18.6 Degrees at the 30K

By David Yon, January 18, 2003

Temperatures dipped below twenty degrees on a few thermometers as Larry Mengelkock and Jane Johnson captured the men and women’s titles in the first GWTC race of the year. Larry took the long lonely route to victory building a big lead over the rest of the field and then hanging on at the end for a winning time of 2:02:29. Jane helped lead a pack of about seven runners through the early miles of the race before winning the women’s race in a time of 2:07:47. Jack McDermott busted up the pack of seven by turning down the screws around mile 14 to grab second place in a time of 2:04:22 while running the second half much faster than the first. Carrie Weyant at 2:19:03 took second place in the women’s race.

David and Judy Waters kept the chili tradition alive cooking more than enough to feed the 59 finisher and the hearty volunteers. The race returned to its traditional time of year and served as a build up for many of the participants for next month’s Tallahassee Marathon.