2021 Archives

RUN FOR THE RANCH MARATHON, MARATHON RELAY, HALF MARATHON & 6-HOUR RUN (posted December 19th)

Her persistence has paid off.   After coming up a minute short a few years ago, Elaine Mallahan is going to the Boston Marathon in 2023.

In July 2019, Elaine finished the Jack and Jill's Downhill Marathon in Washington state in 3:39:22--38 seconds below the Boston Marathon's 2020 qualifying standard of 3:40:00 for the women's 40-44 age group. However, to be accepted into the 2020 race, runners had to beat their qualifying standard by 1:39, meaning that Elaine was 1:01 shy of getting in. (Granted, the 2020 Boston Marathon was never held in person, but Elaine was still unable to run the race virtually and claim a finisher's medal.)

On Saturday, at the 22nd annual Run for the Ranch Marathon, held on a certified course in Rogersville (after the usual Springfield course was unavailable due to construction), Elaine ran an outstanding race, finishing in 3:40:04. Since Elaine, now 44, would be competing in the 45-49 age group at the 2023 Boston Marathon, her qualifying standard is 3:50:00, meaning that she now has a comfortable 9:56 margin over the standard. (The most a runner has ever needed to beat a qualifying standard to get into the marathon is 7:47, and that was for the 2021 race when the field size was limited to 20,000 from its normal 30,000.   In most years, it's only around one or two minutes.  For 2022, runners didn't have to beat their qualifying standard at all--every qualifier was accepted.  That hasn't happened since 2013.)

Elaine was the women's masters (40+) overall winner. She also now owns the two fastest marathon finish times for a Lake-area woman in the 40-49 age group.

Complete race results can be found here. (Don't be confused by seeing "Sarah Mallahan" in the results. "Sarah" is Elaine's first name.)

Perhaps it was the change in venue, or the cold weather (though it's been colder for RFTR in the past), but participation was down from the past several years, and much further down from years before then. Here's a breakdown, by distance, for the last 11 years.

Finishers
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019 2020
2021
Marathon
173
137
116
93
107
71
92
53
53
77
30
Half Marathon
362
274
215
185
244
214
184
124
155
134
130
6-Hour Run
-
-
-
3
26
6
13
17
10
22
6
Total
535
411
331
281
377
291
289
194
218
233
166
                 
Marathon relay teams
-
-
-
NA
2
21
18
13
18
22
18

*   *   *   *   *

JINGLE BELL 5K (posted December 12th)

Sixty-six runners and walkers braved the cold, windy conditions on Saturday for the Camdenton High School Pride of the Lake Marching Band's (Facebook page) second annual Jingle Bell 5K Run/Walk.

The overall winners were Joey Buoni and Micah Peebles, in 28:19 and 30:54, respectively. 

Complete results can be found here

*   *   *   *   *

4 FORE 30 INFINITY BACKYARD ULTRA (updated December 7th)

Cody Eubanks was simply not going to be denied.   After being the last competitor to drop out (at 37 hours, or 154.2 miles) and concede victory to Chris Boyle at last year's 4 Fore 30 Infinity Backyard Ultra, he was not going home empty-handed this year.  

Cody outlasted 60 other competitors this weekend, winning this year's 4 Fore 30 in 30 hours, or 125 miles.  Garett Carolus of Leesburg, Indiana, was Cody's last remaining contender.  Cody decided age advantage (he's 38; Garett is 56) and sheer determination to win were apparently too much for Garett to overcome.


This photo says it all. If you look at last year's race photos, Cody always positiioned himself near the front, but not at the front, at the start of each hour during the early part of the race. (Here's one example.) This year, though, he positioned himself front row, dead center, at the start of each hour. The above photo was taken just before the 11:00 a.m. start.   (Here he is again, at the 2:00 p.m. start.)  He was clearly a man on a mission.

The complete race results can be found here.

You can find Rick Mayo's (of Mile 90 Photography) photos here.

Below is a chart showing this year's rate of attrition, with prior years' shown by comparison. The sharpest dropoff this year occurred right after the 8th hour (33.36 miles), when 12 competitors chose not to continue. Half the field was gone by the 12th hour (50 miles).

Twenty of the 61 competitors in this year's field were from the Lake area. Here are their results, plus those for a few others:

Place
Name
City
Miles
Completed
6 (tie)
Aaron Koeppen Four Seasons
100.0
11
Tucker Seise Osage Beach
75.0
16 (tie)
Chris Boyle Osage Beach
62.6
16 (tie)
John Shelby Osage Beach
62.6
16 (tie)
Ellie Webb Linn Creek
62.6
24 (tie)
Katie Roberts Camdenton
54.2
24 (tie)
Blake Roettgen Linn Creek
54.2
31 (tie)
Alysia Maschino Roach
45.9
34
Rob Kucsik Four Seasons
41.7
35 (tie)
Charlie Boyle Osage Beach
33.4
35 (tie)
Georgi Carolus Macks Creek
33.4
35 (tie)
Payten Luaders Montreal
33.4
35 (tie)
Mark Matthews Kaiser
33.4
35 (tie)
Jim McDermott Camdenton
33.4
47 (tie)
Gary Thompson Osage Beach
29.2
51 (tie)
Connor Boyle Osage Beach
25.0
51 (tie)
Kendra Moe Eldon
25.0
51 (tie)
Nate Moe Eldon
25.0
57 (tie)
Brad Seidt Linn Creek
20.8
59 (tie)
Cora Lowary Montreal
20.8
       
Other runners of interest:
12 (tie)
Chelsea Krause Ankeny (IA)
66.7
31 (tie)
Ryan Maher Fenton (MO)
45.9
35 (tie)
Shea Boyle Kirkwood (MO)_
33.4
     

Notable results: To the best of my knowledge, Aaron Koeppen, Tucker Seise, Ellie Webb, Blake Roettgen, Rob Kucsik, Charlie Boyle, Georgi Carolus, Payten Luaders, Jim McDermott and Connor Boyle all set personal distance records.  (Send any additions or corrections here.)  Aaron Koeppen topped his previous record of 70.8 miles (set last year at this race) by a whopping 30 miles.  The youngest competitors at this year's race, Charlie Boyle, age 12, and Connor Boyle, age 10, beat their 2020 records by 8.3 and 4.2 miles, respectively. 

The field of 61 completed an average of 52.2 miles.  That was up from last year's 47.4, 2019's 44.2, and 2018's 39.4.

Expressed in terms of conventional race distances, the biggest percentage of the field (about 41%) ended up running between a 50K and 100K, as shown below:

DISTRIBUTION OF COMPETITORS BY NUMBER OF MILES COMPLETED,
GROUPED ACCORDING TO CONVENTIONAL RACE DISTANCES
Conventional Race Distance
Number of
competitors
completing this distance
Half marathon or less (0 to 13.1 miles)
-
Half marathon to marathon (13.1 to 26.2 miles)
11
Marathon to 50K (26.2 to 31.0 miles)
4
50K to 100K (31.0 to 62 miles)
25
100K up to 100 miles
13
100 miles or more
8
   Total
61

The die-hards:  Six runners extended their streaks of having run in every 4 Fore 30. They are: Shannon Briscoe (of Archie, MO), Gavin Eubank (of Columbia), Rob Kucsik, Katie Roberts, Tucker Seise and John Shelby.

After four years of 4 Fore 30, the runners who have logged the most cumulative miles weaving their way around the Lake Valley golf course are:

Rank
Name
2018-2021 Cumulative MIles
1
Chris Boyle
305
2
John Shelby
284
3
Cody Eubanks
279
4
Andy Emerson
275
5
Tucker Seise
244

An Excel spreadsheet containing searchable and sortable results for every 4 Fore 30 since inception can be downloaded here.

*   *   *   *   *

LAKER TURKEY TROT 5K (updated November 27th)

The starting field of 149 runners and walkers braved temperatures in the 30s with steady winds of 5-10 mph.

Despite the chilliest race-day weather in years, the Laker Turkey Trot 5K drew its largest crowd (of 149 finishers) since 2016, and the fourth-largest in the race's 12-year history.  It was also one of just four turkey trots among the twenty that were held across the state that reported higher participation this year than in the pre-COVID year of 2019. 

Since the very first race in 2010, the Laker Turkey Trot has always been dominated by current and former high school and collegiate cross country runners. Of this year's top 10 finishers, at least nine fell into one of those categories, including five current or former Camdenton High School runners (Jake Thoenen, Michael Vitelli, Clare Holmes, Ellie Webb and Georgi Carolus), Charlie and Tad Gray from St. Louis University High School (the fourth-ranked team at this month's Class 5 state championships), and Caleb Phillips, a Class 1 state championship qualifier for Macks Creek.

Persistence finally paid off for Jake Thoenen.  After finishing second overall (twice to both Jeremy Ryan and Tucker Seise) in each of the last four years, he finally claimed an overall victory, winning in 17:17.  Last year's winner, Tucker Seise, held the lead for the first mile, but Jake overtook him by mile 2 and held on for the win.  Jake's winning time was the third-fastest in race history, surpassed only by Jeremy Ryan's record of 16:57 set in 2019 and Tucker's 17:15 finish last year.

The women's race was won by now three-time winner Clare Holmes, a former Laker cross country runner currently running for Missouri S&T.   (She's now tied with four other Turkey Trot competitors--Jeremy Ryan, David Prather, Chelsey Van Hook and Heather Oddo--with three overall victories.) Clare crossed the line in 20:42--her fastest winning time--with an 8-second margin of victory over Ellie Webb, a Laker junior cross country runner who ran in the state championships earlier this month.

   
Overall winners Jake Thoenen and Clare Holmes.

The complete race results can be found here.

   
Jim McDermott took home a frozen turkey for the seventh time for winning his age group.  Pete Groce skipped the chance of winning a pie at the Jefferson City Thanksgiving Day Pie Run (no big deal, he won one at last month's GO! St. Louis Halloween Half Marathon) to try his luck at the Laker Turkey Trot, and took home a turkey for winning the 50-59 age group.

Elaine and Mark Mallahan brought home hers-and-his turkeys for their respective age-group victories.

After being MIA for several years, former Osage High School cross country runners Reagan and Ryan Page brushed the cobwebs off their running shoes and ran and finished together in a very pokey 39:40, good for 93rd and 94th place.

Many more photos can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

THANKSGIVING DAY RACES  (posted November 23rd)

The biggest race day of the year in the United States is going to be a lot bigger this year than last, with every race that was cancelled or which went virtual last year due to COVID returning to in-person status this year, with one, notable exception--Springfield's Turkey Trot 5K--normally the largest turkey trot in the state. 

Locally, the 12th annual Laker Turkey Trot 5K starts at 9:00 a.m. at Camdenton High School.  Complete information can be found further down this column under "Upcoming Events".

The following table shows what races are being held across the state.

THANKSGIVING DAY RACES IN MISSOURI
NUMBER OF FINISHERS
City Race 2019 2020 2021
Springfield Turkey Trot 5K Run
5,055
Virtual
Virtual
Kirkwood Kirkwood Webster Turkey Day Run
(3 miles, 6 miles, and both distances)
4,380
Virtual
4,043
St. Charles Turkey Trot STL 5K
3,840
395
2,665
Kansas City Ward Parkway Thanksgiving Day 5K/10K
3,590
Virtual
3,081
Kansas City Thanksgiving Day 5K Run & Family Stroll
2,110
Virtual
2,093
Kansas City Turkey Tracks 5K
-
434
227
Chesterfield Chesterfield Turkey Trot 5K
2,210
Virtual
1,878
Arnold Arnold Gobble Gobble Run 5K
(Turkey Trot STL - Arnold prior to 2020)
1,799
Cancelled
891
St. Louis (downtown) Turkey Trot STL
2,164
Cancelled
1,463
Eureka Turkey Trot STL 5K
1,596
Cancelled
-
Kansas Ctiy Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot 5K/8K
1,479
Virtual
870
Columbia Turkey Trax 5K
1,023
Virtual
936
Joplin Joplin Turkey Trot
1,000
Cancelled
1,036
Olivette
 (St. Louis County)
Olivette Turkey Trot 5K
1,366
Virtual
1,139
St. Louis
St. Louis Turkey Trot 5K/8K
978
Virtual
1,278
Parkville Parkville Turkey Trail Trot
1,072
Virtual
993
Kansas City Pilgrim Run 5K
881
Virtual
648
Branson Branson Turkey Trot 5K
609
Virtual
599
Jefferson City Thanksgiving Day Pie Run 5K/10K
548
376
584
Chesterfield Gobble Wobble 5K
333
246
270
Aurora Mountaineer Turkey Strut 5K
186
Cancelled
?
Ozark Turkey Scramble 5K/10K
174
234
?
Rolla Galloping Gobbler 5K/10K
160
120
103
Camdenton Laker Turkey Trot 5K
108
60
149
Pierce City Pilgrims Run 5K
61
?
-
Boonville Boonslick Heartland YMCA Turkey Trot 5K/10K
NA
Yes
?
Mexico Turkey Trot 5K
NA
Virtual
?
Troy Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot 5K
NA
Yes
?
Lebanon Turkey Trot 5K
NA
80 (est.)
100 (est.)
Washington Turkey Day 5K/10K
NA
?
-
Farmington Turkey Trot 5K
NA
Yes
?
St. Louis (Forest Park) The Hungry Turkey 5K
-
165
-
Strafford Strafford Turkey Trot 5K
?
Willard Willard Turkey Trot    
?
   
   TOTAL
36,722
2,500 (est.)
25,000
(approx.)

*   *   *   *   *

LITTLE ROCK MARATHON, HALF MARATHON, 10K & 5K (posted November 23rd)

For the second year in a row, nobody from the Lake area participated in Sunday's Little Rock Marathon & Half Marathon.  However, a couple of our friends were there, both of whom ran the marathon.

Greg Linhart finished in 3:21:15.  Randy Acklin, who was presumably pacing the 4:50 group (as he's done at least for the past four years), finished in 4:50:23.

Complete results are posted here.

Perhaps it was due to the postponement of the race from its usual March weekend (when competition from other races is minimal), but participation in both the marathon and half marathon were down substantially from 2020 and 2019.  (The race returns to March next year.)

Number of Finishers
Year Marathon Half Marathon Total
2012
1,982
3,548
5,530
2013
2,446
4,404
6,850
2014
1,761*
4,786
6,547
2015
2,453
3,949
6,402
2016
2,034
3,497
5,531
2017
2,178
3,698
5,876
2018
1,818
3,429
5,257
2019
1,589
3,093
4,682
2020
1,385
2,984
4,369
2021
760
1,555
2,315
* Marathon was stopped by a thunderstorm

*   *   *   *   *

HONORING OUR HEROES MARATHON, MARATHON RELAY, HALF MARATHON, 10K & 5K (posted November 20th)


After a week of windy, chilly weather, sunny skies and warmer temperatures made for a beautiful day at the sixth annual Honoring Our Heroes Marathon, Marathon Relay, Half Marathon, 10K & 5K (Facebook page).  The weather helped bring out the largest field in the race's history, with 354 solo runners, including four from the Lake area, toeing the starting line.

April Leonard finished her fourth Honoring Our Heroes marathon, crossing the line this year in 5:01:52.  It also extended her Lake-area women's record for completing a marathon at the oldest age (54).  

Here are the results for our Lake-area runners:

HONORING OUR HEROES MARATHON, MARATHON RELAY,
HALF MARATHON, 10K & 5K
SALEM TO ROLLA, MISSOURI
NOVEMBER 20, 2021
RESULTS FOR LAKE-AREA AND SELECTED OTHER PARTICIPANTS
Name
City
Finish Time
Age Group
Age Group Place
MARATHON:
Jessica Clark Rocky Mount
4:49:33
F40-44
1 of 1
April Leonard Eldon
5:01:52
F50-54
3 of 6
 
HALF MARATHON:
Michael Radlund Linn Creek
3:02:08
M15-19
5 of 7
 
5K:
John Brody Eldon
34:10
M45-49
5 of 6
 

The complete race results can be found here.

Melissa Martinez finished the marathon in (5:24:51), two weeks after running the Bass Pro Marathon.and Amy Frederick (23:12) in the 5K.

Honoring Our Heroes' sentimental favorite, 84 year-old veteran Bob Gravley of Salem, Missouri, returned to extend his streak of having finished this race every year.  He finished the marathon in 2016, 2017 and 2018, before stepping down to the 5K in 2019, then stepping back up to a 10K last year and this.  He finished this year in 1:55:24.

