A huge crowd turned out Thanksgiving morning for the 1999 Tallahassee Turkey Trot, despite a slight drizzle. Over 700 runners finished the One mile Turkey Gobbler, 5K, 10K and 15K races, Thursday morning. The race was a benefit for The Shelter, the Kent Vann Partners in Excellence Awards and GWTC. In addition to the money raised, Judy Alexander and Brian Corbin drove away with a huge load of goods and food to deliver to The Shelter and others, as runners brought items to share.
The 5K was the largest race and Lee Willis was the winner with a 15:44 tape breaking performance. Julie Carico led the women’s field with a time of 20:15. Matt Katz (16:55) and Piper Stockman (22:47) were the second place finishers.
Gary Droze was the first finisher in the 10K, running a 33:34. Sarah Docter-Williams grabbed the title for the women with a 38:02. Tim Simpkins was second with a 35:29. Donna Whitworth was the second woman in 42:13. The masters winners were Bill McGuire (37:52) and Nancy Widener.(44:35).
The 15K saw a close battle between Tim Unger and David Ogletree. Tim broke the tape by finishing in 53:52, while David finished in 54:31. Jane Johnson led the women with a 58:38 to beat out Carrie Weyant. Carrie ran 1:02:54. Jerry Ongley was the first master with a 57:43 and Carol Winger was the women’s master’s champ.
The One mile Turkey Gobbler had a record turnout. Gilchrist, Deerlake and Cobb all won Kent Vann Partners in Excellence Awards of $500 for their participation. Gallagher Dempsey and Maria Hampton were the winners in times of 5:16 and 6:53.