MISSOURI STATE HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS (posted November 6th)

Here are the results for our local high school cross country runners at the state championship meet held on Friday and Saturday at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia.

In the Class 3 team standings, the Osage girls placed 8th of 16 teams.

The complete results for all classes can be found here.

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WEEKEND EVENTS FOR NOVEMBER 7 - 8

Like the hours of daylight this time of year, the list of weekend events is getting shorter and shorter.  Get outside and enjoy the cool, fall weather this weekend.  Winter weather isn't that far away.  

We're back to racing locally this weekend. On Saturday, the third annual annual Phylicia Carson Memorial 5K run/walk takes place at Osage Beach City Hall.   Race-day registration will be open from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.  Opening festivities start at 8:35 a.m., followed by the run/walk at 9:00 a.m.  More details can be found under "Upcoming Events" near the bottom of this column.

The Missouri State High School Cross Country Championships take place Friday (for classes 2, 3 and 4) and Saturday (for classes 1 and 5) at the Gans Creek course in Columbia.   Camdenton, Osage, Versailles and Eldon runners will race on Friday; Macks Creek's runners compete on Saturday. If you want to see the races in person, or watch them on MSHSAA TV (a one-time charge of $25 covers all races on both days), visit this page for more information.

Elsewhere:

Lampe (near Branson):

Dogwood Canyon Trail Runs, 25K & 50K on Saturday, 15K on Sunday.  All distances are sold out.

Kansas City and vicinity:

Veterans Day 5K/10K/15K, Parkville, Sunday

Republic:

Ruck 'n' Run (5.56K, 7.62K, 11.11K or 30K), Saturday

St. Charles:

MO' Cowbell Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K/10K, Sunday

St. Louis and vicinity:

Veterans Day 5K, Downtown, Saturday
Coyote Crawl 5K/Head for the Hills 10K, Bellefontaine Cemetery, Saturday
Run Walk Breathe 5K, Chesterfield, Saturday
St. Louis Track Club Half Marathon & 5K, Forest Park, Sunday
Cocoa Classic 5K, Washington University, Sunday

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The biggest surprise of the weekend was a Swedish runner winning the TCS New York City Marathon's men's race. Andreas Almgren won in 2:06:01, in his very first race at the marathon distance.  The women's race was won by Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya, in 2:24:36. Jess McClain of Phoenix took second, in 2:24:42, after sprinting one second ahead of last year's winner, Kenya's Hellen Obiri, at the finish line.

There were 61,066 total finishers. Missouri was represented by 147 runners, though none from the Lake area.

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BASS PRO SHOPS FITNESS SERIES MARATHON, MARATHON RELAY, HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted November 2nd)

Fifteen Lake-area runners competed at a record-setting Bass Pro Shops Fitness Series marathon, half marathon and 5K in Springfield on Sunday.  That was nearly double the number of locals appearing at last year's race..  (The 2014 Bass Pro still stands as the out-of-town race with the most Lake-area runners ever, with 40.)

We had one age-group podium finisher--Dan Robertson in the marathon--and three fifth-or-better finishes in the half marathon:  Camden Schmitz, Alysia Maschino and Jim McDermott.

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

Complete race results can be found here.

Total participation was a race-record 3,409 solo finishers.  That was up 14% from 2,981 in 2025, and surpassed the previous record of 3,175 set in 2014, when interest in running began a years-long decline.  Here are the total number of finishers, by distance, since 2018:

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HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY DISTRICT MEET RESULTS FOR OCTOBER 31st (posted November 2nd)

At Saturday's district meets, 16 of our Lake-area high school cross country runners qualified as individuals for the state championships to be held this coming Friday and Saturday at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia. The Class 3, 4 and 5 championships will be held on Friday, followed by the Class 1 and 2 championships on Saturday.  

For the ninth year in a row, the Osage girls team will be going to state, after having beaten all other teams at the district race.

The top four teams and top 30 runners at each district race qualified for the state championships.  Below are the results for each local school's top runners, plus all others who had qualified as individuals.  The names of those who qualified as individuals appear in red.

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PHYLICIA CARSON MEMORIAL 5K (posted October 3rd)

The third annual Phylicia Carson Memorial 5K Run/Walk will be held on Saturday, November 7th at Osage Beach City Hall. Phylicia Carson was an Osage Beach police officer who tragically died in the line of duty on Labor Day weekend in 2024, leaving behind a husband and six children.

Race-day registration will be open from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. The pre-race festivities begin at 8:35, and the run/walk will start at 9:00 a.m. 

The entry fee for those 18-and-over is $30, or $35 on race day. T-shirts can only be guaranteed for those who register on or before October 1st.  Participants under 18 run or walk free of charge. 

T-shirts can be purchase at the event for $20.

Proceeds from the race benefit The Phylicia Carson 916 Foundation.

Online registration and more details can be found here.

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

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