Fred Deckert
It was an event to remember!
The Tallahassee Marathon/Half Marathon and 2M treated us to a trio of brand new courses in Northeast Tallahassee. Comments heard on the course and after: “I knew the race honored a deceased member, Craig Hasty, did the race director(Dana Stetson) want us to join him?”. “I come from Tennessee, so I know hills, how hilly could Florida be??” “Toughest marathon I ever ran.” “Interesting course.” And so on.
As one of the participants, or victims, take your choice, I found this course to be challenging and interesting. I never felt that any stretch was boring, I’ll admit to feeling some trepidation on the way back, knowing those hills I came down would now take their revenge on these tired legs, but the beautiful weather and scenic course helped me through. As one of the “distance challenged,” I chose the half marathon, along with better than 2 of every 3 participants. However I found there was no shortage of difficulty on the shorter distance. This was not a course on which anyone would expect a PR (personal record), but you could be proud that you finished it. That said, there was a surprising lack of non-finishers which speaks well for the event.
The usual exemplary work by the many volunteers on the course helped us all, as did the uplift signs along the course. The Sheriff’s office kept us safe from motorized harm and Tallahassee Nursery furnished a very attractive start/finish area.
Michael Peck of Ormond Beach won the Marathon in 2:46:53, an excellent time for this course. Michael had won the 50 mile Tallahassee Ultradistance classic a month ago so he was no stranger to us. Melissa Knechtel of Niceville won the women’s race in 3:16:13. The Half Marathon was won by Ben Gailey of Gainesville in 1:20:23. Our local phenom Sarah Docter-Williams took the women’s in 1:29:01. James Dexter’s 13:32, and Piper Stockman’s 15:23 won the 2 mile event. Marathon Masters winners were Peter Shaw of Concord, MA in 3:23:36 and Lori Tomblin of Tallahassee in 4:49:10. Half Marathon Masters winners were David Yon 1:28:35 and Peggy Simpson 1:43:25.