THE GREAT BAGNELL DAM DUCK DROP 5K (updated August 24th)

The second annual Great Bagnell Dam Duck Drop 5K Run and Waddle Walk was noticeably hotter and more humid than the first, but that didn't deter a total of 76 participants from coming out and having a great time.  (Well, except on that beast of a hill on Valley Road.)  Thanks to Trish Creach of the Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, Aaron Speiler of the Kiwanis Club of Ozark Coast, and all the volunteers and sponsors for a fun event.

The results, as reported in the Lake Sun, are available here.

Below are the age-group winners (minus one or two that had to leave early).  

(click on photo for a larger view)

MISSOURI RIVER 340 (updated August 25th)

The Missouri River 340, a paddling race that spans from Kansas City to St. Charles, will start this coming Tuesday morning (8/24).  The race had to be postponed a month due high water and extremely strong currents that made for unsafe conditions.  The water level has dropped, but the river is still running at a fairly fast clip (one recent report put it at 3.7 mph).  At last count, there were 236 boats entered.

CHICAGO ROCK 'N' ROLL HALF MARATHON (posted August 3rd)

   

Congratulations to Mike Creed and his daughter, Rebecca, (both pictured above) for outstanding finishes at this past Sunday's Chicago Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon.  Mike finished in 2:32:17, placing him 94th (of 159) in the male 60-64 age group.  Rebecca left her dad in the dust and finished in a personal best 2:07:22.  That placed her 540th (of 2,203) in the female 30-34 age group.  A whopping 18,555 runners crossed the finish line, making this one of the largest half marathons in the U.S. in just its second year of joining the popular Rock 'n' Roll series of events.

REPUBLIC TIGER TRIATHLON (posted August 16th)

Three locals participated in Saturday's Republic Tiger Triathlon (300-yard swim, 12-mile bike, 3.1-mile run) in Republic, Missouri, on a brutally hot and humid day.  Kris Williams of Camdenton placed 7th (of 13) in the female 45-49 age group with a finish time of 1:22:19.  (Strangely enough, she finished five minutes slower last year, yet won her age group, as detailed in a Lake Sun article.)  Two sisters from Eldon, Amanda and Jess Caine, finished in 2:20:28 and 2:20:37, respectively.  Although they finished last in their age groups (female 20-24 for Amanda, female 25-29 for Jess), and dead last of all 361 participants, they nevertheless finished, and that's always the primary goal.  Congratulations to all.

TOUR OF MISSOURI (corrected August 16th)

Fans of the Tour of Missouri, which was cancelled for 2010 due to lack of funding, may be interested in hearing that Lance Armstrong will be joining the governor of Colorado on Wednesday, August 4th, to announce the inaugural Quiznos Pro Challenge bicycle race to be held in August 2011. This has negative implications for any plans to resurrect the Tour of Missouri in 2011 due to a scheduling conflict with this new race.  In fact, it may kill off the Tour of Missouri permanently.

WIN FOR KC WOMEN'S TRIATHLON (posted August 1st)

No Lake-area athletes competed at yesterday's WIN for KC Women's Triathlon at Kansas City's Smithville Lake, but there was a story that bears mention.  Triathlons are almost always won by an athlete in the 25-29, 30-34, or 35-39 age groups.  However, this triathlon was won by a woman in the 45-49 age group--something that you'll very rarely see.  Kelly Dippold of Overland Park, Kansas, had the fastest swim (1:36 per 100 yards) of all 626 finishers, the third-fastest T1 (1:02), the second fastest bike (22.7 mph) and the fifth-fastest T2 (0:56) and run (7:06/mile pace).  That's a remarkable performance for anyone, but extraordinary for a 45-49 year-old athlete.

SHOW-ME STATE GAMES (updated July 28th)

There were 124 solo and 6 team participants in Sunday's Show-Me State Games triathlon (0.5-mile swim, 19-mile bike, 5K run), and another 63 (19-mile bike, 5K run) in the duathlon.

We had three locals who competed.  Trevor Dowdney finished the triathlon in 1:37:14, first (of three) in his 45-49 age group.  Todd Elliott finished in 1:50:17, placing him sixth (of nine) in the 35-39 age group.  Debbie Beckett of Eldon competed in the duathlon, where she finished unopposed in the 50-54 age group in a time of 1:39:08.  Congratulations to all.

