On Saturday morning, 12 May 2012, seven days after Stanley Linton ended Vince Molosky's six-year winning streak at the Tails & Trails 10K, both runners toed a starting line in Maclay Gardens at the Marzuq Shrine's annual Mother's Day 5K, a perfect script for a rematch. There were some additional cast members, though, such as the Marzuq 5K defending champion, Cairo schoolboy Stephen Robbins. There would also be a role for Capital City Runners' Kevin Sullivan, a three-time Canadian Olympian in the 1,500 meters.
More than 200 runners started from the Lake Hall recreation area at 8:00 am. Linton set the early pace, but Molosky stayed on his shoulder. Robbins trailed the pair while Sullivan hung back. Linton and Molosky were still together at the end of the first mile, but Robbins had fallen back into fourth, leaving Sullivan to stalk the leaders. Molosky broke away during the next mile, leading till the two mile mark. Then Sullivan struck. Already ahead of the fading Linton, Sullivan surged past Molosky. Half a mile later the Olympian was seven seconds ahead. The gap continued to widen over the last half mile, and Sullivan reached the finish line nearly 150 yards ahead of Molosky, 16:08 to 16:33. Maclay School track coach Gary Droze overtook Linton during the last half mile, but Robbins caught Droze before the end of the race to take third in 17:07. At 17:12, Droze was the fourth runner and first master. Linton hung on to place fifth in 17:17.
The defending women's champ, Micah Adriani, was absent from the field, but 2008 women's winner Sheryl Rosen made it to the starting line. There may have been a brief moment just after the start when Rosen wasn't ahead of the rest of the women in the race, but every other moment belonged to Rosen. The Tallahassee lawyer won five kilometer race by just over half a kilometer, setting a new event record of 17:53--over a minute better than the previous record of 19:04, run by Lisa Johnson at the 2007 Marzuq 5K. Katie Showman was the second woman finisher, placing 31st overall in 19:58. The first woman master was the seventh woman across the finish line, Nancy Stedman, 50th overall in 21:55.
The Mother's Day 5K has never actually been held on Mother's Day, but it has been run the day before every year since 2004. Every year, that is, except possibly 2005, the one year for which the Shrine can't seem to find race results, even though the event was scheduled. So it's a mystery as to whether this year's race was the eighth annual or the ninth annual. The runners don't seem to care about these anomalies though, continuing to show up year after year to compete for the home-baked cakes that the Shrine offers as race awards. Sometimes "Let them eat cake!" is an acceptable solution.Top Ten Men, 2012 Marzuq Shrine Mother's Day 5K
- 16:08 ~
Kevin Sullivan (M, 38) Tallahassee, FL - 16:33 ~ Vince Molosky (M, 32) Tallahassee, FL
- 17:07 ~ Stephen Robbins (M, 15) Cairo, GA
- 17:12 ~ Gary Droze (M, 50) Tallahassee, FL
- 17:17 ~ Stanley Linton (M, 18) Crawfordville, FL
- 17:22 ~ Jasen Fulghum (M, 28) Tallahassee, FL
- 17:27 ~ Jay Wallace (M, 47) Tallahassee, FL
- 17:57 ~ Roger Schmidt (M, 28) Tallahassee, FL
- 18:07 ~ Michael Martinez (M, 46) Tallahassee, FL
- 18:19 ~ Eric Godin (M, 28) Tallahassee, FL
Top Ten Women, 2012 Marzuq Shrine Mother's Day 5K
17:53 ~ Sheryl Rosen (F, 28) Tallahassee, FL- 19:58 ~ Katie Showman (F, 30) Tallahassee, FL
- 20:53 ~ Kristine Cox (F, 34) Tallahassee, FL
- 21:02 ~ Ashley Daily (F, 25) Tallahassee, FL
- 21:23 ~ Claire Fruchtnicht (F, 29) Tallahassee, FL
- 21:39 ~ Cora Atkinson (F, 17) Crawfordville, FL
- 21:55 ~ Nancy Stedman (F, 50) Tallahassee, FL
- 22:10 ~ Jenn Bacile (F, 33) Tallahassee, FL
- 22:17 ~ Tiffany Roddenberry (F, 27) Tallahassee, FL
- 22:40 ~ Paula O'Neill (F, 50) Tallahassee, FL
| Marzuq Shriners' Mother's Day 5K Champions, 2004-2010 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Men | Women |
| 8 May 2004 | 19:42, Scott Ruplinger | 25:33, Penny Isom |
| 7 May 2005 | ? | ? |
| 13 May 2006 | 18:27, David Yon | 19:27, Laura Hempel |
| 12 May 2007 | 18:03, Martin Sykut | 19:04, Lisa Johnson |
| 10 May 2008 | 19:30, James Dexter | 20:19, Sheryl Rosen |
| 9 May 2009 | 18:13, Myles Gibson | 22:41, Angela Dempsey |
| 8 May 2010 | 19:10, Mickey Moore | 22:29, Fran McLean |
| 7 May 2011 | 18:33, Stephen Robbins | 20:36, Micah Adriani |
| 12 May 2012 | 16:08, Kevin Sullivan | 17:53, Sheryl Rosen |
Links:
- Complete results of the 2012 Marzuq Shriners' Mother's Day 5K at gulfwinds.org
http://gulfwinds.org/raceresults/2012/Marzuq%20Mothers%20Day%202012.asp - More photos of the 2012 Marzuq Shriners' Mother's Day 5K
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101917036295743.3333320.5215641&l=18972f55f1 - Fred Deckert's photos of the 2012 Marzuq Shriners' Mother's Day 5K
https://picasaweb.google.com/Freddecka/Marzuq12 - 2011 story, "A Mother's Day stroll in Maclay Gardens for Robbins and Adriani"
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/05/marzuq-2011.html - 2010 story, "Marzuq laurels go to Moore and McLean"
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/05/marzuq-2010.html
