Showing posts with label Rachel Durbin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rachel Durbin. Show all posts

Monday, July 29, 2019

Bryan Gensits and Rachel Durbin were tough on the trail in Tom Brown

Gulf Winds Track Club has been conducting its Summer Trail Series since 2013--four races each year on four different Tallahassee trails. Master runner Stephen Gensits first joined the Series in 2018 and hasn't missed a race since. On Saturday morning, 27 July 2019, his son, Bryan Gensits, was visiting from Allentown, Pennsylvania. That was also the morning of the third event in the 2019 Summer Trail Series, a five-mile race in Tom Brown Park. Why not both run?

Bryan Gensits
Bryan Gensits

So they did. And Bryan Gensits won, running 37:13, first in a field of 108 finishers. Rachel Durbin was the first woman in the race, placing eleventh overall in 44:47.


The run started just after 7:30 AM on the Goose Pond Trail. The course soon took the runners to the Magnolia Trail, then the Lafayette Heritage Trail and the Cadillac Trail. The athletes were still on the Magnolia Trail when Bryan Gensits took the lead from Zach DeVeau, winner of the first two races in this year's Series.

Zach DeVeau
Zach DeVeau

"About 0.75 miles into the race," said Gensits. "The first place I could pass. I looked back every once in a while after that, and I could see Zach and them. But after two miles I couldn't."


Those others had fallen too far back to see. Gensits' closest competitor was a full 500 meters behind him by the time he finished first in 37:13. DeVeau was second in 38:38. Austin Dodson was third in 41:30, just ahead of a battle between Tristan LaNasa and Tim Qualls. LaNasa grabbed fourth in 41:37, while Qualls was fifth in 41:38, the first master runner in the race.


"A very technical course," said Gensits about the run through Tom Brown. "Just beautiful."

Rachel Durbin
Rachel Durbin

Gensits had to wait till a wider spot on the narrow trails to pass DeVeau and take the lead. In the women's competition, Rachel Durbin did no such waiting. Durbin led the women's field from the start of the race, and her lead only grew on the way to a 44:47 finish and the win. It was Durbin's third win in three Summer Trail Series races. Eleven-year-old Clifton Lewis took second in the women's standings, placing twentieth overall in 47:11. Megan Chapman was the third woman and 24th overall in 49:36. Laura Sellati was the first woman master and fifth female finisher, 31st overall in 50:15.


Five miles on Tom Brown Park's hilliest paths would be plenty of running for most athletes, but not for Bryan Gensits. After winning the race in Tom Brown Park, Gensits headed up to Albany, Georgia for the Southern Discomfort Six-Hour Run, where he logged just under 41 miles. Gensits has his eye on an even longer race on 10 August 2019, the Eastern States 100-Mile Run.

Clifton Lewis
Clifton Lewis

"That's in Pennsylvania, so it's close to home," said Gensits.


Back in Tallahassee, the Summer Trail Series concludes on Saturday morning, 24 August 2019, with the fourth race of this year's circuit, a four-and-a-half mile race on the trails of Maclay Gardens State Park.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Tom Brown Park Five-Mile Trail Race
  1. 37:13, Bryan Gensits(M, 24) Allentown, PA
  2. 39:38, Zach DeVeau (M, 31)
  3. 41:30, Austin Dodson (M, 21)
  4. 41:37, Tristan Lanasa (M, 26)
  5. 41:38, Tim Qualls (M, 40)
  6. 41:42, Eric Chiotti (M, 21)
  7. 41:51, Ryan Baumbach (M, 39)
  8. 42:17, Kyle Kraeft (M, 30)
  9. 44:08, Paul Guyas (M, 41)
  10. 44:21, Philip Sura (M, 49)

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Tom Brown Park Five-Mile Trail Race
  1. 44:47, Rachel Durbin (F, 24) Memphis, MI
  2. 47:11, Clifton Lewis (F, 11)
  3. 49:36, Megan Chapman (F, 28)
  4. 50:10, Cecilia Bouaichi (F, 23)
  5. 50:15, Laura Sellati (F, 40)
  6. 50:25, Monica Toth (F, 30)
  7. 51:18, Mary Jane Hayden (F, 39)
  8. 51:18, Katasha Cornwell (F, 42)
  9. 53:19, Kaley Ford (F, 24)
  10. 53:38, Becky Leckinger (F, 56)