As mentioned above, total participation hit a new record.  Here are the total number of finishers, by distance, in the race's six-year history.

  2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Marathon
32
46
51
91
92
64
Half Marathon
108
68
105
129
119
141
10K
-
-
-
47
34
57
5K
58
69
79
79
77
92
    Total
198
183
225
346
322
354
         
 Marathon relay teams
3
0
7
8
10
5

*   *   *   *   *

WHITE RIVER MARATHON, HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted November 20th) 

Perhaps it was the competition from the Little Rock Marathon & Half, which was postponed to this weekend from its usual weekend in March, but participation dropped sharply for Saturday's White River Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K in Cotter, Arkansas from both last year and 2019.

  2019 2020 2021
Marathon
183
222
91
Half Marathon
353
288
197
5K
122
102
132
   Total
658
612
420

For the seventh year in a row, the final marathon finisher was Kathryn Grace of Mountain Home, Arkansas.  She finished this year's race in 10:36:00.  She's 82 years old.  Bless her heart. 

*   *   *   *   *

DOGWOOD CANYON TRAIL RUNS (posted November 14th)

The Bass Pro Fitness Series concluded this weekend with the sold out Dogwood Canyon Trail Runs at the privately-owned Dogwood Canyon Nature Park southwest of Table Rock Lake near Branson.  The 25K and 50K races are held on Saturday; the 15K on Sunday.

Of the 500 competitors in Saturday's races, just one was from the Lake area.  Mark Matthews finished the 25K in 2:51:36, placing 11th (of 24) in the 45-49 age group.  Strangely enough, Mark finished three minutes slower last year, yet that was good enough for 6th place in the same age group.

There were 432 and 77 finishers of the 25K and 50K, respectively.  The 15K had 492 finishers.  Of those 492, 175 had also competed in one of Saturday's races. 

Complete race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

CHATTANOOGA MARATHON, HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted November 14th)

Scott Gray's and Chris Hein's latest road trip took them to Tennessee this weekend for Sunday's Chattanooga Marathon & Half.   Scott did the half, finishing in 3:18:30 (75th of 79 in the 40-49 age group), while Chris did the full marathon, finishing in 5:40:59 (20th of 21 in the 40-49 age group).

Complete race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

ST. LOUIS HALF MARATHON & 5K  (posted November 7th)

For the first time in five years, a Lake-area runner competed at the St. Louis Track Club's St. Louis Half Marathon & 5K

Mark Haumschilt of Lake Ozark finished the half marathon in 1:58:06, placing 5th (of 19) in the men's 60-64 age group.

Full results can be found here.

There were 755 half marathon and 188 5K finishers this year.  That was way up from 290 and 46 finishers in last year's COVID-affected race.  (For 2019, there were 582 and 175 finishers, respectively.)

*   *   *   *   *

BASS PRO SHOPS FITNESS SERIES MARATHON, MARATHON RELAY, HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted November 7th)

Ten Lake-area runners competed at Sunday's Bass Pro Shops Fitness Series marathon, half marathon and 5K, making this the most popular out-of-town race for Lake-area runners for the eighth year in a row.

In the marathon, Jim McDermott won the men's 65-69 age group by default.  Jim's finish time was 4:17:49.  (This year's Bass Pro race falls within the qualifying period for the 2022 Boston Marathon, but the qualifying standard for 65-69 year-old men is 4:05:00.) 

Kelsey Wallis of Eldon set a new Lake-area record with her 4:18:12 marathon finish.  That was the fastest marathon by a Lake-area female 19 years of age or younger.  (It's believed that this was her first marathon, as well.  Two other Lake-area finishers, Nathanael and Kendra Moe, may have also been first-timers. They're both registered for 4 Fore 30.) 

Former Lake-area runner Heather Oddo, now of Springfield, took fourth place overall in the women's marathon, and third in the 35-39 age group. She ran a remarkable 3:03:47. (Only one Lake-area female, Lizzy Handschy, had ever run a faster marathon--2:57:04 in 2015.  Lizzy moved from the Lake area the following year.)

In the half marathon, Dan Robertson knocked 45 minutes off of last year's finish time, finishing this year in 1:55:08.

Here are the results for our Lake-area runners. If I missed anyone in the listing below, please let me know.

BASS PRO CONSERVATION MARATHON
MERCY MARATHON RELAY
COHICK HALF MARATHON
NEWS-LEADER 5K
SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI
NOVEMBER 7, 2021
RESULTS FOR LAKE-AREA PARTICIPANTS AND SELECTED OTHERS
Name
City
Finish Time
Age Group
Age Group Place
MARATHON:
Heather Oddo Springfield
3:03:47
F35-39
3 of 24
Jim McDermott Camdenton
4:17:49
M65-69
1 of 1
Kelsey Wallis Eldon
4:18:12
F18-24
6 of 12
Nathanael Moe Eldon
5:50:10
M25-29
18 of 18
Kendra Moe Eldon
5:50:11
F30-34
15 of 18
Melissa Martinez Crocker
5:25:27
5:30 pacer
 
 
HALF MARATHON:
Dan Robertson Eldon
1:55:08
M60-64
6 of 24
Mallory Walsh Lake Ozark
1:58:26
F35-39
23 of 90
Paulette Spriggs Lake Ozark
2:05:24
F40-44
20 of 84
Jill Wedig Eldon
2:07:40
F40-44
22 of 84
Randy Acklin Marshfield
2:14:43
2:15 pacer
Paul Burris Osage Beach
2:35:56
M45-49
32 of 38
 
5K:
Rosanna Gapen Camdenton
29:42
F30-34
7 of 36
 
MARATHON RELAY PARTICIPANTS:
 

An extremely rare result occurred in the marathon.   A husband and wife were the overall men's and women's champions.  Ryan and Jacqui Giuliano of Oakwood Hills, Illinois won in 2:26:53 and 2:53:32, respectively.

Springfield's sensational Kimi Reed, a past winner of Bass Pro's women's marathon and half marathon, and who qualified for and ran in the U.S. Olympic marathon trials back in February 2020, stepped down to the 5K this year and won it, in 18:01.

Complete race results can be found here.

Participation was up substantially from last year's COVID-limited field size.  Compared to 2019, the total number of race finishers was down 18%. Here are the total number of finishers, by distance, since 2015:

  2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Marathon
354
319
324
284
308
306
270
Half Marathon
1,454
1,218
1,146
1,148
1,183
581
919
5K
756
987
860
982
957
256
824
  Total 
2,564
2,524
2,330
2,414
2,448
1,143
2,013
             
Marathon relay teams
61
82
82
62
90
71
60

*   *   *   *   *

MISSOURI HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY STATE CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS (updated November 6th)

Here are our local high school cross country runners' results at the state championship meet at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia this weekend.  

Name School Year Finish Time Place
 
CLASS 4: (full results)
GIRLS:
Ellie Webb Camdenton
11
20:41
75 of 163
         
CLASS 3: (full results)
BOYS:
William Faulconer Osage
11
17:34
42 of 170
Kevin Sparks Osage
12
18:00
73 of 170
Caden Wyrick Osage
11
18:21
97 of 170
Dylan Barnett Osage
11
18:33
113 of 170
James Sparks Osage
12
18:39
118 of 170
Jaysen Groll Osage
10
18:57
134 of 170
Colin Misenheimer Osage
10
19:24
152 of 170
   
GIRLS:
Bayley Johnson Osage
11
20:57
45 of 170
Kathleen Wolf Osage
11
21:07
50 of 170
Abby Maschhoff Osage
12
21:50
82 of 170
Addision Fowler Osage
9
21:57
88 of 170
Juliana Bryant Osage
12
22:53
118 of 170
Jennifer Renz Osage
10
24:04
143 of 170
Jocelynn Welch Osage
10
24:59
154 of 170
         
CLASS 3:  (full results)
BOYS:
Nathan Reynolds Eldon
10
16:48
17 of 170
   
GIRLS:
Zoe Martonfi Eldon
10
19:02
3 of 170
Emily Guthrie Eldon
12
22:12
95 of 170
Vivan Wester Eldon
11
23:33
134 of 170
Reagan Hull Eldon
9
24:20
146 of 170
Makenna Imler Eldon
11
24:48
152 of 170
Emily Ramirez Eldon
9
25:29
157 of 170
Marena Tellman Eldon
9
27:19
163 of 170
     
CLASS 1:  (full results)
BOYS:
Caleb Phillips Macks Creek
10
17:47
22 of 172
Jose Cortez Macks Creek
10
19:16
94 of 172
Kyler Gabriel Macks Creek
10
19:16
95 of 172
Vaughn Vasquez Macks Creek
9
20:00
124 of 172
Nicholas Hicks Macks Creek
9
21:47
158 of 172
Dakota Willis Macks Creek
10
29:13
171 of 172
   
GIRLS:
Molly Phillips Macks Creek
12
22:33
38 of 155
Adriana Mayer Macks Creek
12
23:28
69 of 155
         

Here are the team results:

Osage girls - 7th of 16 teams
Osage boys - 14th of 16 teams
Eldon girls - 15th of 16 teams
Macks Creek boys - 13th of 16 teams

The fastest boys' winning time across all classes was 14:52 by sophomore Andrew Hauser of Rock Bridge in Class 5. (Last year's fastest boy was his brother, Matthew Hauser. Andrew placed 12th in that race.)

For the girls, it was Grace Tyson, a junior at Lafayette (suburban St. Louis), who won Class 5 in 17:42. She was the second-fastest at last year's Class 5 championship, and third in 2019.

*   *   *   *   *

KANSAS CITY WEEKEND RACES (posted November 12th)

Here are the number of finishers at the three big races in Kansas City last weekend.   All three had fewer finishers than in 2019, with declines ranging from 30% to 39%.

Garmin Marathon, Half Marathon & 10K:

  2019 2020 2021
Marathon
448
Cancelled
356
Half Marathon
960
713
10K
743
435
   Total
2,151
1,504

Longview Half Marathon and 5K/10K:

  2019 2020 2021
Half Marathon
586
417
408
10K
426
198
199
5K
420
207
327
   Total
1,432
822
934

Gobbler Grind Marathon, Half Marathon and 5K/10K:

  2019 2020 2021
Marathon
-
116
82
Half Marathon
587
331
328
10K
225
137
92
5K
398
198
231
   Total
1,210
782
733

*   *   *   *   *

GIVE 'EM THE BIRD 5K RUN, 1-MILE WALK & KIDS RACE (updated November 4th)

All good things eventually come to an end and, regrettably, that now includes the Give 'Em The Bird 5K.  Race founder and organizer Tara Grantham made the startling announcement during the pre-race ceremonies at the eleventh--and final--edition of the race held last Saturday.

The "Super Bowl of Lake-area 5Ks", which I branded the race in 2015 because of its over-the-top features and unmatched community support, was originally organized to help a local food pantry at a time when they were small and desperate for assistance. Since then, grants and corporate donations have greatly improved the funding for food pantries, thus diminishing the need for fundraising events like Give 'Em The Bird.  Still, over the last ten years, this race has generated about $100,000 in donations--a remarkable amount that could very well be the record for Lake-area races over that time period, and a testament to the generosity of the Versailles community.

Give 'Em The Bird will be terribly missed.  Our fall race season has lost its best race. 

End of an era:  J.T. Gerlt, program director of race sponsor KS-95.1 FM, and Tara Grantham, owner of Versailles Total Fitness and founder and race director of the Give 'Em The Bird 5K, pose in front of a GETB starting field for the very last time.

In its later years, Give 'Em The Bird started to attract elite runners from cities far outside the Lake area.  Indeed, since 2017, not one male or female overall winner at this race was a local runner.  Fortunately, at the race's final edition, local runners redeemed us by taking both of the overall victories. 

Nigher Alfaro, who's had third- and fourth-place finishes at previous GETB races, finally claimed an overall victory.  Nigher won in 20:23, over a minute ahead of Mark Hampton of Tipton.

The women's race was won by 13 year-old Elysha Wilkin of Versailles, in 24:05.  Elysha was the second-youngest women's winner of GETB.  Only Alexis Fischer, who won in 2013 at age 11, was younger.

For the record, the fastest winning times in GETB history were Casey O'Connor's 16:05 in 2013, and Janelle Harrison's 19:07 in 2020.   To this day, Casey's 16:05 is believed to be the fastest 5K ever run in the Lake area, outside of a high school cross country race.

   
2021's overall winners Nigher Alfaro and Elysha Wilkin.

There were a total of 63 timed finishers of the 5K run.  That was down from 101 in 2020, and 109 in 2019.  The full race results can be found here.

Placing third overall, in 21:42, was Jason Rahn of the Dallas, Texas suburb of Southlake.  Jason came to GETB to run in memory of his father, Versailles resident Eugene Rahn, who passed away two days after last year's race.  

Here are a few photos of other notables at the race:

The Versailles running community (pictured here, minus some who had taken off early) is one of the closest-knit running groups in the Lake area, and chock full of the nicest people you'll find anywhere.  Not seeing this wonderful group every October is yet another reason to lament the end of GETB. 

At long last, some well-deserved recognition:  A race fixture for eleven years at the intersection of Monroe and Washington Streets in downtown Versailles was Steve Grantham, Tara's husband and an associate judge in Missouri's 26th Judicial Circuit.  Though his contribution was mostly behind-the-scenes. Steve was a big part of the success of this event. I can also say from personal experience that no amount of money offered would get Steve to allow you to skip the left turn (leading to another mile of the course) and just proceed straight ahead to the finish line. 

Many more race photos can be viewed here.

On a personal note, a huge "thanks" goes to Tara, Steve, J.T. and everyone else involved with Give 'Em The Bird these past eleven years. To be honest, in recent years, this was one of only a handful of races that I really looked forward to attending.

*   *   *   *   *

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY DISTRICT MEET RESULTS FOR OCTOBER 30th (posted October 30th)

At Saturday's district meets, fifteen of our Lake-area high school cross country runners qualified as individuals for the state championships to be held next Friday and Saturday at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia.   Four of our teams also qualified, so another dozens or so other runners will be going fill out those teams' rosters.

The Class 4 and Class 5 championships are on Friday; the Class 1, 2 and 3 championships are on Saturday. Click here for links to more information regarding the championship races, including information for spectators.

The top 30 boys and girls individual finishers, and the top four boys and girls teams, in each district race qualified for state.  Here are our Lake-area individual qualifiers:

Name School Year Finish Time Place
 
CLASS 4, DISTRICT 2: (meet held at Bolivar; meet results)
GIRLS:
Ellie Webb Camdenton
11
21:41
24 of 104
         
CLASS 3, DISTRICT 2: (meet held at Clever; meet results)
BOYS:
William Faulconer Osage
11
18:00
12 of 111
Kevin Sparks Osage
12
18:10
16 of 111
Colin Misenheimer Osage
10
18:14
21 of 111
Jaysen Groll Osage
10
18:29
29 of 111
   
GIRLS:
Bayley Johnson Osage
11
21:13
11 of 104
Kathleen Wolf Osage
11
21:33
20 of 104
Abby Maschhoff Osage
12
21:43
22 of 104
Addision Fowler Osage
9
22:07
26 of 104
         
CLASS 3, DISTRICT 4:  (meet held at St. Joseph; meet results)
BOYS:
Nathan Reynolds Eldon
10
18:07
5 of 113
   
GIRLS:
Zoe Martonfi Eldon
10
19:58
1 of 79
         
CLASS 1, DISTRICT 3:  (meet held at Linn; meet results)
BOYS:
Caleb Phillips Macks Creek
10
18:36
8 of 90
Jose Cortez Macks Creek
10
19:37
22 of 90
   
GIRLS:
Molly Phillips Macks Creek
12
24:21
15 of 73
Adriana Mayer Macks Creek
12
24:48
19 of 73
         

In the team competition, the Osage girls and boys finished first and third, respectively, in their district, so both teams will be going to state. This marks the fourth year in a row that Osage's girls team has advanced.  Eldon's girls team took third in their district race, and the Macks Creek boys placed fourth in theirs, so both qualified for state.

Just a note:  In past years, only the top 15 individual runners and top two teams from each of the 8 districts in each class qualified for state.  This year, MSHSAA established only 4 districts per class, so they doubled the number of qualifiers to 30 individuals and four teams per district to produce the same number of total competitors at the state championships.

