New road 6K state records for Florida during 2017

At the end of 2017, Ethan Clary's 19:15 stands as the fastest 6K time run on the Florida roads during the year, and Sonja Friend-Uhl's 22:29 as the fastest women's time. Both marks were recorded at the 3 June 2017 Heroes 6K in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Clary's time is also the fastest run on a USATF-certified course in Florida going back to at least 2013.


When 2017 opened, the oldest 6K race in Florida, Gulf Winds Track Club's Flash 6K, was scheduled to be run on a USATF-certified course for the first time. It looked like that for the first time, Florida would have four 6K races on certified courses--the Character Counts 6K in Saint Augustine on 3 February 2017, the Flash 6K in Saint Marks on 18 February 2017, the Heroes 6K in Fort Lauderdale on 3 June 2017, and the Ravine Gardens 6K in Palatka on 21 October 2017. However, the Ravine Gardens race was not only shortened to a 5K event, but because of race was ultimately canceled because of damage to Ravine Gardens State Park by Hurricane Irma. Hopefully the park will recover and the race will return as a 6K.

Geb Kiros

Florida still had three excellent six-kilometer races on USATF-certified courses during 2017. Andy Nicol opened the series with a 23:32 win at the Character Counts 6K, where Deana Reich won the women's competition in 26:59. Two weeks later, master runner Geb Kiros upped the ante with a 22:02 win in the Flash 6K. In the same race, Kat Sack established a new women's best for the year, going 26:02. But neither of those marks survived the third, final, and largest race on the circuit, the Heroes 6K. Ethan Clary led a field of more than 400 runners in that race, going 19:15. If anyone kept track of state records for the road 6K, that time would stand as the Florida record. Likewise, Sonja Friend-Uhl's 22:29 in the Heroes 6K would stand as the women's state record.

Kat Sack

Of course, not every 6K race in Florida is on the roads. In 2018 there will be two particularly significant 6K cross-country races in the state. The senior women's and junior women's races at the USATF National Cross-Country Championships will both be 6K, and both will be run on the Apalachee Regional Park Cross-Country Course near Tallahassee, Florida on 3 February 2018. As for the roads, Saint Augustine's sixth annual Character Counts 6K is scheduled for 3 February 2017 and the 30th annual Flash 6K is slated for 17 February 2018. There isn't a published date yet for Fort Lauderdale's 2018 Heroes 6K. Those are the three races for anyone who wants to chase Ethan Clary's 19:15 men's state record or Sonja Friend-Uhl's 22:29 women's state record.

A comparison of four Florida 6K road races, 2013 - 2017
Year	Date	Race	Male Winner	Female Winner	Finishers
2013	9 February	Character Counts 6K	21:33, Yaro Middaugh	26:24, Beth Sweeny	205
	16 February	Flash 6K	21:54, Michael Martinez	25:09, Jessica Gillard	70
	27 April	Heroes 6K	21:30, Luiz Souza	27:13, Sara Devi Pierson	466
2014	8 February	Character Counts 6K	23:02, Mike Beaman	26:53, Katie Dingler	123
	15 February	Flash 6K	21:56, Jon Mason	28:15, Sarah Taff	85
	3 May	Heroes 6K	22:37, Harrie Olsthoorn	28:56, Rachel Bush	397
	25 October	Ravine Gardens 6K	22:30, Dan Stoner	26:50, Talisa Fletcher	32
2015	7 February	Character Counts 6K	24:15, Bryan Thompson	26:36, Zahra Crim	218
	21 February	Flash 6K	23:30, Duane Evans	24:20, Katie Gorman	98
	25 April	Heroes 6K	21:44, Christopher Mills	23:53, Danielle Kleppan	302
	24 October	Ravine Gardens 6K	23:47, Peyton Snyder	28:34, Sally Chappell	49
2016	6 February	Character Counts 6K	21:32, Yaro Middaugh	23:54, Ani Veltcheva	253
	20 February	Flash 6K	23:17, Travis Parks	32:26, Leah Kiros	87
	4 June	Heroes 6K	20:24, Scott Byers	24:07, Abidemi Charles	391
	22 October	Ravine Gardens 6K	26:53, John Wisker	33:09, Leigh Doran	23
2017	4 February	Character Counts 6K	23:32, Andy Nicol	26:59, Deanna Reich	215
	18 February	Flash 6K	22:02, Geb Kiros	26:02, Kat Sack	127
	3 June	Heroes 6K	19:15, Ethan Clary	22:28, Sonja Friend-Uhl	405
2018	3 February	Character Counts 6K
	17 February	Flash 6K
		Heroes 6K
The Character Counts 6K was held on USATF certified course FL12089EBM from 2013-2017. The Ravine Gardens 6K was held on USATF certified course FL14061EBM from 2014 to 2016. The Heroes In Recovery 6K was held on uncertified courses from 2013 to 2015, and on USATF certified course FL16048EBM in 2016 to 2017. From 2011 to 2016 the Flash 6K was held on an uncertified course in Saint Marks, Florida; the race will be run on USATF certified course FL16069TY in 2017.