Gulf Winds Track Club's Summer Trail Series race winners, 2013 - 2019
YearDateRaceTop MaleTop FemaleFinishers
2013June 22Cadillac Trail 5½M37:38, Kevin Sullivan45:07, Stephanie Liles-Weyant121
July 13Swamp Forest Trail 4½M30:19, Kevin Sullivan34:12, Micah Adriani124
July 27Magnolia Trail 3½M21:44, Kevin Sullivan24:45, Stephanie Liles-Weyant114
August 3Red Bug Trail 4½M33:31, Bryce Van Dam43:46, Stephanie Liles-Weyant92
2014June 21Red Bug Trail 4½M38:30, Charn McAllister42:02, Brook Pace114
July 12Swamp Forest Trail 4½M29:06, Charn McAllister33:13, Brook Pace109
July 26Magnolia Trail 3½M26:03, Charn McAllister30:16, Emily Molen108
August 2Cadillac Trail 5½M41:38, Brian Molen48:25, Emily Molen88
2015May 30Cadillac Trail 5½M39:15, Zach Deveau42:51, Alyson Churchill158
June 13Oak Hammock Trail 5M32:59, Zach Deveau35:10, Alyson Churchill129
July 18Coon Bottom Trail 4M28:42, Zach Deveau29:14, Alyson Churchill112
August 1Red Bug Trail 4½M35:14, Greg Bargo35:24, Alyson Churchill112
2016May 21Magnolia Trail 3½M25:18, Dan Baur27:05, Katie Gorman133
June 4Oak Hammock Trail 5½M42:53, Eric Godin45:24, Katie Gorman123
July 9Red Bug Trail 4½M33:14, Dan Baur35:04, Katie Gorman130
July 30Cadillac Trail 5½M43:06, Paul Guyas42:29, Alyson Churchill95
2017June 10Munson Hills 6M36:45, Chris O'Kelley46:34, Emily Molen87
July 1Red Bug Trail 4½M37:34, Chris O'Kelley48:24, Emily Molen90
July 15Oak Hammock/Swamp Forest 5M33:35, Charles Biberg39:36, Kat Sack89
August 5Tom Brown Park 4½M32:40, Chris O'Kelley36:36, Jennifer Bayliss71
2018June 23Munson Hills 6M38:02, Vince Molosky45:10, Emily Molen124
July 7Phipps Park 4M30:49, Jim Schafer33:39, Kat Sack127
July 21Maclay Gardens 5M38:26, Brad Busboom44:39, Kat Sack110
August 4Tom Brown Park 4½M28:39, Brad Busboom32:29, Kat Sack109
2019June 22Red Bug Trail 4½M35:27, Zach DeVeau38:53, Rachel Durbin125
July 6Munson Hills 6M38:24, Zach DeVeau43:56, Rachel Durbin86
July 27Tom Brown Park 5M37:13, Bryan Gensits44:47, Rachel Durbin108
August 24Maclay Gardens 4½M


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Sunday, July 7, 2019

Zach DeVeau and Rachel Durbin hit the trail again at Munson Hills

Zach DeVeau, Rachel DurbinGulf Winds Track Club's seventh annual tour of Tallaahssee, Florida's trails continued on Saturday morning, 7 July 2019, with a six-mile race at Munson Hills, where Zach DeVeau and Rachel Durbin continued winning. DeVeau was the first man in the race, the second in GWTC's 2019 Summer Trail Series, coming in first overall in 38:24. It was DeVeau's second win of the 2019 series, and it was also the second series win for Durbin, who was the first woman in the race. Durbin ran 43:56, placing sixth overall.


The Series had first visited the Munson Hills in 2018, and this was the second time that the trails had been included in the four-race circuit. It also marked the return of the inflatable alligator. A course decoration and informal Series mascot, the alligator has probably been at more Summer Trail Series races than any of the runners. With smooth plastic skin and prominent handles, the fake 'gator really can't be mistaken for the real thing--unless you're a tired runner coming up on it suddenly around a corner.


"They punked me with a blow-up ten-foot alligator," reported Donalsonville, Georgia's Myles Gibson. "I really did jump."


However startled Gibson may have been by the 'gator, it didn't keep him from finishing second overall in 39:17, the first master runner in the race. Ryan Kunz took third in 40:22. Kunz had been second to DeVeau in the first event of the Series, the Red Bug Trail Race. The third finisher at Red Bug, Florida State University School cross-country runner Morgan Castano, placed fourth at Munson Hills in 43:30.


