8 April 2009 Tallahassee 100-Mile Race Calendar

This is the Tallahassee vicinity road race schedule for 8 April 2009. If that's more than a week ago, the latest schedule is always available via this link:

http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1

This is a listing of upcoming races within 100 miles of Tallahassee, Florida, roughly the area in the map below. If a race isn't listed, I probably haven't heard of it, so post a comment and let me know about it.

Here are some upcoming races within 100 miles of Tallahassee, Florida, roughly the area in the map above. If a race isn't listed, I probably haven't heard of it, so post a comment and let me know about it. An updated version of this schedule is posted to http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/ every Wednesday, except when it isn't. If you want to link to this schedule or bookmark it, use this address, which will always give you the most recently posted calendar: http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1

11 APRIL 2009

• 35th Annual Palace Saloon 5 km. 8:00am ET. James Messer Fields Park, Jackson Bluff Road and Dupree Street, Tallahassee, FL 32304. USATF certified course FL99027DL. Registration form and flyer. Online registration at active.com.
• Freedom Sports "Run For Reina." 8:00 am CT. Pier Park, 16150 Front Beach Road
  Panama City Beach, FL 32413. Online registration at active.com.
  

18 APRIL 2009

• Autism Research 5K and one mile. 8:00 am ET 5K / 9:00 am ET one mile. Southwood Commerce Center, Merchant's Row Blvd at Four Oaks Blvd, Tallahassee, FL. Entry form and flyer. veronica.jones@med.fsu.edu
• Planting New Hope 5K. 9:00 am ET. Tom Brown Park, Tallahassee, FL. Event web site. Entry form and flyer. Online registration at active.com.
  
• 3rd Annual Hahira United Methodist Church Hope and Faith 5K & 1 Mile Fun Run. Hahira United Methodist Church, 100 East Stanfill Street, Hahira, GA 31632.
  
• Mayhaw Festival 5K. 8:30 am ET. Colquitt, GA.
• Festival on the Rivers 5 Mile. 7:30 am CT. Geneva High School, 505 Panther Dr, Geneva, AL 36340. Event web page.

25 APRIL 2009

• 32nd Annual Rose City Run 10K and one mile kids' run. 8:00 am ET 10K / 9:30 am ET one mile. North Broad Street and Monroe Street, Thomsaville, GA. USATF certified course GA92011WN (10K). Entry form. Event web site.
• Junior League of Tallahassee 5K Run for Reading. 8:00 am ET. Tom Brown Park, Tallahassee, FL. Entry form and flyer. Alison Voorhees, 850-933-9038 or run.for.reading@gmail.com
  
• Altha Project Graduation Race to the Finish 5K. 8:00 am CT. Sam Atkins Park, Blountstown, FL 32424. Online registration at active.com
  
• Brian Dowling Memorial 5K Trail Run. 8:00 am CT. Westgate Park, 801 Recreation Road, Dothan, AL 36303. Event web page.
  

1 MAY 2009

• 22nd Annual Gnat Days 5K. 7:00 pm ET. Courthouse Square Park, Camilla, Georgia. Entry form and flyer. Eric Brooks 229-395-1763 or eric@camillageorgia.com
  

2 MAY 2009

• Tails & Trails 5K / 10K / 1 Mile. 8:30 am ET. Animal Service Center, 1125 Easterwood Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32311. Event web site. Entry form and flyer.
• Spring Fling 8-Mile / 5K / 1 Mile. 7:00 am ET 8-mile and 5K, 9:30 am ET 1-mile. Bainbridge Country Club, 312 Country Club Road, Bainbridge, GA 39819. Entry form and flyer. springflingrun@gmail.com
  
• Moultrie Technical College Classic 5K / 10K / 1 Mile. 7:30 am ET 5K & 10K, 9:00 am ET 1 mile. Packer Park, 343 Darbyshire Rd, Moultrie, GA 31768. Event web site. Entry form and flyer. Darby Avera 229-891-7000 davera@moultrietech.edu
  
• 24th Annual Race Judicata 5K. 8:00 am CT. Bay County Courthouse, 300 East 4th Street, Panama City, FL 32401. Entry form and flyer. Online registration at active.com.
• Downtown Endurance 5K. 8:00 am CT. First Baptist Church Family Life Center, 300 West Main Street, Dothan, AL 36301. 334-792-3217 or bjones@fbcdothan.org
  

8 MAY 2009

• River Town Days 5K. 8:00 am ET. Earle May Boat Basin, Bainbridge, GA 39819. Info at active.com. Blaine Palmer 229-400-3674

9 MAY 2009

• 6th Annual Marzuq Shrine Mothers Day 5K. 8:00 am ET. Maclay Gardens State Park, 3540 Thomasville Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32309. Entry form and flyer. Keiff Lindsey, (850) 212-2926 or romanroch@hotmail.com
• Colony City Chase 5K. 8:00 am ET. Fitzgerald High School, 601 West Cypress Street, Fitzgerald, GA 31750. 229-423-5048
  

16 MAY 2009

• Run for Wakulla Springs 5K Trail Run and 1 Mile Fun Run. 8:00 am ET (one mile), 8:30 am ET (5K). Wakulla Springs State Park, 550 Wakulla Park Drive, Wakulla Springs, FL 32327. Entry form and flyer.
  
• 3rd Annual Missionette 5K / 10K Extraordinary Run. 8:00 am ET. Family Worship Center of Cairo, 1400 South Broad Street, Cairo, GA 39828. USATF certified course GA09001WC (10K) and GA09002WC (5K). Entry form and flyer. Katina Stewart 229-378-0970.
• Army 10-Miler. 7:00 am CT. Fort Rucker, Alabama. Event web page. 334-255-3794
• Bay County Association of Realtors 5K Fun Run/Walk. 8:30 am CT. Front Beach Road & Back Beach Road, Panama City Beach, FL. Nancy Palmer 850-625-7433

23 MAY 2009

• Dothan Fire Department / Dothan Runners Club “Fit to Fight” 5K / 10K. 8:00 am CT. Dothan Fire Department Station #1, 600 Columbia Highway, Dothan, AL 36301. Entry form and flyer.
  

25 MAY 2009

• 3rd Annual Memorial Day 5K Night Race. 7:00 pm ET. 1500 East Shotwell Street, Bainbridge, GA 39819. Entry form and flyer. Mandi O'Mara 229-400-3750 or omara@dcboe.com
• Cordele Kiwanis Memorial Day 8K. 7:59 am ET. Crisp County Middle School, 1116 24th Avenue East, Cordele, GA 31015. USATF certified course #GA07012WC. Entry form and flyer.

13 JUNE 2009

• Potluck Bash 4-Mile Run. 6:00 pm ET. Forestmeadows Athletic Center, 4750 N Meridian Rd, Tallahassee, FL. David Yon, 850-425-6671 or david@radeylaw.com

20 JUNE 2009

• Big Bend Victim Assistance Coalition “Run for One, Run for All” 5K. 8:00 am ET. Southwood State Office Complex on Esplanade Way, Tallahassee, FL. Erica Higgins, (850) 922-3498 or HigginsE@leoncountyfl.gov
  
• Melon Run 5K. Old Jefferson County High School gym, Monticello, FL. USATF certified course #FL06044DL.

