BROOKSVILLE - The 25th Flatlanders Challenge returned to downtown Brooksville on Saturday with rave reviews and streets full of runners.
Now, the goal of race director Chuck Boldt is to keep it there.
Ideally, he will know soon if he can.
"Absolutely, we'd like to know, before (the city) starts thinking, "Do we want to do it (again)?' " Boldt said. "While its fresh in their minds, they should make that decision."
From 2001-03 the event was at Spring Lake, having moved out of downtown due to cost concerns and complaints from residents. Last July, the City Council allowed it to return.
With over 300 runners and no incidents, Boldt said it "probably could not have gone better." He hopes it is a first step to growing the event downtown again, but knowing one way or another before July would help.
"It's a lot of work to plan this, and the sponsorship drive is important," Boldt said. "Having the race back in the city, we were able to entice more downtown businesses to contribute. That was a big plus."
The race also was used to promote the Good Neighbor Trail, a proposed course running from the city to the Withlacoochee State Forest. An event like Flatlanders provided a key audience: runners.
"It's a future user group, and having them downtown was a perfect opportunity to tell them about our vision," said Raymond Hess, the city's redevelopment coordinator. "Our participation was several hundred, which is good. We accomplished our goal of bringing together a diverse group of people and sharing our vision."
A vision that might remain downtown for a while.
STRONG EFFORT: Clearwater's Judy Maguire, a longtime fixture on the area running scene, won the feature 10K women's race in 38 minutes, 40 seconds.
How good was that? The time was 12th fastest in the entire field of 243 runners, men included. No male from 25-34 beat that performance. Maguire is 45.
PREP PRESENCE: Several Hernando High cross-country and track runners participated and picked up awards. In the 10K, Bret Chatman finished second in the 14-17 age group in 38:52. Fellow Leopards runner Leela Hadsock took third in the same division on the women's side, 54:34.
Four Hernando runners claimed top-five spots in the 2-mile fun run, led by brothers Ben and Andrew Martucci in 11:13 and 11:40, respectively.
FOR MORE TIMES: Full-field results are available at coolrunning.com.
