, setting a new single-age world record for twelve-year-olds.


Dylan Glass of Saint Augustine was second in the men's standings and third overall, running 18:38. Saint Augustine's Andy Nicol edged Randy Mudd of Mechanicsville, Virginia 19:11 to 19:13 for top master runner honors. Nicol and Mudd were fifth and sixth overall.


Rachel Mudd, an eighth-grader on the Atlee High cross-country team in Mechanicsville, was second on the women's side and twelfth overall in 21:11. Saint Augustine's Michelle Fredette was the first woman master and third female finisher, 24th overall in 22:20.


400 athletes finished the 2017 Run For Peace 5K. RaceSmith, Inc., chip-timed the race. Jacob Smith of RaceSmith did the measurements and filed the paperwork to get the course USATF certified.


Top Ten Women, Betty Griffin Center's 2017 Run For Peace 5K

1. 17:43, Ani Veltcheva (F, 12) Gainesville, FL
2. 21:11, Rachel Mudd (F, 14) Mechanicsville, VA
3. 22:20, Michelle Fredette (F, 59) St. Augustine, FL
4. 22:45, Pamela Hanson-Peterson (F, 57) Port Orange, FL
5. 23:10, Gina Levesque (F, 30) Plantsville, CT
6. 23:53, Mindi Iannarelli (F, 32) St. Augustine, FL
7. 23:52, Tessa Manton (F, 29) St. Augustine, FL
8. 24:04, Courtney Mudd (F, 12) Mechanicsville, VA
9. 24:03, Stacey Bailey (F, 39) St. Augustine, FL
10. 24:19, Elizabeth Carpenter (F, 36) Indian Rocks Beach, FL

Top Ten Men, Betty Griffin Center's 2017 Run For Peace 5K

1. 17:46, Anton Matchev (M, 13) Gainesville, FL
2. 18:41, Dylan Glass (M, 25) St. Augustine, FL
3. 19:11, Andy Nicol (M, 57) St. Augustine, FL
4. 19:15, Randy Mudd (M, 44) Mechanicsville, VA
5. 19:17, Eric Lee (M, 27) Shijiahuang, CHN
6. 19:33, Philip Matchev (M, 10) Gainesville, FL
7. 19:42, Matthew Bonin (M, 47) St. Augustine, FL
8. 20:07, David Boyle (M, 49) St. Augustine, FL
9. 20:17, Andrew Mudd (M, 15) Mechanicsville, VA
10. 20:59, Daniel Kipp (M, 29) Edgewater, FL

Betty Griffin Center Run For Peace 5K winners, 2014 - 2017
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
12 April 2014	16:33, Justin Taylor	18:47, Ani Veltcheva	492
18 April 2015	15:52, Clay Burnett	18:13, Lisa Burnett	484
16 April 2016	18:39, Anton Matchev	23:42, Mindi Iannarelli	339
8 April 2017	17:46, Anton Matchev	17:43, Ani Veltcheva	400

Links

• Complete results of the Betty Griffin Center's 2017 Run For Peace 5K
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bjMLnSOq3-UmJRCl1E12NkjDoyUgZEYsP2H5pYqUUUw/pubhtml
  
  
• Run For Peace 5K
  http://runforpeace5k.org/
  
  
• USATF Course Certification Map FL15040EBM for the Betty Griffin Center's 2017 Run For Peace 5K
  http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL15040EBM
  
  
• Find upcoming races closer to Tallahassee on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

#1936

Denisova and Matchev are steady but not slow at Race The Tortoise

Daily, tourists speed south through Florida on Interstate 75 between Lake City and Gainesville. Most are rushing toward Disney World, Legoland, or some other artificial destination. Meanwhile, they're passing by the real Florida. Many were still passing by on a sunny Saturday morning, 7 March 2015, when 165 athletes gathered in O'Leno State Park near High Springs, Florida, for a 3.1-mile run through some of the real Florida. They were there for the seventh annual Race The Tortoise 5K.