*   *   *   *   *

KANSAS RAILS-TO-TRAILS EXTRAVAGANZA (posted October 24th)

The 50+ mile Spirit Prairie Trail is a converted railroad line in eastern Kansas, and the home of the Kansas Rails-to-Trails Extravanganza (Facebook page) trail race.  The seventh annual race was held this past weekend, offering 100M, 100K, 50M, 50K, marathon and half marathon distance options.

Scott Page won the men's 50-54 age group (over three others) in the 50-mile race, finishing in 9:06:09, a pace of 10:55.  That was 3-1/2 hours faster than his only other 50-miler, which dates back to 2013.  Alysia Maschino was also in the 50-mile starting field, but called it a day somewhere after the 36-mile mark.

The overall winner of the 50-mile race was Cody Jones, who went 30 hours (125 miles) at last December's 4 Fore 30, surpassed only by Chris Boyle and Cody Eubanks.  He finished in a very impressive 5:45:16, a pace of 6:54 per mile. (Since Cody lives in Kansas, and since this was a Kansas race on a certified course, Cody should now own the Kansas state running record for the men's 35-39 age group.  The previous record was 6:20:32, which was set at this same race five years ago.)

Randy Acklin of Marshfield did the 100K, and finished in 19:30:21.  I don't recall ever seeing Randy's name in the results for anything longer than a marathon, so there's a chance that this was his first 100K. Whether or not that's the case, in terms of finish time, this was almost certainly his longest race ever.  (He reached mile 22 in four hours, and took four more hours just to go the next 9 miles.  The second half of the race was even slower.)

Complete race results can be found here.

Mile 90 Photography will be posting photos from the race.

*   *   *   *   *

GUMBO FLATS PUMPKIN RUN 5K/10K (posted October 24th)

Decades before the Chesterfield Valley was filled with big-box stores, outlet malls, office buildings and sports fields, it was nothing but farms for miles on end, and known as the Gumbo Flats. The last of the pumpkin farms are now gone (only some corn fields remain), but the Gumbo Flats Pumpkin Run keeps alive a reminder of the valley's agricultural heritage.

Saturday's race brought out 520 for the 5K, and 197 for the 10K. One Lake-area runner, Julie Simaytis of Sunrise Beach, ran the 10K, finishing in 1:02:05 and plcing 7th of 16 in the women's 50-54 age group.

Complete results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

GREAT FLORIDIAN TRIATHLON (posted November 28th)

The Great Floridian Triathlon is one of the oldest triathlons around, having completed its 30th annual race in October. Jim McDermott became the second Lake-area triathlete to compete in the race, decades after Mike Duncan was the first.

Jim McDermott competed in the "one-third distance" option, so-called because competitors only do one lap of the swim, bike and run courses, each of which is one-third of a standard iron-distance race.  (Two-thirds and full iron-distance options are offered.)   Jim finished the 0.8-mile swim, 42-mile bike and 8.3-mile run in 4:30:12, winning the men's 65-69 age group over one other competitor.   Here are his splits:

Swim:         36:23  (2:35 per 100 yards)
T-1:              5:29
Bike:        2:18:23  (18.2 miles per hour)
T-2:              5:30
Run:        1:24:26  (10:10 per mile) 
Finish:     4:30:12

Complete race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY MEET RESULTS FOR OCTOBER 21st & 23rd (posted October 24th)

The Camdenton and Macks Creek cross country teams competed against five others at the Waynesville District Warmup meet on Thursday at Fort Leonard Wood. Top varsity finishers for Camdenton were freshman Evelyn Marr (14:31; 11th of 33) and Benjamin Hauck (11:23; 10th of 33).  Molly Phillips (14:20; 10th of 33) and Caleb Phillips (11:14; 9th of 33) were the top Macks Creek finishers.  Complete results for that meet can be found here.

Eldon's sensational sophomores--Nathan Reynolds and Zoe Martonfi--were the overall winners of the boys and girls races at the Fatima Invitational in Westphalia on Saturday.  Nathan won in 17:37, beating 70 others to the line, while Zoe finished in 19:29, ahead of 58 others.  (Complete results can be found here.)  Both are shoo-ins to return to the state championship meet on November 6th, though they'll first have to qualify at this coming Saturday's Class 3, District 4 meet in St. Joseph.

*   *   *   *   *

BIG DOG'S BACKYARD ULTRA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP  (posted October 19th)

It's finally over.  Ohio ultrarunner Harvey Lewis won this year's Big Dog's Backyard Ultra world championship in an extraordinary 85 hours, or 354.2 miles.  That was 10 hours longer than anyone had ever needed to go to win a backyard ultra. (One can only wonder if it would have gone longer than that had COVID-related visa problems not kept many international competitors from participating.)

The ultimate duration of a backyard ultra is determined not by the winner, but by the second-strongest competitor in the race, and this year that was Chris Roberts of Kirkwood, Missouri.  Chris lasted 84 hours (350 miles). 

Terumichi Morishita of Japan lasted 80 hours (33.3 miles), providing the only competition for Harvey and Chris for 18 hours.   

Chris Boyle, who earned his spot in the championship by winning last year's 4 Fore 30 (in 38 hours, or 158.3 miles), lasted 29 hours.

Links:

Live Leaderboard and Results

Lazarus Lake's Facebook page

Big Dog's Backyard Ultra Run Group Facebook page

Ultrasignup page

Here's a chart (click on it for a larger image) showing the rate of attrition for this year's field compared to the 2019 and 2020 races.  

*   *   *   *   *

THE GREAT GO! ST. LOUIS HALLOWEEN RACE (posted October 17th)

It's rare for a long-time runner to set new personal records, but 57 year-old Pete Groce of Eldon did just that at Sunday's Great GO! St. Louis Halloween Race in Eureka. Pete finished the half marathon in 1:40:52, beating his previous best by several minutes. Had Pete crossed the line 30 seconds faster, he would have won the men's 55-59 age group. He took second place, finishing ahead of 14 others.

Complete race results are here.

Participation was up from last year, but only about half of 2019's total.

  2019 2020 2021
Half Marathon
1,115
482
531
10K
1,122
Not offered
497
5K
1,087
Not offered
668
   Total
3,324
482
1,696

*   *   *   *   *

F*L*A*T*S TRAIL HALF MARATHON (posted October 17th)

Aaron Koeppen headed to Kirksville for the third time in four years to run at the F*L*A*T*S Trail Half Marathon at Thousand Hills State Park this past Saturday.  (FLATS is an abbreviation for the Forest Lake Area Trail System, an all-volunteer community organization that promotes trail development in the Kirksville area.)

Aaron finished in 1:50:08 in 2018 and 1:52:30 in 2019, and split the difference this year, finishing in 1:51:33.  He placed 16th overall (of 94 competitors).

Complete race results are here.  The race had 94 finishers this year, versus 92 last year and 154 in 2019.

*   *   *   *   *

GARMIN KANSAS CITY MARATHON, HALF MARATHON & 5K/10K (posted October 17th)

The Garmin Kansas City Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K/10K retained its bragging rights as the largest full and half marathons, despite suffering a large 36% decline in total participation from its last race in 2019.  (The 2020 race was cancelled due to COVID.)

Aaron Berendzen shaved a minute off his half marathon finish time two years ago, finishing in 1:51:07 (versus 1:52:01), and placing 48th (of 147) in the men's 40-44 age group.

Full results can be found here.

Here's a breakdown ot the race's participation by distance and year since 2015: 

  2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Marathon
1,298
1,250
1,285
1,264
1,227
COVID
941
Half Marathon
4,556
4,168
3,584
3,990
4,137
2,432
10K
-
-
1,146
1,365
1,297
811
5K
888
938
950
1,272
1,006
725
   Total
6,742
6,356
6,965
7,891
7,667
4,909

*   *   *   *   *

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY MEET RESULTS FOR OCTOBER 14th (posted October 17th)

The Tri-County Conference held its cross country meet on Thursay at Eldon Golf Club. Complete results can be found here.

Here are the top varsity boys and girls runners for Eldon, Osage and Versailles:

Name School
Year
Finish Time
Place
VARSITY BOYS:
Nathan Reynolds Eldon
10
18:31
3 of 49
Colin Misenheimer
Osage
10
19:08
8 of 49
Matthew Radefeld
Versailles
10
21:29
26 of 49
VARSITY GIRLS:
Zoe Martonfi Eldon
10
20:25
2 of 44
Bayley Johnson
Osage
11
 22:05
3 of 44
Alexxis Birdsong
Versailles
10
 30:21
37 of 44

In the team standings, Osage took second place in both the boys and girls races.  The Eldon boys took sixth, and the girls placed fourth.

*   *   *   *   *

BOSTON MARATHON (posted October 13th)

Searchable results have now been posted for Monday's Boston Marathon. It turns out we had one runner from the Lake area at this year's race--Bryna Edwards, who finished in 6:20:42.

A few runners from elsewhere who frequent our Lake-area races were also among this year's finishers, including Andrew Bartelsmeyer (3:31:53) and Greg Linhart (3:38:44). Jill Wagner was listed with no finish time, probably indicating a DNS.

*   *   *   *   *

TRAILFEST (posted October 10th)

Once again, we had just one Lake-area runner appearing at an out-of-town race. This time, it was an unfamiliar name, as well. Cassidy Palan of Osage Beach ran the 5K at the Trailfest event held on Sunday at the Two Rivers Bike Park in Highlandville, south of Springfield. She finished in 44:53, placing 6th (of 12) in the women's 25-29 age group.

In the 6-hour race, Chris Hines of Springfield took third overall among nine competitors.

Nearly 400 participated in the race, including 189 in the 5K, 136 in the 10K, 60 in the half marathon and 9 in the 6-hour challenge.

Complete results are here.

*   *   *   *   *

BANK OF AMERICA CHICAGO MARATHON (posted October 10th)

None of our locals ran the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday, but a couple of our running friends did.  Former Camdenton High School and Drury University cross country standout Jeremy Ryan, who lives in St. Louis, ran a 2:40:19.  That placed Jeremy 147th overall, and 47th in the men's 25-29 age group.

Randy Acklin finished in 5:08:50, placing 1,735th in the 40-44 age group.  Randy, who's often been a 2:00:00 half marathon pacer at Bass Pro, reached the 13.1-mile mark in 2:06:55.   

It turns out that NBC Sports did broadcast the race.  (I swear, it wasn't on their listings when I checked online last Tuesday.)  Among the Americans, past Chicago winner Galen Rupp (2:06:35) finished second overall, and Emma Bates (2:24:20) and Sarah Hall (2:27:19) took second and third in the women's race.  Emma Bates was particularly impressive--she looked as fresh in the final miles as any marathoner I've ever seen.  She's only in her late 20s, so she should be a contender for years to come.  (Rupp and Hall are in their late 30s.)

*   *   *   *   *

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY MEET RESULTS FOR OCTOBER 9th (posted October 10th)

Camdenton was one of nine cross country teams that competed at the inaugural Capital City Invitational on Saturday in Jefferson City. 

Camdenton had six girls in the varsity race.  Georgi Carolus was the top finisher among them, finishing in 22:23 and placing 8th (of 42) overall.  Benjamin Hauck was the only representative in the boys' varsity race.  He finished in 19:08, placing 16th (of 40).

Camdenton had one runner in each of the junior varsity races. Adrienne Hafley placed 10th (of 12) in the girls race, finishing in 33:40, while Levi DeAngelis placed 16th (of 29) in the boys race with a 21:58 finish time.

Complete results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

GLADE TOP TRAIL RACE (posted October 10th)

The Glade Top Trail Run is held so deep within the Mark Twain National Forest in south/southwest Missouri that the directions to get to the race are enough to scare off would-be participants.  Still, 113 runners, including Carolyn Thompson of Camdenton, showed up to run the 1.25-, 4.25- or 10-mile race distances offered.

Carolyn competed in the 10-mile race, winning the women's 60-69 age group (over one other competitor) in 2:00:33.

Complete race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

MO' COWBELL MARATHON, HALF MARATHON & 5K (updated October 6th)

With just over 3,000 finishers, Sunday's MO' Cowbell Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K in St. Charles was the biggest running race in the state held so far this year.  (That distinction shouldn't last long, though, with the Kansas City Marathon & Half coming up in two weeks.) 

Two runners from the Lake area, neither of whom has appeared in any of our past local race results, ran the half marathon. 

Brittany Riley of Lake Ozark finished in 2:31:28, placing 87th (of 131) in the women's 25-29 age group.

The following is what was posted originally (an update follows):


Frankly, the results for the other runner don't make any sense.  (I've never had this level of doubt about anyone's race results in the past.)  Shirley Enochs of Linn Creek (and formerly of St. Charles) is reported to have finished the half in 1:51:55, winning the women's 70-and-over age group over seven others.  If true, that would be an astonishing finish time for someone in that age group.  (The second-place finisher in that age group, by comparison, finished nearly an hour later, in 2:48:03.  Also, the top 70-and-over male finished in 2:00:13.)  Shirley Enochs has two previous finishes of MO' Cowbell's half marathon, in 2016 and 2018, where she finished in 3:47:00 (at age 67) and 3:56:17 (at age 69), respectively--both near the very bottom of her age group.  Shaving two hours off a half marathon finish time in a matter of a few years, especially at an older age group, is hard to believe. All of her reported splits at Sunday's race are consistent with her finish time, indicating that this isn't a case of course-cutting.  My best guess is that someone else ran the race using her race bib. (If that's indeed the case, it's a very serious matter to a race organizer.)  To see if that's the case, I looked up her finish line photos at MO' Cowbell.  Take a look at the finish line photos in 2021 and 2018, shown side-by-side below. Maybe I'm terribly mistaken, but I don't think it's the same person in the two photos.  (If nothing else, does the woman at left look to be 72 years old to you?)  I'll keep an eye out to see if the race organizers make any changes to the results.

 


Update on questionable results: I e-mailed MO’ Cowbell on Monday night, relaying my doubts (detailed in the race report below) regarding the women’s 70+ age-group results. They didn’t respond to me, but they've quietly made a number of corrections that have resolved the situation. I don't know if the race or the timing company was to blame, but the two runners in question were both listed in the results as having the very same bib number--#860.  (One of them actually wore #870.)  That appears to explain the problem.  I don't understand how this could have happened, though, since the RFID tags on the backs of the race bibs would presumably have reflected the correct bib numbers, and prevented such an error.  (I'll bet there was a human error of some kind that caused this.) 

Thankfully, there was no bad behavior on the part of any runner contributing to this mess.  No one ran wearing another runner's bib, as I had originally thought might explain it.

For the record, here are the changes made to the results:

Shirley Enochs finished in 3:53:23 and placed 7th (of 8) in the 70+ age group. Her actual bib number was 870--NOT 860, as you can plainly see in her finish line photos.

The woman who wore bib number 860 was a 49 year-old from Springfield, Illinois. (If she were really 72 years old, even Elizabeth Hurley would be jealous.)  She placed 5th (of 175) in her age group.

If I get a response from MO’ Cowbell explaining exactly how the screw-up happened (I’d welcome one, but I’m not counting on it), I’ll post it.


Here are the total number of race finishers, by distance, since the race's peak participation in 2014.

Distance
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Marathon
514
632
543
447
465
490
COVID
397
Half Marathon
2,870
2,573
2,222
2,101
2,789
2,463
2,027
5K
666
681
706
656
681
690
597
Total
4,050
3,886
3,471
3,204
3,935
3,643
3,021

*   *   *   *   *

ST. JUDE IRONMAN 70.3 MEMPHIS TRIATHLON (posted October 20th)

(Note: My apologies for reporting this nearly three weeks late.   The top of my desk is littered with numerous notes-to-self, and today I unearthed one written months ago reminding me to look for Jim McDermott's results at the upcoming Ironman 70.3 Memphis in October.)

Jim McDermott was one of 1,764 triathletes competing at the inaugural St. Jude Ironman 70.3 Memphis Triathlon held on Saturday, October 2nd. Jim placed 7th (of 21) in the men's 65-69 age group, finishing in 6:44:43. Here are his splits for the 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run:

Swim:         1:01:42
T-1:               10:10
Bike:           3:00:48
T-2:                 5:19
Run:           2:26:45 
Finish:        6:44:43

The weather in Memphis that day was similar to that at the Lake, with light to heavy rain in the morning before turning dry in the afternoon.

*   *   *   *   *

ROCK BRIDGE REVENGE 50K/25K TRAIL RUNS (posted October 3rd)

The Columbia Track Club's Rock Bridge Revenge Trail Runs had 96 finishers on Saturday, with 32 and 64 doing the 50K and 25K, respectively. Michael Classen of Versailles was the only participant from the Lake area. Michael finished the 50K in 6:33:04, placing 16th among the 32 finishers.