27 JUNE 2009

• Hot Trot 5K. 7:30 am CT. Washington-Holmes Technical Center, 757 Hoyt Street, Chipley, FL 32428. Stan Owens 850-547-2244
• Summer Sizzler 5K / 1 Mile. 6:00 pm ET. St. George Island, FL. USATF certifed course #FL99035DL. Entry form and flyer. Hobson Fulmer, 850-927-2510 or hobson@fairpoint.net

4 July 2009

• Firecracker 5K. 7:30 am ET. Greensboro, FL. Greensboro Kiwanis, PO Box 97, Greensboro, FL 32330.
• Freedom Springs Triathlon. 7:00 am CT. Blue Springs Recreation Park, 5461 Blue Springs Road, Marianna, FL. Entry form and flyer. Terry Edwards (850)482-3415 or fst1@earthlink.net
  

18 July 2009

• Critter Run 5K. 6:00 pm CT. Westgate Park, 801 Recreation Road, Dothan, AL 36303.
• Summer Sprint 5K. 7:30 am CT. Panama City, FL. 850-234-4370
  

1 August 2009

• Possum Trot 5K. 7:30 am CT. Wausua, FL. Frank or Carol Kreis 850-773-2030

15 August 2009

• Breakfast On The Track One Mile Run. 7:45 am ET. Maclay School track, 3737 N Meridian Rd, Tallahassee, FL. Bonnie Wright, 850-386-3500 or bwright@electro-net.com
  
• Georgia Veterans Duathlon and Triathlon. 8:00 am ET. Georgia Veterans State Park, 2459 U.S. Highway 280 W, Cordele , GA 31015. Event web site. Entry form and flyer. Online registration at active.com
  

29 August 2009

• Miller Landing Madness 8K/5K/3K. 8:00 am ET. Elinor Klapp Phipps Park, Miller Landing Road, Tallahassee, FL 32312. Mike Sims (850)514-3424 or Tom Perkins (850)894-2019

19 September 2009

• Tallahassee Women's Distance Festival 5K. 8:00 am ET. Optimist Park, East Indianhead Drive, Tallahassee, FL. USATF certified course #FL00022DL. Lisa Unger, 850-562-2901 or ungertl@juno.com
  

Azalea City Trail, Valdosta, Georgia

Valdosta's promotional literature is fond of reminding us that it's the tenth largest city in Georgia. Surely, such a swelling metropolis must have an extensive network of trails, right?


Well, no. That may come later, but for now Valdosta has the Azalea City Trail.


The Azalea City Trail is a paved, urban trail that runs 2.63 miles from the Vallotton Youth Complex (700 Woodlawn Drive) to the Craig Center (1104 W Gordon St). The east end of the trail at the Vallotton Youth Complex looks encouraging. Starting next to a good-sized parking lot, the trailhead is well-marked by signs and a detailed map of the route. The trail itself is a twelve-foot wide concrete strip that curves away to the south. So far, so good.


Less than 200 yards later "STOP" signs on the trail mark the crossing of Vallotton Drive. Once across the road, the trail curves through Vallotton Park, reaching the banks of One Mile Branch Creek. Then it's time to cross North Lee Street. This takes you into a wooded area around a stormwater retention pond, home to Canadian geese who have almost certainly never seen Canada. The trail rounds the pond, crossing a small bridge. Then, after just over half a mile, the trail dumps you onto a sidewalk on Marion Street. It's a nice sidewalk, but it's just a sidewalk.


For half a mile the trail follows sidewalks, south on Marion Street, west on East Ann Street, and north alongside Bazemore-Hyder Stadium on William Street. Past the stadium, you cross East Brookwood Drive into Drexel Park and return to something that is indisputably a trail. This takes you through the park and across North Patterson Street onto the campus of Valdosta State University. Once on campus, the trail winds pleasantly along One Mile Branch for almost a quarter mile before returning to sidewalk briefly to cross North Oak Street. The trail isn't particularly well marked at Oak Street, and it isn't clear whether you're supposed to use the pedestrian bridge or go south to the crosswalk (it's the crosswalk).


Across North Oak Street, the trail runs between Sunset Hill Cemetery on the south and Valdosta State on the north to Sustella Avenue. After crossing Sustella Avenue you come to the best part of the trail, a 0.4-mile wooded stretch along One Mile Branch. Owls call from the trees. One Mile Branch may be mostly a drainage canal, but its water chatters just as merrily as if it were a mountain stream. There are lights, even though the posted "Rules of the Trail" indicate that this part of the trail is closed after sundown.


This sylvan portion of trail ends at Wainwright Drive, where the trail turns south, away from One Mile Branch, up a hill, on a sidewalk. For a quarter mile, along Wainwright, Brookhaven Drive, and Rosewood Drive, narrow sidewalks are passed off as "trail." Finally, at west end of Rosewood, you're back on a twelve-foot wide paved path. This takes you a few hundred yards to the Craig Center and the west end of the Azalea City Trail.


As paved trails go, the Azalea City Trail is on the short side, and almost a mile of it is on relatively un-trail-like sidewalks. Considering the amount of development in the area, it's probably remarkable that Valdosta was this successful in coming up with a nearly continuous trail route. Indications are that the west end of the trail will eventually link to a project called the Withlacoochee River Greenway, but neither the link nor the greenway yet exist. As it stands, the Azalea City Trail is useful locally for fitness and "alternative transportation," and some of it could be used as part of a road-race course. It's worth checking out if you're in Valdosta, but don't make a special trip.


Links:

• Map of the Azalea City Trail
  https://www.box.com/s/nuti93eqjal7jcusvqgd
  
  
• 8 May 2010 article about the Azalea City Trail
  http://valdostadailytimes.com/local/x1341939541/On-the-trail
  
  

35th Annual Palace Saloon 5K, Early Packet Pick-Up

Being pre-registered for a road race is great. There's no scrambling around for your checkbook or correct change, and no filling out forms--it's already done. The only thing better than being pre-registered is already having your race packet in hand on race day. That way all you have to do is arrive at the starting area, warm up, stretch a little, and start racing when the gun goes off.

We know this, so that's why the Palace Saloon 5K not only offers pre-registration but also early packet pick-up. Early packet pick-up for the 35th annual Palace Saloon 5K will be on Wednesday, 8 April 2009 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM ET at the Palace Saloon, 1303 Jackson Bluff Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32304. If you've already entered, we'll have a race number and a T-shirt there for you, and you won't have anything left to do Saturday except run. You can also pre-register right at early packet pick-up! How special is that?

If you want to have a form in hand, already filled out, you can print one out from this file:

• http://www.gulfwinds.org/fliers/2009%20Flyers/2009_palace_app.pdf

Or if you don't want to mess around with paper, online registration is available via active.com:

• http://www.active.com/page/Event_Details.htm?event_id=1572105

You can still pre-register and pick up your packet at James Messer Fields Park from 6:45 to 7:45 am ET on race-day morning, 11 April 2009, or even wait till the last minute and late register on the morning of the race. But for anyone who wants the extra service of early packet pick-up, we're providing it at the Palace on Wednesday evening.

2009 Red Hills Triathlon

From 7:30 to 7:45 AM on the morning of 4 April 2009, over 300 athletes slipped in the dark waters of Lake Hall, north of Tallahassee, Florida in Maclay Gardens State Park. One-third of a mile of swimming, sixteen miles of bicycling, and 3.1 miles of running later, Tallahassee's Thomas Barton was the overall champion of the 2009 Red Hills Triathlon, finishing with a time of 1:09:35. Barton's closest challenger was Ken Brown of Alpharetta, Georgia, who completed the triathlon in a time of 1:10:56.


In the women's competition, Tallahassee's Stephanie Liles successfully defended her 2008 title, completing the course in 1:14:51. Close behind in 1:15:18 was runner-up Seeley Gutierrez, also of Tallahassee. Liles first moved into the lead on the bicycling leg and continued to move away from Gutierrez during the final leg, the run.





Links:

• Red Hills Triathlon web site
  http://www.redhillstriathlon.org/
  


• Complete results
  http://www.altavistasports.com/results/2009results/redhillstriathlon040409.html


• Most of my photos of the event
  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2617813&id=5215641&l=bd9720f9e5
  


• The rest of my photos of the event
  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2617857&id=5215641&l=95f6368801
  

The Great Bicycle Shop to open on the St Marks Trail

Imagine an interstate highway without gas stations. Life on the road would be a lot harder. Now, imagine a rail-trail without a bicycle shop.

Unfortunately, quite a few rail-trails get by without a bicycle shop, which is at the very least a horrible inconvenience. Driving past Atlanta last year, I was finally able to overcome my navigational incompetence and find part of the Silver Comet Trail. As luck would have it, we hit the trail right next to the Silver Comet Depot in Mableton. Instead of walking a couple of hundred yards on the trail and admiring the pavement, we were able to rent a couple of bicycles and spend an hour or two exploring the trail.

You don't have that convenience on the Tallahassee/St. Marks Historic Railroad Trail. The nearest bicycle rental is miles from the trail. If you need a new tube or a minor repair, you're not going to get it along the trail. At one time there was a bike shop at the trail head near Capital Circle, but that belongs to a dark past.

