By David Yon
Saturday morning was for the hearty souls as the skies continued their assault on Tallahassee, leaving the participants and most of the outdoor volunteers soaked to the bone in the chilly weather. The rainy morning did help water a budding rivalry between a couple of Tims. 2003 Grand Prix Champion Tim Unger sprinkled a little dust on the trail behind his fleet feet last week when he recorded the eighth fastest master’s time in Flash 12K history to nip Tim Bolton by a mere fourteen seconds. Saturday’s rain washed it all away though and Mr. Bolton responded in the 5K by taking the title from Tim Unger with a 17:07 to 17:18 win. Unger’s second place finish gave him the master’s title. Bill McGuire was the top grand master in 18:27.
There was no such excitement in the women’s race as Sarah Docter-Williams ran away from the rest of the women, and most of the men, to finish third overall in 18:06. Erin Shepard took second with a time of 24:11. Fran McLean was the top master in the women’s category with a time of 24:36. Dot Skofronick was the first female grandmaster to swim the course with a time of 30:21.
New ace Fleet Foot reporter Meredith Fraser did a double on Saturday grabbing the top spot in the mile with a winning time of 6:30 to best the top male runner Ethan Treacy who ran 6:45. Meredith came back later to grab third overall in the women’s 5K race with a time of 24:18. I hope you caught Meredith’s report on high school running in the current issue of the newsletter. Great work by Fred recruiting this star senior at Maclay!
The rain, and maybe the marathon the next day, made this one of the smallest Cookie Run crowds in awhile. Hopefully, the girl scouts still fared okay, but, just in case, race directors Tom Perkins and Jeanne O’Kon suggest you go ahead and buy that extra box of cookies when you get the chance!