Ouzts recognized for performance in Spartan World Trifecta Championship

Payton Fletcher, Thomasville Times-Enterprise, Ga.
·3 min read

Jan. 11—On Monday, the Thomasville City Council recognized and honored exceptional members of the local community during their regular board meeting.

Of those recognized, Elisabeth Ouzts, permit technician for the City of Thomasville, was welcomed by Mayor Jay Flowers in honor of her competing in the recent Spartan World Trifecta Championships held in Sparta, Greece.

She said that qualifying for the championship involved running in three prior races, which she said took her to West Virginia and Texas.

"You have to run three of their races," Ouzts said. "I actually ran their ultra, which is 32 miles and about 80 obstacles, from start to finish. So I qualified to run in Sparta, Greece in November.I basically raised the money and flew all the way out there and competed in their three day championship."

Ouzts said that her performance in the championship, which was held over the course of three days, went quite well and she managed to achieve notable success in her age group and amongst US participants.

"It went really well," she said. "I competed in their three day championship and I came in eleventh overall in my age, but second from the USA."

On the second day, Ouzts said that she was 21st in her age group and fifth from participants in USA, but she said that the third day, which had the longest run, she did very well.

"I think it was about 16-plus miles and I ended up coming in tenth, and third out of the USA competitors," she said.

Alongside Ouzts at the City Council meeting were her supporters from the community, which included Ed Millere and an assortment of other supporters she met while frequenting the Grassroots Coffee shop that helped her participate in the championship.

"I frequent the Grassroots Coffee shop and I was wearing my jacket with my patches on it and they had asked me about it and I went in to tell them what I do on my weekends, and it kind of went from there," she said. "Every time I went to a race, they wanted to hear about it, they wanted to see medals, and I wasn't planning to go to Sparta this year, I was waiting to be more financially okay, to afford to go. I told them about the bucket list to go and they were supportive with telling me I needed to take this opportunity and I needed to go and we were all gonna make it happen. So yeah, they're my cheerleaders."

While honored by the recognition, Ouzts said that it was nerve-wracking and that she never thought that she, a full-time working mother, would be seen as extraordinary.

"It was nerve-wracking to begin with, because I'm just an ordinary person," Ouzts said. "I work, you know, I'm a mom, I work full-time, and I'm, like, I don't really do extraordinary things, but I guess to other people, this is extraordinary, so it was an honor, honestly."

The City Council also presented a proclamation to Len Robinson in honor of the 100th anniversary of the WPAX radio station and the service the station has done for the community in that time.

Additionally, the Lifesaver Award and Grand Cordon Award were presented to Lieutenant Jason Baldwin, Corporal Casey King, Officer Brandon Burden, Officer Benjamin Harrison, Officer Melvin Ray, and Officer Leonard Angel. Officer Ray also received an award for Meritorious Service.

Afterward, the City Council saw to other business, including four separate ordinance authorizations in connection with the Old Albany Road Sidewalk Project, and unanimous approval of an ordinance to set candidate qualifying fees for the 2023 Municipal General Election, active 2023 Alcohol Beverage License Renewals and Asset Dispostion Services Agreement for Thomasville Police Department.