Sickles and Long lead Tulsa Bedlam Run
Southwest’s Travis Sickles and Christian Long medaled in the Tulsa Bedlam Run 8K event on July 31.
August 4, 2021
Lee Stubblefield
After the pandemic forced a near-total moratorium on road races last year, many classic events returned to the calendar this summer. On Saturday, Josie and I embarked to Tulsa to see Travis Sickles and Christian Long compete in the Bedlam Run 8K event.
The Bedlam Run - a good excuse for OU and OK State alumni and fans to butt heads before the college football season - pits runners against each other on a challenging course in the brutal late-July heat of downtown Tulsa. For many high school and college runners, it represents a final test of their summer training before they dive into their respective team workout schedules.
This year, the Bedlam Run dropped the traditional 10K race, offering the 8K as its longer distance. All runners started and ran a 5K loop together, with the 8K runners bypassing the chute to finish with a 3K loop. A total of 232 runners competed in the 8K race.
Sickles and Long, both Southwest Trojans for life, had slightly different goals. Sickles was running his final road race before heading off to Kirksville to compete for the Truman State Bulldogs. Undefeated in his short road racing career, Sickles had a gold medal in mind.
Long, entering his senior cross country season at Southwest with an All State goal, had never raced at any distance longer than 5K. The Bedlam Run was a litmus test for the effectiveness of his summer training schedule.
The hills and the heat took their toll on the runners on the longer first loop. Sickles held a slight lead as he veered past the finish line, with Long toiling in sixth place.
Jazz Carreon, 36 years old and a former Oklahoma Sooner, stalked Sickles as they tackled the final two miles. With a mile to go, Carreon cruised into the lead to take the win in 28:07. An exhausted Sickles had no answer and had to settle for second place, finishing in 28:31. Long maintained his sixth-place position, finding the finish in 32:40.
Ashley Carreon - Jazz’s wife and a proud young mother at age 31 - was the women’s champion, finishing fifth overall in 31:07. At these highly competitive races, “you run like a girl” is a major compliment.
Sickles and Long were the top two finishers in the men’s 16-19 division, joining other Southwest runners from the past who earned Bedlam Run medals. Brylee Wilson remains the bell cow of that group, claiming the women’s overall championship in the 2016 5K race.
Lee Stubblefield
After the pandemic forced a near-total moratorium on road races last year, many classic events returned to the calendar this summer. On Saturday, Josie and I embarked to Tulsa to see Travis Sickles and Christian Long compete in the Bedlam Run 8K event.
The Bedlam Run - a good excuse for OU and OK State alumni and fans to butt heads before the college football season - pits runners against each other on a challenging course in the brutal late-July heat of downtown Tulsa. For many high school and college runners, it represents a final test of their summer training before they dive into their respective team workout schedules.
This year, the Bedlam Run dropped the traditional 10K race, offering the 8K as its longer distance. All runners started and ran a 5K loop together, with the 8K runners bypassing the chute to finish with a 3K loop. A total of 232 runners competed in the 8K race.
Sickles and Long, both Southwest Trojans for life, had slightly different goals. Sickles was running his final road race before heading off to Kirksville to compete for the Truman State Bulldogs. Undefeated in his short road racing career, Sickles had a gold medal in mind.
Long, entering his senior cross country season at Southwest with an All State goal, had never raced at any distance longer than 5K. The Bedlam Run was a litmus test for the effectiveness of his summer training schedule.
The hills and the heat took their toll on the runners on the longer first loop. Sickles held a slight lead as he veered past the finish line, with Long toiling in sixth place.
Jazz Carreon, 36 years old and a former Oklahoma Sooner, stalked Sickles as they tackled the final two miles. With a mile to go, Carreon cruised into the lead to take the win in 28:07. An exhausted Sickles had no answer and had to settle for second place, finishing in 28:31. Long maintained his sixth-place position, finding the finish in 32:40.
Ashley Carreon - Jazz’s wife and a proud young mother at age 31 - was the women’s champion, finishing fifth overall in 31:07. At these highly competitive races, “you run like a girl” is a major compliment.
Sickles and Long were the top two finishers in the men’s 16-19 division, joining other Southwest runners from the past who earned Bedlam Run medals. Brylee Wilson remains the bell cow of that group, claiming the women’s overall championship in the 2016 5K race.
