From the Gulf Winds Track Club site, http://www.gulfwinds.org/:

Willis to defend title at 32nd Palace Saloon 5K

By Herb Wills

Lee Willis, A Florida State University doctoral candidate in history, will defend his title at the 32nd annual Palace Saloon 5K on April 15. Willis won the 2005 race in 16:06, the fastest 5K road time in Tallahassee last year.

In the women's division, defending champion Breeda Dennehy-Willis is injured and will not be competing. An Irish Olympian, Dennehy-Willis' 2005 time of 16:31 is the course record for the Palace Saloon 5K. She also won the race in 2004. Four other women (Jane Johnson, Vikki Saga, Karen MacHarg, and Janice Gage) have recorded back-to-back Palace Saloon Championships. The only woman to have won three straight Palace Saloon races is Sarah Docter-Williams (1997, 1998, 1999).

The Palace Saloon 5K will start from James Messer Fields Park at 8:00 AM ET on Saturday, April 15. Race day registration and packet pick-up will take place near the starting area from 6:45 - 7:45 that morning. The course is USATF certified and finishes in front of the Palace Saloon on Jackson Bluff Road. Sponsors of the event include the Gulf Winds Track Club, the Palace Saloon, and Tri-Eagle Distributing.

About Lee Willis:
http://campus.fsu.edu/profiles/willis/

About Breeda Dennehy-Willis:
http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/athlete=70755/BioPopUp.html

Palace Saloon 5K Champions:
http://palacesaloon.com/champions.html

Palace Saloon 5K Entry Information:
http://gulfwinds.org/Fliers/palaceapplication_2006.pdf

This was the race's second week in the Tallahassee Democrat's "Community Calendar", and the first week that we showed up in the web-based edition of the calendar:

http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060314/SPORTS/603140349

RUNNING

32nd Annual Palace Saloon 5K: April 15 at 8 a.m. Start and race-day registration at Messer Field. Cost: $12 early, $15 on race day. Contact Reid Vannoy at 591-7891 or info@palacesaloon.com or gulfwinds.org.

Well, I don't remember listing the 2006 Palace Saloon 5K on Road ID, but here it is:

http://www.roadid.com/events/race_detail.asp?EventID=4jk9980688&SID=40344&EID=40051&MID=80688

We're in the Fleet Foot, thanks to editor Fred Deckert!

This was the inside front cover of the March 2006 issue. It's online at the Gulf Winds Track Club website at this URL: http://www.gulfwinds.org/newsletter/Mar2006.pdf.

Here's some finishers at the Tallahassee Marathon on 19 February:

Here's a quote from robbyturner.com:

Bobby finds time for relaxation too. He's an accomplished musician and plays regularly with Swing Shift, a local jazz band performing monthly at Bannerman's as well as other public and private venues. As a runner Robby has participated in many area running events such as the Springtime 10K, Palace Saloon 5K and the 15K Turkey Trot to name a few. To better integrate mind body and spirit Robby uses the practice of Yoga help bring focus to a seemingly scattered existence.

It's interesting that the Palace Saloon 5K is classed with the Springtime 10K and the Turkey Trot 15K. Now if we could just get the numbers up where a fixture of this class should be.

I have no comment on the yoga.

Guess which course is now on USATF's America's Running Routes?


No fair; you peaked!
http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=8780

I requested race numbers today (January 31) through the Runner's World race sponsorship program. This is probably the very latest that such a request should be made. I also sent a message to Florida Race Place (http://flraceplace.com/) requesting a listing. This is also a bit on the late side.

Yesterday (January 30) I shot off my second (or third) request to flrunners.com to be listed on their road race calendar. Keep watching.

Mike Boll on the Mike Long Track, finishing the Capital City Challenge 5K, where we did our second bit of race-site advertising. The cups are probably better placed on the back stretch fence, which is higher.

Keith Rowe running by our promotion at the Gulf Winds Track Club 30K on January 21. In the future, it might be better to place signs on an earlier part of the course--i.e., a part of the course that the 15K runners also got to see.

Another mention, this time by Jack McDermott:

Hey Diddle Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle, the Cow Jumped Over the Moon … This is what you will see if you drink too much beer after the Palace Saloon Run. One tip, if you start seeing "the dish running away with the spoon" then you better find a designated driver. Please remember that in life as in running, we all need to pace ourselves.

Um. "All publicity is good publicity," right? This is from an article at:

http://www.gulfwinds.org/columnists/Jack/nursery_rhymes.htm

The Palace Saloon 5K registration crew, up before the sun. 

Keith Batten (16:13), second overall and 2005 master champion.

Julie Clark wrote about the race in an article that appeared in the March-April 2005 NewsMakers, the newsletter of the Bradenton Runners Club. The passage reads as follows:

The Palace Saloon 5K will be on April 9th [sic] this year. It is our oldest race and usually has about 350 participants. It is a point to point race. The first mile is flat as a pancake and fast. The second mile has some gradual hills and becomes a little more difficult. The third mile has a very large hill. The finish is downhill and fast. The race ends at the Palace Saloon (hence the race name and the sponsor). Believe it or not, just about everyone ends up drinking beer at 9 a.m. in the morning. It is a lot of fun, but definitely an "adult" crowd. It is recommended to bring a designated driver for this one!

