By David Yon
What better way to celebrate the sea and this coastal town than to have a runner jump off his boat, race to the starting line and capture the title in this year’s running of the Apalachicola Seafood Festival 5K. Well, Karl Hempel liked the script and decided to play the lead role. He took advantage of slow second miles by Bill Pray and Jay Silvanima to take control of the race and win in a time of 18:24. Pray took second in 18:26, while Silvanima took the masters title and third place in 18:39.
Fran McLean ran a more conventional route to the women’s title. She and Bruce got up early and made the trek from Tallahassee and then she ran away with the women’s title with a time of 21:20. Mary Jean Yon took the long way from Pensacola to grab the women’s master’s title with a time of 22:46
Nick and Barbara Yonclas, with a lot of help from Hobson Fulmer, put on a good show in one of the areas oldest races; it was my first race under 20:00 back in 1983. Ninety-nine runners finished the event that is a prelude to the Apalachicola Seafood Festival. Hobson Fulmer was the first Franklin County finisher in 19:52, and Kim Norgren was the first woman from Franklin County 27:24.