From Capitol to Coast: 39 teams finish a windy 79-mile race to the Blue Parrot
More than a year ago, I ate lunch with Nick Lowe and partner as they carefully explained their vision of a new relay race for Tallahassee – one that would start at the state Capitol building and end at the Blue Parrot Ocean Front Café on St. George Island.
They guessed the distance to be somewhere around 85 miles if I remember correctly. I told them it was a great idea, but they better have some heavy duty help to be successful with the logistics. Saturday was the culmination of more than a year of planning and it was indeed a success.
Early Saturday morning (before 5:30 am), I heard Loranne Ausley’s voice coming through Mary Jean’s phone via FaceBook Live. “Live from the Capitol,” she shouted and then began counting down to the start time for her wave, the last of three waves. The first Capitol to Coast Relay was fully underway before the sun got a chance to start its day.
Relay teams consisted of 6 people whose goal was to follow the course to St. George Island, a total of 79 miles. Loranne’s team, the Coast Busters, finished 14th. Her teammates included Jamila Allen, Stephanie Liles, Donica Williams, Seth Stanaland, and Ryan Allen. The course was broken down into 12 legs or segments and each team member was to run two legs.
'20 mph headwind'
Loranne summed up their experience well. "Capitol to Coast completed. We ‘busted’ the coast and had a great time! Tough course, great teammates and great support out there. Great way to show off the beauty of North Florida on a picture-perfect day…. except for the 20 mph headwind! Registration for next year opens tomorrow.” It took them 11:02:19:05.
Thirty-nine teams finished the 79-mile race, Fleet Feet was the first team to cross the line. They did so in 8:04:27 – a 6:08 pace. Teams were permitted to have six runners on a team with each one running two legs of the course. The 79 miles was broken into 12 segments. The distance for each leg ranged from 4.31 miles to 8.42 miles.
There was also a category for Relay Walkers which covered 23 miles and was won by Moms on the Loose in 5:17:33. The were 4 teams in this category. And finally, there was a Ruck Team category with 3 teams entered. SGI Wolverines A completed the 23 mile course in 4:57:11.
'The views were incredible'
Mickey Moore was almost all praise for the event. “The views were incredible, the organization for the race was great,” he reported. His team, Alsco finished 3rd in a time of 9:01:39, good enough for a nice trophy Alsco included Darien Amgelier, Paul Guyas, Trevor Foley, Robert Reifinger.
Mickey noted “The race organizers staggered the start with three waves. They had the slower teams start before the faster teams. It made it seem like they were many more people on the course and strategy came in to play a little more.”
Mickey also gave a big salute to Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil and Franklin County Sheriff AJ Smith for working to keep the runners safe. Most of the course was on the St. Marks Rails to Trail linear park and Highway 98.
Room to grow
Allen Blay’s team “Fiscally Fit” consisted of three FSU accounting professionals and three doctorial students.
He wrote: “Had an incredible time today at the inaugural Capitol to Coast relay. Our 'Fiscally Fit' team of three FSU accounting profs and three of our doc students finished the 79-mile race from the Capitol to the St. George lighthouse in 10:35:09, a little under an 8:00 minute pace. We competed against 39 teams and finished 6th in the open division and 9th overall. We all did better than we expected despite 20 mph headwinds and full sun.”
The Capitol to Coast race is part of the Hood to Coast amalgamation. The main event, Hood to Coast, “The Mother of All Relays,” includes more than 12,000 participants who cover 199 miles starting high up on Mount Hood (Oregon) runs through Portland before finishing at the Pacific Ocean. Teams consist of 8-12 runners and must have two vans. There appear to be six other one day relays around the U.S.
The Tallahassee version is not likely to ever approach the size of Hood to Coast, but it’s off to a good start and has plenty of room to grow. The logistics will only get better too.
Other racing news
Trent Parsons and Noah Bullock battled for a win in the Wolf Dash 5K run on the hollowed cross-country grounds at Apalachee Regional Park. The lead went back and forth a few times between them until they made their second trip over “the wall” after which Noah pulled away. He finished in a time of 20:45 while Trent stopped the clock at 20:59. The top female in the race was Charlene Batcheller who ran 30:23 for the win.
The worms were grunting in Sopchoppy on Saturday as the Sopchoppy Worm Grunting Festival 5K had the biggest field (271 finishers) in 10 years according to the very reliable Herb Wills. Herb also reported that Joseph Wiedeman won in 18:49, crossing the finish line just a second ahead of Jacob Langston. Sheryl Rosen was the first female finisher in 19:05, comfortably ahead of Isabella Laughton who finished in 19:19.
And finally, the Garnet and Gold 4-Miler had 634 finishers. The race begins at the Unconquered Statue next to Doak Campbell Stadium and tours through the FSU campus before finishing inside the stadium on the 50-yard line. Jonathan Stern was the winner in 21:11, more than a minute ahead of Wyatt Stafford who finished in 22:12. The top finisher in the women’s division was Mia Wiederkehr, with a time of 27:16. Right behind Mia was Annalise Maillet in 26:19.
It was a good weekend to be a participant rather than a spectator.
David Yon is addicted to running. In his spare time, he is an attorney with the Radey Law Firm.
Never miss a story: Subscribe to the Tallahassee Democrat using the link at the top of the page.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: From Capitol to Coast debuts successful 79-mile race