Two familiar names, both from Columbia, were among the 25K finishers.  Andy Emerson took 6th overall (of 64) with a 2:24:04 finish, and Gavin Eubank was 51st with a 3:54:57 finish.

Complete race results can be found here.  Lots of photos can be found at the race's Facebook page.

*   *   *   *   *

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY MEET RESULTS FOR OCTOBER 2nd (posted October 3rd)

Camdenton, Osage and Macks Creek cross country teams competed at the Laker Invitational at Ha Ha Tonka State Park on Saturday. The complete results can be found here

Here are the top boys and girls runners for each of the schools:

Name School
Year
Finish Time
Place
VARSITY BOYS:
Colin Misenheimer
Osage
10
18:03
63 of 208
Benjamin Hauck
Camdenton
12
18:04
64 of 208
Caleb Phillips
Macks Creek
10
18:08
70 of 208
 
VARSITY GIRLS:
Bayley Johnson
Osage
11
 21:05
20 of 183
Georgi Carolus
Camdenton
11
 22:11
47 of 183
Molly Phillips Macks Creek
12
25:40
142 of 183

In the team standings, the Camdenton and Osage girls teams place 16th and 17th, respectively, of 23 teams. The Osage boys team placed 19th of 29 teams. (With just two runners, the Camdenton boys team didn't meet the required minimum of five runners to qualify for the team competition.)

*   *   *   *   *

PREGNANCY HELP CENTER'S 5K WALK/RUN FOR LIFE (posted October 3rd)

'

Sam Casella made it three in a row, with his overall win at the Pregnancy Help Center's 5K Walk/Run for Life (Facebook page) on Saturday.   Presumably due to the wet weather, Sam finished two minutes slower than in 2020 and 2019 (22:10 this year, versus 19:58 and 20:01), which gave him a much narrower margin of victory--just 17 seconds over Gary Richardson of Osage Beach. 

For the fourth time in four years, the women's race had a first-time winner.  Malissa Lynxwiler of Osage Beach won in 26:50.

Complete results can be found here.

There were 44 finishers of the race.  That was a up from 40 last year, and the most in the race's history, despite this year's wet weather. 

*   *   *   *   *

FROG HILL HALF MARATHON & 10K and LEAPFROG 5K (posted October 3rd)

Wet weather didn't prevent a record-tying turnout for Friday night's and Saturday morning's eighth annual Frog Hill Half Marathon & 5K/10K in Waynesville, with 251 finishers among the three distances. (About two dozen registered runners failed to show, so the record could easily have been broken.)

Sarah Wood of Eldon was our lone Lake-area representative at the race this year.  Sarah took 6th (of 11) in the women's 30-39 age group in the 10K, finishing in 1:11:35. (Scott Gray, formerly of Eldon but now a Columbia resident, also did the 10K, finishing in 1:34:13.) 

Complete results can be found at the race's Facebook page, as well as the SplitMaster Timing website.

Here are the number of finishers of each distance since the inaugural race in 2014:

Distance
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Half Marathon
187
144
86
44
44
53
62
65
10K
-
76
57
54
48
50
49
48
5K
-
-
103
61
74
112
140
138
Total
-
-
246
159
166
215
251
251

*   *   *   *   *

FORREST GUMP CHALLENGE HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted October 3rd)

Steve Brennaman of Osage Beach was in Branson on Saturday for the Forrest Gump Challenge.   Steve ran the 5K, finishing in 32:24 and placing third (of five) in the men's 60-69 age group.

Our running friend from Marshfield, Randy Acklin, ran the half marathon in 1:50:38.  Chances are, he's tuning up to once again be a pacer at the Bass Pro half marathon in five weeks.

There were 27 half marathon and 44 5K finishers this year, versus 48 and 50 last year.  Last year's race also included a marathon that had 11 finishers.  That distance wasn't offered this year.

*   *   *   *   *

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY MEET RESULTS FOR SEPTEMBER 25th (posted September 25th)

All of our Lake-area cross country teams competed at the Hermitage Invitational on Saturday. The complete results can be found here

Here are the top boys and girls runners for each of the schools:

Name School
Year
Finish Time
Place
BOYS:
Nathan Reynolds Eldon
10
17:25
3 of 89
William Faulconer
Osage
11
17:39
5 of 89
Caleb Phillips
Macks Creek
10
18:09
9 of 132
Benjamin Hauck
Camdenton
12
18:24
17 of 89
Matthew Radefeld Versaille
10
20:58
62 of 89
 
GIRLS:
Bayley Johnson
Osage
11
 22:02:56
5 of 71
Addison Fowler
Osage
9
 22:02:72
6 of 71
Georgi Carolus
Camdenton
11
 22:30
14 of 71
Emily Guthrie Eldon
12
22:34
16 of 71
Molly Phillips Macks Creek
12
24:09
20 of 67
Alexxis Birdsong Versailles
10
31:11
68 of 71

*   *   *   *   *

ROOTS 'n BLUES 'n BBQ HALF MARATHON & 5K/10K (posted September 25th)

Just one Lake-area runner, Sarah Hudson of Osage Beach, competed at the Roots 'n Blues 'n BBQ Half Marathon & 5K/10K in Columbia on Saturyday.  Sarah ran the half marathon, finishing in 2:19:07 and placing 6th (of 10) in the women's 30-34 age group.

Just as he did two years ago (last year's race was cancelled), our running buddy from Columbia, Andy Emerson, placed 13th overall (of 176) and won the men's 50-54 age group.  Andy finished in 1:32:57--three minutes faster than two years ago. 

The inseparable triumvirate from Sedalia--Millie Cavanagh (1:48:20), Kim Ream (1:49:41) and Lori Hurt (2:08:11)--ran the half marathon.

Complete race results can be found here

Participation was down 44% from 2019.  Here are the totals, by distance, since 2014. 

Distance
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Half Marathon
632
587
548
571
375
319
COVID
176
10K
395
389
521
447
283
258
120
5K
-
-
-
-
249
201
143
Total
1,027
976
1,069
1,018
907
778
439

*   *   *   *   *

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY MEET RESULTS FOR SEPTEMBER 18th (updated September 21st)

At the Fulton Invitational, the top runners for Eldon were Nathan Reynolds (18:35; 6th of 126) and Marena Tellman (31:56; 82 of 93).

The huge Missouri Southern Stampede meet in Joplin had nearly 800 college, and another 800 high school, competitors. The top Camdenton runners were Benjamin Hauck (18:23; 121 of 262) and Georgi Carolus (22:01; 101 of 234) in the Green division, which consists of larger schools.  In the smaller-school Gold race, the top Osage runners were Colin Misenheimer (18:09; 29 of 175) and Bayley Johnson (21:42; 15 of 119).  Complete results for the meet can be found here.

Versailles competed at the Smith-Cotton Invitational in Sedalia.  Matthew Radefeld (20:31; 14 of 45) was the school's top male finisher.  Results for the girls still aren't shown.

*   *   *   *   *

GIVE BACK RUN (posted September 12th)

Formerly known as the Jay Dix Challenge to Cure, the Columbia Multisport Club's Give Back Run added a half marathon this year to the 5K/10K distances that had been offered since the race's inception in the mid 2000s.

Our own Dan Robertson was one of just ten finishers of the half marathon.  Dan finished in 2:04:17. His chances of winning the men's 60-69 age group were dashed by the phenomenal Gerald Holtmeyer of Bonnots Mill, who finished in 1:32:29. Gerald was also the overall winner of the race. (In case you don't recall who he is, Gerald has been a multi-year winner at Bridge & Dam.)

Participation was disappointing, with only 60 total finishers among the three distances offered  Here's how that compares to prior years.  (The 2020 race was cancelled.)

 
Jay Dix Challenge
Give Back Run
Race distance
2018
2019
2021
5K
90
143
37
10K
141
70
13
Half Marathon
-
-
10
    Total
231
213
60

*   *   *   *   *

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY MEET RESULTS FOR SEPTEMBER 11th (posted September 12th)

Camdenton, Osage and Macks Creek runners competed at the Lebanon Invitational cross country meet on Saturday. The top boys and girls finishers for Camdenton were Benjamin Hauck (18:50; 25th of 83) and Ellie Webb (23:01; 11th of 64). For Osage, the top runners were William Faulconer (18:13; 11th of 83) and Bayley Johnson (21:46; 3rd of 64). Caleb Phillips (18:26; 15 of 83) and Molly Phillips (24:04; 27th of 64) led the Macks Creek runners.

Complete results for that meet can be found here.

Eldon and Versailles runners competed at the Linn Invitational. This was Eldon's first meet of the season, and the team's sensational sophomores, Nathan Reynolds and Zoe Martonfi, both of whom went to the state championships last November as freshmen, started the season with outstanding performances. Zoe was the overall winner of the girls race, finishing in 19:09 and beating 107 others to the line. Nathan took third overall (of 114) in the boys race, finishing in 17:53.  While the season is still young, Nathan and Zoe have the fastest boys and girls finish times of all Lake-area cross country runners this season.

The top runners for Versailles were Matthew Radefeld (21:11; 62nd of 114) and Alesha Garvey (33:24; 100th of 108).

Complete results for the Linn Invitational can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

HEART OF AMERICA MARATHON (posted September 5th)

Lady Luck shined down on the 103 competitors at the 62nd annual Heart of America Marathon (Facebook page) in Columbia on Labor Day.  The cold front that blew in on Saturday brought them a temperature of just 61° at Monday's 6:00 a.m. start--well below the morning lows during last week's hot, humid weather. (Don't break out your fall clothes just yet; the heat and humidity will be returning this weekend.)

No one from the Lake area was among the 103 finishers, marking the third year in a row we weren't represented at the race. Our good friend from Columbia, Andy Emerson, was there, and he had another great race. Andy finished 6th overall, in 3:28:36, and won the men's 50-54 age group, as he also did in 2019. He finished second overall last year, in 3:22:22.

The complete race results can be found here

The total of 103 finishers was up from last year's COVID-limited field of 56, but down from 2019's 166.  Excluding last year, this year's total was the lowest in the last 10 years for the race. (It peaked at 237 in 2013.)

Mile 90 Photography should soon have the official race photos posted.

*   *   *   *   *

KATY TRAIL 50/50 (updated Septemer 5th)

Despite the rain and muggy conditiions, a record crowd turned out at the tiny, unincorporated community of Dutzow, Missouri, on Saturday for the fourth annual Katy Trail 50/50

April Leonard was the only Lake-area runner in the race. April finished the 50K in 7:24:35, placing 74th overall among the 95 finishers.  (The third-place overall 50K finisher, in 4:18:00, was Rich Luers.  Rich owns Final Lap Race Management, and does the timing for the Trail of Four Winds 25K.)

In the 50-mile race, three-time finisher Melissa Martinez crossed the line in 12:24:33, placing 7th (of 11 female finishers). Ed Green, at age 61 the second-oldest competitor in the race, finished just ahead of Melissa, in 12:21:04. Ed was a 50K finisher in 2018 and 2019.

The full results can now be found at the race's Facebook page, although they'll eventually also make it to the Ultrasignup.com page.

Here are the number of finishers for the race, by year and distance. This race is one of only a few races in the entire state to have had increasing participation in each of the last several years, even ignoring any COVID cancellations..

KATY TRAIL 50/50
NUMBER OF FINISHERS
Distance
2018
2019
2020
2021
100K
-
17
-
-
50 Mile
18
18
34
34
50K
34
55
67
95
Total
52
90
101
129

*   *   *   *   *

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY MEET RESULTS FOR SEPTEMBER 4th (posted September 4th)

Lots of new names on this year's Lake area's high school ross country teams, with a notable abundance of freshmen and sophomores. 

Here are the results for Camdenton, Osage and Macks Creek runners at the SWCCCA Richard Clark Invitational hosted by Bolivar High School.  (Complete results are here.)

Name School
Year
Finish Time
Place
VARSITY BOYS:
William Faulconer
Osage
11
18:29
78 of 300
Benjamin Hauck
Camdenton
12
18:34
72 of 300
Caleb Phillips
Macks Creek
10
18:45
81 of 300
Colin Misenheimer
Osage
10
18:47
83 of 300
James Sparks
Osage
12
18:56
91 of 300
Jaysen Groll
Osage
10
19:08
103 of 300
Dylan Barnett
Osage
11
19:14
110 of 300
Michael Vitelli
Camdenton
12
19:29
124 pf 300
Caden Wyrick
Osage
11
19:31
135 of 300
Kevin Sparks
Osage
12
19:51
142 of 300
Andrew Groos
Osage
9
20:11
158 of 300
Jose Cortez
Macks Creek
10
20:40
180 of 300
Sawyer Claxton
Osage
11
21:16
206 of 300
Josh Davis
Osage
9
22:14
234 of 300
Kyle Gabriel
Macks Creek
10
22:36
246 of 300
McCartney Armstrong
Osage
9
22:46
247 of 300
Jaxsen Gamm
Osage
9
22:51
250 of 300
Tyler Barlett
Osage
9
24:19
273 of 300
Nathaniel Stonbaugh
Osage
10
24:43
277 of 300
Elijah VanHoose
Osage
9
25:42
289 of 300
 
VARSITY GIRLS:
Bayley Johnson
Osage
11
 21:05
11 of 229
Juliana Bryant
Osage
12
 21:51
31 of 229
Addison Fowler
Osage
9
 22:09
43 of 229
Ellie Webb
Camdenton
11
 22:32
59 of 229
Katherine Wolf
Osage
11
 22:38
66 of 229
Abby Maschhoff
Osage
12
 23:00
78 of 229
Georgi Carolus
Camdenton
11
 23:04
81 of 229
Kylie Doyle
Camdenton
11
 23:13
84 of 229
Molly Phillips
Macks Creek
12
 24:23
118 of 229
Ava Canales
Camdenton
10
 25:02
138 of 229
Adriana Mayer
Macks Creek
12
 25:16
146 of 229
Jennifer Renz
Osage
10
 25:24
150 of 229
Jocelyn Welch
Osage
10
 25:44
160 of 229
Lindsey Benson
Osage
10
 25:47
161 of 229
MxKenna Demark
Camdenton
12
 27:01
179 of 229
Maya Miller
Osage
10
 27:48
190 of 229
Ella Kucsik
Osage
10
 29:22
 206 of 229
Taylor Rich
Macks Creek
12
 31:19
 214 of 229
Haley Fowler
Osage
12
 32:36
222 of 229
Madelyn Kinney
Macks Creek
10
 39:56
 228 of 229

Here are results for Versailles runners at the Jim Marshall Cross Country Invitational in Jefferson City.  (Complete results are here.)

Name School Year Finish Time Place
BOYS:
William Taylor
Versailles
11
21:55
30
Matthew Radefeld Versailles
10
22:05
33
Ryatt Haggerman Versailles
9
23:34
55
Alexander Radefeld Versailles
12
24:36
67
Ryley Pryor Versailles
10
25:37
76
 
GIRLS:
Alesha Garvey Versailles
12
36:03
59
         

*   *   *   *   *

LEAKY HOURGLASS ULTRA (posted August 30th)  

A last man standing race--one of five to be held in the state this year--debuted this past weekend north of Springfield in the tiny village (population: 173) of Half Way, aptly named because of its location halfway between Bolivar and Buffalo. The Leaky Hourglass Ultra had 19 competitors at the start, including two, Alysia Maschino and Tucker Seise, from the Lake area.  One special, crucial twist to this race was that the time limit to complete the 4.17-mile lap (and be able to proceed on to the next) was reduced by one minute on each successive lap.

Robert Bruns, a St. Louisan who's finished second at the Trail of Four Winds 25K in 2019 and 2021, was the last man standing, completing 20 hours (83.3 miles).  That exactly matched his result at last December's 4 Fore 30.

Tucker Seise lasted 13 hours (54.2 miles)--also matching last year's 4 Fore 30.  He was third overall.  Alysia Maschino lasted 3 hours (12.5 miles), placing 17th.

Other past 4 Fore 30 competitors included Dena Carr (7 hours; 29.2 miles) and Chris Hines (6 hours; 25 miles).  Both are registered for the upcoming 4 Fore 30, as is Robert Bruns.

Results can be found hereMile 90 Photography has posted race photos here.

*   *   *   *   *

REPUBLIC TIGER TRIATHLON (posted August 1st)

The Lake area had two competitors at the Republic Tiger Triathlon in Republic on Saturday.

