Showing posts with label Greensboro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greensboro. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Out with a bang, the final Firecracker 5K

Stanley LintonWhen Stanley Linton crossed the finish line in Greensboro on Wednesday, 4 July 2012, he was the last champion ever of the Greensboro Kiwanis' Firecracker 5K. After 30 years the Kiwanis are closing the curtain on the race. The Kiwanis have always been active in athletics in this area. For many years, the Kiwanis High School Track & Field Meet was a Tallahassee institution. The Monticello Kiwanis continue to produce the Melon Run 5K year after year. And since 1983 the Greensboro Kiwanis hosted the Firecracker 5K each Independence day. But no more.


30th annual Firecracker 5K, 4 July 2012The athletes who lined up to start the race at 7:30 AM on Independence Day knew that this was a good-bye race. You don't always know. Athletic event are born, live, and die, but you don't usually get advance notice of their passing. In college football, a bowl might call a press conference to announce that this year's game isn't going to happen, but by then the last game has already been played. With road races, the only notice might be when the race stops being scheduled. With Greensboro's Firecracker 5K, though, the 2012 entry form and flyer clearly stated that this year's race would be the 30th and last.


Stanley Linton (1st, 16:14) and Peter Wood (2nd, 16:28) take a turn with a kilometer to go in the race.Just like all of the last 30 summers, the race started 3.1 miles away from the finish line on the Sycamore Road. The Kiwanis organized a school bus to take runners there. Soon after the start Stanley Linton was leading the field of over 130 runners. But two years earlier Linton had led most of the 2010 Firecracker 5K before finishing runner-up to Cliff Skelton. Just past the halfway mark of this year's race, as the runners climbed out of the vale of Tallahassee Creek, Peter Wood passed Linton. From the three kilometer mark to the four kilometer mark, the two struggled for the lead, but on the final kilometer Linton broke away from Wood, going on to win 16:14 to 16:28. Behind them, Matt Harwood took third in 16:43, while Jasen Fulghum was fourth in 17:06 and Peter Kaus took fifth in 17:39. Bing Xu was the fastest master runner of the morning, finishing seventh overall in 19:07.

Nancy Stedman
Master runner and 2010 Firecracker 5K women's champion Nancy Stedman got ahead of the rest of the female competitors early. Stedman held her lead to the end, going on to collect her second Firecracker win with a 22:36. Allison Thumm moved up a few places during the race to finish as the female runner-up in 22:57. At 23:37 Martha Bademan was the third woman finisher and Sara Dickson was the fourth, running 23:57.


Top Ten Men, 2012 Greensboro Firecracker 5K
  1. Matthew Harwood16:14 ~ Stanley Linton
  2. 16:28 ~ Peter Wood
  3. 16:43 ~ Matthew Harwood
  4. 17:06 ~ Jasen Fulghum
  5. 17:39 ~ Peter Kaus
  6. 18:46 ~ Paul Guyas
  7. 19:07 ~ Bing Xu
  8. 19:13 ~ Michael Kennett
  9. 19:16 ~ James Taylor
  10. 19:32 ~ Zach Weston

Top Ten Women, 2012 Greensboro Firecracker 5K
  1. Alison Thumm22:36 ~ Nancy Stedman
  2. 22:57 ~ Alison Thumm
  3. 23:37 ~ Martha Bademan
  4. 23:57 ~ Sara Dickson
  5. 24:53 ~ Sarah Dugas
  6. 24:58 ~ Sarah Purcell
  7. 25:23 ~ Sondra Lee
  8. 25:33 ~ Mary Durrance
  9. 25:40 ~ Kelsie Newman
  10. 25:56 ~ Meredith Snowden

Recent winners of the Greensboro Firecracker 5000m
DateMenWomen
4 July 201216:14, Stanley Linton22:36, Nancy Stedman
4 July 201117:20, Joel Piotrowski21:35, Stephanie Stout
3 July 201018:45, Cliff Skelton22:29, Nancy Stedman
4 July 200916:46, Daniel Lee19:26, Emily Ness
4 July 2008

4 July 200718:05, Tony Guillen21:51, Julie Clark
4 July 200617:40, James Cook20:03, Julia Vola
4 July 200516:44, Jeff Dubias20:30, Heather Bailey
3 July 200415:48, Caleb Carmichael18:39, Kara Newell
4 July 2003

4 July 200216:57, Jason Fulghum22:07, Janice Hochstein
4 July 200117:22, Paul Hoover17:53, Sarah Docter-Williams
4 July 200015:57, Gary Droze18:10, Sarah Docter-Williams
4 July 199916:37, Tim Simpkins17:56, Sarah Docter-Williams
4 July 199816:05, Damian Wilson17:35, Sarah Docter-Williams
4 July 1997
4 July 199615:45, Gary Droze19:13, Carrie Weyant


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Posted by Herb Wills at 2:31 PM 2 comments
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Monday, July 4, 2011

Banging good runs for Piotrowski and Stout at Firecracker 5000

"[Independence Day] ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."
~ John Adams

2011 Firecracker 5000 start
In keeping with Adams' vision of Independence Day games and sports, Washington, D.C. used to have a ten-mile road race every July 4. Atlanta, Georgia still has Peachtree Road Race 10K on the national birthday. And since 1983, Greensboro, Florida has the Firecracker 5000 road race, hosted by the Greensboro Kiwanis.