But lets look to the bright future. Sometime this year, the Great Bicycle Shop will be opening a store along the trail at 3624 Woodville Highway, about a mile and a half north of Capital Circle. The store at 1909 Thomasville Road will stay open, while most of the rental business moves to the new trail-side store. Repairs and a limited amount of sales will also be available at the Woodville Highway location.

The folks I talked to at the Thomasville Road store were cheerfully vague about a possible opening date. "In about a month," was mentioned, but with the stipulation that there have already been problems in changing an old house to a storefront, and there may be more. Work proceeds at the rate that it does and not always at the rate we'd like. But when it does open, I'll know where to go with out-of-town visitors who show up without bicycles.

Featured Volunteer

[ As described below, I wrote this for the April 2009 issue of the Fleet Foot, the newsletter of the Gulf Winds Track Club. I hope no one suffers reading it as much as I did writing it. ]

A few weeks ago I heard from the Club President. "Congratulations!" she said. "You are Gulf Winds Track Club's featured volunteer of the month."

"That's funny," I said. "Aren't there hundreds of people in the club? It can't be my turn."

"Well, it is," she affirmed. "Could you write something for it?"

So that's it.

Because I don't know if I can be said to volunteer for much of anything. For instance, way back in the 1970s I used to work at FSU track meets as a hurdle setter. This was proud work, because I had been to many meets that lasted till almost midnight because of delays caused by the hurdles never being where they needed to be. However, the big incentive was getting into meets for free, getting to wear a "FSU HURDLE CREW" T-shirt, and being paid the princely sum of five dollars for the evening. I was no more a volunteer than an AIG trader is a volunteer.

Years later I tried to attend an FSU track meet as a spectator. After paying for a ticket, I was spotted in the stands and press-ganged into being a lane judge. This was volunteering like drawing a low draft lottery number in 1967 meant that you had volunteered to be one of Uncle Sam's tourists in southeast Asia. This wasn't fun work, because I never felt qualified to tell whether or not one of eight sprinters thundering by at 20 mph had stepped over a white line for more than one step. I only did lane judging at two or three track meets. The last time I worked, it started raining and I ducked into the press box to stay dry. The microphone happened to be open, because graduate assistant (trans.: slave) Mike Curcio was not only working the public address system but also directing the meet, keeping the rest rooms stocked with toilet paper, and polishing the safety pins for the bib numbers. As it turned out, the 5,000 meter run was on the track, and I knew most of the runners in the race, so I took the microphone and called the race. After the 5,000 I snuck out of the press box before the campus police arrived. The following year, on the theory that a dedicated announcer on the public address system was better than no announcer at all, I was invited to work a microphone at all of FSU's home meets. It was an indoor job, it wasn't lane judging, and it wasn't much like work at all (or wouldn't be, if most meets didn't occupy twelve hours of each day on which they're held). I'm still doing it occasionally, altho' nowadays I mostly work at high school meets.

I also worked at the high school regional cross-country championships for many years, but that wasn't exactly voluntary, because my mom was hosting the meet. I missed one year in the 1990s, and made sure that I never missed another. I would call out splits at the one-mile mark and work as a finish-line timer (working the finish chute at a high school cross-country race can be a real trial by fire).

My first "work" at road races involved the finish chute, too--taking one apart. After I ran the St Petersburg "Bay-to-Bay" road race one year and had already jogged down and everything else that I needed to do, I noticed the folks from the Suncoast Runners Club dismantling the chute and pitched in. This isn't exactly work, because finish line chutes are like big Tinkertoys or an erector set. This is why you see such elaborate finish line assemblies at road races, and why there are so many pages in sports equipment catalogs devoted to finish chute kits. I don't know why Lego hasn't come out with a finish line outfit yet. For some reason, though, this got to be a minor sensation in St Petersburg at the time. "He won the Bay-to-Bay, and then he helped us clean up afterwards!" More people might have helped if they knew they were allowed; it was at least as fun as running.

Back in Tallahassee, beginning in the mid-1990s I worked an aid station in the Tallahassee Marathon every year, usually staffed by members of the Hash House Harriers. This means that there is always beer available at our aid station; David Yon became our first customer when he accepted a bottle of Miller Cream Stout from us on Tram Road. I seem to remember that he ran well that year. Unfortunately, the Miller Brewing Company has discontinued their cream stout, and most recently Miller Lite was the only choice of suds we had to offer the marathoners. Maybe next year we can work out a sponsorship deal with Anchor Steam. Anyway, the aid station is work, but it is also a Sunday-morning party. We even had a full contingent show up the year the marathon was canceled due to weather.

I've also written for the Fleet Foot occasionally, but I usually had a reason for doing so, even if it's not what professional writers would call a "paying market." At one point I was simply tired of reading content-free articles in the newsletter, and wrote a series of runing history articles, starting with a history of the Rose City 10K. I think I also did a history of the Belle Vue Mile, a piece about an athlete from the Florida State College for Women who competed in the first women's track and field world championships in the 1920s, and the story of a hustler who staged a man-versus-horse race in Tallahassee back in the 1880s. During a year I lived in South Carolina, I also wrote an article about an annual Summerville-to-Charleston relay that was held in the 1910s; this ran in The Low Country Runner. I stopped writing the articles when I had nothing interesting left to say. Many writers could benefit from that example.

In 2002 the oldest 5,000-meter road race in Tallahassee needed a director. Reid Vannoy and Jeff Bryan stepped into the role, and I offered to help. You can't let a classic die, and I wanted to see what it would take to properly promote a Tallahassee road race. So at the 2002 Palace Saloon 5K, we managed to attract 189 finisher, 30 fewer than the year before. After that, we made nuisances of ourselves, taking every opportunity to mention the race. (this year it's April 11 at 8:00 am, by the way--have you entered yet?) In 2005 Jeff took his name off the race and Reid made me put my name on it. The 2008 Palace Saloon 5K had 782 finishers, making it the largest "stand-alone" 5K in Tallahassee. Race director isn't a paid position, so when it stops being fun I'll stop doing it--I'm not that selfless a volunteer.

I've also done some race photography over the past few years. This is just a chance to show off and play with gadgets. It also helps promote the Palace Saloon 5K, which is really a year-round exercise.

However, I suppose that there are one or two selfless, unrewarding things that I do for running in general and the club in particular. Writing this essay, for instance. Thank goodness it's over.

1 April 2009 Tallahassee 100-Mile Race Calendar

This is the Tallahassee vicinity road-race schedule for 1 April 2009. If that's more than a week ago, the latest schedule is always available via this link:

http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1

This is a listing of upcoming races within 100 miles of Tallahassee, Florida, roughly the area in the map below. If a race isn't listed, I probably haven't heard of it, so post a comment and let me know about it.

Here are some upcoming races within 100 miles of Tallahassee, Florida, roughly the area in the map above. If a race isn't listed, I probably haven't heard of it, so post a comment and let me know about it. An updated version of this schedule is posted to http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/ every Wednesday, except when it isn't. If you want to link to this schedule or bookmark it, use this address, which will always give you the most recently posted calendar: http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1

4 APRIL 2009

• FAMU-FSU Engineers Without Borders Spring 5K. 9:00 am ET. FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, 2525 Pottsdamer Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32310. Entry form and flyer.
  
• Red Hills Triathlon. 7:30 am ET. Maclay Gardens State Park, 3540 Thomasville Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32309. Event web site.
  
• Draggin’ Tail Ultra Trail Challenge 25K / 50K. 8:30 am ET. Torreya State Park, 2576 NW Torreya Park Road, Bristol, FL 32321. Registration form and flyer.
• 5-A-Day 5K Trail Run. 8:00 am CT. Westgate Park, 801 Recreation Road, Dothan, AL 36303. Event web page.
• Nancy Parrish Bridges Memorial Run 12K / 5K / 1 mile. 8:00 am ET. Crisp County Middle School, 1116 E 24th Ave, Cordele, GA 31015. 229-938-1222

11 APRIL 2009

• 35th Annual Palace Saloon 5 km. 8:00am ET. James Messer Fields Park, Jackson Bluff Road and Dupree Street, Tallahassee, FL 32304. USATF certified course FL99027DL. Registration form and flyer. Online registration at active.com.
• Freedom Sports "Run For Reina." 8:00 am CT. Pier Park, 16150 Front Beach Road
  Panama City Beach, FL 32413. Online registration at active.com.
  