Jim McDermott was there for the fifth time since 2012, and managed to beat his previous best (recorded in 2013) by 24 seconds.  It was also Jim's fourth consecutive age-group victory at the race, this time over one other competitor in the 65-69 age group.   Here are his splits:

Swim:          6:37  (2:13 per 100 yards)
T-1:             1:32
Bike:         36:45  (19.9 miles per hour)
T-2:             1:13
Run:          24:20  (7:51 per mile) 
Finish:    1:10:24

In what's believed to be his very first triathlon, Pete Groce placed 5th (of 6) in the 55-59 age group.   Here are Pete's splits, all of which are quite respectable:

Swim:         7:58  (2:40 per 100 yards)
T-1:             2:30
Bike:         41:59  (17.4 miles per hour)
T-2:             1:28
Run:          25:58  (8:23 per mile) 
Finish:    1:19:50

Complete race results can be found here.

There were 83 and 77 finishers of the sprint and super sprint distances, respectively. By comparison, there were 150 and 62 in 2019, the last year the triathlon was held.

*   *   *   *   *

NEVER SUMMER 100K/60K TRAIL RACE (posted August 7th)

Two of our Lake-area runners beat the Missouri heat by heading to northern Colorado last weekend to race high up in the Rocky Mountains at the Never Summer 100K.  The course, which started and ended near the 9000' foot level, had a monumental 14,450 feet of climbing, and topped out at a lung-busting 11,852'. 

Chris Boyle and John Shelby finished in 16:53:51 and 21:25:45, respectively, placing 59th and 158th among the 204 finishers.

Andy Emerson, who must fear turning to stone if he ever goes a weekend without racing, was there, too, and finished in 17:25:11, placing 74th.

The complete race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

CHRISTMAS IN JULY 5K RUN/WALK (updated July 28th)


Spelling out "YMCA" at the starting line is a tradition for YMCA races. About half the field was standing in the shade on the other side of the street, trying to beat the heat from the rising sun.

Thirty-seven runners and walkers turned out Saturday morning for the Tri-County YMCA's fourth annual Christmas in July 5K, where they enjoyed an early Christmas present in the form of a wonderful, cooling breeze--something that definitely wasn't in NOAA's weather forecast. (Thank you, Santa!)  Without the breeze, the race would have been just the latest in a series of brutally hot races we've had this summer, each one seemingly hotter than the previous one.

Tucker Seise made it four in a row for overall victories at YMCA 5Ks, winning in 17:42. (Tucker won this spring's Whobilation 5K in 17:10, and last year's Whobilation and Christmas in July races in 17:38 and 17:53, respectively.) Tucker handily beat Angel Aviles, a Puerto Rico native now stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, by over two minutes.

The women's race was won by 16 year-old Eva Heimsoth of Ottawa, Illinois, who was vacationing with her family at the Lake for the past week.  She won in 23:26, two minutes ahead of her nearest rival.  Eva is a cross country runner at Ottawa High School, and joins a long list of high school cross country runners from elsewhere who have claimed an overall victory at one of our local events.   

 
Overall winners Tucker Seise (17:42) and Eva Heimsoth (23:26).

Here are the complete race results:

CHRISTMAS IN JULY 5K RUN/WALK
OSAGE BEACH, MISSOURI
JULY 24, 2021
RESULTS BY FINISH ORDER
Last Name First Name
Age
Gender
Bib #
Finish Time
Seise Tucker
27
M
181
 17:42
Aviles Angel
49
M
184
 20:06
Heimsoth Eva
16
F
158
 23:26
Owens Harley
22
M
191
 23:51
Whitinger Jayla
17
F
168
 25:39
Whitinger Jarvis
44
M
194
 25:42
Windsand Jim
71
M
169
 27:40
Byrne Zachary
21
M
165
 30:20
Byrne Kris
65
F
162
 31:21
Vandiver Renee
56
F
177
 31:45
Walters Ann
56
F
193
 38:35
Davinroy Carolyn
72
F
167
 39:00
Kauten Macy
11
F
183
 39:18
Chancellor Jessica
36
F
186
 40:12
Glickert Jim
66
M
179
 40:15
Bartlett Carla
62
F
161
 41:53
Lebofsky Melinda
48
F
185
 41:57
Byrne Steve
54
M
163
 43:25
Byrne Taylor
18
F
164
 44:33
Heiser Emma
9
F
171
 46:25
Davis Bridgid
49
F
166
 46:32
Chancellor Josey
10
F
192
 47:34
Kauten Michelle
45
F
182
 47:35
Enoch Harper
7
F
180
 48:53
Reedy Alyssa
7
F
189
 51:49
Sherrill Trinity
13
F
187
 51:51
Windsand Deborah
67
F
170
 51:53
Lear Janet
67
F
188
 54:57
Sovcik Samuel
5
M
175
 1:01:17
Sovcik Tomas
37
M
190
 1:01:20
Shearer Madison
32
F
176
 1:01:23
Welty Morgan
30
F
157
 1:03:09
Gettler Victoria
52
F
159
 1:03:13
Cody Jessie
36
F
156
 1:03:13
Jackson Caiden
11
M
197
 1:07:23
Sovcik Maverick
12
M
160
1:07:28
Hotop Patty
62
F
195
 DNF

While vacationing for the first time at the Lake of the Ozarks, Michigan residents Jim and Debbie Windsand found out about the race and decided to kill two birds with one stone. They're on a mission to do a race in every state, and Debbie was able to check off Missouri.  (Jim had already completed a Missouri race.)

Many more race photos can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

RIVER ROCK TRIATHLON (posted July 17th)

Jim McDermott took second (of three) in the men's 60-and-over age group at Saturday's inaugural River Rock Triathlon in Ozark.  There were 37 total participants in the sprint distance race (350-meter Finley River swim, 14-mile bike and 5K run).

Jim finished in 1:19:40, placing seventh overall.  Here are his splits:

Swim:        10:23  (2:58 per 100 meters)
T-1:             1:15
Bike:         41:46  (20.1 miles per hour)
T-2:             1:17
Run:          25:01  (7:22 per mile) 
Finish:    1:19:40

Full results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

SUMMER ROUNDUP TRIATHLON (posted July 11th)

Jim McDermott scored an age-group victory by default at Sunday's Summer Roundup Triathlon in Jasper, Missouri.

Jim did the Oympic distance race, completing the 1500-meter swim, 40K bike and 10K run in 2:55:47--nearly 50 minutes ahead of his only competitor in the men's 65-69 age group.  Here are his splits:

Swim:        46:28  (2:42 per 100 meters)
T-1:             3:09
Bike:       1:10:52  (21.1 miles per hour)
T-2:             1:50
Run:          53:29  (8:36 per mile) 
Finish:    2:55:47

Full results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

SWEATFEST 5K & 6.6M (posted July 10th)

Carolyn Thompson of Camdenton was our lone Lake-area representative at Saturday's Sweatfest trail race at Fellows Lake in Springfield. Carolyn did the 6.6-mile, finishing in 1:15:28 and placing second (of four) in the women's 60-69 age group.

Complete results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

VOL STATE 500K (updated July 18th)

One of the most remarkable performances in endurance sports in recent memory was turned in by Bob Hearn at this year's Vol State.  Bob finished the 500K (314-mile) race in a new record of 3 days, 4 hours and 9 minutes.  He broke his own uncrewed record (set last year) by 10 hours, and even managed to break the crewed record by 3 hours.  What makes this even more impressive is that he's 55 years old.

To help bring this performance into perspective, let's do a little comparison between what Bob did at Vol State to what Chris Boyle did so impressively at last December's 4 Fore 30.  Chris completed 158 miles in 38 hours to win 4 Fore 30.  Bob completed twice as many miles, in twice as many hours, without a support crew, and in very warm, muggy and sometimes rainy weather.  To help further illustrate the point, Bob essentially equaled the incredible Big's Backyard Ultra record performance of 283 miles in 68 hours set three years ago by 44 year-old Johan Steene.  (Bob finished 31 more miles in 8 more hours.)

Bob isn't currently listed on this year's Big's roster, but Laz ought to invite him after this remarkable performance.       


Scott Page and Alysia Maschino finished on Friday in 8 days, 5 hours and 9 minutes. 

Race statistics:

There were 106 starters. 78 finished, ranging from 3 days, 4 hours and 9 minutes, to 9 days, 22 hours and 9 minutes.

Interestingly, there was no appreciable difference in finishing success between the crewed and screwed divisions.  Eighteen (78%) of the 23 who were crewed managed to finish, while 60 (72%) of the 83 screwed participants reached the finish line.

The finishers ranged in age from 29 to 80.   The average age of the finishers was 51.7 years.   

Here are some links for the race:

Race tracking

Vol State Facebook page

Race website

*   *   *   *   *

RUN FOR THE HORSES 5K/10K RUN/WALK (updated June 27th)


About 25 two-legged, and 2 four-legged,
runners and walkers toed the starting line.

It rained on the way to the Run for the Horses 5K/10K in Linn Creek on Saturday, and it rained on the way home, but, miraculously, it didn't rain a drop during the race. The bad news, though, was that the relative humidity was at or near 100%, so it felt like running in a steam bath. It was brutal. So brutal that only one person--Sam Casella--who signed up for the 10K didn't decide to step down to the 5K. Sam was the one and only 10K competitor, finishing in a very impressive 47:50 in those tough conditions.

In the 5K, Tucker Seise and Amanda Ivey (from Milo, MO; a Bridge & Dam 5K two-time finisher) were the overall male and female winners, in 18:21 and 23:57, respectively.

   
10K winner Sam Casella and 5K women's winner Amanda Ivey. (I failed in getting a good photo of 5K winner Tucker Seise.)

Here are the full results:

RUN FOR THE HORSES 5K/10K
LINN CREEK, MISSOURI
JUNE 26, 2021
RESULTS BY FINISH ORDER
Name
Bib #
Finish
Time
Age Group
Age Group Place
10K:
Sam Casella (overall winner)
237
 47:50
M40-49
1 of 1
 
5K:
Tucker Seise (overall male winner)
242
 18:21
M20-29
1 of 2
Michael Maschino
243
 23:56
M0-14
1 of 3
Amanda Ivey (overall female winner)
230
 23:57
F30-39
1 of 4
Todd Scott
246
 29:01
M30-39
1 of 3
Katrina Shanks
229
 29:49
F30-39
2 of 4
Mike Toth
247
 32:27
M50-59
1 of 1
Nick Dissen
235
 33:05
M20-29
2 of 2
Brittni Dissen
236
 33:08
F20-29
1 of 1
Nick Nelson
245
 33:30
M30-39
2 of 3
Elena Dissen
240
 37:23
F30-39
3 of 4
Josh Dissen
241
 39:26
M30-39
3 of 3
Sam Wedig
233
 41:56
M0-14
2 of 3
Jill Wedig
234
 42:06
F40-49
1 of 1
Kim Sovcik
232
 43:40
F30-39
4 of 4
Donna Mitchell
226
 44:49
F60-69
1 of 2
Candice Todd
249
 49:56
F50-59
1 of 3
Abigail Shanks
227
 52:27
F15-19
1 of 1
Avery Shanks
228
 52:41
F0-14
1 of 1
Sam Maschino
244
 53:05
M0-14
3 of 3
Alesia McAnany
248
 54:09
F50-59
1 of 3
Heather Dissen
239
 54:10
F50-59
3 of 3
Pamela Bess
238
 54:11
F60-69
2 of 2

It sounds hard to believe, but two runners, Todd Scott and Nick Nelson, came all the way from Nashville to do this race.  They drove seven hours to get to the Lake on Friday, and were heading back to Nashville on Sunday.  (Nashville, like most major cities, has been tough on races.)

Todd Scott (left) and Nick Nelson playing with
one of the mini horses before the race .

The Dissen gang--Josh, Elena, Nick, (matriarch) Heather, and Brittni--showed up en masse to race, just as they did two weeks ago (along with Ben) at the Rock Island Road Race

The Dissens, from left to right: Josh, Elena, baby Dissen (forgot to ask his name), Nick, Heather and Brittni.  One of these years, perhaps they can drag family patriarch Roger (owner of Dissen Electric) out of bed early on a Saturday morning to race with them.

We always like to herald first-timers, and Sam Wedig finished his debut 5K in 41:56.  It took a lot of encouragement along the way from his mom, Jill Wedig, but Sam finished it, with a sprint to the finish line to boot. 

Sam Wedig sprints to the finish line with
his proud mom, Jill Wedig, looking on.

It was good to see Mike Toth back in the saddle.  Due to hip pain, Mike hadn't raced since February's Polar Bear Strut.

More race photos can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

CHILDREN'S LEARNING CENTER NIGHT GLOW 5K RUN/WALK (updated June 25th)

Thanks to super sleuth Scott Page, the official results have been found.  Check them out here.

The overall male winner was Connor Flesner of Kennard, Nebraska, in 21:19.  Just-graduated Camdenton High School cross country runner Cambrie Kowal was the top female, in 23:04.  In a sprint to the finish line, Cambrie came from behind to defeat Emily Marriott of Sikeston, Missouri by three seconds.  (Emily is the daughter of SplitMaster Timing's owners, Delbert and Brooke Marriott.) 

The race photos can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

LOTO ENDURANCE (updated June 17th)

Twenty-three runners sacrificed their beauty sleep for a long, late-night run at the inaugural LOTO Endurance race at Osage National Golf Resort on Saturday night/Sunday morning, benefiting Wonderland Camp.

There were 14 competitors in the 6-hour race, with Cody Eubanks of Jefferson City topping the list with 38.65 miles. Andy Emerson came in a close second, with 35.05 miles.  April Leonard was our top local finisher, with 28.4 miles.

The marathon had six finishers, with Jeff Foes of the far southern Missouri town of Alton finishing first, in 3:58:36. Top local finisher was Rob Kucsik, in 4:42:48.

Complete results can be found at the race's Ultrasignup.com page.

LOTO ENDURANCE
JUNE 12, 2021
RESULTS FOR LAKE-AREA RUNNERS
Overall Place
Name
Finish Time / Miles Completed
MARATHON:
2
Rob Kucsik
4:42:48
3
Mark Matthews
4:57:27
4
Tania Maschhoff
4:57:45
5
Denise Baker
4:57:45
6
Gary Thompson
5:48:50
6-HOUR:
3
April Leonard
28.4
4
Tucker Seise
26.6
5
Chris Boyle
26.6
13
Lauren Moriearty
13.3
14
Kimberly Sovcik
13.3

*   *   *   *   *

ELDON ROCK ISLAND ROAD RACE (updated June 14th)

One hundred and fifty runners and walkers turned out on Saturday for Eldon's fourth annual Rock Island Road Race (Facebook), organized by the Miller County Child Advocacy Council to support its various childrens' programs.

That total was down from last year's record of 184, but the decline wasn't totally unexpected, as last year's turnout clearly benefited from a one-time boost from lockdown-weary runners who came from all over to run in the first in-person race of size to be held in the state of Missouri in three months. Still, it was encouraging that this year's turnout was larger than 2019's total of 130. Here's how this year's turnout compares to previous years, by race distance:

ROCK ISLAND ROAD RACE 15K/10K/5K
ELDON, MISSOURI
NUMBER OF FINISHERS
Distance
2018
2019
2020
2021
15K
25
51
66
58
10K
25
16
50
30
5K
Not offered
63
68
62
Total
50
130
184
150

A mid-June race in Missouri is bound to be brutal due to heat and humidity, and this year's race was no exception. Cloudy skies lingering from the storm system that rolled through Friday night actually gave us hope that the weather wouldn't be too bad after all, but, as luck would have it, the clouds moved out just before the race started, and the heat was on. The first few miles of the race, when there was no shade along the course to speak of, were particularly hard.

For the record, the temperature was 68° at the 7:15 a.m. start, and rose steadily to 78° by the race's conclusion at 10:00 a.m.  That was only slightly warmer than last year's race conditions.

The field was larger than it looks--everyone seemed to be reluctant to move closer to the starting line.  Click on the above image to see how  some of the top finishers placed themselves at the start.

Results

The complete race results can be found here. (An Excel file of the results can be downloaded here.)

