Repeat Wins for Linton and Showman at Bowlegs

There isn’t really a road-racing season. When all you need to stage an event is an open stretch of pavement and a couple of athletes willing to compete, it doesn’t make any sense to get tied down by the calendar. So Gulf Winds Track Club’s 29th annual Bowlegs 5K Run For Scholarship wasn’t the first race of any season in Tallahassee, but it was the first race of 2013. Over a hundred runners lined up on Pottsdamer Street at 9:00 am on Saturday morning, 5 January 2013 to take advantage of the New Year of racing.

By the end of the first kilometer Stanley Linton, the defending champion, and Vince Molosky, the 2011 Bowlegs 5K champion, were setting the pace for the rest of the field. A few strides back, Peter Wood and Javier Zamparelli stalked the leaders. Behind Wood and Zamparelli, Maclay School coach Gary Droze and Bainbridge High distance runner Chase Harris ran side by side. During the second kilometer, Linton broke away from Molosky, opening up a five-second gap. Peter Wood continued to run in third, but Chase Harris dropped Gary Droze to move into fourth. Zamparelli faded, falling into sixth behind Droze.

Linton continued to steadily pull away, ultimately winning the race by nearly 200 meters with a 16:12. It was the fastest Bowlegs 5K since 2000, when Aaron Scheer ran 15:49. Molosky finished runner-up in 16:47. Chase Harris closed with Peter Wood to force a kickers duel for third place; Wood prevailed narrowly, 17:03 to 17:04. Gary Droze was the fastest master runner, finishing fifth overall in 17:28.

The Bowlegs 5K defending women’s champion, Katie Showman, lost no time getting out front, leading the women’s field through the first kilometer. Kristine Cox trailed, followed by Nancy Stedman, Kate Chunka, and Christina Greene. Over the next kilometer Showman continued to pull away, while Cox held on to second. Meanwhile, Chunka and Greene overtook Stedman. Never challenged, Showman cruised home in 20:19, successfully defending her title and finishing 14th overall. Cox was the women’s runner-up, placing 18th overall in 21:36.

Chunka and Greene spent much of the race fighting for third, but in final few hundred meters Chunka pulled away to beat Greene to the finish line, 21:58 to 22:03. 24th overall in 22:32, Nancy Stedman was the fifth woman finisher, and for the third year in a row the top woman master.