Turtle Krawl 5K draws more than 1,800 in support of sea turtle conservation

With more than 1,800 registrants, this year’s Turtle Krawl 5K continued its tradition of supporting the Sea Turtle Preservation Society’s sea turtle conservation efforts.  

Matthew Bauer of West Melbourne was the overall winner with a net time of 17:04 in this year’s race held Sept. 14 at Nance Park in Indialantic, FL. He was followed by Joe Dreher of Melbourne in second place overall and in third place overall was Paul Mckenna of Indian Harbor Beach.  

The third in the 2019 Space Coast Runner of the Year series, the family friendly run/walk also is the largest fundraiser of the year for the Sea Turtle Preservation Society.

“The Sea Turtle Preservation Society would like to thank all of the Turtle Krawl participants, sponsors and volunteers for making this another successful event,” STPS board member Susan Skinner said. “We couldn’t continue our sea turtle conservation and education work without the support of the entire community.” 

After the event, the Sea Turtle Preservation Society presented the Brevard Zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center with a check for $25,000 to continue the facility’s efforts to rehabilitate sick and injured sea turtles. The zoo, in partnership with STPS, opened the 2,400-foot facility in April 2014 to meet the need for such a center near Brevard County beaches.

All race proceeds benefit the Sea Turtle Preservation Society’s mission to help sea turtles survive. In addition to supporting the Brevard Zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center, STPS has been able to fund other programs and activities, including rescue and transport of injured sea turtles, nesting surveys, night walks and other educational outreach programs as well as satellite transmitters for the UCF marine turtle research program. Funds come from race registration fees and sponsorships from local businesses. 

This year 1,877 people registered for the event with 1,528 crossing the finish line in Nance Park; a virtual race option also allowed runners to complete the 5K distance at their convenience.

A sea turtle rehabilitated by the Sea Turtle Healing Center was scheduled to be released after the Turtle Krawl 5K, but the release was canceled due to intense wave action at the time of the race. The rehabilitated sea turtle, Captain Janeway, was instead released Sept. 19 in Cocoa Beach.

Turtle Krawl registrants received T-shirts with artwork by Indialantic artist, James M. Nemnich. The race awarded sea turtle-shaped medals to the first three winners in each category along with Masters, Grandmasters, Great-Grandmasters, and the top five competitive walkers.

Complete race results are available at https://www.runningzone.com/9-14-2019-turtle-krawl-5k-results-indialantic-florida/