DeVeau had last run the Summer Trail Series in 2015, winning three out of the four events, but this was his first time racing Munson Hills.


"It was good, flat, and not a lot of roots, which suits me pretty well," commented DeVeau. "A lot easier to open up on than Red Bug."


Rachel Durbin was racing Munson Hills for the first time as well. That wasn't the case for her rivals in the women's field. Emily Molen, a rising senior on the Chiles High cross-country team, was the women's champ at the 2018 Munson Hills Trail Race. Alyssa Terry of Tallahassee had been runner-up to Molen. But it was Durbin, an alumna of Ohio's Bowling Green State cross-country team and a newcomer to the Tallahassee trails, who prevailed, taking first in the women's standings in 43:56. Terry was the second woman and eighth overall in 44:44. Molen, the defending champ, was the third woman and sixteenth overall in 47:14. Another veteran of the 2018 Munson Hills Trail Race, Laura Sellati, was the first woman master in 2019, taking sixth in the women's standings and 26th overall in 51:05.


Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Summer Trail Series continues on Saturday morning, 27 July 2019, with the Tom Brown Park Trail Race. The Series concludes on Saturday morning, 24 August 2019, at the Maclay Gardens Trail Race.


Gulf Winds Track Club chip-timed the 2019 Munson Hills Six Mile. 86 athletes finished the race.


[All photos used in this article were taken by Fred Deckert.]


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Munson Hills Six-Mile Trail Race
  1. 38:24, Zach DeVeau (M, 31)
  2. 39:17, Myles Gibson (M, 52)
  3. 40:22, Ryan Kunz (M, 36)
  4. 43:30, Morgan Castano (M, 17)
  5. 43:48, Kyle Kraeft (M, 30)
  6. 44:16, Ryan Baumbach (M, 39)
  7. 45:13, Philip Sura (M, 49)
  8. 45:29, Jack Schwenkler (M, 12)
  9. 45:40, Fanxiu Zhu (M, 50)
  10. 45:43, Kevin Malfa (M, 35)

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Munson Hills Six-Mile Trail Race
  1. 43:56, Rachel Durbin (F, 24)
  2. 44:44, Alyssa Terry (F, 25)
  3. 47:14, Emily Molen (F, 17)
  4. 47:37, Cecilia Bouaichi (F, 23)
  5. 50:00, Kaley Ford (F, 24)
  6. 51:05, Laura Sellati (F, 40)
  7. 51:11, Clifton Lewis (F, 11)
  8. 51:41, Megan Chapman (F, 28)
  9. 52:05, Stella Lewis (F, 14)
  10. 52:20, Monica Toth (F, 30)

Gulf Winds Track Club's Summer Trail Series race winners, 2013 - 2019
YearDateRaceTop MaleTop FemaleFinishers
2013June 22Cadillac Trail 5½M37:38, Kevin Sullivan45:07, Stephanie Liles-Weyant121
July 13Swamp Forest Trail 4½M30:19, Kevin Sullivan34:12, Micah Adriani124
July 27Magnolia Trail 3½M21:44, Kevin Sullivan24:45, Stephanie Liles-Weyant114
August 3Red Bug Trail 4½M33:31, Bryce Van Dam43:46, Stephanie Liles-Weyant92
2014June 21Red Bug Trail 4½M38:30, Charn McAllister42:02, Brook Pace114
July 12Swamp Forest Trail 4½M29:06, Charn McAllister33:13, Brook Pace109
July 26Magnolia Trail 3½M26:03, Charn McAllister30:16, Emily Molen108
August 2Cadillac Trail 5½M41:38, Brian Molen48:25, Emily Molen88
2015May 30Cadillac Trail 5½M39:15, Zach Deveau42:51, Alyson Churchill158
June 13Oak Hammock Trail 5M32:59, Zach Deveau35:10, Alyson Churchill129
July 18Coon Bottom Trail 4M28:42, Zach Deveau29:14, Alyson Churchill112
August 1Red Bug Trail 4½M35:14, Greg Bargo35:24, Alyson Churchill112
2016May 21Magnolia Trail 3½M25:18, Dan Baur27:05, Katie Gorman133
June 4Oak Hammock Trail 5½M42:53, Eric Godin45:24, Katie Gorman123
July 9Red Bug Trail 4½M33:14, Dan Baur35:04, Katie Gorman130
July 30Cadillac Trail 5½M43:06, Paul Guyas42:29, Alyson Churchill95
2017June 10Munson Hills 6M36:45, Chris O'Kelley46:34, Emily Molen87
July 1Red Bug Trail 4½M37:34, Chris O'Kelley48:24, Emily Molen90
July 15Oak Hammock/Swamp Forest 5M33:35, Charles Biberg39:36, Kat Sack89
August 5Tom Brown Park 4½M32:40, Chris O'Kelley36:36, Jennifer Bayliss71
2018June 23Munson Hills 6M38:02, Vince Molosky45:10, Emily Molen124
July 7Phipps Park 4M30:49, Jim Schafer33:39, Kat Sack127
July 21Maclay Gardens 5M38:26, Brad Busboom44:39, Kat Sack110
August 4Tom Brown Park 4½M28:39, Brad Busboom32:29, Kat Sack109
2019June 22Red Bug Trail 4½M35:27, Zach DeVeau38:53, Rachel Durbin125
July 6Munson Hills 6M38:24, Zach DeVeau43:56, Rachel Durbin86
July 27Tom Brown Park 5M
August 24Maclay Gardens 4½M