15K:

The biggest story at this year's race was the overall 15K victory by Henri Coeme of Neosho, in 1:07:11.   The reason is that Henri is 68 years old, and it's almost unheard of for a runner his age to be an overall race winner at any distance. It's not a complete surprise that he won, though, since Henri has set thirty-seven Missouri state running records for his age in the last six years at distances ranging from 1 mile (5:48) to 100K (10:19:33).  Henri is a prolific racer, particularly of trail races and ultramarathons.  If you were at the Trail of Four Winds 25K last month, you may recognize him.  At that race, he placed 24th overall among 134 participants. (On a side note, Henri was among the first to come to the aid of, and begin CPR on, a competitor who was struck and killed by lightning at the Flat Rock 50 trail race in southeastern Kansas in September 2019.)

The overall women's 15K winner is no stranger to Lake-area races. Kim Ream of Sedalia, who's among the few who have completed every Bridge & Dam Half Marathon since its inception, won in 1:15:16. Her margin of victory was a mere one second over her running friend from Sedalia, Millie Cavanagh.  (Kim and Millie ran the race together, but you have to wonder if they knew that they were leading the women's race, since whoever stepped over the finish line first would be the overall winner, while the other would have to settle for an age-group victory.)

      
15K overall winners Henri Coeme (1:07:11) of Neosho, and Kim Ream (1:15:16) of Sedalia.

Millie Cavanagh (1:15:17) and Kim Ream (1:15:16), both of Sedalia, pictured at the two-mile mark of the 15K.

10K:

Nathan Reynolds became the Rock Island's first two-time overall winner, although at different distances.  In 2019, at the age of 13, Nathan won the 5K in 20:35--a full seven minutes faster than his nearest competitor.  He skipped last year's race (his sister, Nicole Reynolds, took his spot and was the women's overall 10K winner, in 51:53), but returned this year to win the 10K in 43:11, more than eight minutes ahead of the second-place finisher, women's overall winner Kelsie Lineback (51:46) of Waynesville.  Kelsie broke Nicole's women's 10K course record by a margin of jjust seven seconds.

   
10K overall winners Nathan Reynolds (43:11) of Eldon, and Kelsie Lineback (51:46) of Waynesville.

5K:

This was the first year that Lake-area runners failed to win either of the overall 5K victories. It was also the very first time that the women's winner of a Rock Island race beat the men's winner to the finish line.  Lilly Blaufuss of Overland Park, Kansas earned that distinction by beating Chase Perry of Ankeny, Iowa to the finish line by exactly one minute--21:46 to 22:46.

   
5K overall winners Lilly Blaufuss (21:46) of Overland Park, Kansas and Chase Perry (22:46) of Ankeny, Iowa.

Photos

Lots of photos taken by Debbie Fair have been posted to the race's Facebook page. My photos can be found here.

Kudos

Congratulations and thanks go to everyone involved in organizing this outstanding race, including co-race directors Scott Gray and Christy Kidwell, the Miller County Child Advocacy Council staff and board members, the numerous volunteers, and all of the Eldon police officers and city employees stationed throughout the course.  This race was truly a community effort, and all of the accolades it gets are well-deserved.

In case you hadn't heard, Scott and Jayna Gray are moving to Columbia.  Thankfully, they'll continue to be involved in this race.        

A dose of inspiration

I've said many times over the years that, if you want to see great athletes, be at the finish line of a race and watch the first ones cross, but if you really want to be inspired, stick around to see those in the back of the pack.

Pictured above are Aaron Stover (right), and his son, Nick, of Jefferson City.  They ran the entire race together, finishing in 2:14:23, ahead of just one other runner in the entire race.  Running a 15K wasn't much of a challenge for Nick, who's a cross country and track runner at Blair Oaks High School, but it was a huge challenge for his dad. 

Aaron spent 28 years in the military.  It ended when he suffered serious injuries due to exposure to dangerous chemicals.  He participated in ultramarathons and adventure races during his service years, but all of that came to an end.  He was using this race to begin to get back in his life some of what he had lost.  He was clearly suffering every time I saw him on the course, but he never gave up.    

Now, how's that for inspiration?   

*   *   *   *   *

GO GIRL RUN COLUMBIA HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted June 6th)

Two Lake-area runners, Clare Herriman and Tammy Lawrence, both of Eldon, traveled to Columbia on Saturday to compete in the women-only Go Girl Run Half Marathon & 5K.   Their results are shown below:

GO GIRL RUN HALF MARATHON & 5K
COLUMBIA, MISSOURI
JUNE 5, 2021
RESULTS FOR LAKE-AREA PARTICIPANTS
Name
City
Finish Time
Age Group
Age Group Place
HALF MARATHON:
Clare Herriman Eldon
2:41:59
F20-24
7 of 9
 
5K:
Tammy Lawrence Eldon
58:00
F60-64
8 of 10
         

Complete race results can be found here.

Total participation was less than half that of 2019.  (Last year's race was cancelled to due Covid-19.)  Shown below are the number of race finishers since 2014.  (Based on its history of cutting events that are losing viability, it wouldn't be surprising if Ultramax Events pulls the plug on this event next year, or reduces it to just a 5K.)

 
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Marathon
-
-
49
-
-
-
Covid
-
Half Marathon
596
467
352
360
263
229
108
5K
510
397
426
352
352
406
203
Total
1,106
864
827
712
615
635
311

*   *   *   *   *

HOSPITAL HILL RUN (updated June 15th)

The 48th annual Hospital Hill Run--Kansas City's oldest race and one of the oldest running events in the state--was held on Saturday. 

The results are posted at Athlinks.com.  The results don't list the participants' cities, so it was necessary to do just a cursory look for Lake-area participants' names in the results.  

The only local runner found was Michelle Waters, who ran the 10K in 1:25:33 and placed 35th (of 45) in the 45-49 age group.

Update:  Two more Lake-area runners participated in the event.  MIssy Burnau and Bridgid Davis ran the 5K, finishing in 41:34 and 41:46, respectively, and placing 14th and 15th (of 24) in the women's 45-49 age group.

Bridgid Davis and Missy Burnau

If I missed anyone, please let me know

Complete race results can be found here.

Total participation was down 36% from 2019, and continues a long-term downward spiral for the race.

 
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Half Marathon
3,187
2,642
2,220
1,825
1,497
1,549
Covid
1,048
7.7 Miles
-
-
-
-
1,014
-
-
10K
1,564
1,572
1,216
1,250
-
1,071
607
5K
1,896
1,620
1,570
1,457
387
894
598
Total
6,647
5,834
5,006
4,532
2,898
3,514
2,253

*   *   *   *   *

IRONMAN TULSA TRIATHLON (posted May 24th)

Congratulations to Jim McDermott for becoming a three-time Ironman finisher. On Sunday, Jim finished the inaugural Ironman Tulsa Triathlon on an overcast, slightly wet day with temperatures mostly in the low 70s and very light winds. (That was milder than the warm (80s), sunny, humid day, with much more wind, forecasted earlier in the week.)

Jim finished the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run in 14:27:26. He took 8th (of 17) in the men's 65-69 age group. Here are his splits:

Swim
1:45:14
T-1
14:00
Bike
6:32:42
T-2
11:15
Run
5:44:15
Finish
14:27:26

At age 67, Jim now indisputably holds the Lake-area record for finishing an Ironman Triathlon at the oldest age.  (The late Denny Gillen may have held, or shared with Jim, the previous record at the age of 63.)

*   *   *   *   *

TRAIL OF FOUR WINDS 25K (posted May 1st)


Of the 175 registered participants in the sold-out starting field,
about 145 started, and 134 became official finishers.
(click on photo for a larger image)

Before the gun went off, this year's Trail of Four Winds 25K (Facebook) looked to be pretty much a repeat of the 2019 race.  It ended up far different.

Michael McCulloch, a former collegiate track and cross country runner from Columbia now living in the Kansas City area, was the obvious favorite in the men's race. Michael won the 2019 race, the 2020 virtual edition of the race, and even the Trail of Four Winds' precursor event, the Ha Ha Tonka Half Marathon, in 2018. Michael's only real challenge was expected to come from Robert Bruns of St. Louis, who finished just 15 seconds behind him in 2019.

Robert managed to again take second, despite finishing 16 minutes slower than in 2019. But this time it was Nathan Allen, a Jefferson City native now living in Berkeley, California (with an interim stay in Colorado), who took the overall crown. Nathan won in 1:57:53.  That was almost six minutes slower than Michael's 2019 winning time (1:52:14), but still 10 minutes ahead of Robert's 2:08:30.  (Michael took fifth overall, finishing in 2:20:19.  He obviously had a tough day, like so many others.)

It's always interesting to see how  runners position themselves at the starting line. Here, three-time champion Michael McCulloch (bib #1) and Robert Bruns (far right) chat with Rich Luers (left) of Final Lap Race Management just before the first wave takes off, while eventual race winner Nathan Allen (#3) coyly lines up behind them.

The women's race appeared to belong to Jaime Maher of Fenton ( suburban St. Louis).  Jaime won the 2019 race in 2:26:10, only 17 seconds ahead of her (friendly) rival, Karolina Zavisiute of St. Charles.  Karolina wasn't at this year's race, so Jaime looked to have a lock on the victory.  However, a TOFW first-timer, Hilary Campbell of Springfield, who's also a former cross country runner for Kickapoo High School, not only beat Jaime to the finish line, but shattered Jaime's course record by over five minutes.  Jaime also had a tough day, but still took third, in 3:00:37.  (She also earned bragging rights in the Maher house for the next year, after husband Ryan crossed the line 10 minutes behind her, in 3:10:22.  To his credit, though, Ryan was able to do that a few months after undergoing back surgery.)

Women's champion Hilary Campbell receives her winnings from Trail of Four Winds 25K race director John Shelby.

The big story of this year's race was the weather.  While it was a beautiful day to be hiking, paddling or cycling in the state park, it was too warm for a trail race, especially for those not yet acclimated to running in warm weather.  How warm was it?  This year's race day was nearly 20° warmer than 2019's.  Here are the numbers:

Time
2019
2021
10:00 a.m
57°
74°
Noon
61°
80°
2:00 p.m.
65°
82°

You need only look at the cloudy skies and long-sleeved jerseys and jackets pictured in the 2019 race photos to see just how different the conditions were.

The heat contributed to noticeably slower finish times.  The average finish time this year was 3:33:xx, or 12 minutes longer than the 3:21:xx average in 2019.

For the record, here are some miscellaneous race statistics:

 
2019
2021
Finishers, by gender:    
   Men
74
83
   Women
55
51
      Total
129
134
     
Finishers, by location:    
    Lake area
  11   (9%)
  13  (10%)
    Elsewhere
118 (91%)
121  (90%)
 
Number of two-year finishers:
N/A
22

Two of our Lake-area women claimed victories in the 30-39 and 40-49 age groups--by far the largest and most competitive age groups at this and most other running races.  Brittney DeFrates won the 30-39 age group (over 16 others), in 3:08:42, while Jessica Clark topped 14 others to win the 40-49 age group, in 3:16:55.  (As an aside, both Brittney and Jessica have seemingly come out of nowhere. The only race history I can find for either of them is Brittney's second-place, age-group finish at this year's Bridge & Dam 10K and a 1:52:14 half marathon finish at the Bear Creek Run in Columbia in 2018.  If indeed they are relative newcomers, their victories at this very challenging, competitive race are all the more impressive.)

   
Local age-group winners Brittney DeFrates (left) and Jessica Clark.

Two of our local men also earned podium spots. Tucker Seise took second (of 7) in the 20-29 age group, as well as 12th overall, with a 2:31:50 finish. Chris Boyle finished in 2:37:09--24 minutes slower than in 2019. Still, that was good enough for third (of 26) in the 40-49 age group.

The complete race results can be found here. Results for our local runners and a few of our friends from other places are shown below.

TRAIL OF FOUR WINDS 25K
LAKE OF THE OZARKS STATE PARK
MAY 1, 2021
RESULTS FOR LAKE-AREA RUNNERS AND SELECTED OTHERS
Name
City
Finish Time
Division
Division Place
Podium finishers are listed in bold
         
Tucker Seise Osage Beach
2:31:50
M20-29
2 of 7
Chris Boyle Osage Beach
2:37:09
M40-49
3 of 26
Aaron Koeppen Four Seasons
3:02:59
M40-49
6 of 26
Mark Matthews Kaiser
3:04:42
M40-49
7 of 26
Brittney DeFrates Lake Ozark
3:08:42
F30-39
1 of 17
Jessica Clark Rocky Mount
3:16:55
F40-49
1 of 15
Tania Maschhoff Lake Ozark
3:26:55
F40-49
4 of 15
Emily Smith Lake Ozark
3:37:43
F30-39
6 of 17
Denise Baker Lake Ozark
3:37:44
F40-49
6 of 15
Angie Fousie Lake Ozark
3:49:12
F40-49
8 of 15
Heather Miller Camdenton
4:03:20
F30-39
11 of 17
Carolyn Youngberg Linn Creek
4:09:09
F50-59
6 of 9
Gary Thompson Osage Beach
4:17:05
M60-69
5 of 6
         
Did not finish:
Lauren Moriearty Lake Ozark  
F20-29
 
         
Did not start:
Michael Classen Versailles  
M30-39
 
Pete Groce Eldon  
M50-59
 
         
Frequent Lake visitors and runners:
Andy Emerson Columbia
2:25:02
M50-59
1 of 18
Andy Goessmann Ozark
3:00:29
M30-39
13 of 22
Jaime Maher Fenton, MO
3:00:37
Overall female
3rd of 51
Ryan Maher Fenton, MO
3:10:22
M30-39
14 of 22
Gavin Eubank Columbia
4:15:14
M40-49
25 of 26

Congratulations to all who toed the starting line and gave it their all on a very tough day on an equally tough course.  Thanks and congratulations, too, to race director John Shelby and his great group of able volunteers for organizing a race of such high quality.  This race, like Bridge & Dam, is a real asset to the Lake of the Ozarks running community.   

The photos taken by Kristi Mayo of Mile 90 Photography can be found here.

My photos can be viewed here.

*   *   *   *   *

THE 24 HOUR LIONS ROAR  (updated April 27th)

The 24 Hour Lions Roar (Facebook page) results have been posted at the race's Ultrasignup.com page. Here are some results of particular interest:

THE 24 HOUR LIONS ROAR
COLUMBIA, MISSOURI
APRIL 23-24, 2021
RESULTS FOR LAKE-AREA PARTICIPANTS AND OTHERS WE KNOW
Name
City
Miles
Place
24-HOUR (33 total participants):
Scott Page Four Season
80
10th of 21 men
Alysia Maschino Roach
62.5
(new personal record)
6th of 12 women
4 Fore 30 past participants:
Cody Eubanks Columbia
120
(new race record)
1st of 21 men
David Johnston Warrenton
107.5
3rd of 21 men
Andy Emerson Columbia
90
8th of 21 men
Justin Reed Prairie Village, KS
62.5
16th of 21 men
Jamie Szabo Columbia
50
10th of 12 women
 
12-HOUR (15 total participants):
Jen Wiethop Montreal
45
(new personal record)
2nd of 6 women
Trail of Four Winds 25K past participants:
Allan Benjamin Columbia
47.5
3rd of 9 men
 
6-HOUR (16 total participants):
   
 

Lots of photos from the race have been posted here.

*   *   *   *   *

FRISCO RAILROAD RUN  (updated May 4th)

The resurgence from COVID-19 continues.  The 13th annual Frisco Railroad Run (50M/50K/marathon/half/8K) held on Saturday in Willard had 596 total finishers, up 39% from the 2019 total of 430.  (Last year's race was cancelled due to COVID-19.)  It was the second largest turnout in the race's history, topped only by the 611 finishers in 2018.

Three runners from the Lake area were among this year's finishers, all in the half marathon:

Versailles High School cross country runner Carmen Lemell finished in 2:21:40, placing third (of six) in the women's 19-&-under age group.

Tim Malen of Osage Beach crossed the line in 2:26:05, placing 9th (of 16) in the men's 60-69 age group.  Minutes later, Paul Burris, also of Osage Beach, finished in 2:28:13, placing 26th (of 32) in the 40-49 age group.

Complete results can be found here.

Here are the number of race finishers each year since 2014:

FRISCO RAILROAD RUN
WILLARD, MISSOURI
NUMBER OF FINISHERS, BY DISTANCE
Distance
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
8K
79
70
100
Cancelled
due to weather
145
132

Cancelled
 due to
COVID-19

145
Half marathon
203
228
217
247
162
234
Marathon
72
97
91
109
61
137
50K
25
61
77
74
61
52
50-Mile
16
29
37
36
14
28
  Total
395
485
522
611
430
596

*   *   *   *   *

OZARK FOOTHILLS  (posted April 12th)


While GO! St. Louis had a less-than-stellar return after last year's cancellation (see below), the Ozark Foothills 100-mile, 50-mile, 50K, marathon and 25K trail race, held at Greensfelder Park in far west St. Louis County, had a record turnout. There were 241 finishers across the five race distances at this year's race, up from 181 in 2019 and 140 in 2018.

