Last to start, first to finish takes Red Pepper Run

Click here for lots of great pictures of the Red Pepper Run

Panama City’s David Shearon was delayed by a bathroom break at the start of Saturday morning’s 5K Red Pepper Run.

No matter.

Despite the late start, he topped the field of about 60 competitors and was first to finish, with a time of 18:23 along the 3.1-mile course.

“I started about 35 seconds late,” said Shearon, 40, a home health physical therapist.

Suffering with a bout of laryngitis, Shearon had been asked by his doctor not to compete, but he decided not to let down his friends, who had caravanned for the weekend cook-off. They had finished first, third and fourth last year.

Shearon said that about halfway through the race, he caught the frontrunner, pulled head and never looked back as he glided to the win.

A veteran triathlon runner, this was his first time running on the island. “It’s beautiful here,” he said.

Also running for the first time in the Red Pepper Run was top female finisher Kristen Merrill, 24, of Gainesville. She finished with a time of 23:44.

Merrill was at the cook-off to be a part of her family’s booth. “It was a great race, rally fun,” she said. “The weather was fun.”

Topping the field among St. George Island residents running in the race was Nathan Landrum, 32, who ran a 23:42, and Alana Kadel, who ran a 26:00.