18 APRIL 2009

• Autism Research 5K and one mile. 8:00 am ET 5K / 9:00 am ET one mile. Southwood Commerce Center, Merchant's Row Blvd at Four Oaks Blvd, Tallahassee, FL. Entry form and flyer. veronica.jones@med.fsu.edu
• Planting New Hope 5K. 9:00 am ET. Tom Brown Park, Tallahassee, FL. Event web site. Entry form and flyer. Online registration at active.com.
  
• 3rd Annual Hahira United Methodist Church Hope and Faith 5K & 1 Mile Fun Run. Hahira United Methodist Church, 100 East Stanfill Street, Hahira, GA 31632.
  
• Mayhaw Festival 5K. 8:30 am ET. Colquitt, GA.
• Festival on the Rivers 5 Mile. 7:30 am CT. Geneva High School, 505 Panther Dr, Geneva, AL 36340. Event web page.

25 APRIL 2009

• 32nd Annual Rose City Run 10K and one mile kids' run. 8:00 am ET 10K / 9:30 am ET one mile. North Broad Street and Monroe Street, Thomsaville, GA. USATF certified course GA92011WN (10K). Entry form. Event web site.
• Junior League of Tallahassee 5K Run for Reading. 8:00 am ET. Tom Brown Park, Tallahassee, FL. Entry form and flyer. Alison Voorhees, 850-933-9038 or run.for.reading@gmail.com
  
• Altha Project Graduation Race to the Finish 5K. 8:00 am CT. Sam Atkins Park, Blountstown, FL 32424. Online registration at active.com
  
• Brian Dowling Memorial 5K Trail Run. 8:00 am CT. Westgate Park, 801 Recreation Road, Dothan, AL 36303. Event web page.
  

1 MAY 2009

• 22nd Annual Gnat Days 5K. 7:00 pm ET. Courthouse Square Park, Camilla, Georgia. Entry form and flyer.
  

2 MAY 2009

• Tails & Trails 5K / 10K / 1 Mile. 8:30 am ET. Animal Service Center, 1125 Easterwood Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32311. Event web site. Entry form and flyer.
• Spring Fling 8-Mile / 5K / 1 Mile. 7:00 am ET 8-mile and 5K, 9:30 am ET 1-mile. Bainbridge Country Club, 312 Country Club Road, Bainbridge, GA 39819. Entry form and flyer. springflingrun@gmail.com
  
• Moultrie Technical College Classic 5K / 10K / 1 Mile. 7:30 am ET 5K & 10K, 9:00 am ET 1 mile. Packer Park, 343 Darbyshire Rd, Moultrie, GA 31768. Event web site. Entry form and flyer.
  
• 24th Annual Race Judicata 5K. 8:00 am CT. Bay County Courthouse, 300 East 4th Street, Panama City, FL 32401. Online registration at active.com.
• Downtown Endurance 5K. 8:00 am CT. First Baptist Church Family Life Center, 300 West Main Street, Dothan, AL 36301. 334-792-3217 or bjones@fbcdothan.org
  

8 MAY 2009

• River Town Days 5K. 8:00 am ET. Earle May Boat Basin, Bainbridge, GA 39819. Info at active.com. Blaine Palmer 229-400-3674

9 MAY 2009

• 6th Annual Marzuq Shrine Mothers Day 5K. 8:00 am ET. Maclay Gardens State Park, 3540 Thomasville Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32309. Keiff Lindsey, (850) 212-2926 or romanroch@hotmail.com
• Colony City Chase 5K. 8:00 am ET. Fitzgerald High School, 601 West Cypress Street, Fitzgerald, GA 31750. 229-423-5048
  

16 MAY 2009

• Run for Wakulla Springs 5K Trail Run and 1 Mile Fun Run. 8:00 am ET (one mile), 8:30 am ET (5K). Wakulla Springs State Park, 550 Wakulla Park Drive, Wakulla Springs, FL 32327. Entry form and flyer.
  
• 3rd Annual Missionette 5K / 10K Extraordinary Run. 8:00 am ET. Family Worship Center of Cairo, 1400 South Broad Street, Cairo, GA 39828. USATF certified course GA09001WC (10K) and GA09002WC (5K). Entry form and flyer. Katina Stewart 229-378-0970.
• Army 10-Miler. 7:00 am CT. Fort Rucker, Alabama. Event web page. 334-255-3794
• Bay County Association of Realtors 5K Fun Run/Walk. 8:30 am CT. Front Beach Road & Back Beach Road, Panama City Beach, FL. Nancy Palmer 850-625-7433

23 MAY 2009

• Dothan Fire Department / Dothan Runners Club “Fit to Fight” 5K / 10K. 8:00 am CT. Dothan Fire Department Station #1, 600 Columbia Highway, Dothan, AL 36301. Entry form and flyer.
  

25 MAY 2009

• 3rd Annual Memorial Day 5K Night Race. 7:00 pm ET. 1500 East Shotwell Street, Bainbridge, GA 39819. Entry form and flyer. Mandi O'Mara 229-400-3750 or omara@dcboe.com
• Cordele Kiwanis Memorial Day 8K. 7:59 am ET. Crisp County Middle School, 1116 24th Avenue East, Cordele, GA 31015. USATF certified course #GA07012WC. Entry form and flyer.

13 JUNE 2009

• Potluck Bash 4-Mile Run. 6:00 pm ET. Forestmeadows Athletic Center, 4750 N Meridian Rd, Tallahassee, FL. David Yon, 850-425-6671 or david@radeylaw.com

20 JUNE 2009

• Big Bend Victim Assistance Coalition “Run for One, Run for All” 5K. 8:00 am ET. Southwood State Office Complex on Esplanade Way, Tallahassee, FL. Erica Higgins, (850) 922-3498 or HigginsE@leoncountyfl.gov
  
• Melon Run 5K. Old Jefferson County High School gym, Monticello, FL. USATF certified course #FL06044DL.

27 JUNE 2009

• Hot Trot 5K. 7:30 am CT. Washington-Holmes Technical Center, 757 Hoyt Street, Chipley, FL 32428. Stan Owens 850-547-2244
• Summer Sizzler 5K / 1 Mile. 6:00 pm ET. St. George Island, FL. USATF certifed course #FL99035DL. Entry form and flyer. Hobson Fulmer, 850-927-2510 or hobson@fairpoint.net

4 July 2009

• Firecracker 5K. 7:30 am ET. Greensboro, FL. Greensboro Kiwanis, PO Box 97, Greensboro, FL 32330.
• Freedom Springs Triathlon. 7:00 am CT. Blue Springs Recreation Park, 5461 Blue Springs Road, Marianna, FL. Entry form and flyer. Terry Edwards (850)482-3415 or fst1@earthlink.net
  

18 July 2009

• Critter Run 5K. 6:00 pm CT. Westgate Park, 801 Recreation Road, Dothan, AL 36303.
• Summer Sprint 5K. 7:30 am CT. Panama City, FL. 850-234-4370
  

1 August 2009

• Possum Trot 5K. 7:30 at CT. Wausua, FL. Frank or Carol Kreis 850-773-2030

29 August 2009

• Miller Landing Madness 8K/5K/3K. 8:00 am ET. Elinor Klapp Phipps Park, Miller Landing Road, Tallahassee, FL 32312. Mike Sims (850)514-3424 or Tom Perkins (850)894-2019

1976 FHSAA Boys Track and Field Championships

Breaking news!

