WEEKEND EVENTS FOR APRIL 18 - 19

There are no local events this weekend, but there are plenty of races around the state from which to choose if you're willing to travel. The weatherman says there's a chance of showers Saturday morning, but Sunday looks clear.

The 130th Boston Marathon takes place on Monday, and will be broadcast on ESPN2 from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. CDT.  Streaming options are also available.  Last year's women's champion, Sharon Lokedi, will be back to defend her title.  (She broke the women's course record last year, winning in 2:17:22.)  The men's race has two favorites--Benson Kipruto (personal best: 2:02:16) and John Korir (2:02:24). It doesn't look like any Americans have a real chance of winning. The weather forecast looks good for a fast race, especially with a 10-14 mph tailwind.

Elsewhere:

Jefferson City:

Jefferson City RoadRunners Spring Fling 5K, Saturday

Columbia:

The Lions Roar (6/12/24-hour and 24-hour tag team races), UltraSignup page, 24-hour race starts Friday at 6:00 p.m.; 6- and 12-hour races start on Saturday (all races end at 6:00 p.m. Saturday); LOTO participants (all doing the 24-hour race): Kim Sovcik, Maverick Sovcik, Brandon Goring

Cuba:

Rocking to the Rocker (4-miler), Saturday

Rolla:

Running for Comfort 5K, Saturday

Springfield:

Go Girl Run Half Marathon & 5K (women only), Saturday
DoNot Stop Half Marathon & 5K/10K, Willard, Sunday

Kansas City:

KC Pet Project 5K, Saturday
DoNot Stop Half Marathon & 5K/10K, Saturday
Accept Zero 5K, Sunday

St. Louis area:

Cardinals 5K, Busch Stadium, Saturday
DoNot Stop Half Marathon & 5K/10K, Creve Coeur Lake Park, Saturday

For more St. Louis-area events, visit Big River Running's race calendar

Cape Girardeau:

Riverboat Series, (50K, marathon, half, 10K & 5K), Saturday

Boston, Massachusetts:

Boston Marathon, Monday

The Woodlands, Texas:

Ironman Texas Triathlon, Saturday

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BRIDGE AND DAM HALF MARATHON AND 5K/10K (updated April 12th)

The complete race results can be found here.

The photos are being edited, and will hopefully be posted by the end of the week.

As time allows, I'm posting items about the race below.

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There were 420 finishers across the three race-distance options at this year's Bridge & Dam.  The total was exactly the same as last year's, although a noticeable drop this year for the 10K was mostly offset by an increase in the 5K.  Here are year-by-year totals, by distance, since the race's inception in 2015.

Half Marathon

Tucker Seise of Osage Beach was not going to rest on his laurels after winning the Rend Lake Marathon two weeks ago in a blistering, Boston Marathon-qualifying time of 2:41:18.  Tucker, who won the Bridge & Dam half marathon the last two years (in 1:19:35 and 1:22:23, respectively), made it an unprecedented three-in-a-row this year, winning in a time of 1:17:22.  That represents a new course record, breaking the previous record of 1:18:19 set in 2023 by another very elite runner, Kenneth Bowling of Bolivar. 

Tucker had a nearly four-minute margin of victory over Aaron Anderson of Fort Leonard Wood, who finished in 1:21:03.  

The women's half marathon had some drama in the last two miles.  According to time stamps on photos taken near the 11-mile mark, Mariah Conner of Rolla held about a 35-second lead over Megan Brown of Kansas City.  Somewhere along those last two miles, Megan pulled ahead of Mariah, and won with a 27-second margin of victory.  Megan finished in 1:45:54.  She had shaved about 1-1/2 minutes off of her third-place finish last year of 1:47:34.  That improvement proved crucial to her victory this year.

The top finisher among Lake-area women was Camdenton High School's junior cross country runner Averie Hotle.  Averie finished in 1:50:00, and took first in the women's 19-and-under age group. (Her coaches, Lauren Moriearty and Gary Thompson, ran the 10K and 5K, respectively. Lauren was the overall women's winner in her race; Gary took second in his age group.)

Two-time Bridge & Dam half marathon winner Gerald Holtmeyer of Bonnots Mill returned this year.  Now 66 years of age, this phenomenal runner finished in 1:46:30 and won his 60-69 age group.  Another phenomenal senior, 72 year-old Jim McDermott of Camdenton, won the men's 70+ age group by default.  What's remarkable is that, in ten years, Jim's Bridge & Dam half marathon finish time has only slowed about 8 minutes.  He finished the 2016 half in 2:04:03; he finished this year in 2:12:33. 

10K

Coming.

5K

Coming.

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GREATER ST. LOUIS MARATHON, HALF MARATHON, 10K & 5K  (updated April 13th)

Update:  The Lake area sent at least one runner to the Greater St. Louis race.  Former Camdenton High School cross country runner (and marching band member) Blake Roettgen, ran the half marathon and finished in 1:32:50.  That placed Blake 13th (of 281) in the men's 20-24 age group.  He ran the first four miles at a fast pace of 6:10 per mile, but then slowed to about 7:45 per mile for the final 9.1 miles. His detailed result can be found here.

