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| Ben Nephew touring the Peachtree City 50K course |
The Darkside Running Club hosted the race, which was contested on cart paths that run throughout the city. The course was a 5.2 mile loop, which had a short out/back section in order to get the correct distance over six loops. Race day conditions were good with temperatures in the upper 30's at the 7:30AM start and mid-40's when most had finished. Skies were clear and there was very low humidity. However, it was quite windy even with most of the course shielded by trees. The course had very few turns, gently rolling hills, a few tunnels under main roads and one BIG tree that had blown down and completely blocked the path about halfway through the loop.
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| Dave Dunham crossing the finish line |
Approximately 45 runners lined up at the start/finish area to determine the top USATF team, overall and age group winners. The men's race looked to be a contest between 2:14 marathoner Michael Dudley, 2:24 marathoner Kevin Beck, USATF trail marathon runner-up Ben Nephew, and reigning 50K road champ Dan Verrington. On the ladies side, Anne Riddle was the fastest entrant, fresh off her victory two weeks ago at the trail marathon championships.
A lead pack formed right from the gun with Nephew, Beck, Dudley and Verrington quickly pulling away. Ryne Melcher and Danny Fink ran together and the rest of the field strung out. At the end of the first loop (5.2 miles) Nephew, Beck and Dudley had a 13 second lead on Verrington with a 30:47 to 31:00. Melcher and the 40 year old Fink came through two minutes later, and former sub three hour 50K runner Dave Dunham passed in 34:24 in 7th place. Anne Riddle lead the women's field by about 30 seconds passing through the first loop in 10th place overall.
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| Ooops! Someone apparently forgot to tell the CMS contingent that the race was a 50K, not a 400 meter |
The second lap saw little change with Dudley, sitting behind the CMS teammates, coming through another 30:47 lap (1:01:34 @ 10.4M). Verrington slipped another six seconds back running alone in 4th. Melcher moved ahead of Fink and Dunham ran another 34:24 split. Riddle began to slowly pull away from the other women.
There were very few developments in the third lap as the runners fell into a groove. The community began waking up and there were some vocal run-ins with drivers of speeding golf carts. Nephew led the group with a 30:50 split (1:32:24 @ halfway). Verrington held fast with a 32:19, as Fink began to move up on Melcher for the last money spot. Dunham continued to run even with another 34:24 split (1:43:15).
The fourth lap saw things shake up as Dudley made a decisive move. Beck followed him as they split in 31:31 (2:03:56 @ 20.8M). Nephew followed 24 seconds back and Verrington looked to have settled into a comfortable pace splitting in 32:59. Melcher began to slow and was passed by Fink and Dunham (who ran his fastest loop, 34:14). Riddle continued to cruise in the top ten overall as she extended her lead over Floren Ansley.
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| Second-place finisher Kevin Beck |
During the fifth lap, Dudley went off course twice, missing the minimally mark turns. (Course markings were mostly from other races held on the paths and mile markers for the race were non-existent). Beck was passed twice in the lap as he rolled through with a 31:14 split and continued through the marathon in 2:37:07. Nephew followed with a 33:00 split in 3rd place and hit the marathon in 2:39:30. Verrington was next with a 34:15 split (marathon in 2:43:20). There was a substantial gap to Fink who passed the marathon in 2:52 and Dunham who continued to close with a 34:31 lap (2:54:12 marathon).
Very little changed during the final lap as Dudley powered home in 3:05. Beck finished his first ultra with a final lap of 31:10 for an excellent 3:06. Nephew slowed a bit, but easily held 3rd place with a 33:55 lap and a three minute PR in 3:11. Verrington closed out the race with a 35:15 to take 4th and win the master's title. Dunham passed Fink early in the final lap and ran a 35:14 last lap to take 5th and 2nd master. Fink held on to take 6th (3rd master), and Melcher closed the gap to take 7th. Anne Riddle finished 8th overall in 3:39:58 to take a five minute victory over Floren Ansley. Four women finished in the top twelve. CMS defended the team title with an excellent combined time of 9:34:15.
PLACE RUNNER AGE SEX TIME STATE 1 Mike Dudley 34 M 3:05:34 GA USATF National Champion 2 Kevin Beck 34 M 3:06:22 FL 3 Ben Nephew 29 M 3:11:14 MA 4 Dan Verrington 42 M 3:16:42 MA USATF Master Champion 5 Dave Dunham 40 M 3:27:15 MA 2nd 40+ 6 Danny Fink 41 M 3:33:59 VA 3rd 40+ 7 Ryne Melcher 25 M 3:34:34 ONT 8 Anne Riddle 38 F 3:39:58 NC USATF National Champion 9 Jack McDermott 35 M 3:44:01 FL 10 Floren Ansley 28 F 3:44:52 GA 2nd Female 11 Ragan Petrie 38 F 3:51:22 GA 3rd Female 12 Patricia Zerfas 42 F 3:51:41 MD 4th Female 13 Jeremy Waechter 27 M 3:53:22 GA 14 Frank Molloy 46 M 3:56:21 GA 15 Jeff Olive 36 M 3:57:37 GA 16 Prince Whatley 35 M 4:05:42 GA 17 Doug Cassiday 38 M 4:08:18 GA 18 Janice Anderson 38 F 4:20:03 GA 19 Gary Dover 44 M 4:20:39 GA 20 RobŐt Newcomer 45 M 4:26:19 GA 21 Byron Backer 40 M 4:26:26 SC 22 Jed Smith 34 M 4:29:52 GA 23 Jennifer Brigati 25 F 4:34:25 AL 24 Rob Apple 43 M 4:41:42 TN 25 Sherry Meador 39 F 5:00:15 AL 26 Kim Brown 35 F 5:03:14 GA 27 Lynn Mooney 42 F 5:04:36 GA 28 Amy O'Dea 25 F 5:07:47 GA 29 Michael Nash 34 M 5:09:16 GA 30 Debi Legg 40 F 5:09:17 GA 31 Marlene Atwood 54 F 5:15:08 GA 32 Sue Sinclair 46 F 5:22:43 GA 33 Robin Kelley 32 M 5:23:09 AL 34 Karen Khodadadi 46 F 5:31:50 AL 35 Jim Emig 58 M 5:39:26 GA 36 Bryan Church 45 M 6:02:49 GA 37 Brenton Floyd 19 M 6:14:18 TN 38 Gary Lewis 53 M 6:29:39 FL 39 Anne Rentz 52 F 6:57:43 GA 40 Angela Ivory 36 F 7:07:13 TN 41 Melody Abraham 49 F 7:07:48 GA 42 Brenda Simpson 35 F 7:17:06 GA