SHAMROCK SHUFFLE 5K/15K/BEER MILE (posted March 16th)

Five of our local runners traveled to Springfield on Saturday to join a near-record crowd for the fifth annual Shamrock Shuffle 5K/10K and Beer Mile.

The winner of the beer mile, which had 68 participants, was Gary Shaw, who competed at the first two 4 Fore 30 races in 2018 and 2019.  He finished in 6:01.

Complete race results can be found here.   Below are the number of finishers, by distance, since the race's inception in 2022.

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Other weekend races (March 14 - 15):

The mild weather on Saturday was great for attendance at the various races held around the state. (Every race director should give thanks for not getting Sunday's weather on Saturday.)

The biggest race in the state was the Michelob ULTRA St. Patrick's Day Parade 5K in downtown St. Louis, with 1,883 finishers. While that's still a lot, it's a far cry from the early 2010s, when the race--it was a 5-miler back then--regularly had 8,000-10,000 participants.

In suburban St. Louis, at Creve Coeur Lake Park, nearly 1,500 showed up to run the Creve Coeur St. Paddy's Half Marathon & 5K/10K. Creve Coeur Lake Park, which years ago hosted very few races, is now a fairly popular location for St. Louis area races. (It's a beautiful place for running and cycling.)

On the west side of the state, the Kansas City St. Patrick's 5K had 743 finishers, up from 572 last year.

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WHOBILATION 5K RUN/WALK (updated March 10th)

A record crowd of 80 runners and walkers turned out for Saturday's eighth annual Whobilation 5K at the Tri-County YMCA.  That was more than twice as many as in any of the first seven editions of the race, and came despite the chilly (mid 40s), windy and cloudy weather.

Continuing the tradition, we spelled out "YMCA" at the starting line.

To no one's surprise, Tucker Seise was the overall winner, in 16:53, five minutes ahead of his nearest rival. Tucker has won this race nearly every year since inception.  

Tucker Seise has won six of eight Whobilation 5Ks. 
(He didn't appear at the 2019 or 2022 races.)

Taylor Brown of Waynesville was the overall women's winner, finishing in 27:05.   Taylor faced a serious challenge from the winner of the women's 10-and-under age group, Conley Helton of Macks Creek, who finished 30 seconds behind.

    Women's race winner Taylor Brown (left) and runner-up Conley Helton. Conley was in the lead at the two-mile mark.

Here are the complete results from Saturday's race:

By finish order
Division winners
Runsignup.com results page

About 200 more photos from the race can be viewed here.

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Other weekend race news (March 7 - 8):

The world half marathon record was broken at the Lisbon Half Marathon in Portugal on Sunday. Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda finished in 57:20--a pace of 4:22 per mile. (He ran even faster last year, finishing in 56:42, but the international organization that governs world records declined to recognize it due to "race conditions".

The Los Angeles Marathon had a stunning finish on Sunday.  Michael Kimani Kamau of Kenya led virtually the entire race, but in a sprint to the finish line, an American, Nathan Martin, beat him in the smallest margin possible--0.01 seconds.  See it for yourself in this local NBC station report. Kimau's collapse right after finishing looked scary, but he was OK.

The Quivering Quads Half Marathon & 8-Mile Trail Race scheduled for this past Sunday was cancelled by the state park officials due to all of the rain we had last week. 

In old news, Lazarus Lake pulled yet another surprise and started the Barkley Marathons on Valentine's Day. Winter weather (rain, fog and temperatures in the 40s), on top of an already impossibly-difficult course, resulted in no finishers.  Of the forty starters, 19 finished loop one within the alloted 12 hours.  Four finished the second loop. Only one finished the third (of five) loops, although not within the 12-hour time limit.  He did finish those three loops in under 40 hours, so he was credited with finishing a "fun run".

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QUEENY BACKYARD ULTRA (posted March 9th)

It took an incredible 61 hours (254 miles), but they finally crowned a finisher at the Queeny Backyard Ultra in St. Louis.  The race started at 10:00 a.m. Friday, and ended early Monday morning.  Jeff Walker of Noblesville, Indiana was the winner, and earned a spot on the U.S. team at the Big Dog's Backyard Ultra World Team Championship in Tennessee in October.   The chance of earning a team championship spot was no doubt the reason why this year's race was double the size of last year's.  There were 126 starters this year, versus 62 last year.

Two past winners of the Lake area's now-cancelled 4 Fore 30 Infinity Backyard Ultra, Cody Eubanks of Jefferson City and Andy Emerson of Columbia, lasted 39 and 8 hours (162 and 33 miles) this past weekend. 

Complete results can be found here.  Check out the race's Facebook page for some photos and commentary.  The UltraSignup.com page, where more details about the results should be posted soon, can be found here.

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CENTRAL OZARKS MEDICAL CENTER'S "PACING FOR PATIENTS 5K COLOR (posted March 12th)

The Central Ozarks Medical Center's second annual Pacing for Patients 5K Color Run will take place on Saturday, April 4th at the Tri-County YMCA in Osage Beach.

As of this writing, I can't find any clear mention of the 5K's starting time, but it may be 9:00 a.m. (It started last year at 7:30 a.m.)

After the color run, COMC will have a health fair and farmers market from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.  

For more information or to register for the color run, click here.  The event's Facebook page has additional information.  COMC's Facebook page is here.

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BRIDGE AND DAM HALF MARATHON & 5K/10K (posted March 12th)

The twelfth annual Bridge and Dam Half Marathon, 10K & 5K (Facebook page) is happening on Saturday, April 11th, in Lake Ozark. All races start at 7:30 a.m. at the Bagnell Dam scenic overlook.

Visit the race's website to get all of the event details.

If you can't race, please consider volunteering.  It's easy, rewarding, and helps makes this race possible. Sign up by sending an e-mail to heyguys@fundruns.org.

Online registration is available here. (Online registration closes on Wednesday night; after that, you can still register in person at packet pickup, or on race morning.)

Check out who's already registered here.

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