Payton Bartlett, Heather Oddo and Chris Boyle
photographed at Bridge & Dam.

Boston bound:  Mike Korst and Jim McDermott at 4 Fore 30.

Stacy and Katie Roberts went from newbies in 2014 (left photo) to Lake-area record-holders in 2018.

MISSOURI'S LARGEST MARATHONS & HALF MARATHONS
Ranked by Number of Solo Finishers in 2018
		Finishers
MARATHON:
1	Kansas City Marathon	1,266
2	GO! St. Louis	1,076
3	Garmin	495
4	MO' Cowbell	465
5	Bass Pro	284
6	Gobbler Grind	187
7	Mother Road	177
(tie)	Joplin Memorial	177
9	Run for the Ranch	109
(tie)	Frisco Railroad Run	109
11	Heart of America	108
12	Wildwood Trail Marathon	95
13	Dogwood Canyon 50K	76
14	Pilgrim Pacer	58
15	Honoring Our Heroes	51
HALF MARATHON:
1	Kansas City Marathon	3,990
2	Rock the Parkway	3,868
3	GO! St. Louis	3,594
4	MO' Cowbell	2,789
5	Garmin	1,522
6	Hospital Hill	1,497
7	Bass Pro	1,148
8	GO! St. Louis Halloween	1,053
9	Running with the Cows	907
10	Liberty Hospital Half	752
11	Kansas Half Marathon	711
12	Race 13.1 St. Louis	672
13	Joplin Memorial	664
14	Gobbler Grind	622
15	St. Louis Half Marathon	604
16	St. Louis Track Club Frostbite Series 13.1M	582
17	Go Girl Run Springfield	468
18	Quivering Quads Trail Half	442
19	Independence Half	381
20	Roots 'n' Blues	375

The Girls Gone Miles team (from left): Heather Doyle, Rachel Quick, Jennifer Ewan and Janelle Harrison.  (Photo provided.)

RUN FOR THE RANCH MARATHON, MARATHON RELAY, HALF MARATHON & 6-HOUR RUN SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI DECEMBER 29, 2018
Name	City	Finish Time	Age Group	Age Group Place
6-HOUR:
Joel Reed	St. Robert	34 miles	N/A	4th of 17 overall
MARATHON:
Amy Frederick	Ft. Leonard Wood	4:07:29	F30-39	3 of 5
Shannon Briscoe	Archie	4:23:35	F40-49	3 of 6
Ed Green	Lebanon	4:59:55	M50-59	7 of 9
MARATHON RELAY:
Girls Gone Miles	Tipton	3:18:28	Female	1 of 3
L is for Lakers		3:26:54	Coed	1 of 7
HALF MARATHON:
Lauren Moriearty	Lake Ozark	1:57:58	F20-29	3 of 4
Randy Acklin	Marshfield	1:59:29	M30-39	8 of 11
Jamy Sloan	Osage Beach	2:22:58	M40-49	16 of 21
Abby Sloan	Osage Beach	2:34:56	F30-39	17 of 20

Finishers	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Marathon	173	137	116	93	107	71	92	53
Half Marathon	362	274	215	185	244	214	184	124
6-Hour Run	-	-	-	3	26	6	13	17
Total	535	411	331	281	377	291	289	194
Marathon relay teams	-	-	-	NA	2	21	18	13

	2016	2017	2018
15K	3,673	3,062	2,784
5K	7,417	5,311	4,979
Total	11,090	8,373	7,763

36 HOURS OF JACK CARTHAGE, MISSOURI DECEMBER 8-9, 2018 RESULTS FOR LAKE-AREA RUNNERS
Name	City	Finish Time	Division result
80K:
Melissa Martinez	Crocker	10:45:01	1st of 3 females
Jason Crockett	Camdenton	11:21:14	3rd of 5 males
50K:
Ed Green	Lebanon	6:51:54	9th of 10 males
15K:
Scott Gray	Eldon	2:56:52	5th of 6 males
Margie Gunter	Osage Beach	3:31:52	11th of 11 females

36 HOURS OF JACK NUMBER OF FINISHERS
	2015	2016	2017	2018
5K	-	-	7	5
15K	52	28	10	19
25K	50	33	27	-
30K	-	-	-	13
42.2K	3	-	-	-
50K	41	17	23	18
75K	-	6	4	-
80K	-	-	-	8
50-Mile	-	4	-	-
100K	-	2	6	6
100-Mile	-	-	7	4
200K	-	-	-	1
Total	146	90	84	74

<
Click on photo for a larger image

4 FORE 30 CAMDENTON, MISSOURI DECEMBER 1, 2018 DISTRIBUTION OF COMPETITORS BY NUMBER OF MILES COMPLETED, GROUPED ACCORDING TO CONVENTIONAL RACE DISTANCES
Conventional Race Distance	Number of competitors completing this distance
Half marathon or less (0 to 13.1 miles)	1
Half marathon to marathon (13.1 to 26.2 miles)	8
Marathon to 50K (26.2 to 31.0 miles)	6
50K to 100K (31.0 to 62 miles)	12
Over 100K (over 62 miles)	9
Total	36

>   

   

Tesa Taylor with her first-place age-group award at the
Eldon Rock Island Road Race 15K in June 2018.

Jake Thoenen (right) was slightly ahead of Tucker Seise (left) when leaving the high school entrance at the 0.7-mile mark of the race, but by time they returned, Tucker had pulled well ahead of Jake.

THANKSGIVING DAY RACE RESULTS FOR LAKE-AREA  RUNNERS
Name	City	Finish Time	Age Group	Age Group Place
Jefferson City - Thanksgiving Day Pie Run 5K/10K  (results)
10K:
5K:
April Leonard	Eldon	1:08:00	F50-59	27 of 27
Springfield - Turkey Trot 5K Run (results)
Sam Paterson	Camdenton	34:31	M30-34
Wade Clay	Camdenton	36:51	M55-59
Jackie Clay	Camdenton	1:01:07	F55-59
Kayla Paterson	Camdenton	1:01:09	F30-34
Chesterfield - Chesterfield Turkey Trot 5K (results)
Raine Ryerson	Versailles	21:39	M20-29	21 of 197
Daniel Ryerson	Versailles	29:23	M20-29	85 of 197
Gabriel Ryerson	Versailles	26:26	M13-19	74 of 192
Rick Ryerson	Versailles	28:32	M50-59	51 of 183
Carolyn Davinroy		31:41	F60-69	5 of 55
Joyce Ryerson	Versailles	36:16	F40-49	92 of 218
Kansas City Thanksgiving Day 5K Run (results)
Mark Oppold	Camdenton	1:01:50	M65-69	40 of 51
Kathi Oppold	Camdenton	1:01:59	F65-69	32 of 38

Jeff City Thanksgiving Day Pie Run 5K/10K:  Due to a snafu at the finish line, many results are missing.  Here's the race director's statement:

2018 Pie Run Participants:

Removing tags from the finishers at the end of the chute caused an unforeseen time delay. This resulted in the chute being filled to capacity and we, out of necessity, extended the point at which the tags were removed. Unfortunately this allowed an escape path for finishers and not all tags were collected. In short, we do not have the means to tally the results accurately. The results posted are based on data recorded at the finish line and on the order of the tags collected. Unfortunately there were many pieces of missing data resulting in many errors within these results.

If your name is listed and the time or place is incorrect, or if your name is not listed and you know your finish time, please let us know. The more feedback we receive the more accurate we can make this result list.

We sincerely apologize and are committed to ensure this will not be repeated in our races going forward.

Next year, the race will be scored using chip timing!

John Weghorst, Race Director

*   *   *   *   *

THANKSGIVING DAY RACES  (updated November 25th)

Thanksgiving Day is the biggest race day of the year in the United States.  An estimated one million runners and walkers, including 40,000 in Missouri alone, will toe a starting line that day.  Here's the list of races coming up in Missouri, ranked by the number of 2017 finishers:

*   *   *   *   *

HONORING OUR HEROES MARATHON, MARATHON RELAY, HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted November 17th)

After miserably cold weather in its first two years, the third annual Honoring Our Heroes Marathon, Marathon Relay, Half Marathon & 5K was blessed with sunny skies and mild temperatures for its record-sized field on Saturday. 

Five runners from the Lake area participated in the half marathon.  Our top finisher was Sondra Ellis, who won the women's 35-39 age group while placing fourth overall (of 105 total finishers).  Scott Baker, who ran the marathon last year, finished the half in 2:16:14.  Syntesa Taylor, who appears to have run her first half marathon just two weeks ago at Bass Pro, finished this half in 2:37:33.  A running couple we haven't heard of before--Jamy and Abby Sloanof Osage Beach--ran and finished together, in 2:38:07.

Results for our Lake-area runners and a few others familiar to us are shown below.

For third year in a row, the most notable finish belonged to military veteran Bob Gravley of Salem, Missouri, who completed the marathon in 6:58:44--a scant 76 seconds under the 7:00:00 time limit.  While Bob finished dead last, that's still pretty impressive for a guy in his 80s.  (He finished last year in 7:12:25, and in 6:41:59 in 2016.)

Complete race results can be found here.

Participation was up over last year for all race distances.   Here are the total number of finishers, by distance, in the race's three-year history.

*   *   *   *   *

TURKEY TRAILS 5K/10K (posted November 17th)

After a rare weekend off from racing, Jade Fletcher was back at it this weekend, at the Turkey Trails 10K in Independence on Saturday. Jade was the 9th (of 91) runner to finish, and won the women's 11-14 age group by default.  She crossed the finish line in 48:22.  It marked Jade's 26th age-group victory of the year, in addition to 9 overall victories).

Complete race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

GOBBLER GRIND MARATHON, HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted November 11th)

It seems ironic that one of the Lake area's younger runners was our sole representative at the AARP-sponsored Gobbler Grind Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K in Kansas City on Sunday.  Thirty-one year-old Tom Green of Camdenton finished the half marathon in 1:55:15, placing 20th (of 37) in the 30-34 age group.

Colin Cronin of Fort Leonard Wood finished 8th overall in the marathon with a 3:11:21 finish. (The qualifying standard for 35-39 year-old males for the 2020 Boston Marathon is 3:05:00.)

Complete race results can be found here.

The total number of race finishers was down slightly for the third year in a row.  Here are the totals since 2015:

*   *   *   *   *

DOGWOOD CANYON TRAIL RUNS (updated November 11th)

The Bass Pro Fitness Series concludes this weekend with the popular--and completely sold out--Dogwood Canyon Trail Runs at the privately-owned Dogwood Canyon Nature Park southwest of Table Rock Lake near Branson.  (Bass Pro founder Johnny Morris contributed the first parcels of land to form the park nearly 30 years ago.) 

The 15K is held on Saturday followed by a 25K and 50K on Sunday. Two runners from the Lake area competed at the 15K. Emily Smith and Tania Maschhoff, both of Lake Ozark, ran and finished together, in 1:52:17.   Emily placed 11th (of 54) in the 35-39 age group, and Tonia placed 18th (of 55) in the 40-44 age group.

Heather Miller finished Sunday's 25K in 4:01:33.  Heather was 29th (of 38) in the women's 35-39 age group.

Complete race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

OUTER BANKS MARATHON (posted November 11th)

And then there were three. 

Todd Raney checked North Carolina off his sub 4-hour, 50-state quest on Sunday after finishing the Outer Banks Marathon in the Outer Banks barrier islands off the North Carolina coast.  Todd finished in 3:55:16, and placed 4th (of 27) in the men's 45-49 age group. 

The last three stops in Todd's quest will be Vermont, Rhode Island and New Jersey.

Complete results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

LONGVIEW HALF MARATHON & 5K/10K (posted November 10th)

Three Lake-area runners participated in the Longview Half Marathon & 5K/10K in Kansas City on Saturday.

Jessica Smith of Lake Ozark was our lone representative in the half marathon.  Jessica finished in 2:46:02, placing 18th (of 19) in the women's 20-24 age group.  Also from Lake Ozark was Briana Jordan, who ran the 10K in 1:06:28 and placed 7th (of 9) in the 20-24 age group.

Scott Gray ran the 10K in 1:44:58, finishing last (of 16) in the 35-39 age group.  Chris Hein of Jefferson City was another 10K finisher.  He crossed the line in 1:06:28 and place 7th (of 9) in the 40-44 age group.

Click for complete half marathon, 10K and 5K results.

*   *   *   *   *

SANDERS SAUNTER 50K/25K/10K CHARITY TRAIL RUN (posted November 10th)

Congratulations to John Shelby for finishing the 50K at the Sanders Saunter Charity Trail Run at Clinton Lake near Lawrence, Kansas on Saturday.   John finished in 6:22:08, placing 12th (of 34) overall.   It was also a new PR for John, who finished the Rock Bridge Revenge 50K last month in 6:35:58.

Complete race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

RUN TO THE LIGHTS 5K (posted November 10th)

Over 800 runners braved a cold evening at Silver Dollar City in Branson on Friday for the Run to the Lights 5k. Two runners from the Lake area--Christina Wilson and Kim Sovcik--were among them, and both ladies finished in the top one-fourth of their age group. Kim finished first, in 34:05, with Christina following eight seconds later. That placed Kim 28th (of 115) in the women's 30-39 age group, and Christina 23rd (of 108) in the 40-49 age group.

Complete race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

BASS PRO SHOPS FITNESS SERIES MARATHON, HALF MARATHON & 5K (updated November 5th)

Bass Pro continues to be the most popular out-of-town race for Lake-area runners.   On Sunday, twenty-two runners from the area participated in the Bass Pro Conservation Marathon, Cohick Half Marathon or News-Leader 5K, with at least a third of them participating in this race for the first time.  

Over the years, Bass Pro has also been the race that many locals have chosen to pursue new, bigger challenges, such as a first full or half marathon.  That proved to be the case again this year, but what made this year special is that the first-timers were among our area's younger runners. It might be premature to call Sunday's race evidence of a "changing of the guard" or "passing of the baton", but a generational change is coming, and this may have been an early sign of it.

We had two first-time marathoners this year.  Lauren Moriearty, a 26 year-old former Camdenton High School cross country runner and now a math teacher at the school, finished her first marathon in 4:10:01, and placed fourth (of 14) in the women's 25-29 age group.  Josiah Peterson, a 20 year-old from Roach, finished in 4:10:29 and took 11th (of 18) in the men's 20-24 age group.

Ryan Page, an Osage High School sophomore and cross country runner, finished his first half marathon in a very impressive 1:35:43, and took second place in the men's 16-19 age group.  Ryan ran slightly ahead of his dad, Scott Page, for most of the race, and may take credit for pacing Scott to his new half marathon PR of 1:37:10.  (Coincidentally, Scott paced his then 13 year-old daughter Reagan Page to her first half marathon finish at this very same race five years ago.) 

We have a few more younger runners who may have also recorded "firsts", although we don't know for certain. Kendra Moe, in the 30-34 age group, finished the marathon in 5:26:34, and Juli-Anne Manes, in the 16-19 year-old age group, ran the half marathon in 2:45:35.

The most outstanding performance of the day belonged to former Camdenton High School and Drury University cross country runner Jeremy Ryan.  Jeremy, who's 22 years old and now lives in St. Louis, finished the marathon in 2:49:55 and placed fifth overall. He apparently had some difficulty late in the race, as he dropped from second place to fifth place within the last seven miles.  Still, his finish time beat the 3:00:00 qualifying standard for his age group for the 2020 Boston Marathon. (Jeremy qualified for the 2019 Boston Marathon by taking sixth place overall at last April's GO! St. Louis Marathon with an exceptional 2:38:39 finish.)

Among our more experienced runners, three reached their age-group's podium on Sunday: Jim McDermott in the marathon, and Sondra Ellis and Scott Page in the half. Nigher Alfaro came close, with a fifth-place finish in the 45-49 age group, but, as has happened too many times to Nigher, the late-race marathon gremlins struck once again.

Here are the results for our Lake-area runners, as well as runners from elsewhere that many of us know:

Complete race results can be found here.