Class AAAA

220-Yard Dash
1. Cyril Wyatt (Orlando Oak Ridge) 21.2
2. Calvin Raley (Jacksonville Raines) 21.2
3. Alton Green (Titusville) 21.8
4. Larry Jackson (Miami Northwestern) 21.9
5. Charlie Brown (North Miami Beach) 21.9
6. Mike Richardson (St Petersburg Lakewood) 22.1

Sprint Medley Relay
1. Jacksonville Raines 1:55.8
2. West Palm Beach Twin Lakes 1:56.1
3. South Plantation 1:56.6
4. Jacksonville Ribault 1:56.7
5. Tampa Bay Tech 1:56.8
6. Tampa King 1:57.4

High Jump
1. John Burch (Daytona Beach Mainland) 6' 6"
2. Jeff Carnes (Jacksonville Fletcher) 6' 4"
2. Rick Sullivan (Lakeland Kathleen) 6' 4"
4. Ruben Flowers (Miami Central) 6' 4"
5. Dwayne McClairen (Daytona Beach Mainland) 6' 4"
6. Terry King (Vero Beach) 6' 4"
6. Charles Woods (Miami Jackson) 6' 4"

Mile Relay
1. Tampa Bay Tech 3:17.7
2. Miami Killian 3:18.7
3. Tampa Chamberlain 3:19.4
4. Fort Lauderdale Stranahan 3:20.0
5. West Palm Beach Twin Lakes 3:20.6
6. Miami Jackson 3:21.2

880
1. Robb Gomez (Boca Ciega) 1:52.9
2. Steve Biernacki (South Plantation) 1:53.5
3. Gary Wilburn (Miami Killian) 1:54.5

Two Mile
1. Brett Hoffman (St Petersburg) 9:11.7
2. Jim Wilson (South Plantation) 9:13.7
3. Sam Bergstresser (Orlando Boone) 9:17.4
4. Herb Wills (Leon) 9:19.5
5. Walter Boyer (St Petersburg) 9:25.0
6. Darryl Eastman (Daytona Beach Mainland) 9:25.1

880 Relay
1. Orlando Oak Ridge 1:26.5
2. Jacksonville Raines 1:26.5
3. Palmetto 1:27.0
4. Miami Northwestern 1:27.5
5. Miami Killian 1:27.9
6. Jacksonville Ribault 1:27.9
6. Tampa King 1:27.9

Pole Vault
1. John Stewart (Lake Worth Leonard) 15' 4"
2. James Spilios (Orlando Colonial) 14'
3. John Carpenter (Orlando Colonial) 14'

Discus
1. Dock Luckie (Fort Pierce) 177' 9"
2. Jackie Flowers (Jacksonville Raines) 177'
3. Arthur Scott (Brandon) 172' 3"
4. James Eddins (Sarasota) 166' 0"
5. David Galloway (Brandon) 165' 5"
6. Mike Repass (Orlando Boone) 160' 2"

Shot Put
1. Tommy Sparks (Orlando Edgewater) 64' 1-1/2"
2. Stan Simmons (Hialeah) 61' 7-1/2"
3. Dock Luckie (Fort Pierce) 60' 11-3/4"
4. David Galloway (Brandon) 60' 10-1/4"
5. Carlos Tandron (South Miami) 59' 2"
6. Jon Newell (St Petersburg Northeast) 54' 8"

Long Jump
1. Prelo Harris (Sarasota) 24' 1-1/2"
2. Stanley Holmes (Fort Lauderdale Nova) 24'
3. Melvin Colquitt (Jacksonville Fletcher) 23' 9"
4. Reggie Johnson (Sattelite Beach) 23' 7-1/4"
5. Reginald Fant (Tampa Hillsborough) 23' 6-34"
6. Nathaniel Dailey (Orlando Edgewater) 23' 1-1/2"

120-Yard High Hurdles
1. Eugene Miller (Dunedin) 13.5
2. Cedrick Singletary (Jacksonville Raines) 14.0
3. Steve Mitchell (St Petersburg Dixie Hollins) 14.1
4. Gil Brinson (Brandon) 14.4
5. Wallace Davis (Boca Raton) 14.4
6. Wyman Daniels (Miami Killian) 14.4

100-Yard Dash
1. Calvin Raley (Jacksonville Raines) 9.4
2. Cyril Wyatt (Orlando Oak Ridge) 9.5
3. Willie Strickland (Port Orange Spruce Creek) 9.7
4. John Walker (Pensacola) 10.0
5. Billy Gunn (Fort Lauderdale Boyd Anderson) 10.0
6. Larry Jackson (Miami Northwestern) 10.0

Mile
1. Tom Herron (Longwood Lyman) 4:10.4
2. Joe Weston (South Plantation) 4:12.4
3. Mike Warre (Largo) 4:15.5
4. Jim Wilson (South Plantation) 4:16.4
5. David River (Tampa Bay Tech) 4:21.6
6. William Lemnon (Miami Columbus) 4:23.8

440-Yard Dash
1. John Walker (Pensacola) 48.0
2. Walter McCoy (Daytona Beach Seabreeze) 48.4
3. Lawrence Marshall (Jacksonville Raines) 48.8
4. Wendell Smith (Miami Jackson) 49.1
5. Wyman Daniels (Miami Killian) 49.1
6. Isaac Levine (Tampa Chamberlain) 49.3

330-Yard Intermediate Hurdles
1. Edward Barnes (Jacksonville Lee) 37.8
2. Lester Jefferson (Orlando Jones) 38.5
3. Gary Holt (Pensacola Tate) 39.0
4. Oscar Hadley (St Petersburg Lakewood) 39.2
5. Mark Wyckoff (St Petersburg Northeast) 39.5
6. Linton Seymore (Miami Jackson) 39.8


Class AAA

Discus
1. Joe Voor (Titusville Astronaut) 175' 2"
2. Kenneth Hardy (Gulf Breeze) 171' 7"
3. Eddie Weaver (Haines City) 164' 1"
4. John Holder (Gulf Breeze) 153' 4"
5. David Anderson (Tampa Jesuit) 153' 2"
6. Dave Richards (Delray Beach Atlantic) 151' 11"

Long Jump
1. Theodore Manley (Lake Wales) 23’ 2-1/2”
2. Anthony Warrick (Bradenton Bayshore) 21' 11-1/2"
3. Ted Watts (Tarpon Springs) 22' 2-1/2"
4. Marcus Smith (Apopka) 22' 1/4"
5. Greg Kannon (West Orange) 21' 6-3/4"
6. Tim Cornelius (Delray Beach Atlantic) 21' 3-3/4"

Shot Put
1. Joey Warren (Panama City Bay) 59' 2-1/4"
2. Joe Voor (Titusville Astronaut) 57' 11"
3. Roy True (St Petersburg Catholic) 56' 11"
4. Eddie Weaver (Haines City) 55' 1"
5. Alonzo Johnson (Tallahassee Rickards) 54' 2-3/4"
6. David Kelly (Quincy Shanks) 53' 10-1/2"

120-Yard High Hurdles
1. James Hickey (Apopka) 14.0
2. Wayne Albright (Brooksville Hernando) 14.1
3. Elijah Thomas (Quincy Shanks) 14.3
4. John Richards (Haines City) 14.5
5. William Greenwood (Cocoa Beach) 14.5
6. Anthony Warrick (Bradenton Bayshore) 14.9

100-Yard Dash
1. Cris Collinsworth (Titusville Astronaut) 10.0
2. Dennis Smalls (Bradenton Bayshore) 10.0
3. Alfonse Brown (North Marion) 10.0
4. Michael Andrews (Lake Wales) 10.0
5. Tommy Dawson (Lake Wales) 10.1
6. Ray Jones (Leesburg) 10.1

Mile
1. Doug Overfelt (Titusville Astronaut) 4:20.2
2. Bryan Artz (Venice) 4:20.8
3. Robert Roarty (Tampa Catholic) 4:23.5
4. Bob Upcavage (Tampa Catholic) 4:24.0
5. Lynn Johnson (Quincy Shanks) 4:24.1
6. Henry Baber (Haines City) 4:24.3

880 Relay
1. Lake Wales 1:28.2
2. Leesburg 1:28.9
3. North Marion 1:29.6
4. Bradenton Bayshore 1:30.0
5. Quincy Shanks 1:30.1
6. Bartow 1:30.4

440-Yard Dash
1. Lynn Brown (Quincy Shanks) 48.7
2. Lewis Brown (Inverness Citrus) 48.9
3. John McKnight (Gainesville East Side) 49.2
4. Harold Willis (Titusville Astronaut) 50.1
5. John Smith (Venice) 50.1
6. Henry Monroe (Delray Beach Atlantic) 50.3

Pole Vault
1. Michael Bush (Tampa Catholic) 13' 6"
2. Doug White (Titusville Astronaut) 13' 6"
3. Mike Duncan (Titusville Astronaut) 13'
4. Frank Selph (Tampa Jesuit) 13'
4. Pat Sadler (Naples Lely) 13'
6. Michael Hanson (Gulf Breeze) 13'

