Showing posts with label Bill Crooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bill Crooks. Show all posts

Friday, July 19, 2013

Crooks escapes the Devil for the third year in a row

[ A report on Tallahassee's 1993 Devil Take The Hindmost Run, written for the September 1993 edition of The Fleet Foot, the newsletter of the Gulf Winds Track Club. ]


DevilIn August, Denver had to settle for a visit from the Pope, but [on 14 August 1993] Tallahassee received its annual call by the Devil. The pontiff made his tour in a heavily armored and guarded popemobile, but the Devil got out and ran with the people in the 1993 Devil Take The Hindmost race. Although Florida State University's Mike Long Track had been undergoing repairs and still lacked gutters and lane lines, the Devil saw that it was re-opened for this annual event.


The Devil, looking remarkably similar to GWTC member Jodi Carney, plucked the slowest runner from the track at the end of each lap until only the winner was left running. This year's race was short and swift, with defending champion Bill Crooks winning for the third year in a row. Crooks belongs to Doc Pete's Dawn Patrol, members of which swept the first three places.


The post-race part for runners and spectators was held on the back deck at Hobbit Hoagies.


Results, Devil-Take-The-Hindmost Run
Saturday, 14 August 1993
Mike Long Track, Tallahassee, Florida
PlaceNameLaps
1. Bill Crooks 12
2. Mike Martinez 11
3. Mike Peters 10
4. Bob Gagen 9
5. Victor Colon 8
6. Eddie Echeveria 7
7. Shannon Sullivan 6
8. Paul Peavy 5
9. Rick Ashton 4
10. Jerry Dilley 3
11. Dennis Kehoe 2


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Posted by Herb Wills at 12:25 AM 0 comments
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Tallahassee's 1992 Devil Take The Hindmost Run

[ This is a report on Tallahassee's 1992 Devil-Take-The-Hindmost Run that I wrote for the September 1992 issue of the Gulf Winds Track Club newsletter, The Fleet Foot. This demonstrates that the Devil-Take-The-Hindmost Run has been going on for quite some time, and that for many years I've been spoiling the fun with my record keeping. ]

DevilNo one knows just how old this annual Tallahassee ritual is. You could probably look it up in The Golden Bough. But each summer, on a Saturday evening chosen by Shannon Sullivan on the basis of arcane astrological calculations, the race is held. A group gathers at the FSU track and begins running. At the end of each lap a person dressed as the Devil takes the last runner off the track. The last competitor unclaimed by the Devil wins.


Wearing the Devil costume this year was Peggy Primicerio, brandishing her pitchfork with relish as she snatched twenty-two of the twenty-three starters from the track. As in the past, a few runners withdrew from the race voluntarily, but the Devil always took her due and claimed a less willing victim as well. Robert Padgett solemnly recorded the names of the fallen while announcer Rob Van Cleve jeered and japed from on high.


After five miles of surging, slowing, and even stopping, John de Grummond fell off the pace and was snatched, leaving only Bill Crooks and Jeff Nielsen in the field. What followed was a slow lap of feints and dirty tricks capped by a forty-yard dash in which Crooks slipped by his opponent. Nielsen was grabbed by the Devil and Crooks was left in sole possession of the track and the victory, successfully defending his 1991 title. Crooks is probably the only runner ever to win two of these races, but like I said, no one knows how old this race is.


Results, Devil-Take-The-Hindmost Run
Saturday, 8 August 1992
Mike Long Track, Tallahassee, Florida
PlaceNameLaps
1. Bill Crooks 22
2. Jeff Nielsen 21
3. John de Grummond 20
4. Steve Carney 19
5. Mike Peters 18
6. Wes Bruner 17
7. Tim Bolton 16
Dana Stetson 16
9. Ray Scott 15
10. Shannon Sullivan 14
11. Brant Foster 13
12. Carl Smith 12
13. Bill Lott 11
14. Mike Martinez 10
Darren Hillman 10
16. Paul Peavy 9
17. Alfred Kleinhammes 8
18. Roger Register 7
19. Tom Manning 6
Ian Turkle 6
21. Carol Rhodes 5
22. Steve Keith 4
23. Pat Bruner 3


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Posted by Herb Wills at 12:01 AM 0 comments
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