INDEPENDENCE DAY 5K RUN/WALK (updated July 21st)

Results for Eldon's 12th Annual Independence Day 5K Run/Walk have been posted.  Overall male and female winners were Dustin Davis in 16:09 (one of the fastest local 5K finishes I'm aware of) and Shelby Lile in 20:33.  The men's field had an unusual number of extremely fast finishers, with six runners finishing in under 19 minutes. 

JOKER'S WILD HALF MARATHON & 5K   (posted July 18th)

Congratulations to our local finishers--all women--of today's Joker's Wild Half Marathon in St. Louis:

Victoria Waiter and Theresa Christensen, both of Lake Ozark and competing in the 35-39 age group, finished in 2:15:42 and 2:30:19, respectively, placing them 12th and 21st in their age group.

Gayle Repetto, of Four Seasons, finished 7th (of 21) in her 45-49 age group, with a 2:17:32 finish time.

Anna Curran of Osage Beach finished in 2:44:07, placing her 13th (of 17) in her 50-54 age group.

What needs to be mentioned is that it was 80 degrees, with relative humidity of 70%, at the 6:45 a.m. start of the race, making for extremely tough weather conditions for running.  All of the 512 half marathon finishers should be congratulated for persevering through those conditions. 

LAKE AREA OPTIMIST CLUB 5K RUN/WALK (posted July 7th)

The Lake Area Optimist Club held its first 5K run/walk at Osage Beach City Park on Saturday, June 26th.  Here are some results published in The Lake Today:

LINN CREEK FIRECRACKER 5K RUN/WALK
& BEAT THE CHIEF CHALLENGE (updated June 27th)

The second annual Linn Creek Firecracker 5K Run/Walk  brought out a total of 57 participants, including 13 kids racing--and handily beating--Linn Creek police chief Trevor Dowdney in the "Beat the Chief Challenge".  The beneficiaries of the event were the Camden County Museum and the Camden County Child Advocacy Counci, each of which received half of the $1,124 raised.  Thanks to all participants, volunteers, and race organizer Trevor Dowdney for a fun event.

The Lake Sun ran a front page article about Trevor and the event.  Here's a .pdf version of the online edition of the article.

The full race results are available here.  Photos will be posted once we receive them.

Here's a list of the winners and their 5K finish times:

Male, under 50:           Casey O'Connor (19:03)
Male, 50 and over:      Gary Lile (19:16)
Female, under 50:       Jackie Rasmussen (24:48)
Female, 50 and over:   Kathy Lile (27:41)
Age 15 and under:       Kelley McClaughery (40:04)
Stroller:                        Lawson Barclay (28:55)
Top Dog:                      Sergeant (guided by Levi McDonald) (25:19)

GRANDMA'S MARATHON (posted June 18th)

Congratulations to Laura Davis of Camdenton, who finished today's Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, in 3:56:12, placing her 46th (of 262) in the female 40-44 age group.

LAKE AREA OPTIMIST CLUB 5K FUN RUN/WALK   (posted June 14th)

The Lake Area Optimist Club is sponsoring their first annual 5K Fun Run/Walk on Saturday, June 26th, at the new Osage Beach City Park.  The cost is $20, and participants will receive t-shirts.  For more information, contact Betty Gipson at (573) 286-1030 or bgipson2009(at)live.com (substituting "@" for "at").

IRONMAN KANSAS 70.3   (posted June 6th)

A double congratulations goes to the phenomenal Dennis Gillen of Camdenton, who finished today's Ironman Kansas 70.3 Triathlon (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run) in Lawrence, Kansas, in an outstanding time of 5:47:05.  That placed Dennis 10th (of 31 finishers) in the male 55-59 age group.  Yesterday, in a warm-up for IM Kansas, Dennis finished first among 28 in his age group (and 61st of all 550 males) at the Hospital Hill 5K Run in Kansas City, with a finish time of 22:51. 

SUMMER STRIDE 5K & FAMILY STROLL (updated June 11th)

It was warm and humid, but everyone had a wonderful time at yesterday's Summer Stride 5K & Family Stroll in Camdenton.  The event was organized and benefited the Children's Learning Center, and they did a great job. 

Overall female and male winners were Miriam Hill in 23:11, and Sean O'Connor--yet another weapon in the O'Connor family running arsenal--in 18:15.  The top three finishers in each age group can be found here.

Check out a few photos taken at the event by clicking here.

      

Some of the winners at the Summer Stride 5K (pictured left to right):  Miriam Hill (overall female), Sean O'Connor (overall male) and Rodney Wright (male 50-59).

