nikki

BY LIZA STROUT AND NIKKI HEIMANN - The Hammerhead Adventure Run, held on Saturday, July 28, was a great success, drawing dozens of runners and their supporters to Gasparilla Island. While the some of the Beacon crew were out photographing the run, one of our own was participating.

Nikki Heimann was challenged to enter the run by Sally Van Nuland, who also competed. What follows is Nikki’s account of the morning.

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“The Boca Grande Fire Department took 3.5 miles to a whole other level this past weekend. The only requirement to participate in the 1st Annual Hammerhead Adventure Run was to kick off your shoes and hope that you ended up with the same pair.

The fire fighters devised quite a chaotic start in front of the Community Center. After the fire truck sprayed gallons of water onto a heap of mixed-up footwear, the bell sounded and everyone scrambled to find their freshly soaked sneakers.

Once readjusted, runners squished down 1st St. to receive a red brick at the bend in the road by Whidden’s. The brick was to be carried for a mile, not to mention over the bridge. After gaining some speed, runners prepared themselves for a full body spray down while turning left past the Pink Elephant. They were finally allowed to drop the brick on East Railroad Ave., in front of the fire department.

That was also where the first icy obstacle took place. Participants dove under a net into a pool of freezing water, and before they had even started to dry off, made a U-turn at the bike path.

A brisk run up to 7th St. was met by a staggering tire obstacle, and that is where the real fun began.

After successfully not twisting an ankle, beach boot camp started with jumping into the ocean to swim around a buoy and then army crawl for a few feet under some make-shift fencing. The unleveled beach run continued down to the Rear Range Lighthouse with much crawling, swimming and hurdling in between.

Finally reaching pavement, most runners followed the course across to the Wheeler Rd. baseball field.

Sand bags and mud greeted runners on the field, a true obstacle to wade through while being thoroughly hosed down once again.

The next obstacle involved squirming through a long dark tube one way or another and then climbing over a wall.

The last obstacle was challenging to most people (although not everyone) as runners made their way up a long, steep ramp and climbed or jumped to the ground. After running back down to and along Banyan St. the race was finally finished.

Participants enjoyed tickets for free beer, tasty refreshments, and a comfortable blue shirt.”

Hammerhead 2012 results

 

 

There was a truly impressive turn-out for the first of what is hoped to become an island tradition, the Hammerhead Adventure Run. Men, women and children traveled from all over to participate in the event, some from as far away as Tallahassee.

The field was pretty evenly divided between men and women, and the ages represented spanned from 13 years old to 71.

There were people who had never done an adventure run before, and there were seasoned veterans of the growing circuit.

In total, 16 teams signed up, making up half of the runners. Many others were on “unofficial” teams, running with friends or family.

The overall male winner was 20-year-old Luke Berry, who ran the course in 30:03.9. The overall female winner was 42-year-old Jeanne Hertel of Fort Myers, who finished in 32:10.9.

The top three runners in each group (separated into categories by sex and age) were:

Male 13 to 17 - Brennan McGill, 32:41.1; Robbie Cerami, 54:26.4.

Male 18 to 29 - Michael Dees, 36:19.0; Cole Keaser, 37:31.9, Asam Straubinger 47:50.2.

Male 30 to 39 - Bryan Pardee, 30:33.5; Todd Rebol, 30:48.8; Justin Blais, 30:56.7.

Male 40 to 49 - Edward Ryan, 33:10.0; Christopher Beers, 34:16.9, Clint Knowles, 34:36.5.

Male 50 to 59 - Mark Stueve, 30:27.5; Alan Davis, 38:17.4; Dave Herzog, 38:39.7.

Male 60 to 69 - Peter Roberts, 42:02.1.

Male 70 and over - Frank Nicolosi, 37:03.0.

Female 13 to 17 - Carly Fronckowiak, 52:40.3; Aimee Hole, 1:27:21.2.

Female 19 to 29 - Amber Ternet, 38:11.5, Nicole Pfeiffer, 38:11.9; Amanda Myers - Ramirez, 42:08.4.

Female 30 to 39 - Leah Bishop, 33:21.4; Sally Van Nuland, 33:24.2; Ann Knowles, 36:15.1.

Female 40 to 49 - Kim Ryan, 36:40.4, Cindi Keaser, 38:16.7, Renee Swanton, 48:39.4.

Female 50 to 59 - Pamala Feehan, 42:16.1; Stacie Sparks, 51:59.5; Deborah Reich, 1:03:38.0.

Female 60 to 69 - Linda Roberts, 1:03:15.1; Natalie Conklin, 1:27:12.9.

Teams - Teams received a team score based on the time of all of the members of the team.

Turbo Mudsliders, 1:45:52.2

Badass Ninjas, 1:52:46.1

Team Barfly, 2:32:32.8

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