Links

• Florida's USATF-Certified six-kilometer road courses
  
  
  • Character Counts (Saint Augustine)
    http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL12089EBM
    
    
  • Flash 6K (Saint Marks)
    http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL16069TY
    
    
  • Heroes 6K (Fort Lauderdale)
    http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL16048EBM
    
    
  • Ravine Gardens 6K (Palatka)
    http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL14061EBM
    
    
• “2017 to be a big year for six-kilometer racing on Florida's roads”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/12/six-km-2016.html
  
  
• “Six kilometers, a tale of three races”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/03/six-km-2016.html
  
  
• “Speed counts for Nicol and Reich at the Character Counts 6K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/02/character-counts-2017.html
  
  
• “Not for the first time, Molosky and Sherron are first at the Flash”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/02/flash-2017.html
  
  
• Find upcoming races of six kilometers and other distances on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

#2141

2017 to be a big year for six-kilometer racing on Florida's roads

If you followed the 2016 cross-country season at Tallahassee, Florida's Apalachee Regional Park, you'd have noticed the variety in racing distances. Athletes competed at ten kilometers, eight kilometers, six kilometers, five kilometers, four kilometers, two miles, three kilometers, two kilometers, and even a remarkably brief one kilometer. The six kilometer distance turned out to be fairly frequently contested. The university women raced at 6K at the NCAA Division 1 South Region Championships on 11 November 2016, both the women masters and the open women went 6K at the USATF Club Nationals on 10 December 2016, and everyone ran 6K at Gulf Winds Track Club's Tannenbaum Trail 6K on 17 December 2016.

Women's 6K at the 2016 NCAA-D1 South Region at Apalachee Regional Park

The six-kilometer distance may be a staple in cross-country, but it's not nearly as common in road racing. In 2016, though, the South Florida Heroes In Recovery 6K had their course USATF certified. The Fort Lauderdale, Florida race had joined Saint Augustine's Character Counts 6K and Palatka's Ravine Gardens 6K in the state's elite group of races on certified six-kilometer courses. With 2017 approaching, Gulf Winds Track Club obtained USATF certification for the course of the Flash 6K in Saint Marks, Florida. So we should see four 6K races on USATF-certified courses in 2017. Here's how those events have stacked up from 2013 to 2016:

A comparison of four Florida 6K road races, 2013 - 2016
Year	Date	Race	Male Winner	Female Winner	Finishers
2013	9 February	Character Counts 6K	21:33, Yaro Middaugh	26:24, Beth Sweeny	205
	16 February	Flash 6K	21:54, Michael Martinez	25:09, Jessica Gillard	70
	27 April	Heroes 6K	21:30, Luiz Souza	27:13, Sara Devi Pierson	466
2014	8 February	Character Counts 6K	23:02, Mike Beaman	26:53, Katie Dingler	123
	15 February	Flash 6K	21:56, Jon Mason	28:15, Sarah Taff	85
	3 May	Heroes 6K	22:37, Harrie Olsthoorn	28:56, Rachel Bush	397
	25 October	Ravine Gardens 6K	22:30, Dan Stoner	26:50, Talisa Fletcher	32
2015	7 February	Character Counts 6K	24:15, Bryan Thompson	26:36, Zahra Crim	218
	21 February	Flash 6K	23:30, Duane Evans	24:20, Katie Gorman	98
	25 April	Heroes 6K	21:44, Christopher Mills	23:53, Danielle Kleppan	302
	24 October	Ravine Gardens 6K	23:47, Peyton Snyder	28:34, Sally Chappell	49
2016	6 February	Character Counts 6K	21:32, Yaro Middaugh	23:54, Ani Veltcheva	253
	20 February	Flash 6K	23:17, Travis Parks	32:26, Leah Kiros	87
	4 June	Heroes 6K	20:24, Scott Byers	24:07, Abidemi Charles	391
	22 October	Ravine Gardens 6K	26:53, John Wisker	33:09, Leigh Doran	23
2017	4 February	Character Counts 6K
	18 February	Flash 6K
	3 June	Heroes 6K
	21 October?	Ravine Gardens 6K
The Character Counts 6K was held on USATF certified course FL12089EBM from 2013-2016. The Ravine Gardens 6K was held on USATF certified course FL14061EBM from 2014 to 2016. The Heroes In Recovery 6K was held on uncertified courses from 2013 to 2015, and on USATF certified course FL16048EBM in 2016. From 2011 to 2016 the Flash 6K was held on an uncertified course in Saint Marks, Florida; the race will be run on USATF certified course FL16069TY in 2017.

You can see that the newly-certified course at the 2016 Heroes 6K produced both the fastest and the largest race of the year, as Scott Byers led a field of 391 athletes with a 20:24--which could very well be the fastest time ever on a USATF-certified course in Florida. Chicago State alumna Abidemi Charles won the women's title at the 2016 Heroes 6K with a very fast 24:07. It was only Florida's second-fastest women's time of the year, though; Abraham Lincoln Middle School's Ani Veltcheva had already gone 23:54 at the 2016 Character Counts 6K. Veltcheva's time is likely Florida's women's record for 6K on the roads.

Ani Veltcheva

In 2017 six-kilometer road racing in Florida opens with the the fifth annual Character Counts 6K in Saint Augustine on 4 February 2017. Two weeks later, Florida athletes get another crack at the distance in Saint Marks at the 29th annual Flash 6K on 18 February 2017. The fifth annual South Florida Heroes In Recovery 6K in Fort Lauderdale is scheduled for 3 June 2017. As of this writing no date had been posted for the fourth annual Ravine Gardens 6K.


Actually, it's Gulf Winds Track Club's Flash 12K that will be the "29th annual." The 6K has only been around since 2009, so this will be the ninth running for the shorter race. Still, the Flash 12K will be the oldest six-kilometer road race in Florida during 2017. Largest and fastest? Those remain to be determined.


Links

• Florida's USATF-Certified six-kilometer road courses
  
  
  • Character Counts (Saint Augustine)
    http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL12089EBM
    
    
  • Flash 6K (Saint Marks)
    http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL16069TY
    
    
  • Heroes 6K (Fort Lauderdale)
    http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL16048EBM
    
    
  • Ravine Gardens 6K (Palatka)
    http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL14061EBM
    
    
• “Six kilometers, a tale of three races”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/03/six-km-2016.html
  
  
• “Schmidt and Sherron fly through the Flash”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/02/flash-2016.html
  
  
• Find upcoming races of six kilometers and other distances on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

#1843