The number of finishers was up slightly from last year.   The number of marathon finishers dropped, but was more than offset by an increase for the 5K. The number of half marathon finishers was virtually unchanged. Here are the totals since 2015:

Here are some other familiar faces in Sunday's crowd:

*   *   *   *   *

GIVE 'EM THE BIRD 5K RUN, 1-MILE WALK & KIDS RACE (updated November 12th)

A near-record total of 173 5K runners and walkers, plus a number of 1-mile walkers, toed the starting line on Saturday for Versailles Total Fitness' 8th annual Give 'Em The Bird 5K in Versailles. (It may have actually been a record crowd, since the record of 175 participants in 2013 was only an estimate.) That made this year's Give 'Em The Bird the third-largest 5K in the Lake area this year, not far behind the Lake Regional 5K (201 finishers) and the Night Glow 5K (186), both of which are held in much larger Lake communities.

Give 'Em The Bird is a true community effort for Versailles, with outstanding support from city officials (the mayor rides the motorcycle that leads the front runners), the police department, fire department, Versailles High School, sponsors, and others.   Proceeds benefit Food for Morgan County.

Two first-time GETB winners, plus a new course record in the women's race, were the stories of the day.   The women's champion was 26 year-old Mackenzie Mogollon, an active duty member of the U.S. Air Force who recently moved to Sedalia from Florida.  Mackenzie finished in 19:08, easily breaking Lynzi Doke's women's course record of 19:59 set in 2012.  It's also believed to be the fastest women's finish at any Lake-area 5K this year.

In the men's race, Kent Lang, also of Sedalia, and who finished second overall last year (in 19:08), took top honors with an 18:46 finish.  Not to be overlooked is that, at 56 years of age, Kent is the oldest overall winner in GETB history. 

Complete results have been posted at the Race Day Timing Solutions results page. The results are shown by age group.  If you would like to view the view the results by finish order, click on these pages:  

Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4

Nearly 400 more photos from the race can be found here.

This year's race raised a record total of $14,000. Half of the total will go to Food for Morgan County, and the other half to help implement Versailles' bike and pedestrian plan. In the last six years, this race has raised a remarkable $56,000. It's safe to say that no other running race in the Lake area can match that success in fundraising.

*   *   *   *   *

MISSOURI STATE HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS (posted November 3rd) 

Congratulations to our seven Lake-area high school cross country runners who competed at the state championships in Jefferson City on Saturday.  All seven finished in the top half of their respective races.  Their results are posted below.  The full race results can be found here.

For the record, the top boys' and girls' runners in the state finished the 5K in 15:42 and 18:38, respectively.  Both were from Class 4 schools.

*   *   *   *   *

PETE'S FEET ACROSS AMERICA(posted November 5th)

Done!:  At 2:57 p.m. EST today, Pete Kostelnick finished his 5,380-mile run from Kenai, Alaska to Key West, Florida--97 days, 6 hours, and 57 minutes after starting.  

At one point, nearly 600 Facebook Live viewers from all over the U.S. and beyond were watching live streaming video of Pete as he reached the finish line at the Southernmost Point monument.  I captured a still frame from that video,

What an amazing achievement, and he made it look much, much easier than it must have been.   I'm not sure we'll ever see another runner like Pete in our lifetimes.  What could he ever do to top this?

By the way, he didn't want to jump down to sink his feet in the ocean, for fear of getting hurt before a few upcoming races. 

You can see more on his Facebook page.   Live tracking can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

OUTBACK IN THE OZARKS (updated November 4th)

The results are (finally) in:  And the Lake Area Runners team won the mixed open division at Outback in the Ozarks, beating six other teams. They won in 31 hours, 43 minutes and 3 seconds.  Although that was two hours slower than last year's finish, they still finished more than an hour ahead of their nearest rival. The Gearhead Outfitters, which included former Lake-area runner Andy Goessmann, were the overall champions, finishing in 26:36:06. Complete results can be found here.

Official results for the Outback in the Ozarks team relay haven't yet been posted. (Last year's results took over a week to be tabulated and posted. Hopefully, they'll come sooner this year.)

At least one result that's already known is that the overall winning team in the 205-mile ultra race was the Gearhead Outfitters, which included former Lake-area runner Andy Goessmann. You can find a photo of Andy holding the team's trophy here.

Lots and lots of photos of our Lake of the Ozarks Runners team at the race can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

ZONTA SAYS NO (TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN) 5K RUN/WALK & SPOOKY SPRINT HALF MARATHON & 5K/10K (updated October 30th)

Jade Fletcher raced three times this weekend--perhaps a first for a Lake-area runner.   On Saturday morning, she competed at the Zonta Says No (to Violence Against Women) 5K in Jefferson City, and was the women's overall winner with a finish time of 23:51.  The full results are here.  (Chalk one up for the geezers.  The overall race winner, in 20:34, was a 63 year-old male.)

On Saturday evening, Jade was the overall women's winner at the Trick-or-Trot 5K in Camdenton (see race listing below).

Finally, on Sunday, Jade ran the half marathon at the Spooky Sprint Half in Kansas City, where she finished in 2:01:12 and won the women's 19-and-under age group by default,  Complete results are here.

*   *   *   *   *

TRICK-OR-TROT 5K RUN/WALK (posted October 27th)

Here are the results for Saturday's Trick-or-Trot 5K Run/Walk at Camdenton High School:

*   *   *   *   *

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY DISTRICT AND SECTIONAL RESULTS (posted October 27th)

Today was a big race day for our local high school cross country runners, as the district and sectional races in which they competed determined who qualifies for the state championships in Jefferson City on Saturday, November 3rd. 

Six of our runners will be headed to the Class 3 state championships:  Chase Grosvenor, John Markovitz, Caleb Martonfi, Sara Wolf, Sarah Porter and Micah Hill. Sara Wolf and Sarah Porter are now two-time state qualifiers, while Micah Hill has qualified all four years--a very rare achievement.

The Osage girls' team came very close to sending the entire team to the championships for a third year in a row.  They placed third in the team scoring.  Only the top two teams, though, advance to state.

Names in red are runners going to the state championships.

*   *   *   *   *

BIG BACKYARD ULTRA (updated October 23rd)

Tuesday, 10:00 a.m.:  After posting hourly updates for 2-1/2 days, Lazarus Lake mysteriously failed to post anything since midnight, much to the dismay of scores of people following the race. Apparently, though, the race is over.

Forty-four year-old Johan Steene of Stockholm, Sweden was the last man standing, finishing 283.33 miles in 68 hours, after 33 year-old Courtney Dauwalter from Golden, Colorado stopped after the 67th hour. Johan smashed the previous record--set just last year--of 245.83 miles in 59 hours.   Courtney similarly smashed the women's record by an astonishing 96 miles.

Here's the hour-by-hour attrition (the first hour started at 6:40 a.m. Saturday):

Complete results can be found here.

Andy Emerson of Columbia was a DNF.  Before stopping, he completed 27 hours (112.50 miles), which is a personal best for him at this race.  He completed 24 hours (100 miles) last year, 22 hours in 2016 (91.66 miles), and 25 hours (104.16 miles) in 2014.

*   *   *   *   *

THE GREAT GO! ST. LOUIS HALLOWEEN RACE (posted October 21st) 

Cindy Weisenfelder of Camdenton was the only Lake-area runner at The Great GO! St. Louis Halloween Race in downtown St. Louis on Sunday. Cindy ran the 10K, finishing in 1:02:16 and placing 15th (of 58) in the women's 50-54 age group.

Complete race results can be found here.  

Much better weather for this year's race, plus the absence of competition from the now-defunct Rock 'n' Roll St. Louis event, likely explained much of the 9% increase in participation over last year.

*   *   *   *   *

ROTARY ROUTE 66 5K RUN OF LEBANON (updated October 21st)

All three of our Lake-area runners were podium finishers at the Rotary Club of Lebanon's Route 66 5K Run on Saturday,

First to finish was Mike Toth, who won the men's 51-59 age group (over five others) with a 26:15 finish.

Paula O'Connor finished in 27:41 and took second (of eight finishers) in the women's 51-59 age group.

Finishing one second behind Paula was Mike Sherbak, who topped three others in the men's 60-and-over age group.  Mike shaved nearly two minutes off of last year's finish time.

Complete results can be found here.   A 13 year-old from Springfield was the overall winner (in 17:26) by a whopping five-minute margin of victory.

*   *   *   *   *

KANSAS CITY MARATHON, HALF MARATHON & 5K/10K (posted October 20th)

Despite being Missouri's biggest marathon and half marathon, the Kansas City Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K/10K had just one participant from the Lake area at Saturday's race. It was the fewest in the last eight years.

Jade Fletcher was our lone participant, running the half marathon in 1:54:07 and placing second (of 20) in the women's 17-and-under age group.

Todd Raney, who now lives in Kansas City, ran the marathon.  Todd finished in 3:56:05, placing 25th (of 86) in the men's 45-49 age group.

Full results can be found here.

A total of 7,891 runners participated in this year's event, That's up 13% from last year, and ranks second to the record total of 8,912 set in 2013.  Here are the totals since 2015: 

*   *   *   *   *

MISSOURI STATE HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY DISTRICT MEET (posted October 13th)

The Camdenton High School cross country team competed against 10 others at the Class 4, District 5 meet at Ha Ha Tonka on Saturday. 

The boys' team took fifth place, and the girls' team tenth place, in their respective divisions.  That ends the team's season, as only the top four teams advance to next weekend's sectionals.  However, three of Camdenton's runners placed among the top thirty individual runners, earning them a spot in the sectionals.

Garrett Mason, a senior, finished in 16:45 and placed ninth.  Jake Thoenen, a junior, placed 18th with a 17:17 finish time.  The only girl runner to advance is senior Skyler Sweezor, who ran a 21:08 and placed 21st. 

Should they finish within the top 30 at the sectionals, they'll advance to the state championship in Jefferson City on November 3rd.

Complete results can be found here.

 *   *   *   *   *

PRAIRIE FIRE MARATHON (posted October 14th)

Her 3:48:11 finish at the 2017 Prairie Fire Marathon was the fastest marathon among Lake-area women last year, and it looks like may be happening again in 2018 for Bryna Edwards of Lake Ozark.  Racing in the rain (torrential at times, I've read) and cold in Wichita on Sunday, Bryna knocked a huge 24 minutes off of last year's time, finishing an outstanding 3:24:36.  She also won the women's 30-34 age group over eleven others. 

Perhaps the best news for Bryna, though, is that she beat the 3:30:00 qualifying standard for the 2020 Boston Marathon for women in the 30-34 age group. (Bryna is now 33 years old, and if her 35th birthday comes before April 20th in 2020, her qualifying standard would actually be 3:35:00.)  

Of the top ten fastest marathons ever run by a Lake-area woman, Bryna now owns three of them (the second, sixth and ninth fastest). 

This was Bryna's third consecutive Prairie Fire Marathon, and the third time was indeed a charm.  Congratulations, Bryna! 

Complete marathon race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

ELDON DOG PARK 5K & PINK UP THE PACE 5K (posted October 14th)

It was two overall wins in two races this weekend for Jade Fletcher.  On Saturday, Jade won the Eldon Dog Park 5K, and then was the top female finisher in Jefferson City on Sunday at the Pink Up the Pace 5K, a benefit for the American Cancer Society.

*   *   *   *   *

NO BUSINESS 100 ULTRA TRAIL RACE (updated October 17th)

Offering a mere "congratulations" is hardly adequate for what Chris Boyle accomplished this weekend.  Chris finished the 100-mile No Business 100 Ultra Trail Race in the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area in southern Kentucky and northern Tennessee.  Making the accomplishment far more impressive, though, is that the course included a monumental 15,000 feet of climbing. 

Chris finished 7th overall, in 26:08:33.  Only 39 of 96 starters reached the finish line before the 33-hour cutoff. 

With this finish, Chris became the first-ever Lake-area runner to complete a 100-mile race.  It was twice as far as he had ever raced before, and gives him more ultramarathon finishes than any other local runner.

Unfortunately, Ryan Maher, who lives in St. Louis but is a frequent visitor to the Lake, only made it to the 40.5-mile mark before dropping out.

Complete results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

ELDON DOG PARK 5K RUN & DOG WALK (updated October 13th)

"Highway" Leonard made it two in a row after winning Saturday's third annual Eldon Dog Park 5K Run & Dog Walk (Facebook page), benefiting the Eldon Dog Park.  Highway finished in 33 minutes. 

Top Dog "Highway" enjoys a champion's breakfast
after a "ruff"race this morning.

*   *   *   *   *

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY MEET RESULTS FOR OCTOBER 13TH (posted October 13th)

The Osage High School cross country team went up against some tough St. Louis area and mid-Missouri teams on Saturday at the St. Francis Borgia High School Invitational in Washington, Missouri.   Chase Grosvenor and Micah Hill were the top runners for Osage. Chase finished in 17:49 (15th of 133) and Micah in 21:30 (6th of 63). Ryan Page ran an even 20:00:00 and placed 88th.

The girls placed second (of six) in the team competition. The boys placed 12th (of 20).

Complete results can be found here.

 *   *   *   *   *

BEAR CREEK RUN (updated May 2, 2021)

Two runners from the Lake area were among the 187 who did the fifth annual Bear Creek Run trail half marathon in Columbia on Saturday.  The first to finish was Vickey Clark of Camdenton, who crossed the line in 2:16:12, and placed 7th (of 26) in the women's 40-49 age group.  Danny Stoelting of Osage Beach finished in 2:43:35.  He was third (of three) in the men's 60-and-over age group.

(2021 update) Two other area finishers, both from Lake Ozark, were Melanie Chapman and Brittney DeFrates. They finished 5th and 6th, respectively, in the women's 30-39 age group, in 1:51:07 and 1:52:14.

Full results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

ADVENTUREMAX SPRINGFIELD HALF MARATHON & 10K (posted October 13th)

Dan Robertson was our sole Lake-area runner at the AdventureMax Springfield trail race in Highlandville on Saturday.  Dan finished the half marathon in 2:40:50 and took fourth place (of five) in the men's 55-59 age group.

Former Lake-area runner Andy Goessmann ran the half in 1:51:14.  Andy finished 8th overall, and 3rd (of six) in the 30-34 age group.

Another familiar name in the results was that of Jani Tucker of Lebanon, who won the women's 50-54 age group (over three others) with a 2:25:29 finish.

The complete race results can be found here.

Participation was down slightly from last year.

*   *   *   *   *

HARTFORD MARATHON (posted October 13th)

Don't know why, but Bill Pauls of Camdenton DNF'd at the Hartford Marathon on Saturday.  Bill reached the 20-mile mark at 4:23:25, but stopped somewhere before the 25-mile mark.  He's on the verge of completing a 50-state marathon quest for the second time, and needed a Connecticut finish. 

Bill holds the Lake-area record for being the oldest to finish a marathon.  He completed one in May at the age of 68.

*   *   *   *   *

F*L*A*T*S TRAIL HALF MARATHON (posted October 9th)

Lake-area runner Aaron Koeppen and 132 others braved the rain and mud last Saturday at the eighth annual F*L*A*T*S Trail Half Marathon at Thousand Hills State Park just west of Kirksville.   (FLATS is an abbreviation for the Forest Lake Area Trail System, an all-volunteer community organization that promotes trail development in the Kirksville area.)

Aaron finished in 1:50:08, placing 18th overall. The overall winner, in 1:30:05, was Karl Gilpin of Russellville (located west of Jefferson City). Now 39 years old, Karl was the 2008 winner of the GO! St. Louis Marathon.

Complete race results are here.  Lots of photos are linked to on the race's Facebook page, including this one of Aaron.

*   *   *   *   *

ROCK BRIDGE REVENGE TRAIL RUNS (posted October 7th)

Let's start with some wonderful news: Randy's back!   After a long, difficult ordeal with back pain that kept him sidelined much of these past two years, Randy Holtmeyer is back running and racing. On Saturday, Randy, along with a few other Lake-area runners, competed at the Columbia Track Club's Rock Bridge Revenge Trail Runs (Facebook page) at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park south of Columbia.

