By David Yon
Will Walker was not about to let a little road construction get in the way of the 25th running of the Palace Saloon 5K. No sir, call in Bill McGuire to true up the certification and the sheriff’s office to provide great traffic control. Then mix in 261 finishers (a great number of them in camouflage), cool weather, a bit of a tail wind, music, a 40th birthday party for Eve and cash prizes and bonuses. Stir them with some Grand Prix points and you have a great race – worthy of Tallahassee’s oldest race.
Robert Pautienus collected $50 for first male and $50 for running under 16:00 minutes. His winning time of 15:45 was one of his fastest races around Tallahassee in awhile. David Ogletree and Gary Droze gave chase, finishing second and third in 15:50 and 16:06. David collected $30 for second and $50 for being under 16:00 minutes. Gary pocketed $20 for third place. Those 6 seconds cost him a little over $8 per. Tim Simpkins was the first master, earning $50 for his time of 16:32.
Sarah Docter-Williams saw “bonus” and decided not to wait around to find out whether any other women might be under 17:30. She blasted off with a sub 5:40 first mile and just got better after that. At least it looked that way from my perspective way behind her. Her 17:22 not only earned her a win ($50) and a bonus ($50), but was the fastest time she has run in quite awhile. Speaking of fast times Sissy Carol continued her downward spiral – times that is – breaking 19:00 again with an 18:58 PR, plenty good enough for second place overall and fastest master. Sounds like that might have been worth $80. Third place went to Kingsley Broughton who ran 19:14, a very good time.
And how about Melanie Baker, knocking three minutes off her PR, Chris Teaf kicking by me to go under 18:00 and Greg Waddell breaking 17:30. I am sure there were lots of other good times, but these definitely stood out.
The friends of Eve were out in force to celebrate her 40th birthday. Bill and Howard gave them the music to dance to. Bill played his tribute to Craig Hasty. There was an amazing array of camouflage clothing to honor our friend. Doug Gorton was the best – full uniform including boots. Craig, I hope you paused long enough to look down at your friends and smile!
Click here for Race Results.