DENNIS GILLEN FEATURED IN LAKE SUN ARTICLE      (posted May 31st)

Local triathlete and marathoner Dennis Gillen was the subject of an article in the weekend edition of the Lake Sun.  Click here to read the article as it appeared on the lakenewsonline.com website.

THE KANSAS CITY TRIATHLON (posted May 27th)

Congratulations to Dennis Gillen of Camdenton, who finished last Sunday's Kansas City Triathlon in 2:48:58, placing him fourth (of six) in the male 55-59 age group.  Dennis competed in the Olympic distance event, featuring a 1,500-meter swim, 24.9-mile bike and 6.2-mile run.  Look for Dennis at the Quartermax Triathlon on June 26th at Innsbrook, Missouri. 

TOUR OF MISSOURI (posted May 27th)

The Tour of Missouri for 2010 was officially cancelled today due ostensibly to lack of funding, but politics clearly played a role as well.  The Republican majority in the state legislature appropriated $1 million for the race, but the governor-appointed members of the Missouri Tourism Commission decided to use the funds for other purposes.

KAYAKING FATALITY (posted May 22nd)

Please be careful kayaking on our recently rain-swollen streams.  Strong currents can be very dangerous while paddling, as was proved yesterday by the death of a 47 year-old Jefferson City man kayaking on the Maries River.  The tragic death occurred despite the wearing of a lifejacket.  Here's an excerpt from the Water Patrol's report:

FIT & FUN 20-DAY CHALLENGE (updated May 22nd)

The Lake Sun's four-week Fit & Fun Challenge ended Friday, May 21st, with a swim at Dog Days.  A big pat on the back goes to Lake Media publisher John Tucker for encouraging people to join the challenge to get fit, and for helping prove that the lake is not unhealthy for swimming as some media located outside of the area has previously reported.

Check out the series of Fit & Fun Challenge articles about local athletes Trevor Dowdney, Jason Whittle, Dan Dougan and Kevin and Jade Sellers.

 

BERRYMAN 50-MILE & MARATHON TRAIL RUNS (posted May 24th)

Members of the Alpine Shop team, which has won the local Bonk Hard Chill adventure race three times in its five-year history, did extremely well in the Berryman trail runs held on May 15th in the Mark Twain National Forest.  Their results:

IRONMAN 70.3 BRANSON (posted May 15th)

Over 900 athletes have registered for the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Branson Triathlon (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run--i.e. "half iron" distance) to be held on September 19, 2010.  The field will be limited to 2,000 participants, so there are still plenty of spots available.  So far, the only local on the entry list is Dennis Gillen of Camdenton. 

DENNIS DORMAN'S RIDE ACROSS AMERICA (posted May 6th)

Dennis Dorman, on the beach at St. Augustine, Florida
(photo from www.ride4polio.com)

Congratulations to Dennis Dorman of Sunrise Beach, who just completed his two-month, 3,200-mile bicycle ride across the United States, raising over $6,400 for Rotary International's worldwide effort to eradicate polio.   You can read Dennis' travel blog at www.ride4polio.com by clicking on the Interactive Travel Map link on that page.

TOUR OF MISSOURI (posted May 11th)

The Tour of Missouri, planned for August 31 through September 6, is in serious financial jeopardy.  The state legislature approved a $1 million appropriation for the race, but the state tourism officials view that appropriation as discretionary, and are contemplating using it for other tourism expenditures.  Sponsorships are not likely to cover the loss of that appropriation, so the race may have to be cancelled without it.  (Unfortunately, politics is playing a role in the decision, as it did last year when the race was almost cancelled due to a battle over funding.)  A rally in support of the race will be held on the steps of the state capitol on Saturday, May 15th at noon.    

THIRD ANNUAL LAKE REGIONAL FUN RUN/WALK   (updated May 4th)

Fifty-six runners--more than double last year's total of 23--competed in the Lake Regional 5K Fun Run.  Sixty-seven others participated in the one-mile Fun Walk.  Despite the gloomy forecast, the weather was perfect, though that didn't make climbing a few scary-steep, lung-burning hills on the Sycamore Creek Golf Course any easier.  Everyone had a great time, and thanks go to all of the Lake Regional staff and volunteers who organized the event, and the sponsors who supported it.

Overall female winner was Stacey Turner, who finished in 23:08.  The male winner was local running phenom Levi McDonald in 17:44.  Levi won this year's Polar Bear Strut and finished fifth (of 84) in his age group at the recent GO! St. Louis Half Marathon.

