Enoch Nadler and Dr. Meredith DeFranco score Melon Run wins in Gainesville

Florida Track Club's annual Melon Run was first run on the streets of Gainesville, Florida on 4 July 1979. That means the Thursday morning, 4 July 2019, running of the race was the 41st annual Melon Run. That's quite old for a road race, but Gainesville's event isn't the oldest Melon Run in the state. In the Big Bend, Monticello hosted its first Melon Run 5K on 23 June 1979, nearly two weeks before Gainesville. Monticello's 41st annual race was 15 June 2019, well before Florida Track Club's 41st Independence Day race. Over in the Panhandle, the North Florida Watermelon Festival inaugurated the annual Hot Trot on 23 June 1979, and beat Gainesville to the 41st race by a few days with a run on 29 June 2019.


But if Gainesville's 41st annual Melon Run couldn't be the oldest, Enoch Nadler made sure it was the fastest. Running for the Florida Track Club Elite Team, Nadler won the three-miler by nearly a minute, running 15:12. Dr. Meredith DeFranco, another Florida Track Club runner, won the women's title, placing thirteenth overall in 18:42.


Nadler had won the venerable Fourth-of-July race before, but that was back in 2005--an earlier decade, and almost and earlier century--when he was still racing for the University of Florida. Calum McFetridge had won the race more recently, finishing first in 2018. But the defending champ finished runner-up to Nadler in the 2019 Melon Run, running 16:09. Gainesville's John Sansalone made it into the top ten for the fifth year in a row, placing third overall in 16:33--just a few steps ahead of the 16:38 posted by fourth-place Andy Merrill of Starke, Florida. Eric Drummond of Gainesville was the fastest master runner in the Melon Run, coming in seventh overall in 17:31.


Dr. DeFranco, the women's champ, had also raced the Melon Run previously, but her winning time of 18:42 was impressively faster than the 21:48 she had posted in 2018. Rae Powers, on the other hand, ran the exact same time in 2019 as she had run in the 2018 race--18:51. This year, it was good for second in the women's standings and fourteenth overall. Katelyn Greenleaf of Gainesville was the third woman and eighteenth overall in 19:21. Lake City, Florida athlete Michelle Richards was the first woman master in the race and the sixth female finisher, 31st overall in 20:09.


323 athletes finished Florida Track Club's 2019 Three-Mile Melon Run. Start 2 Finish Race Management timed the event.


Top Ten Men, 2019 Melon Run Three Mile

1. 15:12, Enoch Nadler (M, 33) Gainesville, FL
2. 16:09, Calum McFetridge (M, 20) Gainesville, FL
3. 16:33, John Sansalone (M, 23) Gainesville, FL
4. 16:38, Andy Merrill (M, 25) Starke, FL
5. 17:10, Marc Coleman (M, 32) Gainesville, FL
6. 17:30, Blake Lofing (M, 17) High Springs, FL
7. 17:31, Eric Drummond (M, 42) Gainesville, FL
8. 17:37, Juan Resendiz (M, 16) Lake City, FL
9. 17:55, Ben Wise (M, 40) Gainesville, FL
10. 18:01, Baker Herrin (M, 20) Gainesville, FL

Top Ten Women, 2019 Melon Run Three Mile

1. 18:42, Meredith DeFranco (F, 35) Gainesville, FL
2. 18:51, Rae Powers (F, 27) Gainesville, FL
3. 19:21, Katelyn Greenleaf (F, 25) Gainesville, FL
4. 19:51, Angela Nadler (F, 32) Gainesville, FL
5. 19:58, Cierra Clark (F, 24)
6. 20:09, Michelle Richards (F, 46)
7. 20:13, Allison Drummond (F, 16) Gainesville, FL
8. 20:16, Julia Buddendorff (F, 23) Gainesville, FL
9. 20:17, Lindsay Fields (F, 29) Gainesville, FL
10. 20:42, Melody Diehl (F, 28) High Springs, FL

