THE RUNNING OF THE KNIGHTS COLOR RUN 5K & FUN RUN (posted March 17th)

(Please note:  This event has always been held around the end of September or early in October, but I just discovered that this year's event has been moved up to the end of March.)

The King's Academy preschool and elementary school will be holding its Running of the Knights Color Run 5K & Fun Run on Sunday, March 29th, at Christ the King Church at 1700 Bagnell Dam Blvd. in Lake Ozark.  

The 1-mile fun run starts at 3:00 p.m.; the 5K starts at 3:30 p.m.  

The entry fee for the timed 5K is $40, and includes a t-shirt. The (untimed) 1-mile fun run entry fee is $25, and includes a t-shirt. Only those who register on or before March 13th are guaranteed a t-shirt.  

A post-race dinner is included with all registrations.

To register online, click here. For more information, please visit the race's website or King's Academy's Facebook page.

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WEEKEND EVENTS FOR MARCH 21 - 22

Unlike last weekend's, this weekend's race calendar is very short.  The weather forecast looks great, except that the afternoon highs on Saturday and Sunday will be in the 80s.  (Yes, in the span of less than a week, we'll go from complaining about the cold to complaining about the heat.) This would be a good weekend for some Bridge & Dam training, especially if the race-day weather turns out to be warm.

Springfield:

Time to Paddy 5K/10K/Half Marathon, Saturday

St. Louis and vicinity:   

Chain of Rocks 6K, Granite City (IL), Sunday
Time to Paddy 5K/10K/Half Marathon, St. Peters, Sunday

Columbia, Illinois (not far from St. Louis):

American Bottoms 100 (110- and 55-mile trail runs) (UltraSignup page), Saturday (Participants we know: Melissa Sharp (110-miler)) (inaugural race)

Blanchard Springs, Arkansas:

3 Days of Syllamo (Ultrasignup) trail races (50K on Friday, 50-mile on Saturday, 20K on Sunday; 94-miler)

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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. Here are their results:

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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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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