Some celebrate the 4th of July with fireworks and hotdogs, while others make it an annual event to run a 10,000 meters in the middle of the night. The 25th annual Kiwanis Mease Midnight 10K Run had a turnout of 552 runners yesterday.
The male winner of the race was Tony Teats, a 27-year-old whose name always seems to end up at the top of most road races in the Tampa Bay area. Teats won against mild competition from 41-year-old Irving Batten, who came all the way from Summersvill, South Carolina. Teats' time was 33:10, some 40 seconds faster than Batten.
The first collegiate finisher was John Emmerson, a Hernando High graduate now at Florida Southern, with a time of 34:18. Steven Bell of Land O' Lakes High was the first high school finisher--he crossed at 35:48. Thomas Nagy of Seminole was close behind in 35:55.
On the women's side, Christa Benton of the University of South Florida (alumna of Keswick Christian) took home the trophy, placing 11th overall in 37:34. An outstanding performance came in from Kailand Cosgrove, a 13-year-old from Tarpon Springs. Cosgrove clocked an impressive 41:27--no report on what high school she will be attending this fall. The next high school girl was Leela Hadsock, who came across in 45:43.