Gainesville, Florida, Melon Run Three Mile winners, 1979 - 2019
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
4 July 1979*	15:43, Paul Rehfus	22:04, Diann Eley
4 July 1980	14:47, Joe Dubina	18:14, Ruth Smith	167
4 July 1981	14:25, Jeff Kramer	18:51, Lisa Davis	179
4 July 1982	15:14, Byron Dyce	20:10, Ann Hanrahan
4 July 1983	15:14, Roger Sutton	18:14, Ruth Smith
4 July 1984	14:29, Scott McMillen	18:06, Kathy Schaefer
4 July 1985	14:47, Mark Kennard	18:25, Kathy Schaefer	279
4 July 1986	15:22, John Matthews	18:28, Shelly Allen	219
4 July 1987
4 July 1988
4 July 1989	15:20, Scott McMillen	18:00, Anita Kelly
4 July 1990	15:08, Scott McMillen	19:09, Johanna Reneke
4 July 1991
4 July 1992
4 July 1993	15:14, John Pianhorst	18:01, Jim Schultz
4 July 1994	15:31, Randall Hollinger	19:04, Lisa Gable
4 July 1995	14:58, Stephen Kortenkamp	17:14, Monica O'Reilly
4 July 1996	14:48, Randall Hollinger	19:38, Annemarie Kosarek
4 July 1997	15:34, Randall Hollinger	17:58, Wendy Frazier
4 July 1998
4 July 1999	14:57, Connor Holt	18:52, Shannon Lennon
4 July 2000	15:51, Randy Hollinger	18:40, Shannon Lennon	240
4 July 2001	16:22, Randy Hollinger	18:48, Allison Burnett	276
4 July 2002	15:40, Darin Shearer	18:44, Ashley Espy	281
4 July 2003	15:49, Alex Phipps	17:55, Anna Brew	311
4 July 2004	16:07, Justin Jacobs	18:26, Larisa Timchina	222
4 July 2005	15:44, Enoch Nadler	17:59, Friderike Wilde	222
4 July 2006	15:35, Michael Anderson	17:53, Sheryl Rosen	282
4 July 2007	15:02, Alex Phipps	18:03, Amanda Hahn	406
4 July 2008	15:43, Geoffrey Anderson	17:39, Lisa Vaill	460
4 July 2009	15:34, Andrew Robinson	18:48, Michele Howell	287
4 July 2010	14:46, Michael Anderson	17:30, Allison Costello	308
4 July 2011	15:38, Michael Anderson	17:38, Betsy Suda	339
4 July 2012	15:24, Michael Anderson	18:05, Betsy Suda	460
4 July 2013	14:58, Mike Hensley	20:00, Danielle Kolb	410
4 July 2014	14:34, Matt Hensley	17:32, Betsy Suda	444
4 July 2015	15:59, Mike Hensley	17:41, Betsy Suda	304
4 July 2016	16:26, Mike Hensley	17:51, Anne Creamer	337
4 July 2017	14:33, Eduardo Garcia	16:47, Jess Pascoe	398
4 July 2018	15:50, Calum McFetridge	18:02, Betsy Suda	440
4 July 2019	15:12, Enoch Nadler	18:42, Meredith DeFranco	323
* The inaugural race in 1979 was the “5 km Metric Melon.”