330-Yard Intermediate Hurdles
1. Woody Rice (Titusville Astronaut) 39.3
2. Anthony Warrick (Bradenton Bayshore) 39.8
3. Gerald Morris (Palatka South) 40.4
4. Larry Bradley (Madison) 40.7
5. James Ganzy (Riviera Beach Suncoast) 40.7
6. Richard Cobb (Lake Wales) 41.3

Sprint Medley Relay
1. Lake Wales 1:57.6
2. Titusville Astronaut 1:59.9
3. Haines City 2:00.7
3. Rockledge 2:00.7
5. Tallahassee Rickards 2:00.8
5. Quincy Shanks 2:00.8

Two Mile
1. Scott Dixon (Gulf Breeze) 9:32.2
2. Jeff Milliman (Punta Gorda Charlotte) 9:41.8
3. David Buell (Jacksonville Bolles) 9:41.8
4. Michael Hatcher (Haines City) 9:47.3
5. Paul Waldron (St Petersburg Catholic) 9:47.9
6. Doug Overfelt (Titusville Astronaut) 9:49.4

220-Yard Dash
1. Alfonse Brown (North Marion) 21.9
2. Dennis Smalls (Bradenton Bayshore) 22.0
3. Derek Crocker (Miami Curley) 22.3
4. Michael Andrews (Lake Wales) 22.3
5. Ken James (Gainesville Eastside) 22.3
6. Melvin Jackson (Madison) 22.4

Mile Relay
1. Titusville Astronaut 3:20.6
2. Quincy Shanks 3:21.0
3. Madison 3:23.6
4. Gainesville Buchholz 3:24.3
5. North Marion 3:24.5
6. Monticello Jefferson 3:24.8

High Jump
1. Richard Crane (Cocoa Beach) 6' 8"
2. Milton Baker (Starke Bradford) 6' 4"
3. Richard Whitaker (Tampa Jesuit) 6' 4"

880
1. Earl Hill (Gainesville Buchholz) 1:52.8
2. Levi West (North Marion) 1:53.1
3. Robert Robbins (Venice) 1:59.8


Class AA

880
1. Alphonse Williams (Avon Park) 1:59.5
2. Thad McNulty (Trinity Prep) 2:00.0
3. Crawford Easterling (Jacksonville Episcopal) 2:01.2
4. Ronnie Jones (Flagler Palm Coast) 2:02.2
5. Blaine Day (Miami Pace) 2:02.3
6. Emmet Jackson (Dunellon) 2:02.5

Sprint Medley
1. Pahokee 2:03.5
2. Graceville 2:03.6
3. Eustis 2:03.7
4. Jasper Hamilton County 2:04.3
4. Pensacola Catholic 2:04.3
6. Chiefland 2:05.2

220-Yard Dash
1. Houston McTear (Baker) 22.1
2. Leroy Love (Pahokee) 22.5
3. David Kileen (Clermont) 23.0
4. Mike Pittman (Pahokee) 23.1
5. Reginald Roundtree (Palmetto) 23.3
6. Ricky Smith (Quincy Carter-Parramore) 23.3

Two Mile
1. John Hodge (Tallahassee Lincoln) 9:39.9
2. Mark Scavelli (Clearwater Catholic) 9:46.0
3. Jerry Carnes (Gainesville P. K. Yonge) 9:51.0
4. Mike Fronsoe (Boca Raton St Andrews) 9:54.5
5. Julio Varona (Miami LaSalle) 10:07.6
6. Paul Kent (Pensacola Catholic) 10:09.7

Mile Relay
1. Pahokee 3:26.7
2. Jasper Hamilton County 3:29.2
3. Miami Westminster 3:30.0
4. Chiefland 3:31.1
4. Palmetto 3:31.1
6. Florida High 3:31.2
6. Trinity Prep 3:31.2


Taken mostly from the Gainesville Sun, although I've corrected some of their errors by going to FHSAA records. Some weirdnesses remain, however.

Links:

• 1971 FHSAA Boys Track and Field Championships
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/01/1971-fhsaa-boys-track-and-field.html
  
  
• 1973 FHSAA Boys Track and Field Championships
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/01/1973-fhsaa-boys-track-and-field.html
  
  
• 1975 FHSAA Boys Track and Field Championships
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2009/06/1975-fhsaa-boys-track-and-field.html
  
  
• 1977 FHSAA Boys Track and Field Championships
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2009/06/1977-fhsaa-boys-track-and-field.html
  
  
• FHSAA track & field site
  http://fhsaa.org/tr/
  
  
• FLRunners.com, the definitive source for high school athletics results
  http://fl.milesplit.us/
  

"Good Job!"

I do quite a bit of running on the Lake Overstreet Trails in Maclay Gardens State Park, sometimes five or six times a week. During the fall it's infested with high school cross-country runners. That's okay; the trails are wide enough. But they have a common greeting:

"Good job!"

Sometimes they're running hard enough that they don't really have enough breath to say anything at all, but they manage to gasp it out as they go by.

"Good job!"

I've found that it doesn't really matter whether I'm actually doing a "good job" or not. I can be jogging a two-mile warm-up, thinking about surviving a session of repeat miles on the trail, and I'll still get the same evaluation.

"Good job!"

In those circumstances it's almost insulting. Do I really look like I'm going flat out and giving it my best when I'm doing a warm-up shuffle? The years are never kind, but I didn't think that I had reached the point where I couldn't go slow enough to look like I was loafing.

Obviously, they don't actually mean it. "Good job!" seems to be the distance-running equivalent of "Have a nice day!" George Carlin has already dissected "Have a nice day!" Too bad he's no longer around to do the same to "Good job!"

Somehow, though, I didn't get the memo informing me that the standard runner-to-runner greeting on trail was now "Good job!" I'm not the only one, though. No even all the high school runners will "good job" you. It seems to follow team lines. This makes me imagine a scenario where part of the orientation for new runners on certain teams is learning to "good job" other runners.

"Now we train every day, rain or shine. Don't skip practice then come back the next day and say you thought it was canceled because there was a hail storm. This is cross country; we run in all kinds of conditions. If you miss practice then you're letting down the other runners on the team, and cross country is a team sport. Always remember that. I want each of you to support and encourage the other runners on the team. You see one of your teammates running, tell him 'Good job!' In fact, anyone you see running, tell him 'Good job!' This is a tough sport and we've got to encourage one another."

I could see that. That's the kind of thing I remember from team meetings, back when I had to go to team meetings, and before I stopped paying attention during them.

Although I don't "good job" other runners, I confess to using equally mindless greetings on the trail. "Go get it!" "Hang in there!" "Be tough!" "Looking good!" "Way to go!" If there's a cult, I've flunked giving the recognition signal. I don't know the secret handshake, either.

But enough. This is starting to read disturbingly like an Andy Rooney whine. Thanks for hearing me out. Oh, you've made it to the end?

Good job!

2009 Springtime 10K, Tallahassee, Florida

Two days of rain in Florida's capital pumped up the relative humidity to a new high for the year, but the showers paused long enough for 657 runners to complete the 34th annual Springtime 10K in Tallahassee. David Altmaier led the field over the finish line clocking 35:00, a good 100 meters ahead of his nearest challenger, Vince Molosky (35:21). Top master honors were captured by Jay Wallace, who ran fourth overall in 35:55.


In the women's division, the overall title was won by Lisa Johnson, the 2008 runner-up. Johnson improved on her 2008 time as well, taking off 16 seconds to record a 38:34. Jane Johnson won the female master title, registering a 42:12 for the ten kilometers.


In spite of a net elevation drop between the race's start (at the Leon County Courthouse) and the finish line (in front of the Florida Departement of Transportation), the Springtime 10K course is quite challenging, with dramatic elevation changes as it winds through residential neighborhoods close to downtown Tallahassee. For those not up to such challenges, a 5K race was added in 2008. Daniel Lee was this year's winner of the shorter event in 16:44, while Allison Eagen ran 18:48 to capture the women's title.

Links:

• Complete results at active.com
  http://results.active.com/pages/searchform.jsp?rsID=75101


• Some of my photos of the race
  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2613109&id=5215641&l=e5bda1ad40


• More of my photos of the race
  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2613121&id=5215641&l=eeaebac139

Office of Greenways and Trails Castrated and Lobotomized

This is from an e-mail sent out by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy:

I'm shocked at the irony, and hope you are too.