Randy, along with Emily Smith of Lake Ozark, raced the 25K, while John Shelby raced the 50K.  (This is believed to be John's first 50K.  He did the Berryman 50-Mile in 2017 as a volunteer course sweeper.)  Here are the results for our locals, as well as our running friends from Lebanon.

Complete race results are posted here.  Lots of race photos are also linked at that page. Here are photos found of John, Randy, Ed and Emily.

*   *   *   *   *

AMICA NEWPORT MARATHON (posted October 6th)

Congratulations to Todd Raney for completing his 100th marathon at the Amica Newport Marathon in Rhode Island on Sunday.   Todd ran this same race two years ago in 4:00:37, but returned in hopes of checking Rhode Island off his list of sub 4-hour finish states. Unfortunately, Todd still came up a bit shy, finishing in 4:05:35. That keeps Todd at 46 sub 4-hour states, with Vermont, Rhode Island, New Jersey and North Carolina to go.

Results for today's race can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

MO' COWBELL MARATHON, HALF MARATHON & 5K (updated October 16th)

A Lake-area record was broken on Sunday at the MO' Cowbell Marathon in St. Charles.  Fourteen year-old Jade Fletcher became the youngest Lake-area runner--male or female--to complete a marathon. Jade finished in 5:37:53, and placed second (of two) in the women's 19-and-under age group. She was the youngest of all 465 marathon finishers. (Jade's record is likely to stand for quite some time, especially since most marathons restrict participation to runners 18 years of age or older.)

Update:   Jade 5:37:53 finish is now the Missouri state record for 14 year-old women. You can see it here.

Amy Harrell, who's been a rare sight at races these past few years after starting a family, ran the half marathon in 2:27:07. Joyce Ryerson knocked 20 minutes off of last year's time by finishing in 2:44:42.   Joyce ran the entire race side-by-side with John Sykes. Shirley Enochs of Linn Creek completed the half in 3:56:17, making her one of our oldest--if not the oldest--female half finishers in the Lake area.

Results for our Lake-area runners are shown below.

Complete race results can be found here.

Overall participation was up 23% from last year.  (That makes MO' Cowbell the only big race in the state so far this year to show a significant increase. In fact, most of the other big races have been down, and some quite substantially.)  Here are the number of solo finishers of each distance since the inaugural race in 2014:

*   *   *   *   *

PANTHER RUN 15K/10K/5K (posted October 6th)

$20,000 in prizes and awards attracted some of the state's fastest runners to the Panther Run 15K/10K/5K in Springfield on Saturday.  And a Lake-area runner topped them all.

Jeremy ("J.J.") Ryan, a former Camdenton High School and Drury University cross country runner, beat 193 others to the 15K finish line, including two of the state's best runners--Kimi and Marshall Reed.  (Kimi is a frequent winner at Bass Pro, and finished this year's Boston Marathon in 2:46:47.) Jeremy won in 54:20 (a 5:51 pace), followed by Kimi in 54:32 and Marshall in 54:41.

The only other familiar name in the results was that of Jani Tucker of Lebanon, who finished the 15K in 1:23:08 and placed 4th (of 26) in the women's 50-59 age group.

Complete race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY MEET RESULTS FOR OCTOBER 6TH (updated October 7th)

Eldon and Versailles runners competed at the Russellville Invitational in Russellville.    The top locals, both from Eldon, were Caleb Martonfi (18:12; 4th of 103) and Lauren Imler (21:46; 2nd of 61).  Complete results can be found here.

Camdenton acompeted at the Ozark Conference championship in Springfield.  Jake Thoenen (19:06; 16th of 63) and Skyler Sweezor (14:27; 22nd of 54) were the top finishers for the team.  Freshman runner Maria Alfaro was promoted to the varsity squad for the first time this year, and finished 44th, in 27:05.  Complete results can be found here.

 *   *   *   *   *

FROG HILL HALF MARATHON & 5K/10K (posted October 6th)

Four of our Lake-area runners took home overall or age-group victories at the fifth annual Frog Hill Half Marathon & 5K/10K in Waynesville on Saturday.  Sondra Ellis of Richland won the women's half marathon in 1:46:33, finishing second overall behind Joel Reed (1:45:12) of St. Robert. 

Jim McDermott, a three-time previous Frog Hill finisher, won the men's 60-69 age group in the half marathon with a 1:56:05.   Mike Toth won the men's 50-59 age group in the 10K, finishing in 57:38.  Dan Robertson won the men's 50-59 age group in Friday night's Leap Frog 5K, then took second in Saturday's half marathon in 2:22:47.

Katie and Stacy Roberts finished the half marathon in 2:35:30 and 2:35:41, respectively, and added a combined 26.2 miles to their "Most Miles Raced" total for the year,  They're now at a combined 168.2 miles, with 80.3 miles to go to tie the record of 248.5 for Lake-area running couples.

Here are the results for Lake-area runners:

Complete race results can be found here.

Overall participation was up slightly from last year.  Here are the number of finishers of each distance since the inaugural race in 2014:

*   *   *   *   *

PREGNANCY HELP CENTER 5K RUN/WALK FOR LIFE (posted October 6th)

A small but spirited group of seventeen runners toed the starting line of the Pregnancy Help Center of the Lake of the Ozarks' (Facebook page) 5K Walk/Run for Life on Saturday in Lake Ozark.  

The overall winner was Jade Fletcher, in 21:59.   Sam Casella led the men with a 22:53 finish. Here are the complete results:

Many more photos from the race can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

MOTHER ROAD MARATHON, HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted September 30th)  

The second Mother Road Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K under its current race organizer was held in Joplin on Sunday.  Five Lake-area runners--four of whom had competed at last year's race--participated in the half marathon.  The top finisher was Mallory Walsh, who finished in 2:08:13 and placed 7th (of 42) in the women's 30-39 age group. 

Here are the results for our local runners, plus those of our St. Robert running friend, Joel Reed, who ran the marathon. 

Complete results can be found here.

Participation was down in all race distances from last year. The numbers fell to those experienced in 2013, when the Joplin City Council decided to cancel the city-owned race.  (Race-timing and management company Twelveone Group resurrected the race in 2017.)

*   *   *   *  *

ROOTS 'n BLUES 'n BBQ HALF MARATHON & 5K/10K (posted September 29th)

Seven Lake-area runners competed at the Roots 'n Blues 'n BBQ Half Marathon & 5K/10K in Columbia on Saturday. Topping the list of local finishers was Gage Burnam of Versailles, who finished in 1:42:48 and placed fourth (of 31) in the men's 25-29 age group.  Minutes behind Gage was Jim McDermott, who won the 65-69 age group (over four others) in 1:48:59.  (One of those other four was Marvin Bescheinen, who took third after finishing in 2:18:18.)

Here are our locals' results:

Complete race results can be found here. 

Despite the addition of a 5K to this year's race, total participation dropped from last year.  Excluding the 5K, participation was down 35%.

*   *   *   *   *

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY MEET RESULTS FOR SEPTEMBER 29th (posted September 29th)

Camdenton and Osage high school cross country runners competed at the Camdenton Invitational at Ha Ha Tonka State Park on Saturday.  The top locals were Garrett Mason (16:32; 10th of 79) of Camdenton and Micah Hill (20:45; 6th of 56) of Osage.  The finish times were unusually fast--roughly 45 seconds faster for each runner compared to recent meets.   Ryan Page broke the 20:00 mark and ran what appears to be a personal best of 19:36.  The full results can be found here. 

Eldon runners competed at the Capital City XC Challenge in Jefferson City.    The top locals were Caleb Martonfi (18:22; 98th of 200) and Lauren Imler (23:46; 106th of 148),  Complete results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

TURKEY TROT & GOBBLE WOBBLE 5K RUN/WALK (posted September 29th)  

Results haven't been posted (and most likely won't be), but Jade Fletcher was the overall women's winner at Eldon's Turkey Trot 5K on Saturday.  Jade won it last year, too, where it was her very first overall race victory.

*   *   *   *  *

THE RUNNING OF THE KNIGHTS 5K/1-MILE (posted September 23rd)

The second annual Running of the Knights 5K/1-Mile (Facebook page), hosted by The King's Academy preschool and elementary school at Christ the King Church, was held in Lake Ozark on Sunday.  Eighty-five runners and walkers participated in the 5K.

The overall race winner was Jade Fletcher, in 23:24, with men's winner, Scott Page, finishing a mere three seconds behind. Jade and Scott managed to beat the fast Colin Cronin (25:13) of Ft. Leonard Wood, but Colin may have been satisfied just to beat his friendly rival, Chris Boyle, which he did by over a minute.   (Chris paced 8 year-old Charlie Boyle to an age-group victory in 26:40.)

Last year's overall female winner, Paula O'Connor, settled for a 50-59 age-group victory this year, finishing in 27:55.

Complete results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

BROADWAY BRIDGE RUN (posted September 23rd)

Todd Raney lives! It's been months since we've heard from him, but Todd Raney is still running, and will soon resume his 50-state, sub 4-hour marathon quest in New Jersey. (New Jersey would be state #48 for him.)

On Sunday, Todd ran the Broadway Bridge Run's half marathon in Kansas City.   He finished in 1:57:28, taking third (of 10) in the men's 45-49 age group.

Complete half marathon results are here; 10K results are here.

*   *   *   *   *

QUAD CITIES MARATHON (posted September 23rd)

Four runners from the Lake area competed at the Quad Cities Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K in Moline, Illinois, on Sunday.   Quad Cities is interesting in that, while it isn't a huge race, it offers prize money and lodging/travel assistance to elite runners, and that brings out some very fast runners.  Indeed, six runners ran sub 2:20:00 marathons this year. (Bass Pro, by contrast, had about the same number of finishers last year, but none under 2:40:00.)

Four years after completing his first and only marathon (at MO' Cowbell in St. Charles) that went horribly bad and left him injured, Pete Groce had a much better marathon experience, and shaved nearly two hours off his finish time.  Pete finished in 4:19:26 (compared to 6:02:33 at MO' Cowbell) and placed tenth (of 22) in the men's 50-54 age group.

At a more leisurely pace, Scott Gray finished the half marathon in 3:52:59, placing last among 112 competitors in the men's 35-39 age group.

Scott's running buddy, Chris Hein of Jefferson City, ran the half marathon in 2:24:35, taking 98th in the 35-39 age group.

Former Muscatine, Iowa--and now Camdenton--residents Brian and Teresa Shepley returned to Quad Cities for a second year in a row.  Brian ran the half in 2:25:47, placing 4th (of 13) in the 70-74 age group, while Teresa Shepley beat 25 others to win the women's 65-69 age group with a 30:26 finish in the 5K. (At age 70, Brian may well be the oldest male in the Lake area to finish a half marathon.)

Full results can be found here. 

*   *   *   *   *

PUB 2 PUB HALF MARATHON & 5K/10K (posted September 22nd)

Three Lake-area runners participated in the third annual Pub 2 Pub Half Marathon & 5K/10K, organized by the Rolla Multisport Club and benefiting Rolla-area veterans.  The half marathon was a point-to-point race from the Public Brewing House location in Rolla to its sister location in St. James.  The 5K and 10K, both of which were added this year, started and finished in Rolla.

Our two competitors in the half marathon--Jim McDermott and Jade Fletcher--also happened to be, by large margins, the oldest and youngest runners in the race, and won their age groups by default.  Jim finished in 1:52:54, and Jade in 2:18:24.

Renee Vandiver competed in the 10K.  Renee finished in 1:02:59, placing second (of two) in the women's 50-59 age group.

Another familiar name in the results was that of Joel Reed of St. Robert.   Joel placed fifth overall in the half marathon, finishing in 1:36:33.

Complete race results can be found here. There were 58 finishers of the half marathon, and 35 and 18 of the 5K and 10K, respectively.

*   *   *   *   *

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY MEET RESULTS FOR SEPTEMBER 22ND (posted September 16th)

The Camdenton, Osage, Versailles and Macks Creek high school cross country runners competed against runners from about 20 other schools at the Hermitage Invitational meet at Lake Pomme de Terre on Saturday.  The top finishers among them were Garrett Mason of Camdenton, who finished in 17:11 and placed 5th (of 78), and Micah Hill of Osage, who finished in 21:30 and placed 7th (of 59).  Complete results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

HAM & TURKEY FESTIVAL 5K (posted September 17th)

Jade Fletcher captured her 22nd age-group victory this year at the Ham & Turkey Festival 5K in California on Saturday.  Results haven't been posted, so it's not known if any other Lake-area runners participated.

*   *   *   *   *

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY MEET RESULTS FOR SEPTEMBER 15th (posted September 16th)

The Camdenton cross country team competed at the Fulton Invitational meet in Fulton on Saturday.  The meet results can be found here.

Osage traveled to Joplin to compete at the Missouri Southern State University Stampede.  Those results are here.

*   *   *   *   *

PLAZA 10K (posted September 9th)

April Leonard was our sole Lake-area representative at the Plaza 10K in Kansas City on Sunday. With over 3,000 participants, this race is the biggest 10K in the state, and naturally attracts some of the state's fastest runners. The top five men finished in under 32 minutes, and the women's overall winner, in 34:36, was Springfield's phenomenal Kimi Reed (who finished this year's Boston Marathon in 2:46:47).

April, who's been battling foot issues for two years, finished in 1:06:01 and placed 61st (of 160) in the women's 50-54 age group.

Complete race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

KATY TRAIL 50/50 (posted September 9th)

The unincorporated community of Dutzow, Missouri was the location on Saturday for the state's newest ultramarathon, the Katy Trail 50/50. The inaugural 50-mile and 50K races on the Katy Trail were organized by the Daily Run Company, a running-related retailer and the nucleus of the local running group in nearby Washington, Missouri.  

One of our Lake-area runners, and two of our running friends from nearby cities, were among the 18 and 34 finishers of the 50-mile and 50K, respectively.

In the 50K, Jason Crockett of Camdenton finished 19th overall, in 6:07:43.  Finishing seconds ahead of Jason, in 6:07:07, was Ed Green of Lebanon, who took 18th overall.

Joel Reed of St. Robert finished the 50-mile race in 9:20:55, placing 11th overall.

Complete race results can be found here.  Some photos have been posted at the race's Facebook page.

*   *   *   *   *

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY MEET RESULTS FOR SEPTEMBER 8th (posted September 8th)

Below are the results for our Lake-area high school cross country runners at the Linn Invitational Meet held in Linn on Saturday. Complete results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

RED DRESS RIVER RUN 5K/10K (posted September 8th)

The Red Dress River Run 5K/10K, a benefit for the American Heart Association, went on as scheduled on Saturday in Jefferson City.   The Lake area's Jade Fletcher was the overall women's winner of the 10K. (Results haven't yet been posted, so it's not known if any other Lake-area runners participated.)

*   *   *   *   *

HEART OF AMERICA MARATHON (posted September 4th)

Congratulations to Chris Boyle for his fifth-place overall finish at the Columbia Track Club's Heart of America Marathon (Facebook page) in Columbia on Labor Day.   Now in its 59th year, HOA is, by far, the oldest marathon in Missouri (two runners finished the inaugural race in 1960), and almost certainly the oldest Missouri running race of any distance.  It's also notorious for its hills and the hot, humid weather.

Chris finished in 3:23:49, and set a new personal marathon best by just under three minutes.  It was the fastest marathon among Lake-area men this year, and the fastest by any Lake-area runner since 2015.

Colin Cronin of Fort Leonard Wood, who has a friendly rivalry with Chris (they finished first and second, respectively, at this year's Bridge & Dam Half Marathon), finished ahead of Chris again, taking second overall, in 3:16:50.

The complete race results can be found here.  There were 108 official finishers in the race's 6-hour time limit. That's down from 129 official finishers last year.   A total of 150 had registered for this year's race.

Several photographers posted hundreds of photos at the race's Facebook page.  You can find photos of Chris here and here.  Here's one of Colin.

*   *   *   *   *

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY MEET RESULTS FOR SEPTEMBER 1st (posted September 1st)

Here are results for Osage and Versailles runners at the Jim Marshall Cross Country Invite in Jefferson City:

Here are results for Camdenton High School runners at the SBU/SWCCA Invitational hosted by Bolivar High School:

*   *   *   *   *

LABOR DAY DASH 5K/10K (posted September 1st)

Jade Fletcher finished in 58:56 and won the women's 11-14 age group by default at the Labor Day Dash 10K in Kansas City on Saturday.  It marked Jade's 21st age-group victory this year.