Links

• Complete results of Florida Track Club's 2019 Three-Mile Melon Run
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSb7yAapeB7ZY6pKKm1w7VDgWzEQ6SopMcSiSkw-YuA9ErfwwKPb1_cdPuKBzrmOAX0jwz4IgHcdYRP/pubhtml
  
  
• Independence Day 2019 racing coverage on Trouble Afoot!
  • Gainesville FL: https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/07/ftc-melon-2019.html
  • Jay FL: https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/07/jay-freedom-2019.html
  • Saint George Island FL: https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/07/spritzer-2019.html
    
  • Tallahassee FL: https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/07/firecracker-2019.html
    
  • Valdosta GA: https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/07/valdosta-independence-2019.html
  
  
• 2017 story, “Eduardo Garcia takes time out from marathon training to go 14:33 in Gainesville”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/07/ftc-melon-2017.html
  
  
• 2016 story, “Hensley and Creamer win the Melon Meet in Massey”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/07/ftc-melon-2016.html
  
  
• 2015 story, “Hensley and Suda repeat in Gainesville's Melon Run”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/07/ftc-melon-2015.html
  
  
• USATF course certification map FL17088TY for Florida Track Club's 2019 Melon Run
  http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL17088TY
  
  
• A slightly senior Melon Run in Monticello, Florida
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/06/melon-2019.html
  
  
• “Summer is Watermelon [Run] Season”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/06/melon-runs.html
  
  
• Find other upcoming runs celebrating fruit on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

#2547

Meredith DeFranco leads a women's charge at the Chasing Jefferson Davis Marathon

In the chaos at the end of the Rebellion of 1861-1865, it's questionable as to whether or not rebel leader Jefferson Davis had any clear plan as to where he was fleeing when United States troops arrested him in South Georgia on 10 May 1865. He could have been heading for Cuba to regroup and continue the Rebellion. Texas is also a possibility, or Mexico. His luggage ended up in Florida, which goes to show that the airlines didn't invent the art of losing suitcases.


But if Davis was indeed headed for Mexico, then it's entirely appropriate that the fourth annual Chasing Jefferson Davis Marathon was run on Saturday morning, 5 May 2018, the anniversary of a famous Mexican military victory and a day to celebrate Mexican-American culture. Meredith DeFranco of Gainesville, Florida won that Cinco de Mayo marathon by almost two kilometers, running 3:28:59. It was the second year in a row that a woman had won the race, coming after the 3:10:25 victory of Suzanne Hutchins in 2017. In fact, women athletes took the first three places (and five of the first six places) in the 2018 marathon. Jennifer Bell was overall runner-up and the first master runner in the race, running 3:38:47. Master runner Donna Hodges was third overall in 3:59:37.


Nicholas Beard was the first man in the marathon, placing fourth overall in 4:02:06. Rhett Evans was second in the men's standings and and seventh overall in 4:17:14. Larry McQuiston was the first male master and third male finisher, eighth overall in 4:22:57.


23 athletes finished the 2018 Chasing Jefferson Davis Marathon.


Top Five Women, 2018 Chasing Jefferson Davis Marathon

1. 3:28:59, Meredith DeFranco (F, 34) Gainesville, FL
2. 3:38:47, Jennifer Bell (F, 52)
3. 3:59:37, Donna Hodges (F, 49)
4. 4:05:20, Kristin Wilmot (F, 40)
5. 4:11:11, Kendra Tippens (F, 30)

Top Five Men, 2018 Chasing Jefferson Davis Marathon

1. 4:02:06, Nicholas Beard (M, 18)
2. 4:17:14, Rhett Evans (M, 32)
3. 4:22.57, Larry McQuiston (M, 52)
4. 4:24:58, Michael Gregory (M, 42)
5. 4:47:07, Brady Bauer (M, 21)

On his last day of flight, Jefferson Davis covered 26.2 miles from Abbeville, Georgia to the spot near Irwinville where he was arrested. But even though it's not a historic distance, there is also a 13.1-mile Chasing Jefferson Davis Half Marathon. Edward Ostrander won the shorter race for the second year in row, finishing close to a kilometer ahead of the next runner. A cross-country runner in the eighth-grade at Lee County middle school, Ostrander ran 1:46:29, an improvement of more than seven minutes over his 2017 winning time of 1:53:49.


