Christmas in July photos:  They're posted here.

*   *   *   *   *

WEEKEND EVENTS FOR AUGUST 1 - 2

August?  Already?  It won't be long before Walmart moves out the summer and school supply merchandise and stuffs the shelves with Thanksgiving and Christmas stuff. This year is flying by at warp speed.

Thankfully, this weekend's weather should be milder than last weekend's, but it's still summer, so it'll be warm and humid.  We're right in the middle of the summer race doldrums; activity will be picking up soon.

One notable absence on this weekend's race calendar is the Republic Tiger Triathlon.  Sadly, after 19 years, the organizers announced back in January that it would no longer be held.

Columbia:

Great Sandbagger 8K (5 miles), Katy Trail, Saturday

Osceola:

Touch Both Lines Gravel Grinder (bike race), Saturday

Kansas City and vicinity:

Run for Raptors Trail Race (5K/11K), Saturday
Heatwave Half Marathon & 5K/10K, Parkville, Sunday
Shawnee Mission Triathlon & Duathlon, Sunday

St. Louis and vicinity:

Heatwave Half Marathon & 5K/10K, Grant Trail, Saturday
Flat Five (5-mile and 1-mile), Katy Trail, St. Charles, Sunday

*   *   *   *   *

MR340 (posted July 28th)

The MR340, the world's longest non-stop paddling race, began Tuesday morning on the Missouri River in Kansas City with about 600 total paddlers in the various solo and team divisions. Paddlers have until Friday evening to reach St. Charles in order to become official finishers. Every year, almost without fail, the racers have to deal with high heat and storms, and the weather over the next few days should provide both.

There are two lake-area competitors in the men's solo paddling division--one veteran, ond one newbie. Bob Meyer of Camdenton, in boat #4130, has competed a number of times in this race. Andrew Girdley of Eldon, in boat #8670, is doing his first MR340.

You can find live tracking for the race here. For photos and race developments, check out the MR340 Community's Facebook page.

My shoulders, hands and rear end hurt just thinking about this race.  How it has remained wildly popular since its inception in 2012 is beyond me.

*   *   *   *   *

BADWATER 135 ULTRAMARATHON (updated July 28th)

The Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, "the toughest footrace in the world", starts Monday night in Death Valley, California. Past winners Pete Kostelnick, Ashley Paulson (100-mile world record holder), and Harvey Lewis (known more for his Big Dog's Backyard Ultra races) are among the 100 competitors. The time limit to finish is 45 hours.  The finish line is at Mt. Whitney, and the course has about 14,000 feet of climbing. High temperatures for the next couple days should be around 117°; nighttime lows will be in the 90s.

Race tracking is available here.

Live streaming will be available at the race's Facebook page.   Instagram and other links can be found here.

Update (Tuesday evening):  The men's and women's race records were broken this year.  The men's winner crossed the finish line 40 minutes ahead of the previous record of 20:53:41.  (Think about that for a second: 135 miles in extraordinary heat, with 14,000 feet of climbing, in under 21 hours.)  The top woman won in 21:05:32--41 minutes ahead of Ashley Paulson's record set in 2023.  Pete Kostelnick is past the 122-mile mark; Harvey Lewis is past the 108-mile mark.  Ashley Paulson was running about 1-1/2 hours behind the women's winner.  All three should finish sometime tonight.

*   *   *   *   *

CHRISTMAS IN JULY 5K RUN/WALK (updated July 27th)

A crowd of 61 runners and walkers turned out for Saturday's ninth annual Christmas in July 5K Run/Walk at the Tri-County YMCA in Osage Beach. That was down from 79 last year, but still well above the 39 that participated in 2024. Looking at the hometowns of the participants, at least a third of the field were not from the Lake area, and presumably made this race part of their stay while on vacation.

As expected for this race, the weather was very warm and humid, with a temperature of 72° and relative humidity of 100% at the 7:00 a.m. start.   Some cloud cover and a slight breeze made conditions only slightly bearable for running.

It's obligatory to get a photo of "YMCA" being spelled out at he starting line of every YMCA race.

Tucker Seise has won every YMCA race in which he's participated these last five years, but that string of victories came to an end on this day.  Ashton Mai, a 19 year-old from Ely, Iowa--and a cross country runner at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa--trailed Tucker nearly the entire race, but sprinted ahead of him near the finish line in perhaps the closest race finish ever in the Lake area.  (Both were credited with 17:04 finish times.)  Ashton came to the Lake a few earlier than the rest of his family in order to compete in this race.

The women's race was won by local runner Natasha Boettcher, in 25:19.  Natasha is no stranger to winning Lake-area races, but this was her first appearance and victory at Christmas in July.      

    Men's and women's race winners Ashton Mai
and Natasha Boettcher.

The complete race results can be found here.

Many more photos from the race have been posted here.

*   *   *   *   *

NIGHT LIGHT 5K & 1-MILE WALK (posted July 20th)

The biggest race of the weekend took place on Friday evening northwest of Springfield in Willard.  Heartland Racing Co.'s inaugural Night Light 5K had 534 5K finishers, plus another 41 participants in the one-mile walk.

Seven runners from the Lake area participated in the 5K.  Here are their results.

Complete race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

2026 Archives
2025 Archives
2024 Archives
2023 Archives
2022 Archives
2021 Archives
2020 Archives
2019 Archives
2018 Archives
2017 Archives
2016 Archives
2015 Archives
2014 Archives
2013 Archives
2012 Archives
2011 Archives
2010 Archives
2009 Archives

*   *   *   *  *

I'll post details of upcoming events as soon as I can. Until then, here are links to them:

Saturday, October 10: COMC Pretty in Pink Bubble Run 5K/10K

Saturday, October 17: Oktoberfest .5K and 5K

Saturday, November 7:  Phylicia Carson Memorial 5K

Saturday, November 14: Ozark Diamond Gauntlet 3/6/9/12-Hour and 1-Lap Races

Thanksgiving Day, November 26: LOTO Turkey Trot 5K and Fun Run