The complete race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

MILES AGAINST MELANOMA 5K (posted August 26th)

Jade Fletcher was tops among all 90 women who competed in the Miles Against Melanoma 5K in Jefferson City on Saturday evening.  Jade finished in 25:25--a mere nine seconds ahead of the second-place woman--and took sixth place overall (of 159 total runners) and first (of three) in her 19-and-under age group.  This brings Jade's overall and age-group victories in 2018 to 4 and 20, respectively. 

The complete race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

RUNNING WITH THE OUTLAWS (posted August 21st)

Margie Gunter finished second (of four) in the women's 50-59 age group at the Running with the Outlaws 13-mile bike race on Saturday in Pineville. Margie finished in 1:06:17, averaging about 12 miles per hour.  The full results can be found here.

Here's a photo of the race start, with Margie in yellow.

*   *   *   *   *

ROCK THE STOCKYARDS 5K (posted August 19th) 

As they've done any number of times over the last few years, Scott Gray and his Jefferson City running buddy, Chris Hein, traveled to Kansas City over the weekend, and while there did the Rock the Stockyards 5K on Saturday evening.

Chris finished in 44:32; Scott in 47:41.  They placed 34th and 35th, respectively in the men's 35-39 age group.  Complete results can be found here.

Here are a couple photos of Scott and Chris found at the race's photo gallery.

   

*   *   *   *   *

HALEY'S HOPE HOT & HILLY 5K/10K & HARDER THAN HELL HALF MARATHON updated August 19th) 

In August, two races are held hours apart in honor of Haley Stevens, who passed away at age 16 due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.  ALS is an incurable neurological affliction that too often claims the lives of otherwise healthy people.  (It really hit home when David Frei, a phenomenal athlete from St. Louis known to some of us here at the Lake, was diagnosed with ALS last year.  He's been waging a valiant battle against it.)

On Saturday morning, the Haley's Hope Hot & Hilly 5K/10K was held in Springfield.  Jade Fletcher ran the 10K, finishing in 1:08:20, placing second (of two) in the women's 10-14 age group.   Our Marshfield friend, Randy Acklin, won the men's 30-39 age group with a 57:03 finish.

Twelve hours later, at the Two Rivers bike park in Highlandville south of Springfield, Jade ran the Harder Than Hell Half Marathon.   She was the youngest of all 59 finishers, and crossed the line in 2:59:26.  (She went well off-course along with several other runners.)  She won her age group by default.

Click for the 5K/10K and half marathon results.

*   *   *   *   *

ROUTE 66 FESTIVAL 6.6K RUN (posted August 12th) 

Four runners from the Lake area took to the streets of Springfield on Saturday for the fourth annual Route 66 Festival 6.6K Run.  

Our top finisher was Jade Fletcher, who won the women's 17-and-under age group (over two others) in 34:58.  Dan Robertson's 37:15 finish was only good enough for 10th place in a very competitive 58-and-over age group.  Tom and Cindy Wismer ran and finished together in 44:20.  That put Cindy on the podium with a third-place age-group finish.

Full results can be found here.  There were 140 finishers in total--down from 161 6.6K finishers last year.  (Last year's race also offered a 3.3K, with 46 finishers.)

*   *   *   *   *

THE GREAT SANDBAGGER (posted August 12th) 

Eighteen runners turned out for the Columbia Track Club's Great Sandbagger on Saturday, August 4th. The goal of the race is to finish as close as possible to your predicted time, with the "great sandbagger" being the person who finishes the greatest amount of time under his or her prediction.

Two runners finished within four seconds of their prediction. The great sandbagger finished 1:56 under her 49:00 predicted time on the 5-mile course. (The race is normally 10K in distance, but road construction forced a change in venue, and a shorter course was used.)

Jade Fletcher was the only runner from the Lake area who participated. Jade predicted a finish time of 45:00, and crossed the line 1:56 beyond that.

Complete results can be found here.

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REPUBLIC TIGER TRI (posted August 12th) 

It's been five years he last appeared at the Republic Tiger Tri (300-yard pool swim, 12-mile bike and 5K run), but it was pretty much a replay for Jim McDermott.  Jim won his age group (this time, over three others in the the men's 65-69) and finished in 1:12:15--only slightly slower than in 2013.   Here are Jim's splits, including comparisons to his splits in 2013 and 2012.

The full race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

RUN FOR THE FALLEN (posted August 7th)

In 2008, a group of soldiers ran across the United States, placing a flag every mile in commemoration of a soldier who had lost his or her life in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan).   That original Run for the Fallen led to hundreds of local runs being held the following year in cities around the country and overseas, including one in the Lake area.  While nearly all of those events have sadly disappeared, the Lake area's commemoration has endured--and is still going strong--thanks to Trish Creach of the Camdenton Area Chamber of Commerce.   Trish has spearheaded this event from the very beginning.

A total of 139 runners and walkers gathered at Camdenton Middle School on Saturday for the Lake area's ninth annual event.  Each participant ran or walked at least a mile in memory of one of the 147 Missouri soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq, Afghanistan, or in ISIS-related operations. Also in attendance were several "Gold Star" familiies--families that had personally lost a loved one in one of the operations. 

For those of you who participated in the event, I'd recommend a Google search for the name(s) of the soldier(s) for whom you ran or walked.  It may turn up some information about them that will make your participation that much more meaningful to you.

More photos from the event can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

STOCKTON LAKE TRIATHLON (posted August 5th) 

Jason Crockett of Camdenton was the Lake area's lone entry at the Stockton Lake Triathlon on Sunday. Jason competed in the Olympic distance race, consisting of a 1,000-meter swim, 20.8-mile bike and 10K run.   He finished in 3:12:35, placing third (of three) in the men's 45-49 age group.  Here are his splits:

Swim:        26:54  (2:42 per 100 meters)
T-1:             3:16
Bike:       1:22:06  (15.2 mph)
T-2:              2:15
Run:        1:18:07  (12:36/mile)
Finish:     3:12:35

Complete results can be found here.

There were 118 participants between the Olympic and sprint distance races this year, up from 79 last year and 112 in 2016.  

*   *   *   *   *

SAN FRANCISCO MARATHON (posted July 29th)

San Francisco's cool year-round climate makes it one of the few big cities where a major marathon can be found in the middle of summer. At the start of Sunday's Biofreeze San Francisco Marathon, the temperature was just 52°, and it topped out at only 58° in mid-afternoon.

Kara O'Connor, one of Paula O'Connor's three daughters, lives in the San Francisco area and ran today's marathon.   Kara finished in 4:38:14, placing 223rd (of 390) in the women's 25-29 age group.

You have to give Kara credit for consistency.  She's run three marathons (Carlsbad, Austin and now San Francisco), finishing in 4:40:38, 4:39:44 and 4:38:14, respectively.  (Kara's got it right:  If you only knock a minute off your previous marathon best, you can set new PR's for many years to come.)

*   *   *   *   *

CHRISTMAS IN JULY 5K FUN RUN/WALK (updated July 29th)

Thirty runners and walkers toed the starting line at the Tri-County YMCA's Christmas in July 5K on Saturday.   While the weather wasn't Christmas-like, it wasn't summer-like, either.  With a temperature of 70°, moderate humidity and cloudy skies, the weather was about as good as it gets for running in the middle of a Missouri summer.

Ryan Page was the overall winner, in 21:03.  It was the very first Lake-area 5K victory for Ryan, who'll be running for the Osage High School cross country team as a freshman this fall.

The women's race was won by Cierra Hiland in 21:55.  Cierra hails from Quincy, Illinois but is a frequent visitor to the Lake, and has a growing list of victories at Lake-area 5Ks.  Finishing behind Cierra and third overall was Jade Fletcher, in 24:44.  This was a virtual replay of the Lake Regional 5K in May, when Cierra finished ahead of Jade.

Many more photos from the race can be viewed here.

Here are the race results:.

Congratulations and thanks go to Kim Sovcik for organizing the event, and to Ben Jacobi, Carrie Ginger, and other YMCA staff members for assisting.   Kim started running only last year, and she organized this race to help raise funds for much-needed improvements for the YMCA's children's playground.

*   *   *   *   *

FAREWELL, REAGAN!!! (posted July 27th)

One of our local runners--and truly one of the finest young people I know in the Lake area--is just about to head off to college. Reagan Page, the daughter of Scott and Cindy Page, will start her freshmen year at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater in September, majoring in aeronautical engineering.   She'll be getting a head start next week as she participates in an archeological dig in North Dakota as part of an anthropolgy course.

Every generation complains about the ones that follow, but it's great kids like Reagan that give us old-timers the confidence that the future will be in good hands. 

We're proud of you, Reagan!   Good luck!

Here are just a few photos of Reagan over the last five years:

*   *   *   *   *

GIRLS JUST WANNA RUN 5K/10K (posted July 23rd)

Nearly 500 women of all ages participated in the 14th annual Girls Just Wanna Run 5K/10K in Springfield on Saturday.   Jade Fletcher was the only runner from the Lake area.   Jade ran the 10K in 1:03:36, placing second (of three) in the women's 10-14 age group.

*   *   *   *   *

ARGO 13.1 HALF MARATHON (updated July 18th)

The little-known Argo 13.1 in Kansas City is one of Missouri's most unusual half marathons.  It's held semi-annually (in the coldest (January) and hottest (July) months of the year), is limited to a mere 50 participants, and virtually brags about the difficulty of its course, with its 2,500 feet of climbing.

Our local, 13 year-old runner Jade Fletcher accepted an invitation to race in the summer edition of the race held on Sunday, and the hills, heat and humidity tested her like no other race before.  Jade finished 40th overall, in 3:10:45.  That was nearly an hour slower than her slowest half marathon finish.

Greg Linhart, who lives in Grandview but who periodically appears at Lake-area races, finished seventh overall, in 2:00:53.   (To give you an idea just how tough this race was, Greg finished this year's Bridge & Dam Half Marathon in 1:31:45.)  

Complete race results can be found here.   Lots of photos, including some showing the brutal hiills on the course, can be found at the race's Facebook page.

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SUMMER ROUNDUP TRIATHLON (posted July 15th)

Two of our Lake-area triathletes competed at the Summer Roundup Triathlon in Jasper, Missouri on Sunday.

In what may have been her very first triathlon, Whitney Backsen of Lake Ozark competed in the sprint distance race.  Whitney finished the 500-meter swim, 12.3-mile bike and 5K run in 2:01:24, and placed sixth (of seven) in the women's 35-39 age group. Here are her splits:

Swim:        18:34  (3:43 per 100 meters)
T-1:            3:04
Bike:       1:03:51  (11.6 miles per hour)
T-2:             0:40
Run:          35:14  (11:22 per mile)
Finish:    2:01:24

For Jim McDermott, this year's race was a virtual repeat of his age-group victory in 2015.  Jim did the Oympic distance race and completed the 1500-meter swim, 40K bike and 10K run in 3:01:39--about 16 minutes slower than three years ago. He won the men's 65-69 age group over one other competitor.  Here are his splits:

Swim:        46:01  (3:04 per 100 meters)
T-1:             2:43
Bike:       1:10:39  (20.9 miles per hour)
T-2:             2:04
Run:      1:00:10  (9:42 per mile)
Finish:    3:01:39

Full results can be found here.

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OSAGE HOWLER PADDLE RACE (posted July 9th)

(Sorry for the delay in reporting.  The results for the June 30th race were posted just a few days ago, and not at the race's webpage.  I stumbled upon them elsewhere.)

Compared to last year's inaugural race, the second annual Osage Howler on the Osage River drew a much smaller field for the 61-mile race (18 boats with 25 paddlers this year, versus 41 and 47, respectively, last year), but a near doubling of the field for the 14-mile fun run (25 boats with 37 paddlers this year, versus 14 and 19 last year).

Finish times for the 61-mile race were substantially slower this year due to the absence of a fast current provided last year by a release of water from Bagnell Dam.  The winning time this year was 9:04:30.  Last year, it was 6:52:xx.

Four locals participated in the 14-mile fun run, all paddling kayaks solo.  Chris and (8 year-old) Charlie Boyle both finished in 3:01:xx., and were the second-fastest of all solo paddlers to finish.  Roxanne ten Bensel finished in 4:01:xx, one minute ahead of husband Corey ten Bensel.  Corey finished last year in a current-assisted 3:19:xx.

The complete results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

SWEATFEST (posted July 8th)

The Ozark Mountain Ridge Runners' third annual Sweatfest was held Saturday evening in Strafford. The 2-, 5- and 10-mile races are held on certified courses, and offer competitors a chance at setting a Missouri state running record at the 2- and 10-mile distances. (Strangely, no records are kept for 5-mile races.) 

No one from the immediate Lake area competed, but a few of our more distant friends--Joel Reed of St. Robert, Ed Green of Lebanon and Randy Acklin of Marshfield--all took stabs at claiming statewide bragging rights.

Randy finished the 2-mile race in 15:07, and now owns the state record for 38 year-olds. (A 38 year-old runner from Olathe, Kansas ran a 13:03 nine years ago, but only Missouri residents running at Missouri races are eligible for official state records.)   (Note to Randy:  Send me a mailing address, and I'll mail your LOTO Runners t-shirt to you.)

Joel finished the 2-mile race in 12:22 and the 5-mile in 35:55. Joel was about two minutes slower than the current 2-mile record for 30 year-olds.

Ed ran the 2-mile in 16:15 (the current record is 12:29 for 58 year-olds), and the 5-mile in 45:59.

Complete results can be found here.

Noteworthy results:

The phenomenal 69 year-old Jefferson City runner John Howland, who already owns two, 2-mile state records, added a third after finishing in 13:31.

The oldest competitor at the race, Gee Williams of Springfield, is now a state record-holder at the age of 87.  She finished the 2-mile in 33:11.

*   *   *   *   *

ELDON INDEPENDENCE DAY 5K RUN/WALK (updated July 5th)

Despite the warm, muggy conditions, a crowd of about 75 runners and walker--far bigger than last year's total of around 45--turned out yesterday for Eldon's Independence Day 5K Run/Walk.   As always happens with this race, lots of visitors and vacationers joined us, including some this year from as far away as Colorado, Minnesota, and Washington state. For the first time in at least 10 years, though, an out-of-towner failed to take home either the men's or women's overall victory.

Nigher Alfaro, who last won this race in 2015, was the overall winner, in 20:29. Nigher's victory was helped along with a little luck when Brayden Wickham--winner of last year's 9/11 Freedom Run and Turkey Festival 5Ks--turned an ankle while leading the race and limped to the finish line.   In the women's race, Jade Fletcher became a first-time Independence Day 5K winner, in 26:18.   She won by a mere two seconds over Jennifer Smith.  This was Jade's third overall race and 17th age-group victory this year.

Results for the top three finishers of each age group can be downloaded here.

Eldon's 4th of July race has always been one of the most fun events each year due to the festive holiday atmosphere.  Lots of runners come decked out in patriotic colors, and many bring along their family and friends. Here are photos of some of the notables.

Many more photos from the race can be viewed here.

*   *   *   *   *

INDEPENDENCE DAY RESULTS (posted June 30th)

Here are results for LOTO Runners at out-of-town Independence Day races:

Todd Raney ran the Lenexa Freedom Run 10K, finishing in 53:45 and placing 9th (of 29) in the men's 40-49 age group.

Scott Gray ran the Stars & Stripes 5K in Unity Village, finishing in 48:40 and placing 18th (of 35) in the men's 35-39 age group.  Chris Hein of Jefferson City competed in the same age group, finishing in 30:42, and taking 12th place. 

If I missed anyone, you know the routine.

*   *   *   *   *

FIRECRACKER FLIGHT 5K/10K (posted June 30th)

It took her just six months to do it, but Jade Fletcher has broken April Leonard's 2016 Lake-area record of 202 miles raced (in races 10K or longer) in a single year.   On Saturday, Jade finished the Firecracker Flight 10K in Independence, bringing her total miles raced so far this year to 206.8, including 12 half marathons and 8 10Ks.  She finished today in 1:06:48, taking second place (of two) in the women's 11-14 age group.

