On any given Thanksgiving morning, there are more people entered in road races than on any other day of the year. The onset of cooler weather and the dwindling of triathlons added to the hordes that include unemployed cross country runners (the various championship meets had just concluded), prodigal children (sent home from those colleges needing a time out), and the 19 Stegenmeyerstahlers registered by a generous (and optimistic) uncle Otto who bought matching shirts for all. (Just kidding about the latter.)
This race was started way back in 1984, when many in this year’s field were too young to sign the release form. At that time John Boyle wisely chose a spot in a part of Deland that had few houses and very little traffic. But the times, they are a-changing. Between the 595 registered runners, at least that many spectators, half a dozen busloads full of football addicts and, literally, hundreds of cars on the way in, out and past the entrance, Sperling Sports Complex generated more excitement than a freshly cooked turkey in a house full of pets.
Having concluded my humble contribution to a fast-paced registration that began at 6-something a.m., I was moseying on over to the start to spend some quality time with my trusty Nikon, when John ran up and said “Quick, Ralph, I need you at the entrance to the park to monitor the traffic!”
At first, I thought, “Great, there go the interviews I was going to conduct.” However, from an observational point of view, I was “stuck” at ground zero for just about anything and everything that could happen in, or as a result of a road race. (When we do the movie, I think I’ll call it “Compendium of Commotion,” or maybe “A Target for Trotters.”)
The narrow entrance to Sperling is at the intersection of a twisting, winding park road that meets….a twisting winding Marsh Road. Drivers coming off International Speedway Blvd. hit a straight stretch of Marsh and celebrate by mashing down on the gas pedal until, at the entrance of Sperling the road suddenly turns sharply to the right, otherwise identified (by the runners) as Tangent I. This is also where all the cars coming from the opposite direction decided to pass over a double yellow line, and enter the left (oncoming) lane to circumvent the runners who thought they owned the entire road. (My admonitions to the contrary failed to convince them otherwise.) However, armed with some traffic cones, an orange vest and my multi-purpose straw hat (frantically waving it to get the attention of anyone who noticed), I did my best. I also learned to appreciate the extent of patience and self-sacrifice that the Boys in Blue exhibit in similar situations.
As a result of being given a “head start,“ the first guy past me was charioteer Scott Rimer. Using some kind of ultramodern, hand-propelled (barely) subsonic wheelchair, he flew by in silence and nearly took me out of the picture in the process. He hit the five mile turnaround in 28:16 en route to a 54:36 (5:28 pace) wheelchair (and good enough for an overall) ten mile victory.
Shortly thereafter, the start of the 5 and 10 mile run went off simultaneously. High School cross country and track speedster Dylan Holyoke led all the runners out of the park and held on to a 5:52 per mile pace to beat all other Delandites with an 18:11 finish time, good for fifth overall. Brothers Keith (21) and Chris (17) Moody, of Port Orange ran 17:15 and 17:58, respectively to take first and fourth overall. Sandwiched in there was Nicholas Brooks of Georgia (15-17 age group winner and second overall in 17:37) and 42 year old Bill Wenner of Orlando (winner of the 40-44s in 17:52), the latter being the lone exception to the race’s strong contingent of youthful front-runners, age wise at any rate.
33 year old Colleen Nicoulin of Port Orange smashed her way into the 5K top ten en route to an 18:43 overall women’s title (6:02 per mile). Her only challenge came from 15 year old high school star Alyssa Burkert of Winter Garden /Ocoee High School (fresh off a State Meet time of 18:03, good for fourth place in the Girls 4A race). Like many of the high school stars of this past season, she may very well have been easing up a little to prevent an unwelcome injury that is often the consequence of a competitive season that begins in the dog days of August, and ends in mid-to late November. Deland senior Brooke Baumann was third in 20:15, looking as relaxed as ever.
Winners on either end of the 71 year age spread were nine year old Chris Sullivan (21:34) and 11 year old Lindsey Sullivan (24:53) in the 11 and under category, and 72 year old Jerry Lardinois (25:08) and 78 year old Lois Clark (32:54) in the 70+ category.