The Greater St. Louis Marathon, known as the GO! St. Louis Marathon from 2008 to 2023, registered its fifth consecutive increase in participation, and had its biggest turnout since 2015.  There were 7,384 finishers at Saturday's race, up a surprising 20% from last year's total of 6,166.  (It's still only about half of the peak of 14,981 finishers in 2011, when the boom in running was just starting to fade.)

The complete race results can be found here.

This year's race included a one-hour early start for marathon participants who needed more time to finish the course.  I'm not sure what last year's marathon cut-off time was, but there were 34 finishers after the 6-hour mark.  This year, there were 78 finishers after that mark.  The final official finisher crossed the line in 7:55:57, a pace of 18:10 per mile. 

The results are posted on the dreaded Athlinks/Chronotrack websites (they're both owned by Life Time Fitness), where results are searchable only by name. If you ran the race and wish your results to be posted, pass them along to me, and II'll post them.

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ROCK THE PARKWAY HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted April 12th)

Like the Greater St. Louis races mentioned above, the Rock the Parkway Half Marathon & 5K also scored its fifth consecutive year-over-year increase in participation since COVID, with a 7% rise over last year.  Here are the number of finishers, by distance, over the last ten races.

The Lake area had one participant in the race.  Mary Groos of Lake Ozark ran the 5K, finishing in 1:23:15 and placing 60th (of 62) in the women's 55-59 age group.

Complete race results can be found here.

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CENTRAL OZARKS MEDICAL CENTER'S "PACING FOR PATIENTS 5K COLOR RUN (posted April 4th)

The Central Ozarks Medical Center's second annual Pacing for Patients 5K Color Run was much like the first, with a surprisingly strong turnout on a chilly, dreary Saturday morning.  Last year, sixty-eight runners and walkers turned out; this year, the number grew to 109. Thankfully, the strong storms overnight had moved out hours before the race start. (They weren't so lucky down south--the Run Bentonville Half Marathon & 5K had to delay their start by 1-1/2 hours.)

This year's overall winner was Jason Witte of Kansas City.  Jason won easily, in 22:27, nearly two minutes ahead of his closest competitor.  The winner of the women's race was a local.  Janet Lear of Camdenton finished in 25:20.

The complete race results, provided by FundRuns, can be found at the event's RunSignup page, or can be downloaded here.

It's just an observation, but with each local race, it gets a little clearer that we're seeing a new generation take up the sport of running.  These days, the race results now include many names that are completely unfamiliar to those of us who have been doing this for a long time.  We certainly welcome these newcomers. 

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REND LAKE MARATHON, HALF MARATHON & 1/4 MARATHON (posted March 30th)

For Lake-area runners, the biggest racing news of the weekend--and of the year so far--was made at Rend Lake in Benton, Illinois, located about 100 southeast of St. Louis.

Tucker Seise was the overall winner, of 90 total competitors, at the Rend Lake Marathon on Saturday, finishing in an extraordinary 2:41:18, a pace of 6:09 per mile, and beating his personal best by over 13 minutes. Tucker's was among the fastest marathons ever run by anyone from the Lake area, with only two runners--Gary Thompson and Jeremy Ryan (now of St. Charles)  --known to have gone faster.  (Gary ran multiple marathons in the 2:21:01 to 2:26:04 range while at the peak of his racing career in the early 1980s, and Jeremy ran marathons of 2:33:45 and 2:37:54 last year alone.)

More importantly, Tucker virtually guaranteed himself entry into the 2027 Boston Marathon, after a big disappointment several years ago.  He had beaten his 2024 Boston age-group qualifying standard of 3:00:00 by 5:13 at the Big Beach Marathon in early 2023, but the cut-off time (to apply for entry) was 5:29, meaning he missed out by just 16 seconds.  By beating the 2027 qualifying standard of 2:55:00 by 13:42, he's almost assured of entry, since the cut-off times to apply have been no more than 7:47 in the last 14 years.

Congratulations, Tucker! 

Complete Rend Lake results can be found here.

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LAKE OF THE OZARKS ENDURANCE RUNS  (posted April 4th)

The Trail of Four Winds 25K trail race, LOZ Traverse 35-mile trail run/paddling race, and Wandering Bobcat 5-mile trail race will take place at the Lake of the Ozarks State Park on Saturday, May 2nd.

For all the race details and registration information, please visit the event's UltraSignup page, Ha Ha Racing Event's website, or the Lake of the Ozarks Endurance Runs' Facebook page.  Slots are currently available for all three races.

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RUN WITH THE COPS, NOT FROM THE COPS 5K/10K (posted April 13th)

The Miller County Sheriff's Association's Run with the Cops, Not from the Cops 5K/10K will be held on Saturday, May 30th, at the Air Park (adjacent to the aquatic center) in Eldon. The race starts at 8:00 a.m.  

Entry fees are $35 for the 10K and $25 for the 5K.

Race t-shirts can only be guaranteed for those who register by May 17th.

Click on this QR Code to register:

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