Apalachicola, Florida: Jama Jog 5K

Note: There is a somewhat interesting anecdote in this post about Old Man and Bull Horn Guy for those of you who get easily bored with my posts about running.

Stephen and Jacob ran in the first (and likely last) ever Jama Jog 5K in Apalachicola, Florida today. Stephen won with an unofficial time of 18:43 and Jacob came in 6th with a time of 26:32. Stephen's time is unofficial because about 2/3 of the way through the race there was some confusion as to which way the course was supposed to go. At a four way junction in the road, one of the track "officials" was pointing one way while the arrows were saying another. Stephen and the second place runner just stopped until we could get the actual course straightened out. After 15 or 20 seconds they decided to follow the arrows instead of the "official." Their judgment was the right one.

The race was held in memory of a classmate and runner who died in 2004 after a lengthy battle with Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma. I asked Aim what that meant and she said it is a form of cancer. The name of the deceased classmate is Suryan Jama; ergo the "Jama Jog." I actually thought I might see a bunch of people dressed in pajamas out there running. The Apalachicola High School class of 2001 put the race on as part of its 10 year reunion. I suppose there is the possibility the race could be renewed as part of their 20 year reunion, but that is too far off to even think about right now.
A total of around 40 people showed up to run the race which meandered through downtown Apalachicola beginning at the Gibson Inn. Along the course runners ran past palm trees, old churches, the Gulf of Mexico, parks and old fashioned cannons. I am pretty sure none of the "official" results will ever be recorded anywhere because I didn't see anyone keeping up with official times.

As a side note: Apparently a verbal altercation took place at the start/finish line between "Old Man" and "Bull Horn Guy." Those are the names Stephen and Aim gave them anyway. When the lead runners came into view on the home stretch Bull Horn Guy started yelling words of encouragement. After Stephen and several other runners finished the race, Old Man decided he'd had enough of all this madness right outside his front door. He stepped out onto his porch (hungover from the night before as some observed) and started yelling profanities at Bull Horn Guy. Bull Horn Guy and the other race director were two very large, very strong looking black guys. Neither of them were intimidated by Old Man.

Aim said the two race directors showed extreme patience for at least 5 minutes before one of them said to the runners who had come in "Hang on. I'll be right back. Let me take care of this." He then walked toward Old Man yelling at him "Get back in your house Old Man." This spurred on Bull Horn Guy who started yelling through his bull horn "Get back in your house Old Man."

Old Man disappeared back into his house and reemerged several minutes later with a dog on a leash and more profanities. The two race directors started towards Old Man, but decided it wasn't worth it. Old Man finally gave up and went back inside. The bull horn yelling continued until all the runners had crossed the finish line.

As far as excitement, I suspect Old Man v. Bull Horn Guy was probably more exciting than the actual race. I wish I would have seen more of the former.

Take a look at the pictures:


After the race it was time to hit the beach.