The top female and male finishers (pictured left to right):  Michelle Brown (third; 23:27), Stacey Turner (first; 23:08), Vanessa Wisdom (second; 24:10), Levi McDonald (first; 17:44) and Casey O'Connor (second; 19:31).

Fun Run full results:

 

BOSTON MARATHON (posted April 19th)

Congratulations to Camdenton's Dennis Gillen, who today finished the world's most prestigious marathon--the Boston Marathon--in an extraordinary 3:41:23.  That placed Dennis 334th in his male 55-59 age group, which shows just how elite the field of runners is for the Boston Marathon.  Nearly 700 competitors in his age group finished in less than four hours.

DOGWOOD FESTIVAL 5K RUN/WALK (updated April 22nd)

Paula O'Connor and her son Sean were the female and male winners of the Dogwood Festival 5K Run last Saturday.  I'll post the full results if I can find them.

GO! ST. LOUIS MARATHON & HALF MARATHON (updated April 12th)

Yesterday's (April 11th) GO! St. Louis Marathon, Half Marathon and Marathon Relay broke all participation records in the race's 10-year history--nearly 15,000 in total. Here's the number of finishers or participants in each race:

Other than the size of the field, the weather was the story of the day. The weather was great for the first few hours of the race, but started taking its toll--especially on the marathoners--by mid morning. The sun warmed up the air temperature to nearly 70 degrees by 10:00, and with little shade on the course and the heat radiating from the asphalt streets, dehydration was difficult to ward off. There was noticeably more walking in the later miles of the marathon this year than in any year prior. These events are hard enough in perfect weather; anything less than that just adds to the difficulty and suffering.

The nice weather, though, did bring out out what looked like the largest largest number of spectators in the event's history.

Among Lake-area participants, Levi McDonald, who won this year's Polar Bear Strut, placed fifth (of 84) in his division, finishing the half marathon in 1:31:03. Steve Scott of Eldon finished ninth (of 695) in his division with a half-marathon time of 1:24:05. Congratulations to them and to all other Lake-area participants:

SHAKESPEARE'S PIZZA MAXTRAX DUATHLON (posted April 4th)

Congratulations to Dennis Gillen of Camdenton, who finished the MaxTrax long course duathlon (2.5-mile run, 15-mile bike and 2.5-mile run) in 1:29:11 on Saturday in Columbia.  That placed Dennis second (of three) in his 55-59 age group.

TWO DAM DAYS PADDLE RACE (posted March 26th)

The first official information about the inaugural Two Dam Days Paddle Race on September 25-26th has been posted on the Lake Ozark Watershed Alliance's website.  An article about the race appeared in The Lake Today on March 24th.  You can view it by clicking on the thumbnail image below.

CAMDEN COUNTY CHILD ADVOCACY COUNCIL 5K RUN/WALK (posted April 12th)

At 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 24th, a 5K run/walk benefiting the Camden County Child Advocacy Council will be held at the Camdenton R-III high school football field and track located behind Hawthorn Elementary School.

Described as "An Evening of Walking Into Awareness", this event will help bring awareness to the problem of child abuse in our community, and helps support a great local organization. The cost is only $3 per person, or $10 per family.

Click here for more details and registration information.

POLAR BEAR STRUT (updated March 4th) 

A record turnout of 171 runners and walkers participated in the Polar Bear Strut on February 27th and raised a total of $13,435 for Special Olympics Missouri.  The weather was a bit chilly at first, but it soon warmed up and turned out to be a beautiful day.  Too bad, though, that that didn't make the course any easier.  This is one of the toughest 5K courses you'll find anywhere.  A huge thanks goes to Pete Leyva and his crew for their hard work in putting on a great event, as they've now done for nine years. 

Congratulations to all who finished, but especially to Levi McDonald and Victoria Robinson, the top male and female runners who finished in 20:02 and 23:17, respectively.  Levi and Victoria are Camdenton cross country runners, and will be racing the GO! St. Louis Half Marathon on April 11th.

Levi McDonald and Victoria Robinson

Levi McDonald and Pete Leyva

The list of the top ten male and female runners that appeared in the media is available here.  The full results are now available.

