After three years of annual races, the one thing that you can say about Props Brewery's Father's Day 5K is that it keeps getting faster.Austin Epstein won the inaugural edition of the Fort Walton Beach, Florida race in 2017, setting the course standard of 17:31 while Claudia Howes established the women's record of 21:51. Epstein came back in 2018, lowering his record to 17:20. In that same race, Susan Frazier pushed the women's mark down to 20:51.
The trend of speedier times continued at the third annual Father's Day 5K on Saturday evening, 15 June 2019. Destin, Florida athlete Matt Blunden won the race by 100 meters, breaking Epstein's record with a 16:25. Master runner Katja Blunden took the women's title, placing fifth overall in 18:23--a new record for the women.
It wasn't the first pair of Blunden-Blunden wins at an Okaloosa County race. Just under three weeks earlier, Matt Blunden had taken the men's title at Eglin Air Force Base's 2019 Gate-to-Gate Memorial Day Race, where Katja Blunden had led the women.
Nathan Isaacs joined Matt Blunden in running under Austin Epstein's course record at the Father's Day 5K; Isaacs ran 16:45 to take second. Derek Sandblom was third in 18:12; he had finished fourth in the 2018 race. Kent Glover, a rising senior on the Hewitt-Trussville High cross-country team, was fourth in 18:23. It was Glover's third straight appearance in the top ten of the Father's Day 5K. Ken Lawrence was the first male master in the race, placing sixth in the men's standings and seventh overall in 19:15.
But Katja Blunden was the first overall master runner. Blunden was also the first of four women to go under the old women's record for the race. Rachel Staples was second in that group, placing eighth overall in 19:19. Kambry Smith, a rising junior and the ace of the girls' cross-country team at Fort Walton Beach High, was third in the women's standings and tenth overall in 19:30. Susan Frazier, who had set the old record in 2018, was the fourth woman and eleventh overall in 20:23.
178 athletes finished Props Brewery's 2019 Father's Day 5K.
Top Ten Men, 2019 Props Brewery Father's Day 5K
- 16:25, Matt Blunden (M, 39)
- 16:45, Nathan Isaacs (M, 25)
- 18:12, Derek Sandblom (M, 27)
- 18:23, Kent Glover (M, 17)
- 19:08, Lucas Thomson (M, 33)
- 19:15, Ken Lawrence (M, 51)
- 19:27, Aaron Bouchey (M, 32)
- 21:23, Fil Piazza (M, 56)
- 21:49, Jerry Kalka (M, 33)
- 21:59, Jason Boyeskie (M, 44)
Top Ten Women, 2019 Props Brewery Father's Day 5K
- 18:31, Katja Blunden (F, 40)
- 19:19, Rachel Staples (F, 33)
- 19:30, Kambry Smith (F, 16)
- 20:23, Susan Frazier (F, 24)
- 21:01, Krysti Golden (F, 25)
- 22:08, Ashley Selvey (F, 33)
- 22:33, Cassicy Lindsay (F, 31)
- 23:01, Samantha Yanez (F, 20)
- 23:51, Angela Gilzene (F, 37)
- 24:42, Tiffany Howell-Phillips (F, 34)
| Props Brewery Father's Day 5K winners, 2017 - 2019 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Men | Women | Finishers |
| 17 June 2017 | 17:31, Austin Epstein | 21:51, Claudia Howes | 180 |
| 16 June 2018 | 17:20, Austin Epstein | 20:51, Susan Frazier | 191 |
| 15 June 2019 | 16:25, Matt Blunden | 18:23, Katia Blunden | 178 |
Links
- Complete results of the 2019 Props Brewery Father's Day 5K
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSkIQWokb0mNqoAqZpvZm61uhstuIgVMM08wu2DSDY12gJTxG1K5CIyR5y7iq1QNcwlei94vHYCyEDW/pubhtml
- 2018 story, “More props for Austin Epstein at the Props Father's Day 5K”
https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2018/06/props-fathers-day-2018.html
- 2017 story, “Epstein and Howes earn props at the Props Father's Day 5K”
https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/06/props-fathers-day-2017.html
- Props Brewery and Grill
http://www.propsbrewery.com/
- Find an upcoming race at your favorite brewery on the Trouble Afoot! racing calendar
https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