Complete race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

CAN-AM POLICE-FIRE GAMES  (updated June 29th)

10K:

Twelve hardy souls toed the starting line of the Can-Am Police-Fire Games 10K on Thursday, facing an 80° air temperature and stifling humidity at the 7:30 a.m. start.  It was so hot that even the race winner had to take several walking breaks while on the course.  Not surprisingly, this also turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far, with the afternoon heat index reaching a blistering 113°. 

The 10K was a virtual repeat of Tuesday's 5K, with Canadians Jeff Flindall and Kim Ridgers again taking overall men's and women's victories. Jeff won in 40:56.  That's a phenomenal finish--in any weather--for a 53 year-old. (Even the legendary Gary Lile, who won a number of Lake-area races with remarkably fast finishes while he was in his 50s, wasn't as fast as Jeff.)   Kim finished in 49:29. Bear in mind that the weather in Canada is nowhere near this hot and humid, so Jeff and Kim, as well as the other runners from Canada and cooler places, weren't acclimated to it.

Our top local finisher was Stephen Smith, representing the Lake Ozark Fire Protection District.  He finished third overall, in 55:08.  Anita Leyva, who was a volunteer at the 5K on Tuesday, donned her racing shoes for the 10K, and finished sixth overall, in 1:00:56.

Here are the complete 10K race results: 

Many more photos from the race can be viewed here.

A big "thanks" is due to many people who made the 5K and 10K successful events.  Topping the list would be Pete Leyva and all of the volunteers from the Lake area's running community who made these events go as smoothly and efficiently as any running event I've ever attended.  They also showed the visiting runners a hospitality that was as warm as this week's weather, and will hopefully bring them back to the Lake for the 2020 Games.

---

5K:

The start of Tuesday's Can-Am Games 5K had to be delayed 45 minutes as a thunderstorm passed through the Lake area, just north of the starting line located on the far west end of Osage Beach. About ten minutes after the start, though, the clouds changed direction, and a steady rain soaked the eleven runners who participated in the race before moving off a short time later.

The overall male and female winners were Jeff Flindall and Kim Ridgers. Jeff finished in a very impressive 18:30; Kim's time isn't available at this writing.

One of our fastest local runners and a Missouri State Highway Patrol officer, Mike Malone, finished second to Jeff, and won the men's 30-39 age group.

More photos from the 5K, and from the cycling time trial that started nearby, can be found here.

Here are the complete results for the 5K:

 

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Below is a schedule for selected events.   A schedule for all of the events can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

LAKE FREEBIRD TRIATHLON (posted June 26th) 

Congratulations to Jim McDermott for winning the men's 60-69 age group (over two others) at Sunday's 19th annual Lake Freebird Triathlon (660-meter swim, 14-mile bike and 5K run) in Mountain Grove.  The event is organized by the Mountain Grove Lions Club. 

Jim finished in 1:24:88 (yes, the official results show 88 seconds).  Here are Jim's finish times in his four appearances at the race:

2013       1:29:00
2014       1:22:22
2016       1:24:17
2018       1:24:88  

Full results can be found here.

Photos can be found at the race's Facebook gallery.  Here's one of Jim.

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ELDON POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION DONUT RUN (posted June 24th)

Cub reporter Scott Gray reports that about 70 people showed up for the Donut Run in Eldon on Saturday. As expected, the event also paid tribute to Miller County Sheriff's Deputy Casey Shoemate--the organizer of last year's inaugural event, who was tragically killed while responding to an emergency call on April 20th.

*   *   *   *   *

ANGRY BULL SIZZLING SIX SHOOTER 5K/15K/25K/30K/50K/80K (posted June 25th)

Congratulations to Margie Gunter for finishing the 15K at the Angry Bull Sizzling Six Shooter in Carthage on Saturday. Margie finished in 2:51:05, and placed 7th among the 8 female finishers.  

Melissa Martinez of Crocker won the women's 80K over two others, finishing in 9:11:52.  Melissa owns Missouri state running records in the 50-mile, 100K and 100-mile distances, but no records are kept for 80K races.

Michelle Rador of Springfield and Brian Fields of Fair Grove, both of whom ran the Run with the Horses 10K in Linn Creek last week, competed in the 50K. They both finished in about 6:55:42, and each took fourth place in their respective divisions.

Complete race results can be found here.

*   *   *   *   *

THE RUNNING RECESSION: A MID-YEAR UPDATE (posted June 21st) 

Regular readers know that I've been chronicling on this website the declining interest in running over the past few years. The "recession" began around 2014, and continued uninterrupted through 2017.  The decline has been a bit disheartening to watch, and I really hoped that we would finally see a turn upward this year.   However, that's not the case.   The numbers are down through the first half of this year, and it's almost certain that 2018 is going to mark the fourth full year of this recession.

To measure interest in running, I keep track of the number of finishers at nearly every full and/or half marathon in the state of Missouri.  I don't track the number of 5K finishers because of the very large number of those events statewide, and because many of these finishers are casual walkers--not runners.  (Even without collecting the data, I'm very confident in saying that the number of 5K finishers has declined over the last several years, too.)

For some historical perspective, here are the number of full and half marathon finishers at Missouri races, by year, since 2012.   The total peaked at 57,024 in 2014, followed by declines in the three subsequent years.   Interestingly, there were 20% fewer finishers in 2017 than in 2012, despite a doubling in the number of events held.

In the first half of 2018, there were 19,841 finishers at 33 races.  That's down 8% from 21,533 in the first six months of 2017, as shown in the table below (click on the table for a .pdf version).   (Note: If you strip out events that weren't held in both years in order to get a better year-to-year comparison, the percentage decline is essentially the same.)

As you can see, the decline was broad-based, with 21 of the 33 events held so far this year experiencing declines from last year.  

*   *   *   *   *

HERO HUSTLE 5K/10K   (posted June 17th)

Jade Fletcher surpassed a milestone of 200 miles raced so far in 2018 (in races of 10K or longer) after completing the Hero Hustle 10K in Blue Springs on Saturday. Jade finished the race in 1:04:04, and won her 11-14 age group by default. That marks her 16th age-group victory so far this year.

*   *   *   *   *

HALFMAX, QUARTERMAX & OCTOMAX TRIATHLONS (posted June 16th)

Congratulations to Jim McDermott for finishing the Quartermax Triathlon (0.6-mile swim, 28-mile bike and 6.5-mile run) on a scorchingly hot Saturday at the Innsbrook Resort west of St. Louis.   Jim finished 47th overall in 3:01:49, and won the men's 65-69 age group by default.   And, for what it's worth, he was the oldest of all 134 finishers.  Here are his splits:

Swim:       25:06 (2:37 per 100 meters)
T-1:            3:43
Bike:      1:23:40 (19.4 miles per hour)
T-2:           2:04
Run:      1:07:18 (10:22 per mile)
Finish:   3:01:49

Complete results can be found here.

While participation has rebounded from its 2016 low, it's still well below the level common in the 2000s and early 2010s.

*   *   *   *   *

GRANDMA'S MARATHON (posted June 16th)

Congratulations to Ashley Pryor for an outstanding run at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota on Saturday.   Ashley finished in 3:43:25, placing 96th (of 469) in the women's 35-39 age group.  It was the fastest marathon run by a Lake-area runner--male or female--thus far this year.  She came close, but unfortunately missed the 3:40:00 qualifying standard for the 2019 Boston Marathon for women ages 35-39.

Lebanon's phenomenal Jamie Vest, who's one of Missouri's top women distance runners and a Boston Marathon veteran herself, finished in 2:47:00. She placed 36th among the 2,767 female finishers.

The equally phenomenal Kimi Reed of Springfield ran the half marathon in 1:14:43, placing 7th among 2,028 women.

Click for complete marathon and half marathon results.

Grandma's is a very popular race, with nearly 6,100 marathon and 7,500 half marathon finishers at this year's race.  The course is flat, and Duluth's location along Lake Superior makes the area cool enough to host a mid-June marathon.  The temperature at the start of the race was 48°, and stayed there all morning thanks to cloudy skies from a storm system that passed through the state. By contrast, the temperature was 30° warmer in Minneapolis, 150 miles to the south.

*   *   *   *   *

RUN WITH THE HORSES 5K/10K & KIDS' 1-MILE RUN/WALK (posted June 17th)

Forty runners and walkers, including many from outside the Lake area, showed up in Linn Creek on Saturday to participate in the Run with the Horses 5K/10K benefiting the Missouri Forget-Me-Not Horse Rescue & Sanctuary (Facebook page).   The heat, humidity and absence of any air movement in Linn Creek's valley made for a brutally tough run.  Thank heaven for the flat course and shade along it, as they made the race (barely) bearable.

The overall men's and women's 10K winners were Joel Reed of St. Robert and Michelle Rador of Springfield in 47:27 and 57:57, respectively.   This appears to be the first time that Michelle's raced at the Lake, but Joel's is a familiar face.  He's raced Bridge & Dam the last two years, taking second this year in the All In challenge behind Payton Bartlett, and he ran the Ha Ha Half Marathon in early May.

In the 5K, the overall winners were Cierra Hiland of Quincy, Illinois and--saving our local running community from suffering a complete shutout--Dan Robertson, in 23:12 and 27:12, respectively.   Cierra has more overall victories at our local races than anyone else from outside the Lake area.  She most recently won last month's Lake Regional 5K.  As far as we can tell, this was Dan's very first overall victory at a local race.

Here are the complete results:

RUN WITH THE HORSES 5K/10K & KIDS' 1-MILE RUN/WALK LINN CREEK, MISSOURI JUNE 16, 2018 RESULTS
Name	Bib #	Finish Time	Age Group	Age Group Place
10K:
Joel Reed	184	47:27	M30-39	1
Josiah Peterson	177	48:37	M15-19	1
Pete Groce	173	55:21	M50-59	1
Brian Fields	72	56:30	M30-39	2
Michelle Rador	73	57:57	F30-39	1
Jenna Schnelker	97	59:12	F20-29	1
Mike Toth	162	1:04:04	M50-59	2
Katie Roberts	158	1:06:08	F40-49	1
Stacy Roberts	159	1:06:09	M40-49	1
Jim Glickert	169	1:19:30	M60-69	1
Scott Gray	172	1:37:46	M30-39	3
5K:
Cierra Hiland	164	23:12	F30-39	1
Dan Robertson	86	27:12	M50-59	1
Ed Green	156	27:38	M50-59	2
Linda Pagenkopf	166	29:09	F50-59	1
Mike Ogle	168	29:44	M50-59	3
Eric Faes	180	32:17	M30-39	1
Tom Pagenkopf	167	32:17	M50-59	4
Kevin Green	171	34:29	M30-39	2
Jerial Rojas-Matta	170	35:50	M19 & under	1
Bhanu Krishnan	163	38:43	F40-49	1
Ryan Dillon	176	38:57	M30-39	3
Lawson Barclay	175	38:58	M70-79	1
Brooke Hegger	96	39:42	F19 & under	1
Kim Hegger	98	39:52	F40-49	2
Todd Greenberg	185	41:15	M50-59	5
Lisa Black-Schwandt	161	45:20	F50-59	2
Alexa Taylor	92	45:22	F40-49	3
Margie Gunter	75	48:34	F50-59	3
Linda West	183	51:27	F70-79	1
Kathy Gale	165	52:41	F60-69	1
Ann Buckert	157	55:21	F60-69	2
Karen Romondo	160	57:60	F50-59	4
Debbie Everman	178	59:27	F60-69	3
Susan Neal	174	59:27	F70-79	2
Roxie Nieroda	179	1:03:31	F60-69	4
Jennifer Doer	68	1:07:57	F40-49	4
Darby Blair	74	1:07:59	F60-69	5
KIDS' 1-MILE:
Bella Faes	181	17:08	9
Olivia Faes	182	17:26	5

A few other familiar faces in the crowd:

Many more photos from the race can be found here.

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ELDON ROCK ISLAND ROAD RACE (updated June 12th)

With so few long races in the Lake area, the demise of Miller County Child Advocacy Council's Run for the Children Half Marathon after last year's fifth annual race was a big disappointment for Lake-area runners.  Fortunately, it was replaced with another--though shorter--race, with a promising future.  The inaugural Eldon Rock Island Road Race was held in Eldon on Saturday, offering 10K and 15K distance options on courses that were very similar to that for the Run for the Children.

The replacement proved popular, with about 50 runners competing at this year's race.  That was slighthly more than double the 23 finishers at last year's race.

The weather was sunny, warm and humid at the 7:00 a.m. start.  Clouds rolled in about an hour later and proved to be a godsend in keeping conditions from getting unbearably hot.

In the 15K, the overall male winner was Greg Linhart of Grandview, Missouri in 1:03:08.  Greg's running partner, a four-legged, four-year old named "Moose", ran side-by-side with Greg every step of the way.  Greg and Moose finished fourth overall at this year's Bridge & Dam Half Marathon. Moose is without doubt the best canine runner we've ever seen at our local races.

The overall women's winner was Alisha Eldridge, in 1:18:35.  Alisha was the women's winner at the Run for the Children Half in both 2015 and 2016.

The 10K overall winners were Nigher Alfaro and Jade Fletcher.  Nigher finished in 44:42, which is now the fastest 10K among Lake-area men so far in 2018.  Jade won in 56:12.  In a first for the Lake area, Nigher and Jade claimed two overall race victories in less than twelve hours, after taking wins at the Summer Night Glow 5K in Camdenton on Friday night.

Complete race results can be found here.

Below are some photos from the race.  Many more can be found here. 

The feel-good story of the day involved our beloved local runner Margie Gunter, our dear friend from Crocker, Melissa Martinez. and an assortment of Lake-area runners. After finishing the 15K, Melissa ventured back out onto the course to find and cheer on Margie for the last three miles of the race. Margie may have finished dead last, but she indeed finished, and in front of a cheering crowd of local runners waiting for her.  Kudos to all!

Many thanks are due to the MCCAC, April Leonard, Terry Atteberry, Debbie Fair, the Eldon police, fire and public works departments, the Eldon Mustang cheerleaders and all of the volunteers (Kathy Hicks among them) and the nearly two dozen sponsors who made this a fun and successful race.  (Sorry if I missed anyone.)

*   *   *   *   *

JEFFERSON CITY TRIATHLON & DUATHLON (posted June 10th)

Three Lake-area triathletes competed at the third annual Jefferson City Triathlon & Duathlon on Sunday. All competed in the sprint-distance race, consisting of a 400-meter pool swim, 12-mile bike and 3.2-mile run.

Jim McDermott finished sixth overall (among 75 competitors) and won the men's 65-and-older age group by default.   Jim knocked six minutes off of last year's finish time by finishing in 1:17:37. Here are his splits:

Swim:       10:09 (2:33 per 100 meters)
T-1:            1:48
Bike:        38:34 (18.7 miles per hour)
T-2:            1:27
Run:        25:43
Finish:   1:17:37

Tobby and Alisha Eldridge, who on Saturday took home age-group and overall women's wins, respectively, at the Eldon Rock Island Road Race 15K, took home third and fourth place finishes in their age groups.  Here are their splits:

                        Tobby      Alisha

Swim:                 8:52        8:38
T-1:                     1:23        1:37
Bike:                 46:49      49:54
T-2:                     1:12        1:28
Run:                  28:16       26:46
Finish:            1:26:29    1:28:21

Age Group:    M35-44     F35-44
Place:               3 of 8      4 of 10

There were 75 and 4 finishers of the triathlon and duathlon, respectively.  Complete results can be found here. 

*   *   *   *   *

RACE 13.1 ST. LOUIS HALF MARATHON & 5K (Posted June 10th)

"Justify" won horse racing's Triple Crown this weekend, and Jade Fletcher came close to winning a triple crown of her own. On Friday night, Jade was the overall women's winner of the Summer Night Glow 5K. Twelve hours later, she won the women's 10K at the Eldon Rock Island Road Race.