Top 10
5K Males Time 5K Females Time
1) Keith Moody 17:15 8)Colleen Nicoulin 18:43
2)Nicholas Brooks 17:37 11)Alyssa Burkert 19:06
3)Bill Wenner 17:52 25)Brooke Baumann 20:15
4)Chris Moody 17:58 30)Suzanne O’Malley 20:31
5)Dylan Holyoke 18:11 34)Mary Ann Rau 21:09
6)Andrew Epifanio 18:18 37)Brenna Ginter 21:31
7)Danny Stevens 18:24 39)April Darrow 21:35
9)Evan Strouse 18:49 42)Stephanie Epifanio 21:40
10)Elliott Strouse 18:59 43)Pam Hanson-Peterson 21:41
12)Nick Bowling 19:10 45)Raksha Ravikumar 21:45
5K Males Time 5K Females Time
1) Keith Moody 17:15 8)Colleen Nicoulin 18:43
2)Nicholas Brooks 17:37 11)Alyssa Burkert 19:06
3)Bill Wenner 17:52 25)Brooke Baumann 20:15
4)Chris Moody 17:58 30)Suzanne O’Malley 20:31
5)Dylan Holyoke 18:11 34)Mary Ann Rau 21:09
6)Andrew Epifanio 18:18 37)Brenna Ginter 21:31
7)Danny Stevens 18:24 39)April Darrow 21:35
9)Evan Strouse 18:49 42)Stephanie Epifanio 21:40
10)Elliott Strouse 18:59 43)Pam Hanson-Peterson 21:41
12)Nick Bowling 19:10 45)Raksha Ravikumar 21:45
And then there was the 10 miler, which generated a sizeable field, lots of opinions on the part of driver/spectators, and excuses by participants and volunteers who may have arrived at the Thanksgiving dinner table later than promised.
The first finisher on two legs was 28 year old John Best, uh Bess, of New Smyrna Beach, in 57:46, or 5:47 per mile. (That’s the great thing about this distance: it’s quite easy to calculate the pace per mile.) After him, they came in about a minute a runner: Gary Cohen in 58:37, Paul Duckett in 59:46, etc.
The fastest woman was 26 year old Kathleen Hoover of Ormond Beach, who finished eleventh in 1:06:52. Behind her, the next eight were bunched between 19th and 39th place, or roughly four minutes in time; a truly competitive race-within-a-race.
The oldest competitor, 77 year old Epifanio Agosto (what a great name), could have moved up a couple of age groups and still won. In fact, his 1:32:23 was close to an average time for all the age groups.
Top 10
Male 10 Milers Time Female 10 Milers Time
2)John Bess 57:46 11)Kathleen Hoover 66:52
3)Gary Cohen 58:37 19)Sally Chappell 69:58
4)Paul Duckett 59:46 23)Lauren Leffler 71:23
5)Tomas Lepp 62:10 25)Dana Gross-Rhode 71:35
6)Sean Hendryx 62:31 29)Sheila Sullivan 72:32
7)Todd Graff 63:36 30)Amber LeBlanc 72:51
8)Mike Mott 63:58 31)Darla Bennett 72:57
9)William Burgos 64:50 36)Ashley Naelon 73:26
10)HunterTolbert 65:46 39)Julie Sands 74:05
12)Michael Schmid 66:55 45)Kelly Kenzik 75:42
Footnotes: I’m sure that I speak for race director John Boyle and everyone else who was witness to the collapse of triathlete Mike Weirich with our wish for a speedy and complete recovery. As of this writing we’re not sure whether it was exhaustion or a heart attack that felled him within a couple of hundred yards of the finish line. Nonetheless, our prayers are for a speedy and complete recovery so that he will again join us on the roads….I am filing this story, as usual, as soon as I can. My photos, however will follow a few days later. Yes, I still use a SLR film camera and send the film out for processing. I hope your patience will be rewarded by the results.