The
Fort Rucker Flyers Army Ten-Miler team has a field day at Dothan, Alabama's 28th annual Critter Run 5K on Saturday evening, 7 September 2013. Team captain SSG David Seymour won the 3.1-mile race in 17:23, with team members 2LT Mark Freeman and 2LT Matt Uderman taking the next two places in 18:43 and 19:17. Jennifer MacGibbon, one of the two women on the team, took the Critter Run women's title, placing tenth overall in 20:13. Another Flyer, Stephanie Rose, was third in the women's standings, finishing 17th overall in 21:51.
If the Flyers do as well at the Army Ten-Miler on 20 October 2013, look out.
Eric Bernard of Dothan was the first non-Flyer across the finish line in Westgate Park, finishing fourth in 19:23. Aaron Bradley of Niceville, Florida, was the fastest master runner in the race, coming in fifth overall at 19:28. On the women's side, Cheyenne Andrew finished second in the female standings after racing for the Pace (Florida) High School cross-country team that morning in Pensacola. Andrew ran 20:35 at the Critter Run, finishing 12th overall. Fourth place in the women's standings went to Paula O'Neill of Tallahassee, Florida, the top female master in the race. O'Neill, a cross-country coach at Griffin Middle School in Tallahassee, was 24th overall in 22:42.
It was the first time that the Critter Run had not been contested in July. The change in dates to a busier part of the calendar might explain the drop in participation to 169 finishers, exactly half as many as finished
the year before. But many races only dream of having as many as 169 athletes competing. Certainly, the people who have come to love the Critter Run over the years were there--for instance, the runners who do "Malissa's Ride." Each year a group of athletes pedal their bicycles from Tallahassee to Dothan--nearly 100 miles--the morning before the Critter Run, and then run the race in the evening. Undeterred by the change in date, Malissa's Ride went on as always, with many of the riders cycling back to Tallahassee the next morning. You have to admire their enthusiasm (clinical psychologists may have another word for it).
And whatever the date, many people are always going to show up just to see what this year's critter is. Each year the Critter Run features a different animal on the race T-shirts and awards. In case you missed it, the 2013 critter was the hippopotamus.
Top Ten Men, 2013 Critter Run 5K
- 17:23 ~ David Seymour (M, 25) Enterprise, AL
- 18:43 ~ Mark Freeman (M, 24) Ft. Rucker, AL
- 19:17 ~ Matt Udermann (M, 22) Ft. Rucker, AL
- 19:23 ~ Eric Bernard (M, 33) Dothan, AL
- 19:28 ~ Aaron Bradley (M, 40) Niceville, FL
- 19:37 ~ Michael Bond (M, 33) Newton, AL
- 19:38 ~ Adam McPherson (M, 30) Ft. Rucker, AL
- 19:49 ~ Jon Nash (M, 33) Tallahassee, FL
- 20:09 ~ Caleb Bergen (M, 28) Ft. Rucker, AL
- 20:19 ~ Dale Thomas (M, 50) Dothan, AL
Top Ten Women, 2013 Critter Run 5K
- 20:13 ~ Jennifer MacGibbon (F, 23) Enterprise, AL
- 20:35 ~ Cheyenne Andrew (F, 16) Pace, FL
- 21:51 ~ Stephanie Rose (F, 36) Ft. Rucker, AL
- 22:42 ~ Paula O'Neill (F, 52) Tallahassee, FL
- 24:00 ~ Malissa Piersol (F, 56) Atlanta, GA
- 24:13 ~ Anna Bergmark (F, 32) Enterprise, AL
- 25:15 ~ Val Lichner (F, 54) Bonifay, FL
- 25:55 ~ Nina Korges (F, 54) Enterprise, AL
- 26:28 ~ Caroline Levesque (F, 52) Ft. Walton Beach, FL
- 26:30 ~ Jill Wofsey (F, 50) Alford, FL
| Critter Run Champions and Critters, 1986-2013 |
|---|
| Date | Men | Women | Critters |
|---|
| 26 July 1986 | 15:49 Tom Graves | 18:00 Gail Ogle | Moose |
| 25 July 1987 | 15:26 Tom Graves | 17:57 Carrie Boyd | Panda |
| 30 July 1988 | 15:19 John DeVine | 18:27 Judy Weisel | Raccoon |
| 29 July 1989 | 16:02 Brad Sable | 19:17 Jill Faulkner | Beaver |
| 21 July 1990 | 15:08 David Keen | 18:56 Janice Hochstein | Gorilla |
| 20 July 1991 | 15:54 Matt Parker | 18:40 Connie Robertson | Alligator |
| 18 July 1992 | 16:50 Myles Gibson | 19:26 Cindy Cobb | Rabbit |
| 24 July 1993 | 15:50 Matthew Dobson | 20:17 Lou Ellen Eaddy | Koala |
| 23 July 1994 | 16:34 Sam Graves | 20:06 Cindy Cobb | Fox |
| 22 July 1995 | 15:50 Gary Droze | 18:19 Sarah Kramer | Iguana |
| 20 July 1996 | 16:31 Clayton Tillery | 17:08 Suzanne Rigg | Pelican |
| 19 July 1997 | 15:58 John Detro | 18:57 Kelly Wild | Angus Bull |
| 18 July 1998 | 16:45 Brandon Britton | 18:43 Connie Robertson | Shark |
| 24 July 1999 | 16:28 David Parker | 19:02 Anna Pichrtova | Armadillo |
| 22 July 2000 | 16:50 James Frazier | 21:05 Terri Gray | Killer Whale |
| 21 July 2001 | 15:57 Matthew Dobson | 22:22 Jeanne Kenady | Bull Frog |
| 20 July 2002 | 16:15 James Frazier | 20:27 Karen Kenney | Tortoise |
| 19 July 2003 | 16:31 Mike Lilly | 21:20 Taylor Heaton | Barn Owl |
| 24 July 2004 | 17:08 Ted Leblow | 20:01 Kelly Wild | Zebra |
| 16 July 2005 | 17:19 Sean O'Donnell | 21:13 Kim Likens | Menagerie |
| 22 July 2006 | 16:24 Matthew Dobson | 22:13 Kim Likens | Cheetah |
| 21 July 2007 | 16:48 Andrew Norton | 21:30 Liesel Schmidt | Flamingo |
| 19 July 2008 | 16:05 James Uthmeier | 20:26 Liesel Schmidt | Penguin |
| 18 July 2009 | 17:13 Andrew Norton | 19:15 Kara Taylor | Elephant |
| 24 July 2010 | 17:14 Thomas Heikkinen | 19:42 Shannon Coates | Polar Bear |
| 23 July 2011 | 18:00 Challen Hyman | 19:05 Shannon Coates | Orangutan |
| 28 July 2012 | 16:56 Caleb Carmichael | 22:46 Sandy Holt | Giraffe |
| 7 Sept 2013 | 17:23, David Seymour | 20:13, Jennifer MacGibbon | Hippo |
Links:
On Saturday morning, 28 September 2013, just three weeks before their big test at the Army Ten Miler, the Ft. Rucker Flyers were racing the roads at home in the Ft. Rucker's Hispanic Heritage Gate-to-Gate 4.2-mile run. The results were encouraging for the Fliers, with team captain David Seymour winning the race in 23:01. It was Seymour's second straight win in the annual race, and a considerable improvement on his 2012 winning time of 23:49. Another Flyer athlete Jennifer MacGibbon took the women's title, finishing seventh overall in 27:02. Bill Staniewicz, the Flyers assistant captain, was the fastest master runner in the race, coming in ninth overall at 27:19.