"That old goat Franklin is not going to pass me on the last mile again!"
~ Thomas Jefferson

Stephanie Stout
Tallahassee's Joel Piotrowski won the 29th annual edition of the Greensboro 5K, running 17:20. Piotrowski was also the morning's fastest master runner. Stephanie Stout posted a 21:35 to take top woman honors. at 22:10 Paula O'Neill was the fastest master woman on the Greensboro roads.


"Aaron Burr says he has run a 4:30 mile, but I want to know who was holding the watch."
~ Alexander Hamilton


Joel PiotrowskiThe race started outside of Greensboro on the Sycamore Road not quite as far west as Sycamore Church. Because of the logistics of busing 73 athletes and a variety of race officials to the starting line, the race didn't get under way till several minutes after the scheduled time of 7:30am. Taking charge of the race early, Piotrowski broke contact with Jeff Armstrong early in the second kilometer of the race and started to run away from the field. After three kilometers Piotrowski had opened up a twenty-second gap, and Armstrong was trying to stay with Cairo's Stephen Robbins, who had moved up to challenge for second place. As the runners approached Greensboro and the finish line, Piotrowski continued to move away, and crossed the finish line at 17:20 with a lead of over 200 meters. Robbins broke away from Armstrong to take the runner-up spot in 18:12. Armstrong held off a late charge by Mickey Moore to hang on to third, 18:25 to 18:31.


"The Gentler Sex ought not to race nor run long distances, instead properly concentrating her energies on the domestick sphere. Besides, I am weary beyond all endurance of Dolly beating me in cross-country races."
~ James Madison


Paula O'Neill, Angela Wable, Stephanie Stout.After a kilometer of racing, Stephanie Stout, Angela Wable, and Paula O'Neill were leading the women. The runners saw the only uphill and downhill of the race on the third kilometer, and that was where O'Neill fell back. With two kilometers to go Stout had a slight lead on Wable, who had won the God & Country 5K two days earlier. But Stout pulled away as the runners came into Greensboro, going on to win in 21:35. About sixty meters back Wable finished as the second woman in 21:50, with O'Neill another seventy meters behind in 22:10 as the third woman and first woman master.


"He who accelerates from behind, wins."
~ Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac

Angela Wable
Runners enjoyed several unique features of the race. Both kilometers and miles are marked on the course, and the Greensboro Kiwanis Club treats the athletes to a post-race breakfast. The Firecracker is no Peachtree with 60,000 entries, but Greensboro isn't Atlanta, and Greensboro must be doing something right to keep the Firecracker going for 29 years.


Top Ten Men, 2011 Greensboro Kiwanis Firecracker 5000
  1. Stephen Robbins17:20 Joel Piotrowski (M, 41) Tallahassee, FL
  2. 18:12 Stephen Robbins (M, 14) Cairo, GA
  3. 18:25 Jeff Armstrong (M, 35) Tallahassee, FL
  4. 18:31 Mickey Moore (M, 41) Tallahassee, FL
  5. 19:08 Cole Tessier (M, 28) Tallahassee, FL
  6. 19:32 Jarod Hoffman (M, 16) Tallahassee, FL
  7. 19:40 Steve Barraco (M, 56) Tallahassee, FL
  8. 19:52 David Yon (M, 55) Tallahassee, FL
  9. 19:54 Matt Rowan (M, 42) Quincy, FL
  10. 20:08 Dan Anderson (M, 47) Perry, FL

Top Ten Women, 2011 Greensboro Kiwanis Firecracker 5000
  1. Paula O'Neill21:35 Stephanie Stout (F, 27) Tallahassee, FL
  2. 21:50 Angela Wable (F, 37) Tallahassee, FL
  3. 22:10 Paula O'Neill (F, 50) Tallahassee, FL
  4. 24:40 Sally Marzen (F,
  5. 24:54 Sandra Canada (F, 49) Woodville, FL
  6. 26:04 Carson Durrance (F, 40) Tallahassee, FL
  7. 28:14 Birgit Maier-Katkin (F, 48) Tallahassee, FL
  8. 29:05 Suzanne Sink (F,
  9. 30:13 Patricia Dugan (F, 61) Tallahassee, FL
  10. 30:40 Susan Fitzgerald (F, 54) Bristol, FL

Recent winners of the Greensboro Firecracker 5000m
Date
MenWomen
4 July 2011
Joel Piotrowski (17:20)
Stephanie Stout (21:35)
3 July 2010
Cliff Skelton (18:45)
Nancy Stedman (22:44)
4 July 2009
Daniel Lee (16:46)
Emily Ness (19:26)
4 July 2008


4 July 2007
Tony Guillen (18:05)
Julie Clark (21:51)
4 July 2006
James Cook (17:40)
Julia Vola (20:03)
4 July 2005
Jeff Dubias (16:44)
Heather Bailey (20:30)
3 July 2004
Caleb Carmichael (15:48)
Kara Newell (18:39)
4 July 2003


4 July 2002
Jason Fulghum (16:57)
Janice Hochstein (22:07)
4 July 2001
Paul Hoover (17:22)
Sarah Docter-Williams (17:53)
4 July 2000
Gary Droze (15:57)
Sarah Docter-Williams (18:10)
4 July 1999
Tim Simpkins (16:37)
Sarah Docter-Williams (17:56)
4 July 1998
Damian Wilson (16:05)
Sarah Docter-Williams (17:35)


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Posted by Herb Wills at 1:30 PM 11 comments
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