On Sunday, Jade raced the Race 13.1 half marathon in the Weldon Springs Conservation Area south of St. Charles and west of the Missouri River.  Perhaps it was the weather, the fatigue from two hot-weather races in the previous 36 hours, or the wrong turn that cost her some time, but Jade finished in 2:17:14, her slowest of 12 half marathon finishes this year, and well off her 1:44:08 personal best set two months ago.   With lots of older runners in the women's 19-and-under age group competing against her, Jade's triple crown hopes melted away, and she placed 9th (of 23) in her age group. No one her age or younger, though, finished ahead of her.

The weather conditions were awful for a good run, with a temperature of 76° and relative humidity of 82% at the 7:00 a.m. start.   By 9:00 a.m., temperatures were already in the 80s, with sunny skies beating down on the runners.

Columbia's Michael McCulloch, who won the inagural Ha Ha Half Marathon last month, was the overall half marathon winner, besting 671 others, and finishing in 1:22:39.

Complete race results can be found here.

Participation was up this year over last, though still down a bit from the race's 2016 debut year.

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LAKE RACE 5K RUN/WALK (posted June 10th)

A field of 29 runners and walkers turned out on Saturday for the fourth annual Lake Race 5K in Lake Ozark.  The race is one of a series of events held in conjunction with the Lake Race powerboat races.

No stranger to winning Lake-area 5Ks, David Prather was the overall winner, finishing in 18:54. Mike Malone, who often finishes near the top of our local races as well, crossed the line second, in 21:29.

On the women's side, Paula O'Connor was the overall winner, in 30:26, two minutes ahead of Reneé Vandiver.

Complete race results can be found here.

With competition from two other races--the Summer Night Glow 5K and the Eldon Rock Island Road Race-- this weekend, the small turnout wasn't too surprising. It also marked the third consecutive decline in participation in the race's four years.  Here are the number of finishers, by year:

2015        77
2016        64
2017        34
2018        29

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SUMMER NIGHT GLOW 5K RUN/WALK (updated June 12th)

The Lake area's second-biggest 5K of the year brought out 186 runners and walkers to Camdenton High School on Friday night for the Children's Learning Center's 11th annual Summer Night Glow 5K.  

The overall men's winner was Nigher Alfaro, who finished in 20:36.  This was Nigher's second Night Glow victory, after winning in 2015 in a nearly identical 20:29. It was also his fourth overall 5K victory so far in 2018.

Among the women, Jade Fletcher took top honors with a 23:51 finish.  It was her first Night Glow victory, and her first overall victory, this year.

Complete race results can be found here:

By finish order (.pdf or .xlsx)
By age group (.pdf or .xlsx)

The complete gallery of 375 photos from the race can be found here.

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VOLKSLAUF MUD RUN 10K (posted June 3rd)

Local runner Mike Toth was among who competed in the 19th annual Volkslauf Mud Run 10K at Fort Leonard Wood on Saturday. Mike finished in 1:17:16, and was the 110th male (of 460) to cross the line.  (Check out the photo of Mike taken just after crossing the Big Piney River.)

Complete race results can be found here.

Interestingly, the overall winner, who finished in 50:05 and handlily won by four minutes, was Bryson Jarman of Lebanon.  Bryson was a 2:50:49 finisher at this year's cold, windy and wet Boston Marathon.

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THE SCORCHER HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted June 3rd)

The Page running dynasty--Scott, Reagan and Ryan--took their act to Stillwater, Oklahoma on Saturday for The Scorcher Half Marathon & 5K. Stillwater is the home of Oklahoma State University, where Reagan, who just graduated from Osage High School, is about to begin studying aeronautical engineering.

Scott and Reagan ran the half marathon, while Ryan ran the 5K. Scott finished in 2:11:08, one second ahead of Reagan, to take home some bragging rights. That placed Scott 15th in the men's 40-49 age group, and put Reagan on the podium, with a third-place finish in the women's 19-and-under age group.

Ryan ran the 5K in 23:24 and took fifth place in the men's 19-and-under age group.   (It looks like 15 year-old Ryan may either now or soon lay claim to being the fastest 5K runner in the family.)

Complete race results can be found here.

Scott passed along a few photos:

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HOSPITAL HILL RUN (posted June 3rd)

Kansas City's Hospital Hill Run--one of the oldest running events in the state--included fourteen runners from the Lake area at this year's 45th annual event.   Showers and storms in the area caused a 30-minute delay in the start, and left runners to deal with warm and humid conditions.

Despite the weather, Jim McDermott, Alysia Maschino and Angela Martin all finished the half marathon faster this year than last.  For the second year in a row, Jim took third place in the men's 60-64 age group..

Tucker Seise of Roach placed sixth overall in the 5K. He finished in 19:40.

Results for all Lake-area participants are shown below.  Complete race results can be found here.

Participation continues to drop at the Hospital Hill Run.  The half marathon is now half the size it was in 2014.   Here are the number of race finishers for the last five years.  The number of 5K finishers in 2018 isn't comparable to prior years, as a weather postponement in 2018 made the "re-run" option unavailable.

Here's a spy photo of Willard Haley that Heather Skouby passed along:

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GO GIRL RUN COLUMBIA HALF MARATHON & 5K (updated June 3rd)

Two Lake-area runners traveled to Columbia on Saturday to compete in the women-only Go Girl Run Half Marathon & 5K.   The storm system that passed though Kansas City earlier in the morning moved through Columbia during the race, leaving a rain-soaked field of some 600 runners. 

Jade Fletcher ran her 11th half marathon so far in 2018, finishing in 2:08:40 and placing second (of three) in the 14-&-under age group. Vickey Clark of Camdenton also ran the half marathon, finishing in 2:21:25.  She took seventh place (of 23) in the 45-49 age group.
 

Complete race results can be found here.

Total participation declined for the fourth year in a row.  Here are the number of race finishers for the last five years:

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BUFFALO MARATHON (posted May 28th)

Having already checked New York off his sub 4-hour marathon states in 2017, Todd Raney didn't have much at stake at Sunday's Buffalo Marathon. It's a good thing, too.  The warm temperatures (about 70°) and high relative humidity (about 70%) weren't conducive to a fast race, and Todd finished in a slow (for him) 4:46:46. That placed him 47th in the men's 45-49 age group.

Complete race results can be found here.

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MEMORIAL DAY MARCH 5K/10K (posted May 26th)

It shouldn't come as a surprise, but the only Lake-area runner to race so far this weekend appears to be our most prolific local racer this year, Jade Fletcher.  On Saturday, Jade ran the Memorial Day March 10K in the Kansas City suburb or Grain Valley.   On this warm, humid day, she finished in 58:59--well shy of her 46:52 personal 10K best--but won her 11-14 age group (by default).  That made this Jade's 15th age-group victory this year.

Complete race results can be found here.

Another familiar name in the race results was that of Jim O'Dell of Greenwood, Missouri.   Jim, who was a participant at the Polar Bear 5K Strut for years, ran the 10K in 53:15--pretty impressive for a 67 year-old. 

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3 DAYS AT THE FAIR (posted May 20th)

The winner of the 144-hour race at 3 Days at the Fair in Augusta, New Jersey was Johnny Hällneby (Facebook page) of Sweden, who completed an incomprehensible 546 miles.   His nearest rival finished 115 miles behind him.

After hitting a wall on day three, Pete Kostelnick, who ran 116 miles to win a 24-hour race a week earlier, bounced back and finished third, with 412 miles completed.   Pete's Facebook post about the race is well worth reading.

The 144-hour race results can be found here.

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HAPPY FEET FOR HEALTHY MINDS 5K (posted May 20th)

An unusually fast group of young runners gave Jade Fletcher perhaps the toughest competition she's ever had to face.   On Saturday, Jade ran the Happy Feet for Healthy Minds 5K in Jefferson City and finished in 22:51--about a minute faster than her finish two weeks ago at the Lake Regional 5K.   It placed Jade second (of seven) in the women's 13-18 age group.

The women's overall winner was a 14 year-old who finished in 19:41.  Second was a 12 year-old, in 19:47, and third was another 14 year-old, in 19:54.  Jade was fifth overall, finishing just one second behind a 22 year-old.

Complete race results can be found here.

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SHIRES OF VERMONT MARATHON (posted May 20th)

The state of Vermont has vexed Todd Raney for the fourth time.  On Sunday, Todd was hoping to make Vermont the 47th state in which he's completed a marathon in under four hours, but he came up shy yet again.  He finished Sunday's Shires of Vermont Marathon in 4:14:45.   Complete race results can be found here.

Todd will have to return to Vermont before November if he still hopes to make North Carolina his 50th sub-4 state at the Outer Banks Marathon on November 11th. 

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GEIST HALF MARATHON (posted May 20th)

While on his annual mancation/junket to visit major league ballparks, Scott Gray detoured to Fishers, Indiana on Saturday to do the Geist Half Marathon. Scott finished in 3:23:42 and placed 56th (of 57) in the men's 36-40 age group, but that still gave him bragging rights as the one and only finisher from the Show-Me State in the 869-runner race.

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STRIKER LIFE HALF MARATHON, 10K & 5K (posted May 20th)

Willard Haley was our lone Lake-area runner at the Striker Life Half Marathon, 10K & 5K held at Whiteman Air Force Base in Knob Noster on Saturday. Willard ran his best half marathon in over a year and finished in 2:12:31.   The competitive men's 55-59 age group was the third-biggest in the race (with nine runners), and Willard had to settle for eighth place.

There were 79, 61 and 35 finishers of the half marathon, 10K and 5K, respectively.  Complete race results can be found here.

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JOPLIN MEMORIAL HALF MARATHON & 5K (updated May 20th)

The Lake area was represented well at the Joplin Memorial Half Marathon & 5K on Saturday.  Seven of our runners competed in the race that commemorated the seventh anniversary of the devastating tornado that ripped through the heart of Joplin, killing 161 people. 

Anita Leyva was our lone competitor in the 5K, and she won the women's 50-54 age group (over 38 others) by finishing in 27:57.

In the half marathon, Jim McDermott took second-place in the men's 60-64 age group with a 1:47:32 finish.  A third-place finish in the 55-59 age group was claimed by Pete Leyva, who crossed the line in 1:56:49.  Just behind Pete was another Pete--Pete Groce, who finished in 1:57:35 and took fifth in the 50-54 age group.

Stacy and Katie Roberts finished in 2:12:08 and 2:12:48, respectively.  That placed Stacy 24th (of 40) in the men's 40-44 age group, and Katie 18th (of 62) in the women's 40-44 age group.

Finally, Dan Robertson placed in the top half of the 55-59 age group with a 2:15:21 finish.

Complete results can be found here.

A few other names familiar to some of us appeared in the results. Ed Green of Lebanon finished the half marathon in 2:13:20, and former Lake-area runner/cyclist Louis Niewald, who now lives in Joplin, finished it in 2:09:15.

Total participation dropped from last year.  The half marathon and 5K both had increases, but they were more than offset by the elimination of the marathon.  Here are the number of finishers over the last four years:

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TA-TA TROT 5K RUN/WALK (updated May 22nd)

About 70 runners and walkers turned out on Saturday for the seventh annual Ta-Ta Trot 5K in Eldon.  

Nigher Alfaro was the overall winner, and the winner of his third Lake-area 5K in four weeks.  He crossed the line in 19:10.  Abby Thomas was tops for the women, finishing in 25:28. 

Many more photos from the race can be viewed here.

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RUNNING WITH THE COWS HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted May 12th)

Congratulations on a number of counts to Jade Fletcher for her finish at the Running with the Cows Half Marathon in Bucyrus, Kansas on Saturday.  Jade won the women's 14-and-under age group (over three other runners), finishing in 1:52:46.  It was her 14th age-group victory this year.  At 13 years of age, she was also tied with one other as the second-youngest of all 907 finishers.

Running with the Cows was the third and final installment of the Heartland 39.3 series of Kansas City-area half marathons.  (Garmin and Rock the Parkway are the other two races,)  Jade won her age-group in all three races, and that should earn her a KC Running Company gift certificate along with her special finisher's medal.

There were 907 finishers of the half marathon, down 22% from last year's 1,160.  It was the fourth decline in participation in the last four years.  Click for the half marathon and 5K results.

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LAKE REGIONAL 5K FUN RUN/WALK (updated May 8th)

Two hundred and one runners and walkers turned out on a beautiful, warm spring morning on Saturday for the eleventh annual Lake Regional 5K Fun Run/Walk in Osage Beach. This race has been the second largest 5K in the Lake area for the past several years.

Nigher Alfaro won his second Lake Regional 5K in a row, and his third in race history.  Nigher won easily, beating second-place overall male finisher Gage Burnam of Versailles by over two minutes.  Nigher finished in 20:57.  (That was nearly 1-1/2 minutes slower than his winning time of 19:33 last year, but last year's course was known to be about a quarter-mile short.)

In the women's race, Cierra Hiland, a frequent Lake visitor from Augusta, Illinois who's won four Lake-area 5Ks in the past year, won her first Lake Regional 5K. Cierra, who was trailing second-place finisher Jade Fletcher by 9 seconds at the two-mile mark, pulled ahead and finished in 23:30, nineteen seconds ahead of Jade.

Click for complete race results by finish order or by age group.

Other notable people and performances:

He missed last year's race due to a sore hip, but the phenomenal 71 year-old Thom Wilkins from Lebanon returned this year and finished in 25:43, taking second-place in the men's 60-and-over age group behind our own local phenomenon, Jim McDermott, who crossed the line in 24:44.

Pete Leyva and Stacy and Katie Roberts were gluttons for punishment on Saturday, heading straight from the Lake Regional 5K to run the Ha Ha Half Marathon held at Ha Ha Tonka State Park.  Katie won the women's 40-49 age group with a 28:48 finish time, while Stacy took second in the men's 40-49 age group with a 26:36.  Pete won the men's 50-59 age group, in 26:19.

Hundreds more photos can be found here.

A huge thanks goes to the staff at Lake Regional, the volunteers and sponsors for putting on another great event. Jennifer Newman once again deserves special recognition for mentoring the green-shirted "I Can 5K!" group and making this among the best 5Ks in the Lake area.

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INDEPENDENCE HALF MARATHON & 5K (updated May 6th)

Two of our most prolific local racers were in Independence on Sunday for the third annual Independence Half Marathon & 5K.   Both competed in the half marathon.

Willard Haley finished in 2:29:24, placing 9th (of 10) in the men's 55-59 age group.  (When a 2:29:24 only gets you 9th of 10 in that age group, you know that a bunch of ringers showed up.)

One day after winning her age group at the Lake Regional 5K, Jade Fletcher came up 36 seconds shy of grabbing a second age-group victory for the weekend.  Jade finished behind another 13 year-old in the women's 19-and-under age group, in 1:48:17. This was Jade's ninth half marathon of the year.

Check out the huge finisher's medal that Jade lugged home:

Complete race results can be found here.

There were 381 and 109 finishers of the half marathon and 5K, respectively.  The half marathon turnout was down 32% from last year's 562, which in turn was down 18% from the debut year's total of 683.

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TRIZOU TRIATHLON / DUZOU DUATHLON (posted May 6th)

Finally!  After four years of finishing either second or third in his age group at the TriZou Triathlon in Columbia, Jim McDermott finally won it this year.  On Sunday, Jim beat six others to win the men's 65-69 age group, finishing the sprint distance (400-meter swim, 14-mile bike and 3-mile run) triathlon in 1:18:13--his fastest finish in three years.  (Note:  Jim isn't yet 65, but in USA Triathlon-sanctioned events, your age for age-group rankings is your age at the end of the current calendar year.)  Here are Jim's splits, with data from previous years for comparison.

Jim wasn't the only participant from the Lake area.  Stacy Mosher from Osage Beach and Elijah Bentch from Versailles also did the sprint-distance triathlon.  This may very well have been the first triathlon for both.

Stacy finished in 2:26:56, placing 20th (of 21) in the women's 45-49 age group.  Here are her splits:

Elijah finished in 1:28:55, placing 24th (of 31) in the men's 20-24 age group.  Here are his splits:

Full results can be found here.