James Meyer was the first master runner in the race, placing second overall in 1:51:44. Nancy Myrick took the women's title in the half marathon, finishing third overall in 1:54:20. Twelve-year-old Alma Ostrander, a sixth-grader on the Lee County middle school cross-country team, was second in the women's standings and fifth overall in 2:04:01. Laura Beth Johnston was the first woman master and third female finisher, sixth overall in 2:06:52.


Seventeen athletes finished the half-marathon.


Top Five Men, 2018 Chasing Jefferson Davis Half Marathon

1. 1:46:29, Ed Ostrander (M, 14)
2. 1:51:44, James Meyer (M, 42)
3. 1:57:47, Carl Line (M, 57)
4. 2:09:46, Bob Moon (M, 63)
5. 2:15:46, Jim Russell (M, 53)

Top Five Women, 2018 Chasing Jefferson Davis Half Marathon

1. 1:54:20, Nancy Myrick (F, 32)
2. 2:04:01, Alma Ostrander (F, 12)
3. 2:06:52, Laura Beth Johnston (F, 53)
4. 2:20:33, Brook Holt (F, 20)
5. 2:20:34, Rebecca Rhodes (F, 30)

Chasing Jefferson Davis Marathon winners, 2015 - 2018
Date	Distance	Men	Women	Finishers
9 May 2015	Marathon	3:14:03, Jack McDermott	4:15:59, Christine Stahl	27
	Half-Marathon	1:34:38, Elder Cobler	1:48:26, Allison Cauthen	15
14 May 2016	Marathon	3:09:22, Kerry Hobbs	3:29:42, Elizabeth Magato	39
	Half-Marathon	1:23:02, Hunter Tucker	1:28:10, Kelli Squires	19
29 April 2017	Marathon	3:10:46, Kevin Sweeny	3:10:25, Suzanne Hutchins	37
	Half-Marathon	1:53:49, Edward Ostrander	2:02:53, Betsy Goslin	15
5 May 2018	Marathon	4:02:06, Nicholas Beard	3:28:59, Meredith DeFranco	23
	Half-Marathon	1:46:29, Edward Ostrander	1:54:20, Nancy Myrick	17

Links

• Complete results of the 2018 Chasing Jefferson Davis Marathon and Half Marathon
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTo85E4sWEG4ZVpnvm64K0jIPCAX20Sj0s0jTTr4sFxLQdatHoNJiEwD37eO44O4Qeopvg5x68mhN5S/pubhtml
  
  
• Chasing Jefferson Davis Marathon
  http://chasingjeffersondavis.com/
  
  
• 2017 story, “No one catches Suzanne Hutchins at the Chasing Jefferson Davis Marathon”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/05/jeff-davis-marathon-2017.html
  
  
• USATF certification map GA15012WC for the 2017 Chasing Jefferson Davis Marathon
  http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=GA15012WC
  
  
• Find more historically-themed runs on the Trouble Afoot! racing calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

#2270

Hensley and DeFranco return for more Payne and more wins

Paynes Prairie lies south of Gainesville, Florida. If you had been there 10,000 years ago or so, you might have seen mastodons, mammoths, or giant ground sloths. If you make a more recent visit to Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, you might see bison, alligators, or feral horses. And if you were in the park on Saturday morning, 24 March 2018, you could have seen 180 athletes doing their best to deal with the boggy footing and challenging terrain of the area, strugging to finish the eighth annual Trail of Payne 10K cross-country race.


Gainseville athlete Bobby Hensley won the race by more than 200 meters, running 35:56. It was Hensley's second Trail of Payne title; he had also won the race in 2016. Meredith DeFranco of Gainesville was also a repeat winner. After winning the women's division in the 2015 Trail of Payne, DeFranco returned to the race in 2018 and picked up a second women's win, placing tenth overall in 43:30.


The only other man to have won two Trail of Payne races is Mike Hensley, who scored wins in 2012 and 2015. Aside from DeFranco, the only runner to have twice been the first woman at the Trail of Payne 10K was Stephanie McGrail, a three-time winner: 2013, 2016, and 2017. McGrail set the women's course record in the 2017 race.


