JACKSONVILLE - It was hot and humid for three days; deceptively hilly for day two race two and amazingly fast for day two race three as area runners challenged their bodies temperature gauges with the annual Tour De Pain running event; three races in less than 24 hours, in downtown Jacksonville on Friday and Saturday. The race was staged by 1st Place Sports of Jacksonville as part of the Jacksonville Grand Prix running circuit.

Among the top finishers in the 499 racers, incoming Fleming Island High freshman cross country runner Eve Schlotthauer, 14, showed off some incoming talent for the Golden Eagles lineup with a dominating performance in the three race gauntlet that entails a four mile road run on Friday (6 p.m, still 97 degrees), a 5Km (3.1 mile road race from downtown Jacksonville to almost Everbank Stadium at 7 a.m. on Saturday (92 degrees) and a one mile Sizzler race around James Weldon Park in downtown Jacksonville (still 92 degrees), with a 12 minute gap in her 14-19 age group title.
"The 5K run was deceptively hill though not big hills but long hills," said Schlotthauer. "The heat doesn't help, but it's Florida so we expect it to be hot in August."
Schlotthauer did say that the quick turnaround to the mile sizzlers; normally staged at 3 p.m. in past years, made recovery and rehydration a strategic nightmare.
"It was definitely tough to turn around in about an hour to run a fast mile," said Schlotthauer, who dominated the four miles with a 29:14 split; tops by over five minutes; the 5Km with a 22:31 split, tops by three minutes and the mile in 7:13, tops by more than a minute, with her final time of 58:22 nearly 12 minutes better than runnerup Brianna Gancerez at 1:07:21. "My sister Emma just finished running for Fleming Island and I ran in junior college and my mom is very good and keeping us hydrated and ready to go. We've been a racing family for a long time."
Schlotthauer noted that Fleming Island cross country coach Dave Allen granted special permission for her to take Thursday off to be prepared for the three-day ordeal.
One other dominant performances came from 76 year old stalwart Annette Stevenson who won by 14 minutes in her 75-79 age group with a 1:48:51 time total. Stevenson dominated the mile by almost two minutes with a 13:27 mile split.


For the mens races, another Fleming Island High grad, Luke Klingenberg, 24, had to make up a sizeable gap from a one minute gap in his four mile run on Friday; 23:29 to winner Seth Martinez (22:19) and Justin Tackling (22:18) to stay in the hunt for the Tour de Pain title.
"My mile was solid, but those two were ahead by enough that I would have had a great mile to catch them," said Klingenberg, a lifeguard at the Barco Newton and Dye Clay YMCAs in Clay County. "I think they were just seven seconds apart before the mile."
Klingenberg, though, knocked out a top mile time of 4:47 just a second ahead of Martinez' 4:48 with Tackling fading to a 5:08 to give Martinez the overall title at 44:00 with Tackling second at 44:27 and Klingenberg third at 45:15.
Klingenberg had the best mile time, the second best 5K time, but the third best four mile time by just over a minute.
In the womens'overall race, local standout Shannon Bain, 40, fended off two young challengers with her 50:06 combined time; a 5:43 mile to smash the challenge, and get her the overall title over Erin Healey, 36, and McKenzie McCollum, 12, who was in at 55:58 with a 6:04 mile just outsprinting Heaney in the final straightaway. Bain finished 16th overall of all competitors.


In the male 20-24 age group, former Ridgeview High cross country and track standout James Snipes, 22, and a University of North Florida civil engineering student, was third in his age group with a 51:46 final time with a 26:23 four miler, a 19:43 5Km and a 6:24 mile.
"The back to back races is a bit of challenge with all the lactic acid and running the mile loop twice with the uphills coming twice," said Snipes, as he recovered with a small glass of beer. "Hydration is a key on days hot like this."
In a battle of master's stalwarts featuring Eden Kendall, 59; Ginger Brelsford, 56; Becky Wood, 60; and Joni Neidigh, 66, with the youngest being Regina Sooey, 54.
Kendall was top finisher of the group with a second place 1:08:01 final time with Sooey second best at 1:08:18 with Kendall two seconds faster in the mile and three seconds faster in the four miler.
Brelsford was fourth best at 1:10:25 with Wood at 1:16:13 and Neidigh, fourth in her age group, at 1:20:04.
All results can be found at 1stplacesports.com.