Super runs for Nick Flatt and Macey Higgason at the Super Dad 5K

With traditions going back over a hundred years (and reinforced by the Hallmark corporation), Father's Day in the United States is always celebrated on a Sunday. Road races, on the other hand, are usually contested on a Saturday. When it comes to Father's Day road races, more often than not the athletic calendar wins, and the run takes place on Saturday--leaving Sunday morning free for dad to do something less strenuous, like sleeping late or eating a big breakfast.


Valdosta, Georgia's Super Dad 5K has gone with the Saturday tradition, with the most recent race run on 19 June 2021. Nick Flatt won the 3.1-mile event by nearly 400 meters, throwing down a 16:26. Macey Higgason took first in the women's standings, placing ninth overall in 2:55.


Overall winner Flatt is a veteran of the Valdosta State Blazer cross-country team; before VSU he ran for Spalding County High in Griffin, Georgia. Higgason, the women's champ, is only thirteen years old but already has more racing experience than many master runners. A resident of Allenhurst, Georgia, Higgason does most of her competing in and around the coastal region of the state.


Oscar Lopez Pech of Valdosta took second in the Super Dad 5K, running 17:46. Hahira, Georgia's Felipe Vilela was third in 20:14. The first master runner in the 5K was Ryan Kelly, the Valdosta High cross-country coach. Winner of the 2019 Super Dad 5K, Kelly ran 20:41 in the 2021 race.


Kristen Kouns of Valdosta was the second woman at Super Dad, finishing thirteenth overall in 25:49. Valdosta's Melissa Roe was the first woman master and third female finisher, sixteenth overall in 26:08.


The race started and finished in front of the Georgia Beer Company. 104 athletes finished the 2021 Super Dad 5K. A Course/Line, LLC, of Valdosta timed the race and provided finish line services.


Top Ten Men, 2021 Super Dad 5K

1. 16:25.8, Nick Flatt (M, 22) Valdosta, GA
2. 17:45.3, Oscar Lopez Pech (M, 30) Valdosta, GA
3. 20:13.4, Felipe Vilela (M, 38) Hahira, GA
4. 20:41.0, Ryan Kelly (M, 42) Lake Park, GA
5. 21:20.6, Daniel Carver (M, 36) Hahira, GA
6. 22:16.3, Milo Mirate (M, 25) Valdosta, GA
7. 22:19.8, Jonathan Miller (M, 34) Valdosta, GA
8. 24:41.9, Trevor Spurgeon (M, 13) Ludowici, GA
9. 24:55.4, Billy Rusty Higgason (M, 49) Allenhurst, GA
10. 24:59.5, Jerome Lucas (M, 36) Lake Park, GA

Top Ten Women, 2021 Super Dad 5K

1. 24:54.4, Macey Higgason (F, 13) Allenhurst, GA
2. 25:48.2, Kristen Kouns (F, 33) Valdosta, GA
3. 26:07.8, Melissa Roe (F, 43) Valdosta, GA
4. 26:57.5, Carissa Rirrberry (F, 36)
5. 27:47.0, Elizabeth Eastman (F, 29) Kissimmee, FL
6. 27:50.4, Penny Peters (F, 53) Tifton, GA
7. 27:57.9, Ann Zenobia (F, 39) Valdosta, GA
8. 30:26.8, Gina Purvis (F, 62) Tifton, GA
9. 30:29.1, Amy Hightower (F, 44) Chula, GA
10. 31:24.8, Lauren Rowe (F, 35) Valdosta, GA

Super Dad 5K winners, 2019 - 2021
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
15 June 2019	19:44, Ryan Kelly	23:53, Tracey Cole	103
19 June 2021	16:26, Nick Flatt	24:55, Macey Higgason	104

Links

• Complete results of Valdosta Main Street's 2021 Super Dad 5K, courtesy of A Course/Line, LLC
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQwWSJGv7tLqEGSQXO0QAEnuYixQ5x4EZ7qHwlGHM-qeaieQmYFNZMfUtjpbUcssoXBrKIB2Q-45IQ4/pubhtml
  
  
• 2019 story, “Ryan Kelly and Tracey Cole were exceptional in the Super Dad 5K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/06/super-dad-2019.html
  
  
• Maybe Dad would like some of the upcoming runs on the Trouble Afoot! racing calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

#2

A record day for Nick Flatt and Angie Cipriani at the Run For Missions

The ninth annual Baptist Campus Ministries Run For Missions Four-Miler was contested on the streets of Valdosta, Georgia on Saturday morning, 25 January 2020. Master runner Ryan Kelly was there, a three-time winner of the race. So was the defending champion, Alec Munger, who had won the race in both 2018 and 2019. But neither Kelly nor Munger were Valdosta State University cross-country runners, and it was VSU harriers who took nine of the top ten places in the race, including first. Blazer Nick Flatt took that top spot, setting a new course record of 21:07. The Blazer claimed the top seven women's spots as well, with VSU ace Angie Cipriani taking the women's title in 26:09, a course record for female athletes.
Angie Cipriani

Flatt, a VSU junior, didn't go unchallenged. Blazer sophomore Brishen House was less than a second behind him, also clocked in 21:07. Both athletes were under the previous BCM Four Mile record, 22:50, run by Parker Childree at the inagural Run For Missions in 2012. Flatt's winning mark is also a pending Georgia state record for a four-mile road race.