After a slight increase in participation last year, which followed years of steady declines, participation fell slightly this year, to just over 509 solo finishers.   At its peak about six years ago, this race had nearly 750 participants.

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HA HA HALF MARATHON (updated May 8th) 

Approximately 85 runners participated in the inaugural Ha Ha Half Marathon trail run held at Ha Ha Tonka State Park on Saturday. (This year's untimed, no-frills run morphs into a full-fledged trail race in 2019.) Of those participating this year, about 80% came from outside the Lake area.

The first to finish was Michael McColluch, a former Columbia College track and cross country runner from Columbia.   A sub 5-minute miler on the track, Michael finished the half in 1:56:52.   He's pictured here at mile three, with recently-graduated Osage High School cross country runner Payton Bartlett following right behind.

In alphabetical order, here were our local finishers:

Payton Bartlett
Karen Bowen
Chris Boyle
Lauren Jones
Mike Korst
Pete Leyva
Elaine Mallahan
Katie Roberts
Stacy Roberts
Dan Robertson
Gary Thompson
Isabella Vitelli
Michael Vitelli
Victoria Vitelli
Stephanie Weaver

You can view 266 photos from the event here, and more at the race's Facebook page.

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TROLLEY RUN (posted April 29th)

There were apparently no Lake-area runners at the big, 5,000-runner Trolley Run 4-mile race in Kansas City on Sunday.

Sammy Rotich and Vicoty Chepngeno, the overall ment's and women's winners, both had busy and successful weekends. They won a very competitive Minnesota state championship 10K race on Saturday morning, then flew to Kansas City to win the Trolley Run on Sunday. They finished the Trolley Run in 18:18 and 20:54, respectively. Those are incredible per-mile paces of 4:35 and 5:14.

Complete race results are here.

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KENTUCKY DERBY FESTIVAL MARATHON & MINI MARATHON (posted April 29th)

Two of our runners from Camdenton were in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday for the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon & miniMarathon.

Eric Beckemeyer finished the miniMarathon (i.e. half marathon) in 1:56:24 and placed 77th (of 291) in the men's 55-59 age group. 

Cindy Weisenfelder crossed the line in 2:20:09 and palced 102nd (of 378) in the women's 50-54 age group.

Complete race results can be found here.

I'm hoping that the race organizers will one day rename the "miniMarathon".  Anyone who's done one will agree that there's nothing "mini" about a half marathon.  ("miniMarathon" sounds more like a kiddie race around the school track.)

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ILLINOIS MARATHON (posted April 29th)

Congratulations to Mike Korst, who ran a Boston Marathon qualifying time of 3:48:41 at the Illinois Marathon in Champaign, Illinois on Saturday.   Mike easily beat the qualifying standard of 3:55:00 for 60-64 men at the 2019 Boston Marathon.   He ran a rock steady pace throughout the race and finished third (of 32) in the 60-64 age group.  You can view some race photos of Mike here.

Mike broke Jim McDermott's Lake-area record for the fastest marathon by a male in the 60-69 age group.  Jim's record was 3:54:07, set at the Run for the Ranch Marathon in 2015.

In a very rare occurrence, the men's marathon ended in a tie, with both runners crossing the line in 2:21:03.   Watch them finish.

Complete race results can be found here.

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FRISCO RAILROAD RUN (updated April 29th)

Four runners from the Lake area traveled to Willard on Saturday for the 10th annual Frisco Railroad Run. 

Jim McDermott ran his second 50K in two years and established a new PR at this distance.  Jim finished in 5:36:43 and placed second (of five) in the 60-69 age group.

One of our area's younger runners, Lauren Jones, a former Camdenton High School cross country runner and now a Camdenton math teacher, broke the coveted 2:00:00 half marathon milestone and finished in 1:59:33, placing 10th (of 24) in the women's 20-29 age group.  Lauren most recently finished the Bridge & Dam Half Marathon in 2:01:07. 

Alysia Maschino also ran the half marathon, finishing in 1:57:54 and taking fourth place (among 35 runners) in the women's 40-49 age group.

Willard Haley ran the half in 2:18:46 and placing 16th (of 21) in the 50-59 age group.

Complete results can be found here.

The Frisco Railroad Run continues to grow despite the general decline in running the last few years.  Here are the number of race finishers each year since 2014.:

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JAY DIX CHALLENGE TO CURE (posted April 29th)

Jade Fletcher continued her winning ways with an age-group victory at the Jay Dix Challenge to Cure in Columbia on Saturday. Jade ran the 10K and finished in 46:52. She placed third overall among the 60 female finishers, missing out on second by a mere three seconds.

Complete race results are here.

Participation continues to decline for the Jay Dix Challenge to Cure, which dates back to 2003.  Here are the number of finishers over the last five years:

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REVEL MT. CHARLESTON MARATHON (posted April 29th)

Todd Raney finally checked Nevada off his list of states in which he's completed a marathon in under four hours. On Saturday, Todd finished the Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon near Las Vegas in 3:53:34 and placed 64th (of 100) in the men's 45-49 age group.

Nevada was the first state in which Todd ever ran a marathon, at Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas in December 2012.   That was 96 marathons ago, and wasn't a pleasant experience for him.  He returned to Nevada in 2015 and 2016, missing a sub 4-hour finish on that 2016 visit by just over five minutes.

Todd now has four states to go to complete his sub-4 goal.

Complete race results can be found here.

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LUB DUB 5K/10K WALK/RUN (posted April 29th)

A few of our Versailles-area runners competed at the Lub Dub 10K in Sedalia on Saturday. (The name "Lub Dub" comes from the description of the sound made by a beating heart.)

Marvin Bescheinen and Krystal Millan (Krystal's actually from Tipton) ran and finished together, in 57:06. That placed Marvin second (of four) in the men's 60-69 age group, and Krystal 12th (of 31) in the women's 30-39 age group. Finishing just over a minute behind Marvin and Krystal was Rosalie Dear. Rosalie placed 14th (of 31) in the 30-39 age group.

The women's 10K race was a close one, with a single second separating the top two finishers. The second place finisher was Kim Ream, a four-time Bridge & Dam Half Marathon finisher.  (It goes without saying that Lori Hurt, also a Bridge & Dam four-timer, did the 10K as well. Kim and Lori always race together.)

Complete results are here.

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THE EPIC (posted April 29th)

The weather for Saturday's The Epic (Facebook page) gravel road bicycle race couldn't have been more different from that for last year's race, when severe storms made roads impassable from both flooding and downed power lines, and forced the race to be stopped. 

The great weather brought out 60 and 51 participants, respectively, for the 150-mile and 80-mile races.

In the 150-mile race, Casey O'Connor, was our only Lake-area participant.  Casey, who was very seriously injured at this race in 2016, finished in 11:23:45.  He placed 54th overall (of 57) and 33rd (of 34) in the men's 49-and-under age group.  (Casey obviously had problems, as he's usually places very high in cycling races.)

Dr. Scott Hofer, one of the Lake area's top cyclists, took fifth overall (of 51 competitors) in the 80-mile race.

Chris Orr, the only Lake-area cyclist to finish the Epic all three years, finished the 80-mile race this year in 5:59:51, placing 11th overall.

Rounding out our locals' results were Ron Bentch and Ian Riley, who placed 13th and 33rd, respectively.

Complete race results can be found here.

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OUACHITA TRAL 50 (posted April 22nd)

The beast is back!   Chris Boyle ran his first 50-miler of the year, and took second-place overall at the 28th annual Ouachita Trail 50 in the Ouachita National Forest just west of Little Rock, Arkansas on Saturday.   Chris finished in 8:39:33--23 minutes behind the winner, and ahead of 55 others.  By 8 minutes, it was also a personal best for Chris at that distance.

Complete race results can be found here.

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NORTHLAND HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted April 22nd)

Jade Fletcher made it a twofer weekend in the Kansas City area.  Twenty-four hours after running the Garmin Half Marathon, Jade lined up in the rain for Sunday's Northland Half Marathon.  She finished in 1:51:21, earning her second age-group victory for the weekend.  She was the youngest of all 122 female finishers, and placed 10th among them. 

Complete race results can be found here.

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RUN FOR CLEAN WATER 5K/15K (posted April 22nd)

Willard Haley was our lone Lake-area runner at the Run for Clean Water 5K/15K at Atchley Park in Lebanon on Saturday.  Willard ran the 15K, finishing in 1:33:54 and placing third (of three) in the men's 50-59 age group.  Check out the photo of Willard posted on the race's Facebook page.

Seventy-one year-old Lebanon phenom Thom Wilkins, who's almost always in the field at the Lake Regional 5K, finished third overall (among 52 competitors) in the 5K, finishing in 24:09.

Complete race results can be found here.

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DOGWOOD FESTIVAL / THE ARC OF THE LAKE 5K FUN RUN (posted April 22nd)

It was a race that would make the "everyone's a winner" or "participation trophies for all" crowd deliriously happy. All except one of nine participants was indeed a winner at The Arc of the Lake 5K held at Camdenton High School on Saturday. (It was quite reminiscent of the Impact Medical Missions 5K/10K in 2015, where every single one of the eleven participants was either an overall or age-group winner.) The run was one of the Dogwood Festival activities and benefited The Arc of the Lake, a local organization supporting those with developmental disabilities

Nigher Alfaro and Katie Fowler, an Indianapolis resident who was at the Lake to attend a wedding, were the overall men's and women's winners, in 25:12 and 32:34, respectively.  Nigher and Jim McDermott had been running side-by-side at a leisurely pace nearly the whole way.  Nigher must have pulled away near the very end to finish 43 seconds ahead of Jim. 

It was great to see Dr. Maria Bernabe running and racing again.  We haven't seen her name in any race results since the Go Girl Run Springfield 5K two years ago.

Here are the complete race results.

Here are photos of the entire field, minus one.

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CASEY SHOEMATE, REST IN PEACE (posted April 21st)

I have some terribly sad news to report. Miller County sheriff's deputy Casey Shoemate, whom some of you may remember as the organizer of last year's inaugural Eldon Police Officers Association's Donut Run (when Casey was a City of Eldon police officer), died in a traffic accident Friday evening while responding to a 911 call.   A news story about the accident can be found here.   Casey isn't identified in the story, but the Miller County Sheriff Office's Facebook page, as well as the Eldon, MO Police Officers Association Facebook page, contain many tributes to him.

My condolences to his family and the law enforcement community.  I had traded a few e-mails with Casey regarding the Donut Run, and met him while at the race.  He was a very nice guy, and much loved by those in attendance.  I'm certain Casey, who was just 26 years old, will be remembered at the second annual Donut Run, which was just announced for June 23rd.  (I'll post details about the run very soon.)

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GARMIN MARATHON, HALF MARATHON & 10K (posted April 21st)

Three Lake-area runners competed in the Garmin Half Marathon in Olathe, Kansas on Saturday.

Jade Fletcher was our fastest finisher.  Jade finished in 1:45:10 (one minute slower than her PR set last week), and won the women's 18-&-under age group over two others. That makes nine age-group victories for Jade this year.

We don't if she "beat yesterday", but Jade Fletcher did beat her age-group competitors to the finish line at Garmin.

After completing the half marathon, and barring any surprises, Stacy and Katie Roberts will both move into the top five in the "Most Miles Raced" standings in our Lake Area Scoreboard--the first time for both.  Stacy finished in 2:05:06, placing 56th (of 78) in the men's 40-44 age group, while Katie finished in 2:08:06, placing 34th (of 142) in the women's 40-44 age group.

Jade, Stacy and Katie all ran remarkably steady paces throughout the half marathon.  Their paces through the 5K and 10K marks were within seconds of their full-race paces.

Ahead of another sub 4-hour marathon attempt next weekend, former Lake-area runner Todd Raney, who now lives in Kansas City, intentionally ran the marathon at an easy race and finished in 4:29:08.

Other familiar names:

Lindsey McDonald, who finished third overall at the 2015 Bridge & Dam Half Marathon, was the top female in the 10K, finishing in 40:42.

Jeanette Pfetsch, a four-year Bridge & Dam Half finisher, ran the half marathon and crossed the line in 1:57:36.

Here are their results:

Complete race results can be found here.

Total participation was up 4% from last year, thanks mostly to another increase in 10K participation, which has increased every year since being introduced in 2015.  Here are the year-by-year numbers:

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RUN WITH THE COPS, NOT FROM THE COPS 5K/10K (posted April 21st)

The Miller County Sheriff's Office released some results from last week's (April 14th) Run with the Cops, Not from the Cops 5K/10K:

10K:

1. Alisha Eldridge (44:40)
2, Pete Leyva (47:10)
3. Stacy Roberts (48:46)
4. Mike Toth (51:18)
5. Willard Haley (58:30)

5K:

1. Mike Malone (17:30)
2. Anita Leyva (21:18)
3. Justin Poole (23:00)
4. Zachery Preston (23:57)
5. Paula O’Connor (26:33)

Alisha Eldridge and Pete Leyva now have the fastest 10K finish times among Lake-area women and men, respectively, so far in 2018.

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BOSTON MARATHON (posted April 16th)

There were 216 runners from Missouri registered for today's cold, windy and soggy Boston Marathon. None were from the Lake area, although there were a number who either lived not far away or were somehow familiar to us.

The runner most familiar to us would be Greg Linhart of Grandview.  Greg, who finished Boston in 2014 and 2016, and his little dog, "Moose", finished fourth at last month's Bridge & Dam Half Marathon.  Greg's last split at Boston was at 35K.  His pace had slowed dramatically since the previous split.  No finish time is shown.

Jill Wagner, who won Bridge & Dam's All-In Challenge last year, finished in 3:27:05, an 11-minute improvement over last year's 3:38:35, despite this year's horrible weather.

The finisher living closest to the Lake area would be Bryson Jarman of Lebanon. He finished in 2:50:49.

Perhaps the fastest finish by a Missourian was that of the phenomenal Kimi Reed of Springfield.  She finished in 2:46:47--the eighth fastest women's finisher.  Her husband, Marshall Reed--no slouch himself--finished in 2:52:49.

Kimi Reed  and her husband, Marshall Reed, at Bass Pro in 2016.  Kimi won the Bass Pro Marathon in both 2016 and 2017.

It's interesting to note that local running Hall of Famer Gary Thompson's 1983 Boston Marathon finish time of 2:25:37, which placed him 192nd in that year's race, would have placed him 10th overall this year.

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DOUBLE CHUBB 25K/50K (posted April 14th)

Ryan Maher, who lives in St. Louis but frequently visits and runs at the Lake, placed 6th overall (among 55 competitors) at the Double Chubb 50K at Castlewood State Park in west St. Louis County on Saturday.   Ryan finished in 4:51:39. His wife, Jaime, was also registered for the 50K, but apparently did not start.

Complete results are here.

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THE MARTIAN MARATHON (posted April 14th)

Nearly three months after badly spraining an ankle at the David's Trail Endurance Run, Todd Raney is back to completing his goal of finishing a marathon in under four hours in every state.  Todd checked state number 45, Michigan, off his list on Saturday after finishing the Martian Marathon in Dearborn.  He cut it a bit close, finishing in 3:58:55, and placed sixth (of 17) in the men's 45-49 age group.

Complete results can be found here.  The marathon's final finisher was the only competitor in the men's 80-84 age group, and he finished in an impressive 6:46:43.

Look for Todd at next weekend's Garmin Marathon (his third appearance at that race) and Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon near Las Vegas on April 28th.  Revel Mt. Charleston is one of the fastest marathons anywhere, with a 5,126-foot drop in elevation from start to finish.

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THE HOGEYE MARATHON, HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted April 14th)

Congratulations to Jim McDermott for running a Boston Marathon-qualifying time at The Hogeye Marathon in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Saturday.   The 2019 BM qualifying standard for 65-69 year-old men is 4:10:00, and Jim (who'll turn 65 before next year's BM) beat it by a comfortable margin, in 4:01:05. (Typically, you need to beat the standard by a minute or two to be assured of a spot at Boston.)   Jim placed third (of 12) in the men's 60-64 age group.

Click for complete marathon, half marathon and 5K results.