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Monday, June 24, 2019

Zach DeVeau and Rachel Durbin stumble but don't tumble at Red Bug Trail

In any race, the first goal is to finish. Winning may be an objective, or a certain performance, but finishing comes first. In a trail race, the second goal is to not fall down. Tight turns, roots, mud, rocks, and all other varieties of bad footing stand in the way of this goal. This was the case in Tallahassee, Florida at Phipps Park on Saturday morning, 22 June 2019. Runner were trying to finish and stay upright at the first event in Gulf Winds Track Club’s seventh annual Summer Trail Series, the Red Bug Trail Race.


“I didn’t go down,” said Zach DeVeau. “But I lost my glasses and had to go back for them.”

Zach DeVeau
Zach DeVeau

DeVeau kept his feet and won the race in 35:24. Rachel Durbin also stumbled during the race, slipping on a footbridge and almost falling into a creek. Durbin stayed up, though, and was the first woman finisher, placing fourth overall in 38:53.


The race started from Forestmeadows Athletic Center just after 7:30 AM. After just a couple of hundred meters, the course funneled down onto a narrow footpath. The middle-of-the-pack runners had to come to a complete stop, waiting their turn to get onto the single-file-only trail. This wasn’t the case up front, though, where Morgan Castano darted onto the trail first, unimpeded. DeVeau, a few steps back, also avoided the traffic jam.


Before the halfway point of the race, DeVeau had overtaken Castano, a rising senior on the cross-country team at Florida High. Ryan Kunz also passed Castano, then snatched the lead from DeVeau.

Ryan Kunz
Ryan Kunz

“I actually stopped to get water at the water table and he [Kunz] went by me,” said DeVeau. “It took me half a mile to catch up.”


DeVeau did catch Kunz, regained the lead, and went on to win in 35:24. Kunz took second in 35:54. Castano, the early leader, was third in 38:46. Paul Guyas was the first master runner in the race and the sixth male finisher, placing seventh overall in 39:29.


“I did the Trail Series in 2015 or 2016 and won, but since then I’ve helped [race director Jim Halley] with the event,” said DeVeau, reflecting on his history with the Series. DeVeau did indeed run three of the four Summer Trail Series races in 2015, placing first all three times. That year, Michigan native Rachel Durbin was at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where she ran both cross-country and track for the Falcons through 2018. This was Durbin’s first time racing in the Summer Trail Series.

Rachel Durbin
Rachel Durbin

“I loved it!” said Durbin. “I liked the hills and the winding course. There wasn’t a single straightaway, so it was never boring.”


There was also the thrill of nearly tumbling off a bridge. There was no competitive excitement, though, because Durbin led the women’s field from start to finish, covering the course in 38:53. Cecilia Bouaichi took second in the women's standings, coming in seventeenth overall in 42:14. Lourena Maxwell was the first woman master and third female finisher, 23rd overall in 44:00.

Cecila Bouaichi
Cecila Bouaichi

125 athletes met the first goal of racing, finishing the 2019 Red Bug Trail Race. Most of them also achieved the second goal of trail racing by not taking a fall.


