November 26, 2009
On most days, Sperling Sports Complex is a scene of peace and tranquility. If you sit still long enough, you can almost imagine hearing the grass grow. It is big enough, and the facilities varied enough, that you rarely see more than one or two of the fields occupied at the same time. The usual number of spectators is small, too, and so spread out that an attempt to perform the wave would hardly produce a ripple.
But then there is Thanksgiving morning: nearly 1000 runners, almost as many spectators, and at least as many cars as you’d see in Walmart’s parking lot on the morning of Black Friday. Everyone is in a hurry, most late in arriving, and few patient enough to stay for the awards ceremony. A typical runner will run the race, jump back in his car, and weave in and out of the slower runners as they rush home.
Thanksgiving is synonymous with football, and of course Sperling has its own championship game. That means even more cars, a couple of tour buses, and less of a chance at a clear path to the finish line.
Did I mention the neighbors? Somehow, despite the fact that this event has been around longer than most residents of Marsh Road, many add their cars to the traffic jam…and they do not do so quietly. (I won’t forget the time I was a course monitor.)
And so it goes, as runners, cars, trucks, buses, pedestrians, pets on leashes, parents pushing strollers, bicycles, and an occasional wind-blown skydiver all contribute to this “ballet macabre,” known euphemistically as “the Deland Turkey Trot.”
However--and this remains the important part of all this activity—the Thanksgiving morning race continues to be one sure-fire antidote for the guilt free consumption of prodigious amounts of The Bird, and similarly bland food. (Although it does nothing to counter the turkey’s revenge: sufficient tryptophan to make us just drowsy enough to tolerate the worst programming network television has to offer.)
The 5K Run
Time waits for no man…except if you happen to be 19 year old Joey Esakr. This is not the first time our hero has tried to win a race that finished in Sperling Sports Complex. In the past, despite his best of efforts, the “cigar” of victory has eluded him. Undaunted, he re-visited the scene of more than one second place finish. This time, however, he enlisted some help.
“I did it for this man,” explained his former Spruce Creek team mate, Alex Frazier, nodding towards Elsakr. “I was going to push him, and not race it. I graduated the year before Joey (2007). We have that family vibe. We keep in touch. Joey said he wanted to break 16, so I helped him through the first half. After the turn around (it’s an out and back course), he did his own thing.”
Frazier, a sophomore at Embry Riddle University, has had a busy week, running wise.
“This is my third race in six days: the NAIA Nationals last Saturday (he was fifth for Embry Riddle’s fifth place team, in 27:20), our (end of season) time trial on Tuesday (where he ran 14:50 for three miles), and now this (second place overall with a 16:27.7).”
For Elsakr, this race, like Frazier’s Tuesday run, was also a time trial. His college major is biomedical engineering, and when he chose Duke University, he did so primarily for its academic program. He is, however, a runner, and Duke has a very strong distance program, much to the credit of its coach. Norm Ogilivie, who graduated from Drake in 1981, has 4:07 mile/14:07 5000 meters personal bests to his credit. Since he began coaching at Duke 18 years ago, runners under his wing have taken possession of 22 of the top 25 all-time school records from 800 to 5000 meters.
“I talked to the coach during the summer,” explained Elsakr, “and he asked me for my track times (4:45 for the 1600, 9:29 for 3000, and 10:13 for 3200). Unfortunately, he said they weren’t fast enough. After I ran a 16:01 two weeks ago at the Free to Breathe 5K (3rd of 335 finishers), I talked to him again and he told me to run a track meet at the end of January. There’s a 3K and 5K. I’m going to run the 5K. It’s an indoor meet at UNC. He wants to see me in a competitive race. I’m definitely training for that race in January; to run a fast race and build confidence.”
Also in the race, if only for awhile, was last year’s winner (in 17:38)—and former 5 Star Conference opponent,—Andrew Epifanio, and 16 year old Mt. Dora resident Blaine Ramsdell. Frazier’s (4:55) and Elsakr’s (4:56) opening mile was 18 seconds too rich for Epifanio and Ramsdell. The two leaders reached the turnaround well ahead of the other 900 runners, where Frazier dropped off the pace. Elsakr went through two in 10:12. Meanwhile, Epifanio, Ramsdell, et. al., worked their way back through 900 thirsty runners cutting across the road to the water table, strategically placed on the opposite side of the curve in the road.
By the time he reached the entrance to the park, Elsakr was all alone, and looking for additional inspiration. When the last turn ended, and he could see the clock for the first time, he realized that his goal of his first sub-sixteen was within reach. First across the “red carpet,” his race ended in 15:48. (Got that, Norm?)
Epifanio and Ramsdell entered the park practically on top of each other, both aspiring to the same things: third place, and a sub-17. The last best effort was turned in by Epifanio, who finished his first race as a 17 year old in 17:01.3, nearly matching his age and place exactly. Ramsdell was fourth in 17:02.4. (Well, there’s the .4.)
Like Elsakr, two of the three female front runners were also seeking redemption. Neither Zoe Volenec (a sophomore at Spruce Creek), nor Alyssa Burkert (a senior at Ocoee) can look back at their cross country seasons as having a memorable conclusion.
