Clark and Veltcheva were resolute in Alachua

When the Fellowship Church of High Springs, Florida, chose a venue for their Resolution 5K cross country run, they selected the Hal Brady Recreation Complex. It was five miles from the church in neighboring Alachua, Florida, but it had what you needed for a cross country race--"grass and beautiful hills" in the words of the race organizers. During many years in the company of cross country runners, I can't remember any of them ever describing a hill quite that way. With high school and college teams I've done a lot of pre-race course tours. Not once did myself or anyone else pause to exclaim, "Oh! Look at that beautiful hill!" No, the words we used for hills were short, colorful, and generally not repeatable. However you want to describe Hal Brady Park and its hills, it seems to be a good place to run cross country. In addition to three Resolution 5K races, the park has also been the site of several high school regional cross country championship races and the Half Mile Timing Cross Country Invitational.


When the athletes arrived at Hal Brady Park on Saturday morning, 23 January 2016, for the third annual Resolution 5K, they were not only facing "beautiful hills" but some rare North Florida snow flurries. Cross country running takes place on all kinds of terrain in all kinds of conditions, though, so no one was dissuaded. In fact, a record crowd of 79 athletes finished the 3.1-mile race. The fastest of these was master runner Dan Clark, who won the race in an event record time of 18:57. Gainesville athlete Ani Veltcheva took second place overall in 21:08, winning the women's title.


Master runner Brandon Labonte was second in the men's standing, coming in third overall in 22:31. Scott Carter was the third male finisher, fourth overall in 22:47.


Sheridan Plasencia, the sophomore ace of the Fort White High cross country team, was second on the women's side, placing fifth overall in 24:25. Elisabeth Diamond of Bell, Florida, was the top woman master and the third female finisher, ninth overall in 25:32.


Proceeds from the Resolution 5K are used for the food and clothing outreach ministries of Fellowship Church.

Alachua, Florida, Resolution 5K Cross Country Run winners, 2014 - 2016
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
25 January 2014	21:45, Richard Rodriguez	25:35, Sheridan Plasencia	61
24 January 2015	21:01, Richard Moreno-Rodriguez	23:46, Elisabeth Diamond	62
23 January 2016	18:57, Dan Clark	21:08, Ani Veltcheva	79

Top Ten Men, 2016 Alachua, Florida, Resolution 5K Cross Country Run

1. 18:56.10 ~ Dan Clark (M, 44) Alachua, FL
2. 22:30.19 ~ Brandon Labonte (M, 43)
3. 22:46.55 ~ Scott Carter (M, 31) Florahome, FL
4. 24:33.37 ~ Ryan Boone (M, 12)
5. 24:51.37 ~ Antoine Edwards (M, 54) Gainesville, FL
6. 25:05.53 ~ Dave Scardaville (M, 35) Gainesville, FL
7. 27:00.36 ~ Isaac Clark (M, 13)
8. 27:01.42 ~ Aidanq Clark (M, 13)
9. 28:27.23 ~ Sage Jennings (M, 15)
10. 28:46.82 ~ Mike Hosey (M, 46) High Springs, FL

Top Ten Women, 2016 Alachua, Florida, Resolution 5K Cross Country Run

1. 21:07.33 ~ Ani Veltcheva (F, 11) Gainesville, FL
2. 24:24.10 ~ Sheridan Plasencia (F, 16) Fort White, FL
3. 25:31.41 ~ Elisabeth Diamond (F, 56) Bell, FL
4. 26:21.12 ~ Olivia Evans (F, 12)
5. 26:38.89 ~ Theresa Patton (F, 33) Gainesville, FL
6. 29:33.58 ~ Cathy Bester (F, 48) Gainesville, FL
7. 31:27.96 ~ Juno DuBose (F, 33) Durham, NC
8. 34:16.16 ~ Jeannette Peters (F, 56) Gainesville, FL
9. 35:16.79 ~ Alicia Lamborn (F, 35) Macclenny, FL
10. 36:49.16 ~ Jamie Cooke (F, 36) Gainesville, FL