Gainesville, Florida, master runner Lyubov Denisova was the fastest athlete in O'Leno State Park that morning, winning the race and setting a new women's course record of 17:58. In 2013 Denisova had won the women's title of the 3.1-mile race through O'Leno State Park near High Springs, Florida, but this year she finished at the front of the entire field of 165 athletes. Just two weeks before the 2015 race, Denisova ran a personal best 17:07 at the Edison Festival of Light 5K in Fort Myers, Florida.


Anton Matchev, a student at Gainesville's Talbot Elementary School, was the runner-up and first overall male finisher in the 2015 Race The Tortoise 5K, running 18:16. Like Denisova, Matchev is a Race The Tortoise veteran; he finished sixth overall in 19:42 in the 2014 race. Behind Matchev, Gainesville athlete Dan Stoner ran 18:25 to finish as the third runner overall, the second male, and the first male master.


No gopher tortoises were harmed in the running of the race, which is presented annually by the Friends of O'Leno State Park. The organization uses proceeds of the event to benefit O'Leno State Park and nearby River Rise Preserve State Park.


Top Ten Women, 2015 Race The Tortoise 5K

1. 17:57.7 ~ Lyubov Denisova (F, 43)
2. 20:04.2 ~ Brittney Jett (F, 30)
3. 22:49.4 ~ Rebecca McCormick (F, 27)
4. 22:53.9 ~ Elisabeth Diamond (F, 55)
5. 23:35.0 ~ Shelby Wentworth (F, 23)
6. 24:16.9 ~ Cheyenne Patterson (F, 19)
7. 24:23.7 ~ Elke Sheider (F, 53)
8. 24:25.6 ~ Verity Mathis (F, 36)
9. 24:28.0 ~ Robin Politowics (F, 53)
10. 24:49.0 ~ Sharon Judge (F, 41)

Top Ten Men, 2015 Race The Tortoise 5K

1. 18:15.6 ~ Anton Matchev (M, 11)
2. 18:24.4 ~ Dan Stoner (M, 40)
3. 21:33.2 ~ Mark Droll (M, 30)
4. 21:35.4 ~ Mark Ou (M, 44)
5. 22:01.1 ~ Steven Detweiler (M, 67)
6. 22:19.5 ~ Kyle Petteway (M, 46)
7. 22:37.4 ~ Mark Cochran (M, 58)
8. 22:39.8 ~ Timothy Fuller (M, 37)
9. 22:40.7 ~ Philip Matchev (M, 8)
10. 22:44.8 ~ Jay Peacock (M, 52)

Race The Tortoise 5K winners, 2009 - 2015
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
7 March 2009	18:22.9, David Robison	20:12.6, Michelle McCollum	109
13 March 2010	16:27.5, Alex Phipps	18:13.0, Elizabeth Duarte	114
5 March 2011	19:21.6, Eric Drummond	19:33.0, Tatiana Titova	218
3 March 2012	16:09.8, Vladimir Tontchinski	18:05.5, Averkova Anzhelika	268
2 March 2013	16:39.7, Dan Clark	20:37.4, Lyubov Denisova	225
1 March 2014	16:52.8, Dan Clark	19:13.4, Ani Veltcheva	247
7 March 2015	18:15.6, Anton Matchev	17:57.7, Lyubov Denisova	165

Links

• Complete results of the 2015 Race The Tortoise 5K at milestoneraceauthority.com
  http://www.milestoneraceauthority.com/past-race-results/03072015-race-the-tortoise-5k-high-springs-fl-oleno-state-park/
  
  
• 2014 story, “Clark and Veltcheva are more hare than tortoise at O'Leno 5K”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/03/tortoise-2014.html
  
  
• O'Leno State Park
  http://www.floridastateparks.org/oleno/
  
  
• The Friends of O'Leno
  http://friendsofoleno.org/
  
  
• Race The Tortoise 5K course certification map USATF #FL09011EBM
  http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL09011EBM
  
  
• Any reptile race within 100 miles of Tallahassee will be here
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

#1333