I just noticed the erroneous date. Auugh. Anyway, the entire article may be found here:

http://www.bradentonrunnersclub.com/2005marapr_96.pdf

Photos! There was photography at the 2005 race, professional and otherwise:

Cox Sports Photos -- http://coxsportsphotos.com/EventMain.asp?ID=321

Keith Rowe's pictures at Kodak Gallery -- http://kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=419221363205

Here are all the listings to date for the 32nd Annual Palace Saloon 5K, 15 April 2006:

active.com -- http://active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1151770

activezach.com -- http://activezach.com/events/eventDetails.cfm?pEventId=1689

allsportrunning.com -- http://allsportrunning.com/EventInfo.cfm?EventID=12450

coolrunning.com -- http://www.coolrunning.com/eventcal/eventInfo.php?id=10019&date=1145100000

craigslist.org -- http://tallahassee.craigslist.org/eve/79275998.html

EverythingTallahassee.com -- http://www.everythingtallahassee.com/articles/18644

FLrunners.com -- http://www.milesplit.com/meet/15344

Gaboons.com -- http://www.gaboons.com/3262

morethanyouthought.com -- http://www.morethanyouthought.com/event.php?month=4&year=2006&index=4

mynextrace.com -- The Listing

ontherun.com -- http://www.ontherunevents.com/Calendar/index.html?srchname=palace%20saloon

racesonline.com -- http://racesonline.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=public.details&sid=1676

racespider.com -- http://racespider.com/pages/race_detail.asp?EventID=638

rrca.org -- http://www.rrca.org/calendar/showevent.php?id=7141

RunnersWeb.com -- http://www.iacalendar.com/iacalendar/html/viewPubEvent2.asp?EventID=1215


runnersworld.com -- http://205.147.231.71/DisplayEvent.asp?RaceID=40051

RunningInTheUSA.com -- http://www.runningintheusa.com/LinkDetails.asp?LinkID=3224

runningusa.org --

runwalkjog.com -- http://www.runwalkjog.com/floridaraces01.htm

signmeupsports.com -- http://www.signmeup.com/51586

TallyMarket.com -- http://www.tallymarket.com/events/details.cfm?eventid=1657

timeoutdoors.com -- http://www.timeoutdoors.com/Events/Eventinfopopup.asp?id=22209&act=RUN&p=&iraceid=6381

upcoming.org -- http://upcoming.org/event/18824

usatf.org -- http://usatf.org/calendars/searchResults.asp?name=palace+saloon

virtualtourist.com -- (virtual tourist entry for the Palace Saloon 5K)

wegoplaces.com -- http://www.wegoplaces.com/Event_59168.aspx

See also:

Jax TC Calendar of N. Florida Races -- http://www.jacksonvilletrackclub.com/NFRaces.htm

Ken Bendy's Calendar of N. Florida Races -- http://www.members.aol.com/rrcahtml/rrcacal.htm

Pensacola Runners Association Calendar -- http://www.pensacolarunners.com/calendarapril2003.html#15

We've also requested print listings in Running Times and the 2005-2006 Living Here special section of the Tallahassee Democrat. Later we'll need to request listings in Running Journal and Florida Running and Florida Race Place, as well as some of the "clubbier" calendars on the web: Dothan Runners Club, Atlanta Track Club, Robins Pacers, Pensacola Runners Association, Northwest Florida Track Club, Draggin' Tail Runners, and anything else that springs to mind. We also can't forget to apply for Gulf Winds Track Club Grand Prix status, nor to bid for the RRCA state championship.

RunningInTheUSA.com has linked to the 2005 results. Most easily seen here:

http://runningintheusa.com/ShowResults.asp?StateID=FL&ResultsName=palace

2005 results are also at:

runwalkjog.com -- http://runwalkjog.com/PalaceSaloon5K05.htm

allsportcentral.com -- http://results.allsportcentral.com/results/results.cfm?EventID=9701

Here are all the "Community Calendar" listings rated by this year's Palace Saloon 5K:

3/27/2005 -- http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/sports/11240285.htm

3/29/2005 -- http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/sports/11254304.htm

4/03/2005 -- http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/sports/11298376.htm

4/05/2005 -- http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/sports/11312435.htm

4/12/2005 -- http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/sports/11371671.htm

Listings seem to be accepted up to six weeks before the date of the event, so in 2006 we should submit the event in early March.

Well, it's all over.

We fell well short of 500 finishers, but 318 is more than the race has seen in quite a few years, and the most in the 21st century. Other than the numbers, there were a lot of positives, and things went a bit more smoothly this year than last.

Promotion doesn't end after the race, though. I was a bit tardy this year, but I did get results posted in these places:

active.com -- http://active.com/results/viewresults.cfm?e_id=1131278

coolrunning.com -- http://www.coolrunning.com/results/05/fl/Apr16_31stAn_set1.shtml

gulfwinds.org -- http://gulfwinds.org/raceresults/palace_saloon_05.htm

flrunners.com -- http://www.milesplit.com/meet/10995

There are a couple more already sent out, but the listings haven't shown up yet.

And it's time to start get the date of next year's race into circulation. So far, the only listing for next year is at active.com:

http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1151770

I'll get on it.

We're on the Tallahassee Democrat Community Calendar and Scoreboard. Twice so far now, with two and a half weeks to go. I'm not sure if this was in the print edition, but it was certainly online:

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/sports/11240285.htm

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/sports/11254304.htm


Look for us also on FLRunners.com:

http://www.milesplit.com/meet/10542

This one requires a follow-up, because I'll need to post the results there after the race.