TWO DAM DAYS PADDLE RACE  (updated March 3rd)

Dan Dougan's mention on KRMS (see below) of a dam-to-dam paddling race intrigued me, and led me to do a bit of investigative work.  Knowing that any such event on the Lake requires a regatta permit from the Missouri State Water Patrol, I checked the MSWP's website to see if a permit has been issued.  Indeed, one has.  There is a two-day permit (each day running from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.) for Saturday-Sunday, September 25-26, for the "Two Dam Days Paddle Race".  The race location is listed as "Drake Harbor to Iguana Sports", and the permit is for up to 300 boats.  Drake Harbor and Recreation Area is located in Warsaw, Missouri, at the 91-mile mark of the Lake.  Iguana Watersports, which rents boats and PWCs, is located near Bagnell Dam.  Click on the image below to see it full-size.

Update:  Due to the distance of the race, I didn't think it would stop at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, and then resume at 7:00 a.m. Sunday, as the regatta listing showed.  However, I've heard that there are plans to have a stopping point on Saturday at Captain Ron's at the 34-mile mark.

 

DAN DOUGAN ON KRMS-1150 AM  (posted February  21st)

Dan Dougan, owner of Ozark Outdoors & Cyclery, appeared on KRMS yesterday afternoon.  He and show host JR talked about a lot of things, but mostly about kayaking in the Lake area.  One particularly interesting thing Dan mentioned is the possibility of a Truman Dam to Bagnell Dam paddling race this September. 

Here's the audio (43:30; 25MB; mp3 format).  The audio begins just a few seconds after the start of the program.

KB: SUPER PLUNGER (posted February 12th)

A new video has been posted on the Videos page.  Local KRMS radio personality and all-round great guy "KB" joined nine others in plunging 24 times in 24 hours into the ice-cold water of the lake last February to raise a bunch of money for Special Olympics Missouri.  The Polar Plunge returns on February 27th, so the video is a fitting reminder of why slightly more sane people choose to do the Strut (see below) instead.

DENNIS DORMAN'S BICYCLE RIDE ACROSS AMERICA (posted January 30th)

The 3,200-mile bicycle ride across America that Dennis Dorman of Sunrise Beach announced last November is scheduled to begin on March 1st in San Diego.  Dennis hopes to finish in St. Augustine, Florida, in early May.

The ride is a fundraiser for Rotary International (Dennis is a member of the Laurie-Sunrise Beach Rotary Club) to support its continuing efforts to eradicate polio around the world.  His goal is to raise $100,000.

A front-page article about Dennis and the ride appeared in the Lake Sun on January 28th.  Click here to read it (.pdf format; 2.2 MB).

Dennis was interviewed on KRMS-1150AM on January 25th.  It was similar to an 18-minute interview given last November 16th, which you can listen to by clicking here (MP3 format; 10.1 MB).

ADVENTUREMAX (posted January 4th)

Adventure racing enthusiasts will be interested in learning of two new races being put on by Ultramax Events on March 6th at the Innsbrook Resort in Innsbrook, Missouri (about 30 minutes west of St. Louis).  The AdventureMax 8-Hour and AdventureMax Off-Road Team Triathlon will be run on the same day.  The races are similar, although the team triathlon will only take about 2.5 hours to complete, and will not have any orienteering sections on the course (though basic map skills will be required).

THE TOUR OF ST. LOUIS (posted January 25th)

Big Shark Bicycle Company is one of the largest bike shops in the St. Louis area, and does more to support Missouri bike events than just about anyone.  Owner Mike Weiss is also heavily involved in organizing the Tour of Missouri.

Big Shark has announced three events coming up on the weekend of April 24-25 that are part of what it calls "The Tour of St. Louis":

Saturday morning, April 24th:  The Delmarvelous Criterium, a 0.8-mile criterium around the near north side of St. Louis.

Saturday afternoon, April 24th: The Big Bottom Time Trial, a 9-mile out-and-back course on the flat Columbia Bottom Conservation Area in north St. Louis County.

Sunday, April 25th: The Carondelicious Circuit Race, a 1.3-mile circuit course in Carondelet Park in south St. Louis City.

For more information about these events, click here.

TRI-STATE MOTHER ROAD MARATHON AND HALF MARATHON (posted January 15th)

A new marathon and half marathon, as well as 5K and 1-mile races, will be held on October 10th.  The marathon course covers parts of three states--Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas--hence the "Tri-State" part of the name, and a Route 66 (aka the "Mother Road") rock 'n roll theme will be part of the course and finish line festivities.  It sounds like fun--if running a marathon or half-marathon can be considered fun.  Check out the website for more information.