Mike Melton-Race Report on "UltraList" Blog
Listers –
This is a followup post to offer a bit more information about the Peanut Island 24-Hour, 12-Hour and 6-Hour races that concluded this morning (January 1, 2013) at 10 AM Eastern Daylight Time on historic Peanut Island off the coast of Palm Beach, Florida. Final results of the races are posted at the links shown below, and they include partial-lap mileage for those who wished to run until the races ended. There is also a link below to the lap-by-lap split times for each runner, for those who are interested in that sort of thing ;-). More information about the event is located at www.peanutisland24.com .
The 12-Hour and 6-Hour races did not draw many runners, since the majority of those entered chose the 24-Hour race. In the 12-Hour event, Greg Bergeron from Milton VT won the Men’s title with 58.07 miles, and Karen Connolly made a game run at 60 miles but time ran out for her at 55.558 miles. In the 6-Hour race, Toronto, Canada’s Dmitry Kozlov won the Men’s title with 34.00 miles, and Georganna Quarles of Duck Key took advantage of knowing what mileage had been run in the earlier wave (both the 12-Hour and 6-Hour had two different race options) to take the Women’s title with 34.571 miles.
In the men’s half of the 24-Hour event, Stuart, Florida’s Brad Lombardi charged out to the lead with Dave Krupski of Miami FL and Andrei Nana of Hallandale Beach FL close on his heels. In the end, Lombardi stopped at the 100K mark, Krupski decided that 100 miles was all he wanted to run, which left Nana all alone in the lead. Nana powered on to win the Men’s title with 113.579 miles, an improvement of 20 miles over his effort here last year. Allan Perez of Silver Spring MD and Joe Ninke of Sebastian FL ran steady races the entire time, and became the other two male 100-mile-plus runners as Perez finished with 105.858 miles for second place and Ninke notched 102.469 miles for third place. Rockledge FL’s Keith Kromash finished with 85.186 miles to claim the Masters title.
The women’s side of the 24-Hour race proved more dramatic, as Krystle Martinez of West Palm Beach FL passed 50 miles in less than 10 hours en route to building a nearly 4-mile lead over Charlotte Armstrong of Davie FL. But Martinez’s lack of experience beyond the 100K mark took its toll, as did digestive issues, and by 19 hours Armstrong was scant minutes behind Martinez as they crossed the 81-mile point. Within the next hour, Martinez said ‘no mas’ and stopped at 83.951 miles, leaving Armstrong with a commanding 8-mile lead over Lana Kovarik of Goose Creek SC going into the final three hours. Armstrong smelled a 100-mile finish and with machine-like precision polished a 100-mile belt buckle with less than 20 minutes to spare. Armstrong’s 100-mile split time was 23:40:20, her first time in triple digits. Kovarik’s 87.765 miles wasn’t quite up to the 100.203 miles she ran in last year’s event, but it was good enough for second place today. Martinez ended up in third, and Jodi Weiss of Highland Beach FL finished fourth with 77.779 miles to claim the Masters title.
The weather was breezy with strong gusts at times, sunny in the afternoon of the first half of the race, with partly cloudy skies the rest of the time. Temperatures hovered in the low 60s for the bulk of the race. The pancake-flat (one low hill of about 15 feet) USATF-certified 1.2345-mile course loops the perimeter of the island, and with three restroom buildings located around the course (one with hot showers) as well as a campground available just off the course pathway, this venue is a prime location for running well. The path is wide, flat and smooth, and made of brick pavers laid over a packed sand foundation that some runners found a bit harder than an asphalt surface. Scenic views of the old-money islands of Singer Island an Palm Beach dominated the skyline, and the city of West Palm Beach graciously added a beautiful fireworks display at midnight ;-).
Race Director Bob Becker (also RD of KEYS 100, the Palm 100 races, and the Everglades Ultras) does a first-class job of keeping runners fueled and hydrated, and a cadre of volunteers took care of the rest. I have FI (financial interest) in this event since I provided the timing and scoring for the race.
Mike Melton |
Sanctioned Event