NAPA VALLEY MARATHON AND HALF MARATHON (posted March 2nd)

Six of our locals were in wine country in Napa, California this past weekend for the Napa Valley Marathon and Half Marathon. Here are their results:

Complete race results can be found here. 

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POLAR BEAR STRUT 5K RUN/WALK (posted March 2nd)

The race results haven't yet been reported by Special Olympics.  I'll post a link to them once it's made available.

Also, the race photos are being edited, and should be posted in a few days.

The official number hasn't yet been reported, but about 70 runners and walkers turned out Saturday for the 25th annual Polar Bear Strut 5K benefiting Special Olympics Missouri.  If correct, that was about the same number as last year.   The weather for this year's race was nearly perfect for running, with a temperature of 52° at the 10:00 a.m. start.  Last year's Strut, by contrast, was one of the coldest, with the starting temperature close to 30°.

Luke Webb, a senior cross country runner for Camdenton High School, was the overall winner for a second year in a row, crossing the line in 16:22.  (Luke's typical 5K finish time last season was between 17:00 and 18:00). 

The Polar Bear Strut rarely has a repeat winner in the women's race, and this year was no exception. The official race results haven't been posted, but I believe Maddie Rademan, a sophomore cross country runner at California High School, was the winner. Based on time stamps on the race photos, she was about 4 minutes behind Luke Webb at the 2-mile mark, so she probably finished around 20:00-21:00. (Maddie ran a 20:03, 11th-place finish at the Class 3 state championships last November.)

While I don't know his name, this year's final finisher deserves some recognition for completing the course in a big, awkward, and stuffy costume. (I don't know if he was imitating Casper the Friendly Ghost, the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man in Ghostbusters II, or some other character, but it was certainly a costume you wouldn't wear after a big meal at Taco Bell, if you get my drift.)

Finally, a finisher of 23 of the first 24 Struts was notably absent from this year's race.  Zim Schwartze, affectionately known as the Chief Empress, had to skip this year's race to attend Saturday's funerals of the two Christian County deputies who were killed in the line of duty last week.

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FLAT BRANCH ULTRA (posted February 23rd)

The fourth annual Flat Branch Ultra (Facebook), held on Saturday in Columbia, had a huge increase in turnout over last year, and an even bigger gain than in its first two years.  There were 107 finishers this year, more than triple last year's total of 34.  That happened despite chilly temperatures ranging from 26° at the 8:00 a.m. start to 35° at noon, and wind chills below 30° for the entire race. 

Five runners from the Lake area competed this year, including three-time finisher Matt Patterson, two-time finisher Tucker Seise, and newcomers Aaron Koeppen, Bobbi Snodgrass and Marlisa Nolan.

Our locals' results can be found below.  Complete results can be found here.

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Weekend race results (February 21 - 22):

Besides our Flat Branch finishers, we had two other locals compete this weekend.

At the Running from Yeti 5K/10K/half in Springfield, Megan Morley of Roach ran the 10K, finishing in 1:04:53 and placing 19th (of 37) in the women's 20-29 age group.

A name that I haven't seen in any race results since the 2021 4 Fore 30, Blake Roettgen of Linn Creek, won the 10K (over 18 others) at the Time Travel 5K/10K/Half at Creve Coeur Lake Park in St. Louis on Saturday. He finished in 44:56.  (The results show him placing second overall, but to believe that, you have to believe a 49 year-old woman can run a 10K in 30:05--a pace of 4:51 per mile. A look at her finish line photo makes that even harder to believe.) Blake had a rather interesting introduction to running. He was in the band at Camdenton High School when Covid caused cancellation of the 2021 band season.  In its place, he took up running with the cross country team, and after the season ended he ran an impressive 54.2 miles in 13 hours (or "yards", in backyard ultra lingo) at 4 Fore 30. While Blake may have had a long hiatus from running, he hasn't lost much, if any, fitness.   

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WHOBILATION 5K RUN/WALK (posted January 15th)

The Tri-County YMCA will hold its eighth annual Whobilation 5K Run/Walk on Saturday, March 7th, at the YMCA's facility on Airport Rd. in Osage Beach.  The Dr. Suess-themed race will start at 9:00 a.m., with race-day registration opening at 7:30 a.m. 

The entry fee is $30 through the end of January, and $35 thereafter.

To be guaranteed a t-shirt on race day, you need to register by January 31st.

A mail-in registration form can be downloaded here.  Online registration, with more race details, is available here.

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