“Nothing happened!” proudly announced one smiling runner, as she neared the end of the course. There was no mud above her ankles to prove differently.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Red Bug Trail 4½-Mile Trail Race
  1. 35:27, Zach DeVeau (M, 33) Tallahassee, FL
  2. 35:54, Ryan Kunz (M, 36) Tallahassee, FL
  3. 38:46, Morgan Castano (M, 17) Monticello, FL
  4. 38:54, Austin Dodson (M, 21)
  5. 39:08, Ryan Baumbach (M, 39) Tallahassee, FL
  6. 39:29, Paul Guyas (M, 41) Tallahassee, FL
  7. 39:44, Kyle Kraeft (M, 30) Tallahassee, FL
  8. 40:07, Jack Schwenkler (M, 12) Tallahassee, FL
  9. 41:22, Geoffrey Paine (M, 40) Robbinsville, NC
  10. 41:33, Brian Molen (M, 43) Tallahassee, FL

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Red Bug Trail 4½-Mile Trail Race
  1. 38:53, Rachel Durbin (F, 24) Memphis, MI
  2. 42:14, Cecilia Bouaichi (F, 23) Tallahassee, FL
  3. 44:00, Lourena Maxwell (F, 44) Tallahassee, FL
  4. 45:03, Kaley Ford (F, 24) Tallahassee, FL
  5. 45:46, Megan Chapman (F, 28) Tallahassee, FL
  6. 45:46, Stella Lewis (F, 14) Tallahassee, FL
  7. 45:47, Clifton Lewis (F, 11) Tallahassee, FL
  8. 46:43, Laura Sellati (F, 40) Tallahassee, FL
  9. 48:46, Abbey Schultz (F, 20) Tallahassee, FL
  10. 49:17, Monica Toth (F, 30) Tallahassee, FL

Gulf Winds Track Club's Summer Trail Series race winners, 2013 - 2019
YearDateRaceTop MaleTop FemaleFinishers
2013June 22Cadillac Trail 5½M37:38, Kevin Sullivan45:07, Stephanie Liles-Weyant121
July 13Swamp Forest Trail 4½M30:19, Kevin Sullivan34:12, Micah Adriani124
July 27Magnolia Trail 3½M21:44, Kevin Sullivan24:45, Stephanie Liles-Weyant114
August 3Red Bug Trail 4½M33:31, Bryce Van Dam43:46, Stephanie Liles-Weyant92
2014June 21Red Bug Trail 4½M38:30, Charn McAllister42:02, Brook Pace114
July 12Swamp Forest Trail 4½M29:06, Charn McAllister33:13, Brook Pace109
July 26Magnolia Trail 3½M26:03, Charn McAllister30:16, Emily Molen108
August 2Cadillac Trail 5½M41:38, Brian Molen48:25, Emily Molen88
2015May 30Cadillac Trail 5½M39:15, Zach Deveau42:51, Alyson Churchill158
June 13Oak Hammock Trail 5M32:59, Zach Deveau35:10, Alyson Churchill129
July 18Coon Bottom Trail 4M28:42, Zach Deveau29:14, Alyson Churchill112
August 1Red Bug Trail 4½M35:14, Greg Bargo35:24, Alyson Churchill112
2016May 21Magnolia Trail 3½M25:18, Dan Baur27:05, Katie Gorman133
June 4Oak Hammock Trail 5½M42:53, Eric Godin45:24, Katie Gorman123
July 9Red Bug Trail 4½M33:14, Dan Baur35:04, Katie Gorman130
July 30Cadillac Trail 5½M43:06, Paul Guyas42:29, Alyson Churchill95
2017June 10Munson Hills 6M36:45, Chris O'Kelley46:34, Emily Molen87
July 1Red Bug Trail 4½M37:34, Chris O'Kelley48:24, Emily Molen90
July 15Oak Hammock/Swamp Forest 5M33:35, Charles Biberg39:36, Kat Sack89
August 5Tom Brown Park 4½M32:40, Chris O'Kelley36:36, Jennifer Bayliss71
2018June 23Munson Hills 6M38:02, Vince Molosky45:10, Emily Molen124
July 7Phipps Park 4M30:49, Jim Schafer33:39, Kat Sack127
July 21Maclay Gardens 5M38:26, Brad Busboom44:39, Kat Sack110
August 4Tom Brown Park 4½M28:39, Brad Busboom32:29, Kat Sack109
2019June 22Red Bug Trail 4½M35:27, Zach DeVeau38:53, Rachel Durbin125
July 6Munson Hills 6M
July 27Tom Brown Park 5M
August 24Maclay Gardens 4½M


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