Two other Blazers were also under the old record--Nick Rosatti was third in 22:03, and Logan Kraus fourth in 22:27. Alec Munger, a senior on the Lowndes High cross-country team, likewise ran faster than Childree's record, placing fifth in 22:29.


Munger was the only non-Blazer among the top ten men. The other Valdosta State harriers cracking the top ten were Braedon Bensley (6th, 22:59), Khiro Hoilett (7th, 23:03), Riley Matlock (8th, 23:38), Dalton Pender (9th, 23:47), and Kevin Favard (10th, 23:59). Ryan Kelly was the first master runner in the race for the second year in a row, placing eleventh overall in 24:05.


Valdosta State harriers also dominated the women's standings, led by Cipriani's 26:09--a new Run For Missions record and a pending Georgia state record for women. Blazer cross-country runner Samantha Murray took the women's runner-up spot, placing nineteenth overall in 27:35. Kaley Brough, another Blazer cross-country athlete, was the third woman and 22nd overall in 27:58. Blazers took the next four women's places-- Khamryn Smith (23rd, 28:13), Yasmeen Hammad (24th, 28:31), Olivia Rosener (27th, 28:58), and Kayle Smith (30th, 30:25). Tracey Cole of Pinetta, Florida was the first woman master and eighth female finisher, 32nd overall in 30:56.


106 athletes finished the 2020 Run For Missions Four-Mile. A Course/Line, LLC, of Valdosta timed the race and provided finish line services.


Top Ten Men, 2020 Run 4 Missions

1. 21:06.2, Nick Flatt (M, 20) Valdosta, GA
2. 21:06.9, Brishen House (M, 19) Valdosta, GA
3. 22:02.4, Nick Rosatti (M, 23) Hahira, GA
4. 22:27.0, Logan Kraus (M, 19) Valdosta, GA
5. 22:28.5, Alec Munger (M, 16) Valdosta, GA
6. 22:58.1, Braedon Bensley (M, 19) Valdosta, GA
7. 23:02.5, Khiro Hoilett (M, 19) Valdosta, GA
8. 23:37.9, Riley Matlock (M, 18) Valdosta, GA
9. 23:46.1, Dalton Pender (M, 19) Valdosta, GA
10. 23:58.3, Kevin Favard (M, 21) Valdosta, GA

Top Ten Women, 2020 Run 4 Missions

1. 26:08.8, Angie Cipriani (F, 20) Valdosta, GA
2. 27:34.5, Samantha Murray (F, 20) Valdosta, GA
3. 27:57.4, Kailey Brough (F, 20) Valdosta, GA
4. 28:12.7, Khamryn Smith (F, 19) Valdosta, GA
5. 28:40.4, Yasmeen Hammad (F, 19) Valdosta, GA
6. 28:57.8, Olivia Rosener (F, 20) Valdosta, GA
7. 30:24.4, Kayle Smith (F, 21) Valdosta, GA
8. 30:55.3, Tracey Cole (F, 40) Pinetta, FL
9. 31:44.5, Kelly Lunceford (F, 30) Valdosta, GA
10. 31:45.1, Pollyanna Bass (F, 47) Pavo, GA

Valdosta BCM Run 4 Missions Four-Mile Road Race champions, 2012 - 2020
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
21 January 2012	22:50, Parker Childree	28:10, Alice Smoot	140
19 January 2013	23:48, Ryan Kelly	31:08, Audrey Williams	100
18 January 2014	23:32, Ryan Kelly	28:49, Mackenzie Morse	86
24 January 2015	23:19, Ryan Kelly	26:48, Makenzee Page	116
23 January 2016	25:43, Rick Mazurkiewicz	28:44, Debbie Green	109
21 January 2017	26:46, John Lewis	29:32, Melanie Ellis	128
20 January 2018	24:35, Alec Munger	28:46, Alice Smoot	93
26 January 2019	23:34, Alec Munger	29:03, Sandra Griffin	91
25 January 2020	21:07, Nick Flatt	26:09, Angie Cipriani	106

Links

• Complete results of the 2020 Run 4 Missions four-mile road race
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTZEQDSOIt10Nv8ALEZW0pGX9BDqvqEiKK9Jhy6AkJyotO1o1cLtzAFsxsann3d3PVtcTHUw8oldeID/pubhtml
  
  
• 2019 story, “Alec Munger rides again at Valdosta's Run For Missions Four Mile”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/01/missions-2019.html
  
  
• 2018 story, “Alec Munger and Alice Smoot were at the fore in the Run For Missions Four”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2018/01/missions-2018.html
  
  
• 2017 story, “Four fast for Lewis and Ellis at Miles For Missions”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/01/missions-2017.html
  
  
• 2016 story, “Four-mile wins in Valdosta for master runners Mazurkiewicz and Green”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/01/missions-2016.html
  
  
• 2015 story, “A third win for Kelly and record run for Page at Run 4 Missions”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/01/missions-2015.html
  
  
• 2014 story, “Kelly and Morse take four”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/01/missions-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “Mission accomplished for Ryan Kelly and Audrey Williams”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/01/missions-2013.html
  
  
• USATF course-certification map GA18031WC for the 2019 Run For Missions
  https://certifiedroadraces.com/certificate/?type=l&id=GA18031WC
  
  
• Find your next Valdosta road race on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

#2674