No one from the Lake area was at the race, but some familiar names spotted in the results will be at the Trail of Four Winds 25K on May 1st--Craig Calkins (50M; 6th overall), Andy Emerson (50M; 17th overall), Allan Benjamin (50M, 37th overall), and a few others in the shorter distance races.

*   *   *   *   *

GO! ST. LOUIS MARATHON, HALF MARATHON & 10K (posted April 12th)


This weekend's GO! St. Louis provided the year's first test of how well one of the biggest races in the state would bounce back after being cancelled last year due to COVID-19.  As the table below shows, in terms of number of finishers, the marathon and 10K were only half the size of the 2019 race; the half marathon was down a hefty 70%. Granted, this year's race still wasn't a normal GO! St. Louis event, what with all the changes and limitations imposed on it.  

If there's any good news, it's that the race was actually allowed to take place.  The City of St. Louis basically shut down all racing inside the city limits at around this time last year.  Only a few, scaled-down races were allowed to proceed.  (A few others picked up and moved to more amenable pastures in St. Charles County.)

The only familiar name found in the results was that of Robert Bruns of St. Louis.  (Robert will be returning to the Trail of Four Winds 25K in three weeks.  He finished only 15 seconds behind the race winner, Michael McCulloch, in 2019.) He took 24th overall in the marathon, finishing in 3:08:47. 

GO! ST. LOUIS MARATHON WEEKEND
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
NUMBER OF FINISHERS
Race
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Marathon
1,373
1,335
1,171
1,078
1,001
Cancelled
474
Half Marathon
6,253
4,992
4,540
3,594
3,562
1,048
7K
-
780
1,519
1,051
-
-
10K
-
-
-
-
1,168
559
Marathon Relay teams
450
318
295
202
187
-

*   *   *   *   *

BRONCOBUSTER LAST MAN STANDING (posted April 5th)

A small field of eleven competitors, including our own Tucker Seise, started the inaugural BroncoBuster Last Man Standing race at the Sac River Mountain Bike Trail in northwest Springfield on Saturday morning. (Alysia Maschino was registered, but had to skip the race.)

The race had a 24-hour time limit, but it took just 18 hours (74.1 miles) for Jonathan Murphy of Long Lane, Missouri to put away the last of his competitors.  Tucker placed third in the standings, completing 14 hours (57.6 miles).  That was one hour longer than he completed at last December's 4 Fore 30, but it fell shy of his personal best of 17 hours (70.9 miles) at the 2019 4 Fore 30.

For the very first time, Tucker leads in our "most miles raced" standings.  He's now at 111.2 miles so far this year. 

The complete results can be found at the race's Ultrasignup.com page

*   *   *   *   *

BRIDGE AND DAM HALF MARATHON, 10K & 5K (posted March 28th)

Bridge & Dam:  It just keeps getting bigger and better.

Over the last seven years, this page has chronicled the declining participation at running races throughout this state and beyond.  Many races, including some very large ones (e.g. Rock & Roll St. Louis), have disappeared entirely.  The vast majority of those that have survived have suffered declines in attendance--some quite substantial, in fact.  Even factoring out the devastating effect of COVID-19 on running races these past twelve months, it's virtually unheard of for a race to have actually thrived over these past seven years.  Bridge & Dam is one of those very rare exceptions. 

Bridge & Dam's success is a testament to the people in the Lake of the Ozarks community who, in many different ways, have supported this race organized by the Lake of the Ozarks chapter of the non-profit Missouri Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA).

This year's race set another new record for size, with 551 total finishers.  Every single race distance saw an increase in participation.  Shown below are the number of finishers, by distance, since the race's inception in 2015.   (The 2019 race was on pace for a record based on registrations, but the worst weather in race history kept many from participating on race day.)

BRIDGE & DAM
NUMBER OF FINISHERS
Distance
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
All-In
-
-
7
10
7
COVID
9
Double-Down
-
-
11
8
7
10
Half Marathon
198
172
155
179
186
231
10K
75
90
119
123
105
139
5K
-
-
124
166
134
162
Total
273
262
416
486
439
551

At 551 finishers, Bridge & Dam is one of the largest running races in Missouri held outside of a large metropolitan area.  (Only the Hannibal Cannibal is known to be larger.)  Interestingly, by a slim margin, this year's Bridge & Dam ranks as the largest, in-person running race held in the state so far this year, thanks to COVID-related field limits imposed on several large St. Louis-area races. (That distinction, though, should only last several more weeks.)

What has always set Bridge & Dam apart from all other races in the state is the percentage of runners who come from distant cities to do this race.  The running community at the Lake of the Ozarks isn't big enough to field a 500-person race (even a 5K would be a big stretch), so the need to attract runners from elsewhere is critical.  As the table below shows, fully 79% of the participants at this year's race were from outside the Lake area.  (That beats the previous record of 74% set in 2016, despite the susequent addition of the 5K and 10K options that tend to have higher percentages of local runners.)   Some of the increase is almost certainly a result of the widespread COVID-related race cancellations and restrictions elsewhere that encouraged runners to seek out races in more "open" locations like the Lake of the Ozarks.

BRIDGE & DAM
BREAKDOWN OF PARTICIPANTS BY LOCATION
Distance
Lake area
Outside Lake area
Total
% from outside the Lake area
All-In
1
8
9
89
Double-Down
0
10
10
100
Half Marathon
28
203
231
88
10K
37
102
139
73
5K
49
113
162
70
Total
115
436
551
79

Race Results

Complete race results can be found here

All-In Challenge

Nine runners competed in the All-In Challenge, which consisted of a half marathon followed by both a 10K and a 5K.  (Added together, the three distances are 3.8 miles short of a full marathon.)  Jill Wagner of Sullivan, Missouri, was the overall winner, for the second time.  A Boston Marathon qualifier and finisher, Jill managed to break her own women's All-In course record of 2:56:18 (set in 2017) by less than a minute, finishing this year in 2:55:32. 

The top male was Bridge & Dam first-timer Matt Chinn of Jefferson City.  Matt finished in 3:04:13--less than two minutes ahead of three-time Bridge & Dam finisher Kennen Hootman of Addison, Illinois.  The age-defying, local phenomenon Jim McDermott took fifth, in 3:23:32. Even at the age of 67, Jim is still setting personal records--he finished the 2018 All-In in 3:30:14. (It's high time we demand Jim provide a certified birth certificate to show his true age.  He's making us real geezers look pathetic.)

 
All-In overall winner Jill Wagner and men's winner Matt Chinn.

Double-Down Challenge

There were ten competitors in the Double-Down Challenge, which consisted of a half marathon and 10K.

The top two finishers were both first-timers at Bridge & Dam--Kenny Miller of St. Joseph and Dawn Forbes of St. Charles.   Kenny won in 2:30:25, while Dawn broke the women's course record (previously held by Kim Ream of Sedalia) by 11 minutes, finishing in 2:35:16. 

 
Double-Down winners Kenny Miller and Dawn Forbes.

Half Marathon

Anthony Wells of Amboy, Illinois set a new course record in his overall victory in the half marathon.  Anthony finished in 1:21:26, breaking Colin Cronin's record of 1:22:11 set in 2018.  Lisa Sauter of Fayette, Missouri was the overall women's winner, in 1:25:52.  That was the second-fastest women's finish since Lizzy Handschy's race-winning--and still course record--time of 1:23:20 at the inaugural Bridge & Dam in 2015. (Lizzy's is one of the very few 2015 records that has yet to be broken.)

Two past half marathon winners, Greg Linhart (2019) from Grandview, Missouri, and the incredible 61 year-old Gerald Holtmeyer (2015) from Bonnots Mill, Missouri, were among the top 12 finishers.   Greg finished 7th overall, in 1:27:10, and Gerald 12th, in 1:30:02. 

  
Half marathon winners Anthony Wells and Lisa Sauter.

10K

The 10K victories were snatched up by teenagers.

Sixteen year-old Osage High School cross country runner William Faulconer of Lake Ozark saved the local running community from a complete shutout by giving us our only overall victory at this year's race. William won the 10K in 38:48.  That's a new course record, and it broke Will's previous 11-19 age-group record of 48:25 set in 2018. 

Among the women, 14 year-old Lauren Mathews of Jefferson City took the overall 10K crown in a winning time of 46:50. 

5K

Cierra Hiland of Augusta, Illinois remains the only one to have ever won the Bridge & Dam's 5K women's race.  (2020 is disregarded due to being virtual only.)  Cierra claimed her fourth victory (the 5K was introduced in 2017) by finishing in 21:21.  She also broke her longstanding women's course record of 22:52 set in 2017.

Robert Saunders of nearby Richland, Missouri was the only runner to beat Cierra to the finish line, taking the overall victory in 21:03.

Not surprisingly, the 5K included lots of participants at both ends of the age spectrum.  Notable among them was Carol Cange of Lake Ozark, who now owns the record for the oldest female finisher, at age 81.  (The men's record is 82.) Carol finished in a leisurely 55:53.

Records

Twenty-three course, age-group or age records were either broken or established this year.  (That, too, may be a record.)  Here's the list of new Bridge & Dam records:

BRIDGE & DAM
NEW RECORDS IN 2021
Name
Finish Time
Record Set
 
 
All-In:
Jill Wagner
2:55:32
Women's course record
 
Double-Down:
Dawn Forbes
2:35:16
Women's course record
 
Half Marathon:
Anthony Wells
1:21:26
Men's course record
Brian Duffie
2:07:41
Tie - youngest male finisher
Nicole Reynolds
1:48:03
Female 14-19 age group
Rachael Leslie
1:39:25
Female 40-49 age group
Rebecca Bradley
1:47:27
Female 50-59 age group
Zy'Shone Cowans
1:25:48
Male 14-19 age group
Tucker Seise
1:28:13
Male 20-29 age group
Ernie Craig
 1:25:40
Male 40-49 age group
Gerald Holtmeyer
1:30:02
Male 60-69 age group
 
10K:
Will Faulconer
38:48
Men's course record;
Male 11-19 age group
Christian Reed
39:30
Male 50-59 age group
Michael Faulconer
50:19
Male 60-69 age group
Cindy Wismer
1:03:11
Female 60-69 age group
 
5K:
Cierra Hiland
21:21
Women's course record
Carol Cange
55:53
Oldest female finisher (81)
Addison Fowler
23:17
Female 14-19 age group
Merilee Thoenen
51:37
Female 70-79 age group
Xavier Fowler
25:55
Male 10-11 age group
Michael Maschino
23:11
Male 12-13 age group
Larry Chinski
24:28
Male 50-59 age group
     

Legacy Half Finishers

Only nine runners can still lay claim to having finished Bridge & Dam's half marathon every year since its debut in 2015. (2020 is excluded from the tally since the race was virtual only.)  Here's the list of the remaining legacy runners:

Russell Burkett (O'Fallon, MO)
Jeanette Pfetsch (Kansas City)
Alisha Eldridge (Eldon)
Ryan Garlock (Lincoln, NE)
Lindsay Garlock (Lincoln, NE)
Lori Hurt (Sedalia)
Doug Kueker (Lake Ozark)
Kim Ream (Sedalia)
Heather Skouby (Eldon)

And, just for the record, here's the list of the seven whose streaks ended this year:

Nigher Alfaro (Montreal)
Karen Backes  (Jefferson City)
Tobby Eldridge (Eldon)
Jason Kolb (Tipton)
Angela Martin (Osage Beach)
Sherri Mundwiller (Washington, MO)
Janet Weber (Dittmer, MO)

Weather

Bridge & Dam finally got the perfect weather that always eluded it--no snow flurries (2015), no chilly monsoons (2019), and no dry-but-threatening weather (almost every year in between).  This year's race was blessed with beautiful, clear skies, light winds and mild temperatures that ranged from 50° at the start to 65° at the finish.   To top it off, the full moon provided a special visual treat as it set over the lake soon before the race started.

Special message to the out-of-town participants

First, thank you for coming to the Lake of the Ozarks to race with us and to support the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Those of us lucky enough to live at the Lake love this place, and we're happy to have our fellow runners from elsewhere come here and enjoy what we get to enjoy every day of the year.

There's one thing about this race that you may not know, but really need to.  What makes this race so outstanding and special is that it's put on by our local running community, with the support of the Lake-area community in general.  You probably already know that the co-race directors, Alysia Maschino and Scott Page are longtime, accomplished runners (and, in more recent years, the greatest race directors ever!), but among all of those volunteers you saw on Saturday--and some you didn't see--was the bulk of our core group of runners in this area.  They've all done this race before, and they would probably have preferred to run it rather than to man a street corner, set out traffic cones, etc.  But, they stepped up and pitched in to help make this the best event possible.  Personally, I've never been more proud of our local running community than I was on Saturday. You won't find a better group of people.   Anywhere.

We hope to see you again next year, and many more years after that!

Photos

1,077 photos have been posted here. Note that these are photos of just the half marathon, All-In and Double-Down runners.

As always, feel free to use or post the photos as you wish, and no photo credit is necessary. Also, if you would like a photo deleted from the gallery for any reason, please let me know which one(s).

Results for Lake-area runners

Here are the results for our Lake-area runners, by race distance and finish order:

BRIDGE & DAM
RESULTS FOR LAKE-AREA PARTICIPANTS
Name
City
Finish Time
Age Group
Age Group Place
         
ALL-IN:
Jim McDermott Camdenton
 3:23:32
Overall
5 of 9
 
HALF MARATHON:
Tucker Seise Osage Beach
 1:28:13
M20-29
1 of 15
Aaron Koeppen Lake Ozark
 1:42:00
M40-49
8 of 37 
Mike Malone Four Seasons
 1:46:05
M30-39
7 of 21
Michael Walsh Lake Ozark
 1:47:41
M30-39
9 o 21
Nicole Reynolds Eldon
 1:48:03
F0-19
1 of 1
Alisha Eldridge Eldon
 1:50:40
F40-49
3 of 33
Doug Kueker Lake Ozark
 1:51:46
M40-49
13 of 37 
Steven Tharp Camdenton
 1:52:10
M20-29
5 of 15 
Mark Matthews Kaiser
 1:52:29
M40-49
14 of 37 
Sondra Ellis Richland
 1:54:37
F30-39
6 of 44
Tim McNeil Lake Ozark
 1:55:50
M60-69
2 of 9
Aaron Berendzen Eldon
 1:57:55
M40-49
17 of 37 
Lauren Moriearty Lake Ozark
 2:00:12
F20-29
5 of 19 
Curtis Wehmeyer Camdenton
 2:04:37
M40-49
24 of 37 
Mallory Walsh Lake Ozark
 2:06:10
F30-39
11 of 44
Tim Malen Osage Beach
 2:08:42
M60-69
3 of 9
Chris Reynolds Eldon
 2:09:58
M40-49
28 of 37 
Charles Pitts Roach
 2:11:13
M50-59
9 of 16
Erica Adkins Lake Ozark
 2:12:52
F40-49
11 of 33 
Kristi Schrimpf Lake Ozark
 2:16:54
F30-39
23 of 44 
Nathanael Moe Eldon
 2:17:45
M20-29
12 of 15 
Paul Burris Osage Beach
 2:24:42
M40-49
34 of 37 
Sarah Hudson Osage Beach
 2:24:45
F30-39
29 of 44 
Paula O'Connor Camdenton
 2:34:13
F50-59
12 of 24
Willard Haley Eldon
 2:38:20
M60-69
4 of 9 
Heather Skouby Eldon
 2:43:05
F50-59
15 of 24 
Kendra Moe Eldon
 3:00:14
F30-39
40 of 44 
Alexis Olson Eldon
 3:00:15
F20-29
18 of 19 
Kayla Little Eldon
 3:00:16
F30-39
41 of 44 
 