“I started off injured, and finished sick,” sighed Volenec. “I haven’t run a good race since the conference (October 27th; second in 20:32.75). Today, I just wanted to do better.”
After leading her team all season, things seemed to unravel for her when it mattered most.
“I was sick for the Regional. I’m pretty sure I had the flu. I had a 105 degree temperature and couldn’t get out of bed for a couple of days.”
Perhaps convinced that the worst was over, she entered the November 14th 4A Region 1 girls’ race with the hope that she could run fast enough to help Spruce Creek advance to the FHSAA State Meet. She barely broke 22 minutes, and finished 68th in 21:57.04. The worst part was that the Creek Girls Team missed the State Meet by one point.
“I thought I was going to do better, but I didn’t have the endurance. At least I got through the conference before I got sick…and it wasn’t the swine flu; I tested negative.”
But with that behind her, she looks forward to better days.
“Today, I just wanted to do better than I have. I’m really happy with my time (20:29.4). I’m looking forward to Stonewood, and a couple of other local races. I want to break 20, which I had hoped to do this cross country season.”
At season’s end, Burkert, too, found herself trying to outrun more than the competition.
“It was a sinus infection. I had it at the Region Meet,” she explained. “I went to the doctor afterwards. He put me on antibiotics for ten days.”
Unfortunately, it turned out to be worse than anyone could have suspected.
“The State Meet definitely didn’t go as I had planned. It (her time) was around 21…but things happen.”
Alyssa’s actual time at the State Meet, 20:36.10 (62nd out of 184), was well off her 19:28 (ninth of 115) at her November 13th District Meet, two weeks before. Feeling better, she, like Volenec, sought out the recuperative solace of a “low key” road race.
“I actually wasn’t planning on running as hard as I did, but I felt good. Even at the middle of the race I wasn’t sure; would I get tired…could I keep going? Coming off the State Meet, it felt really good to do so well.
Alyssa, like many Florida runners finishing up their senior cross country season, also had to decide where she will attend college, and who she will be running for next season. Her choice: Coach Bryan Jackson at Wofford College, in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
“I guess it was a relief knowing that I made my decision, and getting it out of the way. I think it will also help a lot with my upcoming races because the pressure (of having to make the decision) is off, and now I can have fun running.”
“Relief” was timed in 18:47.2. Her Spruce Creek counterpart, Zoe Volenec, finished third in 20:29.4. In between the two teenagers was 43 year old Sheila Sullivan in 20:24.2. Infused with all the youthful energy around her, and finishing in lots of time to do so, she sprinted back and forth, escorting each of her three kids to the finish line: 11 year old Chris (finishing first in the male 11 and under with a 21:16), 9 year old Ryan (second in the male 11 and under with a 23:16), and 13 year old Lindsey (second in the 12 to 14 females with a 23:28.5). She might just as well have run the ten mile run…wait, I’m checking those results next.
Top 10
Males Time Females Tim
- Joseph Elsakr 15:48 8) Alyssa Burkert 18:47
- Alex Frazier 16:27 23) Sheila Sullivan 20:24
- Andrew Epifanio 17:01 25) Zoe Volenec 20:29
- Blaine Ramsdell 17:05 28)Jocelin Adona 20:49
- Justin Schanze 18:10 31) April Darrow 21:11
- Kyle Semple 18:51 40) Nancy Harms 22:00
- Joshua Muma 18:49 45)Maria Seravalli 22:09
- Virgil Williams 18:54 50)Holly Zora 22:45
- James Masters 18:54 53)Catherine La Starza 22:37
- Andrew Webster 19:00 54)Cassie Corbyons 22:47
Footnotes: All times quoted are chip times (in other words, the interval between which a runner’s foot crossed [at the start], then re-crossed (the finish) the finish line. In a race of this size, especially with such a huge field jammed behind a narrow start, it took almost two minutes for all the runners to pass the starting line…The ten mile race was won by 39 year old Kayle Fisher of Holly Hill in 59:40.8. The first woman was Sarah Robertson (25) of Orlando, who finished in 1:06.56. For complete results, and a calendar of upcoming road races, refer to altavistasports.com.
A riddle: what has 1758 legs, 1996 tires, two busloads of miniature football players, and a couple of dozen rednecks (seated behind the steering wheel of their quintessential trucks) voicing their unsolicited opinions of runners clogging “their road?” Give up? The answer is the 25th Annual Deland “Turkey Trot,” of course! (The latter term, given the circumstances, might better be applied to the aforementioned truckers, who after all these years, still can’t seem to recall that the race moved into the neighborhood long before most of them did, at a time when Marsh Road was, indeed, indicative of its name.)
November 26, 2009
On most days, Sperling Sports Complex is a scene of peace and tranquility. If you sit still long enough, you can almost imagine hearing the grass grow. It is big enough, and the facilities varied enough, that you rarely see more than one or two of the fields occupied at the same time. The usual number of spectators is small, too, and so spread out that an attempt to perform the wave would hardly produce a ripple.