Behind Hensley, John Sansalone was second in the race, running 36:51. Before graduating from Gainesville's Saint Francis Catholic High in 2013, Sansalone had been a standout on the school's cross-country team. Anton Matchev, an eighth-grader on the cross-country team at Gainesville's Abraham Lincoln Middle School, edged David Cox for third, 38:46 to 38:47. Right behind Cox, Gainesville runner Luke Flory and Patrick Gallagher fought for fifth. Both runners were clocked in 38:48, but Flory made it across the finish line before Gallagher. Gallagher, sixth overall, was the first master runner in the race.


Rae Powers was the women's runner-up and seventeenth overall in 44:35. Lara Drondoski edged two-time Trail of Payne champion Stephanie McGrail for third in the women's standings, both athletes running 45:10. Drondoski and McGrail were eighteenth and nineteenth overall. Elisabeth Diamond of Bell, Florida was the first woman master in the 10K and the twelfth female finisher, 44th overall in 52:55.


Start 2 Finish Race Management timed the race.


Top Ten Men, 2018 Trail of Payne 10K

1. 35:56, Bobby Hensley (M, 33) Gainesville, FL
2. 36:51, John Sansalone (M, 22) Gainesville, FL
3. 38:46, Anton Matchev (M, 14)
4. 38:47, David Cox (M, 32)
5. 38:48, Luke Flory (M, 39) Gainesville, FL
6. 38:48, Patrick Gallagher (M, 42) Gainesville, FL
7. 40:34, Ben Huron (M, 41)
8. 40:58, Dan Stoner (M, 43)
9. 42:32, Cedric Torres (M, 23)
10. 43:41, Andy Natwick (M, 36)

Top Ten Women, 2018 Trail of Payne 10K

1. 43:30, Meredith DeFranco (F, 34) Gainesville, FL
2. 44:35, Rae Powers (F, 26)
3. 45:10, Lara Drondoski (F, 24)
4. 45:10, Stephanie McGrail (F, 31)
5. 45:20, Kate Egan (F, 33)
6. 47:30, Sarah Williams (F, 38)
7. 48:19, Kristen Urichko (F, 23)
8. 50:15, Safi Chalfin-Smith (F, 15) Gainesville, FL
9. 51:10, Melissa Land (F, 36)
10. 51:59, Laura Coppola (F, 39)

Trail of Payne 10K winners, 2011 - 2018
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
19 March 2011	35:56, Christian Kern	41:06, Tatiana Titova	271
17 March 2012	34:37, Mike Hensley	40:33, Tenley Godfrey	342
16 March 2013	37:12, Christopher Raye	40:22, Stephanie McGrail	273
29 March 2014	37:16, Nick Auyeung	41:30, Carol Rowe	244
28 March 2015	34:02, Mike Hensley	42:12, Meredith DeFranco	271
26 March 2016	35:42, Bobby Hensley	43:11, Stephanie McGrail	194
25 March 2017	33:16, Enoch Nadler	39:44, Stephanie McGrail	207
24 March 2018	35:56, Bobby Hensley	43:30, Meredith DeFranco	180

Links

• Complete results of the 2018 Trail of Payne 10K
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQ_RabqYCp2mRfKYqPpz6jbeFb2ZpVGONNG_DgH9Ra26lceSdNUshtVcd7YtjClxJ3lRq4oSV1aQmen/pubhtml
  
  
• 2017 story, “Team Florida Track Club's Nadler and McGrail run through Payne to victory”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/03/payne-trail-2017.html
  
  
• 2016 story, “Bobby Hensley overcomes Payne”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/03/payne-trail-2016.html
  
  
• Trail of Payne 10K Facebook Page
  https://www.facebook.com/TrailOfPayne10k/
  
  
• Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park
  https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Paynes-Prairie
  
  
• Find more Payne-ful races on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

#2231