Links

• Complete results, 2016 Alachua, Florida, Resolution 5K Cross Country Run
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CSKly6pwV1BwwknVeICNWO_cpE_vcPguye853IyPPjc/pubhtml
  
  
• Photos of the 2016 Alachua, Florida, Resolution 5K Cross Country Run
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.970846512980507.1073741850.132071416858025
  
  
• Fellowship Church's Resolution 5K Cross Country Run
  http://fellowshiponline.org/theresolution.html
  
  
• Find an upcoming cross country run near you on the Trouble Afoot racing calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

#1599

Clark and Veltcheva are more hare than tortoise at O'Leno 5K

On Saturday morning, 1 March 2014, Alachua, Florida, master runner Dan Clark successfully defended his overall winner's title at the sixth annual Race The Tortoise 5K, finishing almost 400 meters ahead of the next runner. Running 16:53 for the 3.1-mile course through O'Leno State Park, Clark became the only two-time winner in the history of the race. Robert Carter finished runner-up behind Clark in 18:23, and master runner Joel Rich was third in 18:50.


Fourth place, though, belonged to the fastest runner in the women's division, nine-year-old Gainesville schoolgirl Ani Veltcheva. Veltcheva's time was an astonishing 19:14, just off the single-age world record of 19:05 for nine-year-old girls, set on 2 February 2014 by Elizabeth Lucason. And before you ask, yes, the Race The Tortoise 5K course is USATF certified (#FL09011EBM). Just two weeks earlier on 15 February 2014, Velcheva had run 19:50 on a certified course (#FL09010EBM) at the Five Points of Life 5K in Gainesville, Florida.


Richmond, Utah, master runner Carol Rowe was the women's runner-up, placing fifth overall in an impressive 19:29.


247 athletes finished the 2014 edition of the Race The Tortoise 5K. The race is conducted by the Friends of O'Leno, who use the proceeds from the race and their other events for projects that benefit O'Leno State Park and nearby River Rise Preserve State Park. No doubt the park's resident gopher tortoises, the signature creatures of the race, appreciate the Friends' efforts.


Top Ten Men, 2014 Race The Tortoise 5K

1. 16:52.8 ~ Dan Clark (M, 42) Alachua, FL
2. 18:22.2 ~ Robert Carter (M, 27)
3. 18:50.0 ~ Joel Rich (M, 44)
4. 19:41.4 ~ Tony Matchev (M, 10)
5. 20:18.9 ~ Xiao Chen Zhu (M, 26)
6. 20:27.6 ~ Ben Mock (M, 11)
7. 20:41.2 ~ Jake Frazer (M, 9)
8. 20:41.8 ~ Julius Gylys (M, 50)
9. 20:48.8 ~ Roberto Laos (M, 37)
10. 20:49.9 ~ Lucas Dai (M, 10)

Top Ten Women, 2014 Race The Tortoise 5K

1. 19:13.4 ~ Ani Veltcheva (F, 9) Gainesville, FL
2. 19:28.9 ~ Carol Rowe (F, 42)
3. 22:42.0 ~ Elisabeth Diamond (F, 54)
4. 23:12.6 ~ Amanda Jacobson (F, 23)
5. 23:52.6 ~ Marsha Wilson (F, 44)
6. 24:21.0 ~ Charlotte Amparo (F, 36)
7. 24:28.4 ~ Melissa Lynch (F, 38)
8. 25:13.8 ~ Marjesca Brown (F, 31)
9. 25:17.0 ~ Diane Miller (F, 62)
10. 25:38.0 ~ Amy Harder (F, 34)

Race The Tortoise 5K winners, 2009-2014
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, Liubov Denisora	225
1 March 2014	16:52.8, Dan Clark	19:13.4, Ani Veltcheva	247

Links

• Complete results of the 2014 Race The Tortoise 5K at milestoneraceauthority.com
  http://www.milestoneraceauthority.com/past-race-results/03012014-race-tortoise-5k-high-springs-fl/
  
  
• 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
  
  

#1095