10K:
William Faulconer Lake Ozark
 38:48
Overall winner
Sam Casella Sunrise Beach
 45:22
M40-49
2 of 12
Craig Charles Osage Beach
 47:29
M50-59
2 of 11
Brittney DeFrates Lake Ozark
 50:18
F30-39
2 of 30
Mark Stombaugh Lake Ozark
 51:07
M40-49
3 of 12
Gary Thompson Osage Beach
 56:08
M60-69
2 of 7
Gregory Sherman Osage Beach
 56:43
M40-49
5 of 12
Kelly Sherman Osage Beach
 56:44
F40-49
2 of 28 
Jill Wedig Eldon
 57:33
F40-49
3 of 28
Amy Fowler Lake Ozark
 59:23
F40-49
6 of 28
Rosalie Dear Versailles
 1:00:45
F30-39
8 of 30
Nicole O'Neill Barnett
 1:00:48
F20-29
7 of 13
Brittany Engelbrecht Lake Ozark
 1:00:48
F20-29
8 of 13
Marvin Bescheinen Versailles
 1:00:49
M60-69
4 of 7
Eric Faes Camdenton
 1:01:16
M40-49
8 of 12
Meagan Hardwick Sunrise Beach
 1:01:53
F40-49
10 of 28
Dylan Davis Eldon
 1:02:46
M20-29
6 of 7 
Cindy Wismer Camdenton
 1:03:11
F60-69
1 of 4
Brittany Cotner Lake Ozark
 1:04:47
F30-39
15 of 30
Michael Kelly Osage Beach
 1:05:00
M40-49
9 of 12
Angie Fousie Lake Ozark
 1:08:16
F40-49
14 of 28
Jordyn Blaha Camdenton
 1:10:10
F0-19
1 of 3
Terri Blaha Camdenton
 1:10:10
F40-49
17 of 28
Matthew Lee Sunrise Beach
 1:10:21
M50-59
8 of 11
Mary Wagemann Osage Beach
 1:13:23
F50-59
7 of 19
Tiffany Ash Lake Ozark
 1:13:31
F40-49
19 of 28
Molly Vernon Eldon
 1:14:58
F40-49
20 of 28
Beth Bashore Eldon
 1:14:59
F30-39
23 of 30
Michelle Waters Camdenton
 1:19:04
F40-49
23 of 28
Sherrie Hamner Osage Beach
 1:20:39
F40-49
24 of 28
Jo Nicklas Camdenton
 1:20:41
F40-49
25 of 28
Kathleen Robbins Sunrise Beach
 1:21:01
F50-59
11 of 19
Tom Wismer Camdenton
 1:22:21
M60-69
5 of 7
Megan Hendrickson Lake Ozark
 1:27:38
F30-39
26 of 30
Kaitlyn O'Haro Camdenton
 1:46:55
F20-29
12 of 13
Kristen O'Haro Sunrise Beach
 1:46:55
F20-29
13 of 13
Margie Gunter Osage Beach
 2:10:34
F50-59
19 of 19
 
5K:
Michael Maschino Roach
 23:11
M12-13
1 of 1
Harley Owens Eldon
 23:13
M30-39
1 of 6
Addison Fowler Lake Ozark
 23:17
F14-19
1 of 5
Larry Chinski Rocky Mount
 24:28
M50-59
1 o 6
Lonny Cook Four Seasons
 24:49
M60-69
1 of 8
Xavier Fowler Lake Ozark
 25:55
M10-11
1 of 5
Tobby Eldridge Eldon
 27:18
M40-49
1 of 11
R.J. Matthews Osage Beach
 27:18
M10-11
2 of 5
Teresa O'Loughlin Lake Ozark
 28:01
F40-49
1 of 22
Jennifer Griffin Lake Ozark
 29:14
F40-49
2 of 22
Curtis Nicklas Camdenton
 29:31
M14-19
1 of 4
Kayla McNabb Osage Beach
 31:13
F20-29
3 of 9
Alicia Carper Sunrise Beach
 31:21
F30-39
3 of 22
Diana Matthews Osage Beach
 32:02
F50-59
3 of 24
Creed Krulatz Linn Creek
 32:27
M10-11
4 of 5
Eric D'Antonio Sunrise Beach
 34:10
M50-59
4 of 6
Brenda Parry Lake Ozark
 34:25
F50-59
4 of 24
Steve Brennaman Camdenton
 34:31
M60-69
3 of 8
Danny Stoelting Linn Creek
 35:08
M60-69
5 of 8
Shawn Fowler Lake Ozark
 35:16
M40-49
4 of 11
Isabella Hamner Osage Beach
 35:19
F14-19
2 of 5
Carter Smith Camdenton
 35:20
M14-19
2 of 4
Sirenia Thoenen Sunrise Beach
 37:17
F40-49
8 of 22
Aala Jamieson Eldon
 37:55
F12-13
2 of 6
John Brody Eldon
 38:03
M40-49
5 of 11
Sherri Hankins Lake Ozark
 38:19
F50-59
9 of 24
Casey Richards Montreal
 39:01
F30-39
6 of 22
Layla Thurman Osage Beach
 40:26
F40-49
10 of 22
Tami Wehmeyer Camdenton
 40:41
F30-39
8 of 22
Brooke Chenoweth Eldon
 42:13
F40-49
12 of 22
Spencer Dixon Lake Ozark
 44:18
M14-19
4 of 4
Kathleen West Camdenton
 49:21
F60-69
6 of 14
Christina Wilson Osage Beach
 49:55
F50-59
12 of 24  
Kimberly Sovcik Linn Creek
 49:56
F30-39
19 of 22
Zoey Dixon Lake Ozark
 51:28
F12-13
3 of 6
Jaylee Myers Lake Ozark
 51:28
F12-13
4 of 6
Lauren Adkins Lake Ozark
 51:38
F12-13
6 of 6
Lisa Sutter Lake Ozark
 52:32
F50-59
16 of 24
Linda West Camdenton
 53:02
F70+
3 of 5
Cindy Page Lake Ozark
 55:33
F50-59
17 of 24
Pam Bess Rocky Mount
 55:39
F60-69
11 of 14
Carol Cange Lake Ozark
 55:53
F70+
4 of 5
Patty Dieckhaus Lake Ozark
 55:54
F50-59
18 of 24
Bob Scarlett Roach
 57:54
M70+
3 of 4
Mary Scarlett Roach
 57:55
F60-69
12 of 14
Ron Ferguson Lake Ozark
 1:01:28
M70+
4 of 4
Deborah Ferguson Lake Ozark
 1:01:29
F70+
5 of 5
Gail Carlock Lake Ozark
 1:30:45
F50-59
23 of 24
Rachel King Eldon
 1:30:47
F20-29
9 of 9

*   *   *   *   *

WHOBILATION 5K RUN/WALK (updated March 7th)


The photos can be viewed here.

Here are the results:

Place Name
Finish Time
1
Tucker Seise (top overall male)
17:10
2
Harley Owens
22:47
3
Sondra Ellis (top overall female)
23:13
4
Kelsie Pirrie
26:32
5
Carolyn Bandy
27:33
6
Ethan McDonnell
32:33
7
Ashley McDonnell
32:34
8
Maverick Sovcik
32:40
9
Renee Vandiver
33:03
10
Abby Sloan
34:21
11
Jim Glickert
34:39
12
Leo Hermes
35:23
13
Paul Bernabe
37:18
14
Jamy Sloan
37:28
15
Ann Walters
40:54
16
Katie Preist
41:08
17
Madison Shearer
48:32
18
Colton Doner
49:38
19
Jeremy Bernabe
50:21
20
Ian Avellanosa
50:38
21
Pinky Smith
50:52
22
Ivan Avellanosa
55:03
23
Josef Bernabe
55:04
24
Tracy Mercer
56:15
25
Deborah Dunbar
56:16
26
Andrea Morrison
56:26
27
Christina Wilson
56:27
28
Anna Avellanosa
56:45
29
Maria Bernabe
56:46
30
Gerrie Henze
56:47
31
Morgan Welty
1:13:34
32
Vickie Gettler
1:13:47
33
Jessie Cody
1:13:48
Patricia Hotop
DNF
Patty Hermes
DNF

*   *   *   *   *

QUEENY BACKYARD ULTRA (updated March 7th)

The inaugural Queeny Backyard Ultra at Queeny Park in suburban St. Louis started at noon on Friday with 57 hopefuls aiming to outlast all others.

Tim Barbee of Columbia, Illinois needed 25 hours (104.17 miles) to shake off the last of his competitors to become the race's last man standing.  Along the way, Angela McKnight of St. Louis was the last of the women to bow out, after 14 hours (58.83 miles).

Photos and video clips can be found at the race's Facebook page, as well as that of Janzow Photography.

Full results can be found at the race's Ultrasignup page.

*   *   *   *   *

LAKE OUACHITA VISTA ENDURANCE RUN  (posted February 28th)

The Lake-area record for the most number of solo ultramarathons completed is now tied at 14.  John Shelby tied Chris Boyle's record by finishing the very challenging Lake Ouachita Vista Endurance Run (100K/100M) near Hot Springs, Arkansas on Saturday.  John completed the 100K race in 14:20:13, placing 22nd overall among the 31 finishers.

The winner of the 100K absolutely smashed the course record. The previous record was 9:35:00.  It now stands at an incredible 8:12:15.  (To put that in perspective, Chris Boyle was the 100K overall winner in 2019 in 11:13:54.)

The beautiful weather we had at the Lake on Saturday wasn't shared in Hot Springs.  They had overcast skies with fog and mist much of the day, with temperatures not rising above the mid 50s.

*   *   *   *   *

POLAR BEAR STRUT 5K RUN/WALK (updated March 5th)

Fifty-three runners and walkers turned out for the 20th annual Polar Bear Strut 5K in Osage Beach on Saturday.   Disappointingly, that represented the smallest turnout for the Strut in at least twelve years, despite the sunny, mild (50°) weather.

The starting line was moved this year due to the traffic in the public beach #2 area.  The turnaround on the out-and-back course remained at the Osage Beach Parkway/Case Rd. intersection, shortening the course by about 0.3 miles.

With no current or former cross country runners in this year's field, Nigher Alfaro was able to claim his sixth overall victory--the most in Strut history.  Nigher won in 19:20 on a noticeably shorter, 2.8-mile course.  (He took third last year in 21:40.)   The top female was a first-time Strut winner.  Jacinda Espinosa crossed the line in 21:53.

 
Overall men's and women's winners Nigher Alfaro and Jacinda Espinosa.

The race photos can be found here.

The complete race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

TAME THE DRAGON (posted March 2nd)

The St. Louis Orienteering Club held its second annual Tame the Dragon orienteering race at the Lake of the Ozarks State Park on Saturday.  A total of 68 competitors turned out, including 17 competing solo, and 51 spread among 20 teams.

The race started and ended at the Osage Beach City Park softball pavilion.   Pictured here is course designer and race director Gary Thompson giving final race instructions prior to the start.  The weather was ideal, with sunny skies and temperatures ranging from the mid 40s at the 8:00 a.m. start to the low  60s by mid afternoon.

Competitors planned their own routes to collect as many of the 36 checkpoints as possible within the 8-hour time limit, so the distance that each covered will vary.  Many, though, reported covering 20-25 miles. (The checkpoints have varying point values, so you can still finish ahead of a competitor if you collect more-valuable checkpoints.)

Armed with only a map and a compass, the competitors made their way through miles of endless hills throughout the state park. 

Like last year, no one collected all of the checkpoints, although they did come tantalizingly close.  Jason Bettis, the overall solo winner, and the top team--42 Down, consisting of Jeff Ryan, Josh Borgmeyer and Jason Noakes--were able to to collect 35 of the 36.  On average, each solo/team competitor collected 18 checkpoints.

Overall winner Jason Bettis.

Top team--42 Down (from left):  Jason Noakes, Josh Borgmeyer and Jeff Ryan.

Solo competitors generally placed higher in the overall standings than the teams.  About two-thirds of the solos finished in the top half of the standings, versus only one-third of the teams.  (In a race like this, where the team must physically stay together for the entire duration, the team's outcome is generally determined by the slowest team member.)

This year's race was the first foray into orienteering by seven Lake-area runners.  The Might Survive team of Chris Boyle, Tucker Seise and Jefferson City's Cody Eubanks commendably placed 6th among the 20 teams.  They collected 19 of the 36 checkpoints in 7:44:48.

Might Survive team (from left): Tucker Seise, Chris Boyle and Cody Eubanks.

The Dragon Asses team of Scott Page, Gary Braman, Mark Matthews, Rob Kucsik and Stacy Roberts collected the 8th most points among the 20 teams, but the severe point penalty for finishing a mere 11 minutes over the 8-hour time limit dropped them all the way down to 14th place.

Dragon Asses team (from left): Mark Matthews, Stacy Roberts, Rob Kucsik, Scott Page and Gary Braman.

The complete race results can be found here.

Many more photos can be found here

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CABIN FEVER RELIEVER 5K/10K/20K (posted February 7th) 


Matt Weatherford of Eldon was the only Lake-area runner to toe a starting line on this cold, dreary and snowy weekend.  Matt was in Rogersville (10 miles east of Springfield) on Saturday for the Ozark Mountain Ridge Runners' 6th annual Cabin Fever Reliever. He finished the 10K in 1:11:08. He placed second in the men's 20-29 age group, missing out on a victory in his age group by a miniscule 0.35 seconds.

There were 268 finishers on the day, including 111 in the 5K, 79 in the 10K, and 78 in the 20K.  Our former LOTO running buddy Andy Goessman took 4th overall (and first in men's 30-39 age group) in the 10K, finishing in 42:27.  Randy Acklin of Marshfield placed 6th in the 40-49 age group in the 20K with a 1:41:11 finish.

Complete results can be found here.

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ROC7K TRAIL RUN (posted January 24th)

Three Lake-area runners were in Columbia on Saturday vying to become the very first local runner to cross a finish line in 2021.  Sarah Wood of Eldon won those bragging rights by finishing the ROC7K Trail Run at Cosmo Park in 42:21. Sarah won the women's 30-39 age group over 21 others.

Brian Frederick of Kaiser finished in 49:31, taking 7th (of 13) in the men's 50-59 age group.  Another Eldon runner, John Brody, finished in 58:23, placing 15th (of 16) in the 40-44 age group.

Our Columbia running friend Andy Emerson finished 5th overall among the 128 total competitors, in 35:35.

Less than two seconds separated the top two finishers. Complete results can be found here.

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DAVID'S TRAIL ENDURANCE RUN (posted January 24th)

Thirteen of our Lake-area runners traveled to Mountain Home, Arkansas on Saturday for the sixth annual David's Trail Endurance Run (Facebook page). Five managed to pull off podium finishes.

In the 50K, Chris Boyle won the 40-49 age group, with a 5:38:41 finish that also placed him 4th overall (of 52 finishers). John Shelby and Gary Braman took 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the 50-59 age group.

In the 25K, Tucker Seise knocked 13 minutes off of last year's 3rd-place overall finish time, but his 1:54:19 was still only good enough for another 3rd-place overall.  (It should be noted that the second-place finisher was also credited with a 1:54:19 finish time, so Tucker apparently missed out on that spot by a fraction of a second.)  Rob Kucsik, who aged up to the 50-59 group this year, took 3rd place with a 2:45:22 finish time.

Some of the Lake-area entourage (clockwise, from lower left): Gary Braman, Scott Page, Katie Roberts, Stacy Roberts, Mark Matthews, Rob Kucsik, Tucker Seise and Nigher Alfaro. (Photo provided.)

Here are results for our Lake-area runners, plus a few runners familiar to us:

DAVID'S TRAIL ENDURANCE RUN
MOUNTAIN HOME, ARKANSAS
JANUARY 23, 2021
RESULTS FOR LAKE-AREA RUNNERS

Name
Finish Time
Age Group
Age Group Place
50K:
Chris Boyle
5:38:41
M40-49
1 of 13
John Shelby
6:38:08
M50-59
2 of 4
Aaron Koeppen
6:49:20
M40-49
7 of 13
Gary Braman
6:57:07
M40-49
3 of 4
       
25K:
Tucker Seise
1:54:19
-
3rd overall male
Scott Page
2:43:05
M40-49
5 of 20
Rob Kucsik
2:45:22
M50-59
3 of 11
Mark Matthews
2:56:59
M40-49
7 of 20
Doug Kueker
3:00:02
M40-49
8 of 20
Nigher Alfaro
3:19:26
M40-49
11 of 20
Stacy Roberts
3:20:51
M40-49
12 of 20
Katie Roberts
3:20:53
F40-49
6 of 30
Alysia Maschino
3:26:04
F40-49
8 of 30
       

Complete results can be found here

Lots of photos have been posted on the race's Facebook page.

There were 241 finishers at this year's race (versus 225 last year), including 52 for the 50K, 126 for the 25K and 63 for the 7K.  

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