Within weeks of the Florida Governor's office proclaiming March as Bicycle Month and celebrating our trail victories, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) announced devastating cuts to the Office of Greenways and Trails (OGT), effectively eliminating this nationally renowned program.

Act now to protect Florida's greenways and trails:

http://support.railstotrails.org/site/R?i=34gLxSIcVgG8rYSZ11kJMg..

These cuts are excessive and disproportionate to FDEP's other proposed cuts. While other FDEP program budgets are being cut 20 percent, this proposal would, among other things, eliminate more than 80 percent of OGT's Tallahassee staff! In addition to rolling back the pro-bicycling clock 10 years, this measure risks nearly $50 million in hard-earned development money for Florida's future trails.

RTC understands that cuts are required, and should be fairly distributed. However, the OGT program reduces our dependence on oil, improves health, betters our environment and strengthens our communities. Eliminating it does far more harm than good, and for generations to come.

Please speak up for trails now:

http://support.railstotrails.org/site/R?i=SLl8qzOMmUGy_u_qoHwadA..

Thank you.

Ken Bryan, Florida State Director
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

It would be nice to believe that other personnel in the Florida Department of Environmental Protection could take up the slack, I can't imagine that's possible because of all the other cuts that have been made. This is unfortunate, because trails impact Florida financially in at least three areas:

• Tourism. A part of the fiscal crunch is due to the loss of tax revenue when there was a slowdown in Florida's tourism industry. I've travelled to Alabama to explore the Chief Ladiga Trail and look forward to vacationing in Georgia for a similar tour of the Silver Comet Trail. If the Office of Greenways and Trails isn't promoting Florida's trails, how will potential tourists find out about the trails?
• Health Care. Health care costs are hurting business, government, and individuals everywhere. Trails give people a place to exercise, exercise that results in better health and reduced need for health care.
• Carbon Emissions. An expanded and properly promoted trail system would cut down on short automobile trips. This would reduce the amount of money going out-of-state to purchase fuel, improve the air quality (there's health costs, again), and cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. Global warming and rising sea levels are a serious threat to Florida, where Orlando is the only major city not likely to become a reef.

So a functioning system of trails may not be such a luxury. If the Office of Greenways and Trails is essential to such a system, then it should be saved.

Eat a cookie, save a trail

I eat Nature Valley Granola Bars. I have no illusions about them. They are cookies. I like cookies. I also eat Famous Amos cookies. Sometimes I take Nature Valley products with me on a hike, usually as part of lunch. I suppose that it's convenient that they're already separately packaged. I also sometimes take Pepperidge Farm Chocolate Chunk cookies. You have to put those in a plastic bag, though, unless you're planning on eating the whole package on trail (which might not be a bad idea).

But then I looked at the back of the box. This is not something I usually do, altho' I used to read breakfast cereal boxes at the table to see what plastic toy I was in danger of swallowing if I ate too recklessly. It seems that I am saving trails when I eat my granola bars. I don't have to write checks to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy or the Florida Trail Association, I can just stay at home and eat cookies. Oh, wait. It says here, "You can also help Save The Trails by volunteering at one of more than 1,200 local American Hiking Society Events." Uh-oh, it sounds like I need to volunteer for a work crew, too. Maybe I could buy an extra box of cookies instead?

Kudos (not the cookie) to General Mills for giving back a little. No credit to anyone who thinks that eating a cookie is enough to preserve and expand our trails.

Cross Country, the Once and Future Olympic Sport

Cross-country running is going to be in the Winter Olympics!

Well, maybe not.

These seem to be the facts. The movement started with distance runners Haile Gebreselassie, Kenenisa Bekele, and Paul Tergat. The trio drafted a letter setting out the case that cross-country running, an ancient and beautiful sport, should return to the Olympic Games after being absent since 1924. Copies of the letter went to the president of the International Olympic Committee (Jacques Rogge) and the president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (Lamine Diack).

AN OPEN LETTER to the

President of the IOC, Mr. Jacques Rogge and president of the IAAF, Mr. Lamine Diack

We the undersigned global champions and record breakers would like to invite your two highly esteemed federations to consider the re-introduction of cross country running into the Olympic Games programme, either as a summer or a winter sport.

Cross country running is of course the most natural, indeed elemental of all sports. It is a fascinating discipline whose roots are lost in the earliest history of mankind.

In the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, cross country running was so far seen for the last time with the victory of one of the greatest ever Olympians, Finland’s Paavo Nurmi.

The official report at the time noted that a combination of unseasonal hot weather and the effects of the heat of a near-by industrial chimney - yes we had global warming in those days too! - meant that the air temperature on the course was as high as 36 degrees Centigrade (96.8 Fahrenheit). As such, of the 38 starts, 23 failed to finish. The problems of 1924 were certainly unique.

So we humbly and respectfully ask, what is your opinion about returning cross country running to a future Olympic Games, either on the programme of a summer or winter celebration?

We think it would be wonderful to give the worlds best cross country runners the chance to compete in the greatest of all sporting festivals, and are hopeful of a positive response.

Yours in sport,

Haile Gebrselassie, Kenenisa Bekele, Paul Tergat

Diack was enthusiastic about seeing another IAAF sport added to the Olympics, but Rogge was not so warm to the idea. Somehow the focus has come to be the Winter Olympics, and the IOC's position was that Winter Olympic events had to be those contested on ice and snow. Later reports had Rogge more open to the idea, but indications were that representatives of winter sports already on the Olympic program would be less than friendly to the proposal. Meanwhile, cross country will certainly not be in the 2010 Winter Olympics (Vancouver), but could possibly be added to the 2014 games (Sochi). Given the fate of softball, I'm not optimistic.

Aside from its history as an Olympic event until 1924, cross country has had a toehold in the summer games from 1912 to 2008 as part of the Modern Pentathlon, a bizarre contest involving fencing, horseback riding, swimming, pistol shooting, and a 3 km cross-country run. However, following the 2008 Olympics (Beijing), the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne decided to combine the running and shooting events (but not to change the name of the contest to the tetrathlon). While Diack and the three distance-running greats were trying to add cross-country running to the Olympics, it was quietly being removed.

But it's not like cross country really needs the Olympics. This weekend, the 2009 World Cross-Country Championships will be held in Amman, Jordan. This is billed as the 37th annual championships, but actually goes back to 1903 as the International Cross-Country Championships (although until 1907, the "nations" were limited to England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland). Whichever date you use, cross-country world meet is older than track-and-field's, and nearly as old as the modern Olympics. The 2009 World Cross-Country Championship also has one thing that no Olympic event has--US$280,000 in prize money.

I'm not saying that adding cross country to the Winter Olympics is a bad idea. Actually, the weather being what it is at the summer games, I'd like to see the marathon moved to the Winter Olympics program. Maybe some other road running events, too. Indoor track, anyone? But if cross country doesn't join curling as a Winter Olympic sport, it will be no great tragedy for cross country.

Links:

• Athletics legends want cross-country back in the Olympics
  http://www.insidethegames.com/show-news.php?id=3534


• Diack supports inclusion of cross country in the Olympics
  http://www.insidethegames.com/show-news.php?id=4225


• Sochi Olympics could host cross country running
  http://www.insidethegames.com/show-news.php?id=5298
  

25 March 2009 Tallahassee 100-Mile Race Calendar

This is the Tallahassee vicinity road-race schedule for 25 March 2009. If that's more than a week ago, the latest schedule is always available via this link:

http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1

This is a listing of upcoming races within 100 miles of Tallahassee, Florida, roughly the area in the map below. If a race isn't listed, I probably haven't heard of it, so post a comment and let me know about it.

Here are some upcoming races within 100 miles of Tallahassee, Florida, roughly the area in the map above. If a race isn't listed, I probably haven't heard of it, so post a comment and let me know about it. An updated version of this schedule is posted to http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/ every Wednesday, except when it isn't. If you want to link to this schedule, use this address, which will always give you the most recently posted calendar: http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1

28 MARCH 2009

• 34th Annual Springtime 10K, Publix 5K & Fun Station 1-Miler. 8:00am ET. Leon County Courthouse, 301 S Monroe St, Tallahassee, FL 32301. Event web site. Online registration at active.com. USATF certified course FL96048DL (10 km).
• 2nd Annual A.R. Inspirational 5K. 9:00 am ET. Bainbridge High School, 1301 E College Street, Bainbridge, GA 39819. Mandi O'Mara 229-400-3750 or omara@dcboe.com
• Fire Ant Festival 5K. 8:00 am ET. Turner County Special Services School, College Avenue and Gilmore Street, Ashburn, GA 31714. Event web site. Entry form and flyer.
  

4 APRIL 2009

• FAMU-FSU Engineers Without Borders Spring 5K. 9:00 am ET. FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, 2525 Pottsdamer Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32310. Entry form and flyer.
  
• Draggin’ Tail Ultra Trail Challenge 25K / 50K. 8:30 am ET. Torreya State Park, 2576 NW Torreya Park Road, Bristol, FL 32321. Registration form and flyer.
• 5-A-Day 5K Trail Run. 8:00 am CT. Westgate Park, 801 Recreation Road, Dothan, AL 36303. Event web page.
• Nancy Parrish Bridges Memorial Run 12K / 5K / 1 mile. 8:00 am ET. Crisp County Middle School, 1116 E 24th Ave, Cordele, GA 31015. 229-938-1222

11 APRIL 2009

• 35th Annual Palace Saloon 5 km. 8:00am ET. James Messer Fields Park, Jackson Bluff Road and Dupree Street, Tallahassee, FL 32304. USATF certified course FL99027DL. Registration form and flyer. Online registration at active.com.
• Freedom Sports "Run For Reina." 8:00 am CT. Pier Park, 16150 Front Beach Road
  Panama City Beach, FL 32413. Online registration at active.com.
  

18 APRIL 2009

• Autism Research 5K and one mile. 8:00 am ET 5K / 9:00 am ET one mile. Southwood Commerce Center, Merchant's Row Blvd at Four Oaks Blvd, Tallahassee, FL. veronica.jones@med.fsu.edu
• Planting New Hope 5K. 9:00 am ET. Tom Brown Park, Tallahassee, FL. Event web site. Entry form and flyer. Online registration at active.com.
  
• 3rd Annual Hahira United Methodist Church Hope and Faith 5K & 1 Mile Fun Run. Hahira United Methodist Church, 100 East Stanfill Street, Hahira, GA 31632.
  
• Mayhaw Festival 5K. 8:30 am ET. Colquitt, GA.
• Festival on the Rivers 5 Mile. 7:30 am CT. Geneva High School, 505 Panther Dr, Geneva, AL 36340. Event web page.

25 APRIL 2009

• 32nd Annual Rose City Run 10K and one mile kids' run. 8:00 am ET 10K / 9:30 am ET one mile. North Broad Street and Monroe Street, Thomsaville, GA. USATF certified course GA92011WN (10K). Entry form. Event web site.
• Junior League of Tallahassee 5K Run for Reading. 8:00 am ET. Tom Brown Park, Tallahassee, FL. Entry form and flyer. Alison Voorhees, 850-933-9038 or run.for.reading@gmail.com
  
• Brian Dowling Memorial 5K Trail Run. 8:00 am CT. Westgate Park, 801 Recreation Road, Dothan, AL 36303. Event web page.
  

1 MAY 2009

• 22nd Annual Gnat Days 5K. 7:00 pm ET. Courthouse Square Park, Camilla, Georgia. Entry form and flyer.
  

2 MAY 2009

• Tails & Trails 5K / 10K / 1 Mile. 8:30 am ET. Animal Service Center, 1125 Easterwood Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32311. Event web site. Entry form and flyer.
• Spring Fling 8-Mile / 5K / 1 Mile. 7:00 am ET 8-mile and 5K, 9:30 am ET 1-mile. Bainbridge Country Club, 312 Country Club Road, Bainbridge, GA 39819. Entry form and flyer. springflingrun@gmail.com
  
• Moultrie Technical College Classic 5K / 10K / 1 Mile. 7:30 am ET 5K & 10K, 9:00 am ET 1 mile. Packer Park, 343 Darbyshire Rd, Moultrie, GA 31768. Event web site. Entry form and flyer.
  
• 24th Annual Race Judicata 5K. 8:00 am CT. Bay County Courthouse, 300 East 4th Street, Panama City, FL 32401. Online registration at active.com.
• Downtown Endurance 5K. 8:00 am CT. First Baptist Church Family Life Center, 300 West Main Street, Dothan, AL 36301. 334-792-3217 or bjones@fbcdothan.org
  

8 MAY 2009

• River Town Days 5K. 8:00 am ET. Earle May Boat Basin, Bainbridge, GA 39819. Info at active.com. Blaine Palmer 229-400-3674

9 MAY 2009

• 6th Annual Marzuq Shrine Mothers Day 5K. 8:00 am ET. Maclay Gardens State Park, 3540 Thomasville Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32309. Keiff Lindsey, (850) 212-2926 or romanroch@hotmail.com
• Colony City Chase 5K. 8:00 am ET. Fitzgerald High School, 601 West Cypress Street, Fitzgerald, GA 31750. 229-423-5048
  

16 MAY 2009

• Run for Wakulla Springs 5K Trail Run and 1 Mile Fun Run. 8:00 am ET (one mile), 8:30 am ET (5K). Wakulla Springs State Park, 550 Wakulla Park Drive, Wakulla Springs, FL 32327. Entry form and flyer.
  
• 3rd Annual Missionette 5K / 10K Extraordinary Run. 8:00 am ET. Family Worship Center of Cairo, 1400 South Broad Street, Cairo, GA 39828. USATF certified course GA09001WC (10K) and GA09002WC (5K). Entry form and flyer. Katina Stewart 229-378-0970.
• Army 10-Miler. 7:00 am CT. Fort Rucker, Alabama. Event web page. 334-255-3794
• Bay County Association of Realtors 5K Fun Run/Walk. 8:30 am CT. Front Beach Road & Back Beach Road, Panama City Beach, FL. Nancy Palmer 850-625-7433

23 MAY 2009

• Dothan Fire Department / Dothan Runners Club “Fit to Fight” 5K / 10K. 8:00 am CT. Dothan Fire Department Station #1, 600 Columbia Highway, Dothan, AL 36301. Entry form and flyer.
  

25 MAY 2009

• 3rd Annual Memorial Day 5K Night Race. 7:00 pm ET. 1500 East Shotwell Street, Bainbridge, GA 39819. Entry form and flyer. Mandi O'Mara 229-400-3750 or omara@dcboe.com
• Cordele Kiwanis Memorial Day 8K. 7:59 am ET. Crisp County Middle School, 1116 24th Avenue East, Cordele, GA 31015. USATF certified course #GA07012WC. Entry form and flyer.

13 JUNE 2009

• Potluck Bash 4-Mile Run. 6:00 pm ET. Forestmeadows Athletic Center, 4750 N Meridian Rd, Tallahassee, FL. David Yon, 850-425-6671 or david@radeylaw.com

20 JUNE 2009

• Big Bend Victim Assistance Coalition “Run for One, Run for All” 5K. 8:00 am ET. Southwood State Office Complex on Esplanade Way, Tallahassee, FL. Erica Higgins, (850) 922-3498 or HigginsE@leoncountyfl.gov
  
• Melon Run 5K. Old Jefferson County High School gym, Monticello, FL. USATF certified course #FL06044DL.

27 JUNE 2009

• Hot Trot 5K. 7:30 am CT. Washington-Holmes Technical Center, 757 Hoyt Street, Chipley, FL 32428. Stan Owens 850-547-2244
• Summer Sizzler 5K / 1 Mile. 6:00 pm ET. St. George Island, FL. USATF certifed course #FL99035DL. Entry form and flyer. Hobson Fulmer, 850-927-2510 or hobson@fairpoint.net

4 July 2009

• Firecracker 5K. 7:30 am ET. Greensboro, FL. Greensboro Kiwanis, PO Box 97, Greensboro, FL 32330.

18 July 2009

• Critter Run 5K. 6:00 pm CT. Westgate Park, 801 Recreation Road, Dothan, AL 36303.

1 August 2009

• Possum Trot 5K. 7:30 at CT. Wausua, FL. Frank or Carol Kreis 850-773-2030