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GO GIRL RUN SPRINGFIELD HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted April 14th)

Congratulations to our six Lake-area runners who competed at Saturday's (April 14th) Go Girl Run Springfield Half Marathon & 5K.  Allison Walters of Versailles was our top Lake-area runner, finishing the half marathon in 2:09:48. 

The complete race results can be found here. 

Here are the results for our Lake-area runners, along with a some other familiar names, some of whom may have been there as pacers:

Total participation was down 2% from last year.  Here are the year-by-year numbers:

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ROCK THE PARKWAY HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted April 14th)

For weeks, she had designs on a half marathon PR at the Rock the Parkway Half Marathon & 5K, and Jade Fletcher successfully pulled it off on Saturday.  Jade finished in 1:44:08, smashing her previous best by 5-1/2 minutes, and winning the women's 1-14 age group over two others.  The fairly flat terrain and downhill finish makes Rock the Parkway a very fast course that attracts lots of fast runners.  Indeed, the top male and females won in 1:07:10 and 1:16:56, respectively.  

Jade Fletcher celebrating a new PR and
her 8th age-group victory so far in 2018.

Doug Kueker was our only other local runner at the race.  Doug finished the half marathon in 1:55:43, placing 110th (of 259) in the men's 35-39 age group.

After two years of declines, participation in the half marathon was up 4%, to a total of 3,868 finishers, making it the largest half marathon in the state.  The number of 5K runners was up for the third year in a row--to 1,587, a 10% increase over last year.

Click for the complete half marathon and 5K results.

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GO! ST. LOUIS MARATHON, HALF MARATHON, 7K & MARATHON RELAY (posted April 9th)

While spared the snow showers and rain that was called for a few days before the race, runners at Sunday's GO! St. Louis Marathon, Half Marathon, 7K & Marathon Relay still had to endure the coldest temperatures for the race since 2003.  Temperatures ranged from 31° at the 7:00 a.m. start to 35° at 11:00 a.m., with overcast skies but, thankfully, very little wind.  The weather undoubtedly kept some runners from participating.  Weather, though, has been an issue at this race more often than not.

Three runners from the Lake area braved the cold. (If I missed any other local runners, please let me know.  I had to search 110 pages of results to find our local runners, and I could easily have missed someone.)  All three of our locals ran the half marathon.

Mitchell Dinwiddie of Eldon was the first to finish.  He finished in 2:19:05, placing 130th (of 176) in the 45-49 age group.  Minutes behind Mitchell was Par Pitts of Osage Beach, who crossed the line in 2:23:14.  Par was 135th in the 45-49 age group.

Sixty-seven year-old John Wolf of Lake Ozark finished his third consecutive GO! St. Louis Half Marathon.  He finished this year in 2:35:23, just four seconds slower than last year.  John placed 16th (of 34) in the men's 65-69 age group. 

A few familiar names appeared in the full marathon results. Joel Reed of St. Robert, who took second in the Bridge & Dam All-In Challenge, finished in 4:12:19.   Melissa Martinez appears to have had another tough day at GO! St. Louis, finishing this year in 4:55:54.  Last year, she finished in 4:16:36.  Three years ago, she finished in an outstanding 3:38:26.

Complete race results can be found here.  

Declining participation continues to plague GO! St. Louis.  The total number of solo half and full marathon finishers this year was 4,672, down 18% from last year.  At the peak in 2011, it was 13,461.  The races are now about one-third of their combined size seven years ago.  That's an incredible decline.

You can blame some of the decline on the running recession, and a part of this year's decline on the weather, but GO! St. Louis has some serious problems.  Other than the bridges and Forest Park (the latter of which only the marathon runners experience), the courses range from unexciting to downright ugly.  Also, since there's no parking anywhere close to the new start/finish line, runners now have to park near Union Station and ride shuttle buses.  While this is a major inconvenience for runners, the situation for spectators is far worse.   Unlike years ago, there are few good places for spectators to watch the runners.  That explains why there are so few spectators along the course now, even in good-weather years.  You can't help but wonder about the future of this once-great race.

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OZARK FOOTHILLS 50K/25K TRAIL RACE (posted April 8th)

There were no Lake-area runners at yesterday's Ozark Foothills 50K/25K Trail Race at Greensfelder Park in west St. Louis County, but Colin Cronin from Fort Leonard Wood took third overall in the 50K with a 5:00:23 finish time.  Colin was the overall winner at the Bridge & Dam Half Marathon two weeks ago. 

Complete results can be found here.

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MOLLY'S MILES 5K (posted April 8th)

The second annual Molly's Miles 5K/10K, named in honor of Molly Bowden, a Columbia police officer who was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop in 2005, was held in Columbia on Saturday.  Proceeds from the event benefit Camdenton-based Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.).

Lake-area runner Mike Malone finished fourth overall (of 540 competitors) in the 5K, and won the men's 30-39 age group over 58 others, with a 21:03 finish.  (Mike finished 3rd overall in the Bridge & Dam 5K two weeks ago.)

Another Lake-area runner, Robert Sanders of Four Seasons, finished in 25:23, placing 13th (of 59) in the 30-39 age group.

Complete results can be found here.

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DO OR DIE HALF MARATHON & 5K (updated April 9th)

Greg Linhart of Grandview, Missouri, who finished fourth overall at the Bridge & Dam Half Marathon two weeks ago alongside his four-legged running partner, "Moose", was the overall winner for the second year in a row at the Do or Die Half Marathon in Boonville on Saturday.  (Update: Greg was again accompanied by "Moose".)  The half marathon is a point-to-point race on the Katy Trail, beginning at the famous train tunnel in Rocheport and ending in Boonville.

Greg won in 1:31:50. That was almost four minutes slower than last year, but still 10 minutes ahead of the second-place finisher.

Among other familiar names:

Ed Green of Lebanon took third in the men's Masters division with a 2:01:50 finish.

Sedalia's Kim Ream and Lori Hurt--both four-year Bridge & Dam Half Marathon finishers--crossed the line in 2:06:08 and 2:06:15, respectively.

Full results can be found here.

There were 111 half marathon and 17 5K finishers.  Those totals were down from last year's 139 and 52 finishers, respectively

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BIG PARTY HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted April 7th)

Two Lake-area runners participated in the Big Party Half Marathon in Springfield on Saturday.   The race is a benefit for Camp Barnabas, which conducts camps for kids with special needs and chronic illnesses.

Jeremy and Emmy Zimmerman of Lake Ozark ran and finished side-by-side, in 2:06:15.  (They ran together (photo) at the Bridge & Dam Half Marathon two weeks ago, finishing in 2:11:03.)  That placed Jeremy 16th (of 26) in the men's 40-49 age group, and Emmy 9th (of 13) in the women's 40-49 age group.

Complete results can be found here. There were 218 finishers of the half marathon (down from 278 last year) and and 127 of the 5K (versus 281 last year).

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EASTER ESCAPADE 5K/10K (posted March 31st)

Congratulations to Jade Fletcher for her seventh age-group victory this year. Jade ran the Easter Escapade 10K in Kansas City on Saturday, finishing in 50:27 and placing 8th overall (of 72 competitors), and fourth among the women.

Jade Fletcher at the Easter Escapade finish line.

Another familiar name in the results was that of Jeanne Pfetsch of Lexington, Missouri who, like Jade, ran in last week's Bridge & Dam Half Marathon.  Jeanne finished 12th overall, in 53:42.

Complete race results can be found here.

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BRIDGE AND DAM HALF MARATHON, 10K & 5K (updated March 25th)

It was another record year for the Bridge & Dam Half Marathon, 10K & 5K.  With 486 finishers, this year's race (Facebook page) easily topped last year's record total of 416, and became the biggest running race ever held at the Lake of the Ozarks. Nearly every race distance offered saw an increase in participation over last year.   With races everywhere experiencing declining participation in recent years, Bridge & Dam has clearly bucked the trend, thanks to the hard work of co-race directors Alysia Maschino and Scott Page, outstanding civic and volunteer support from the Lake area, and the backing of the race benefactor, the Lake of the Ozarks chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which holds the race to benefit its faith-based athletic programs for students.  Perhaps most satisfying to see is the Lake of the Ozarks running community (LOTO Runners) embracing and making this their preeminent local race, and showcasing it to the large number of out-of-town participants.  

The participants enjoyed great weather for running at this year's race, with temperatures near 60°, overcast skies and only a slight breeze.  They were spared the rain that fell in other parts of the state all morning.

Race Results

Complete race results can be found here. 

All-In Challenge

One of our best young, Lake-area runners, seventeen year-old Osage High School graduate Payton Bartlett, was the overall men's winner of the All-In Challenge, which consisted of a half marathon, a 10K, and a 5K.  Payton finished in 2:59:21, nearly twenty minutes ahead of Joel Reed of St. Robert.  Leg cramps during the 5K cost Payton an even larger margin of victory (indeed, at 40:28, he had the slowest 5K split of all eight All-In finishers) as well as--by a mere four seconds--the course record set by Jill Wagner of Sullivan, Missouri at last year's inaugural All-In Challenge.   

The top women, who ran the entire race together but who inexplicably ended up with finish times eight seconds apart, were Cristi Trow Dykstra and Gayle Haun, from Riverside and Davenport, Iowa, respectively.  Cristi's finish time was 3:21:08.

Except for the top two finishers, everyone else in the All-In Challenge ran and finished in pairs.   (Apparently, misery really does love company.)

Double Down Challenge

There were seven finishers and one DNF in the Double Down Challenge, which consisted of a half marathon and 10K.

The oldest competitor in the challenge, 56 year-old Mark Ragland of Jefferson City, who stepped up from last year's half marathon, was the overall victor, in 2:50:12.   Christine Danner of Barnett was the top female, in 3:07:02.

Half Marathon

Colin Cronin, from Fort Leonard Wood, broke Gerald Holtmeyer's half marathon course record on his way to an overall victory in the half marathon.  Colin finished in 1:22:11--just 11 seconds faster than Gerald's record that's stood since the inaugural Bridge & Dam in 2015.  He crossed the line a comfortable six minutes ahead of second-place finisher Chris Boyle.

In the women's race, Heather Oddo became a two-time Bridge & Dam winner, after her overall race victory in 2016.  Heather finished in 1:35:19, a full ten minutes slower than 2016, although she's still getting back in form after giving birth to her second child in December.  Her nearest rival finished three minutes behind.

10K

Colter Hentzel, a 24 year-old from Fort Madison, Iowa became the fourth different winner of the men's 10K in the race's four-year history.  He finished in 40:20, or over six minutes ahead of the second-place finisher.

Similar to the men's race, the fourth different women's 10K winner in four years was Debbie Reed, who won in 48:30 by a margin of just three seconds over Sarah Yokubaitis of Fort Leonard Wood.

5K

This year's 5K course change, which produced a significant drop in elevation between the start and finish lines, greatly increased the odds of a new course record being set this year, but it didn't happen.  Cierra Hiland of Quincy, Ilinois, who established the women's record of 22:52 at last year's inaugural 5K, actually finished slower this year--in 23:34--yet she still won the women's race easily.

Sixteen year-old Logan Asher cruised to victory in the men's race with a 20:06 finish, but missed Cooper Vickers' record established last year by nearly two minutes.

A quick look at the results for two-year finishers of the 5K showed surprisingly little difference in finish times between this year and last, despite the course change.  Mike Malone, who finished third overall both this year and last, was only 6 seconds faster this year.

Course and Age-Group Records

A surprising twenty-eight records were broken or established this year, with the most significant perhaps being Colin Cronin's new half marathon course record.

A full list of the records set this year can be downloaded here.

First-Timers

We always herald those who step up to new and bigger challenges, and certainly one who did so at Bridge & Dam was Nancy Koeppen, wife of Aaron Koeppen. Bridge & Dam was not only Nancy's first half marathon, but it was her very first race of any distance. On a course definitely not friendly to newbies (or anyone else, IMHO), Nancy finished in 2:22:37, placing a very respectable 14th (of 26) in the women's 40-49 age group.

Nancy Koeppen

Legacy Half Finishers

Eighteen runners can still lay claim to having finished Bridge & Dam's half marathon every year since its debut in 2015.  (Five runners let their streaks end this year.)  Here's the list of the remaining diehards:

Nigher Alfaro
Karen Backes  (Jefferson City)
Russell Burkett (O'Fallon, MO)
Jeanette Christeson (Sellars in 2015)
Alisha Eldridge
Tobby Eldridge
Ryan Garlock (Lincoln, NE)
Lindsay Garlock (Lincoln, NE)
Robert Hammel (Belleville, IL)
Angela Harmon (Peoria, IL)
Lori Hurt (Sedalia)
Jason Kolb
Doug Kueker
Angela Martin
Sherri Mundwiller (Washington, MO)
Kim Ream (Sedalia)
Heather Skouby
Valerie Weber (Dittmer, MO)

Top Canine

Greg Linhart is an outstanding runner from Grandview, Missouri who finished fourth overall (behind three elite runners, in 1:24:49) at the inaugural Bridge & Dam half marathon in 2015.  Greg returned this year and finished in 1:31:45, which was also good for fourth-place overall. More impressively, though, is that, this time, Greg's 3-1/2 year-old running buddy, "Moose", ran side-by-side with him the entire way, beating--and humbling--175 humans to the finish line.  Attaboy, Moose!

"Moose" and Greg Linhart.  Greg stopped by on his way home after the race, and Moose was wide awake, ready to go again.  Moose beat the likes of Andy Goessmann, Heather Oddo and Nigher Alfaro.

Hamming it up for the camera

You'll find more hams on the course at Bridge & Dam than in the meat department at Walmart. Click on any thumbnail below, and then click on the play button to start a slideshow.

Video Clip

Melissa Martinez and Jim McDermott got a little crazy at the LOTO Runners Cheering Zone. (Unfortunately, I hit "record" a few seconds too late, or I would have caught Aaron Koeppen (far right) busting a move, as well.)

Photos

The photos of the half marathon and challenge runners have been posted. Feel free to download and use them as you wish. Here’s the link: https://gojim.smugmug.com/Sports/Bridge-Dam-Half-Marathon-10K-5K-2018/

It was necessary to reduce in both size and resolution the 1,052 photos posted in order to make web viewing more practical.   Larger, higher-resolution images--more suitable for printing--are available (free of charge, of course). <

Postscript

A closer look at the Bridge & Dam results shows that a remarkable 374, or 77%, of the 486 finishers were from outside the Lake area. That percentage was even higher than the 70% and 74% registered in 2015 and 2016, respectively, when only the half marathon and 10K distances were offered.

One would have expected the addition of a 5K beginning in 2017 would have reduced the percentage of out-of-towners since runners won't usually drive as far to do a 5K as they would for a longer race.   Apparently, the out-of-town 10K and longer participants brought along a lot of 5K participants with them. Indeed, of the 166 5K finishers at this year's event, 129, or 77%, were from out-of-town.

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LEPRECHAUN LANE 5K/10 (posted March 18th)

Jade Fletcher captured her fifth age-group victory this year at Saturday's Leprechaun Lane 10K in Kansas City. Jade ran a personal best of 49:19, and missed taking home the overall women's victory by a mere 10 seconds.  Besides finishing ahead of two others in the women's 11-14 age group, Jade placed 13th among all 98 finishers.

Jade Fletcher knocked one and a half minutes off her 10K personal best, and increased her lead in the standings of most miles raced by a Lake-area runner so far in 2018.

Complete race results can be found here.

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ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE RUN (posted March 18th)

Just one Lake-area runner was among the 5,300 who participated in the St. Patrick's Day Parade Run in downtown St. Louis on Saturday. Sally Crawford of Linn Creek ran the 5-mile race, and finished in 53:55, placing 214th (of 353) in the women's 25-29 age group.

Complete results can be found here.

After four years of declines, the race finally registered an uptick in participation.  The total of 4,533 finishers in the 5-mile race was up 5% compared to last year, and a newly-added 3K option drew 767 runners.

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SHAMROX COLUMBIA & SHAMROX SPRINGFIELD 15K/5K (posted March 18th)

Ultramax Sports held its ShamRox 15K/5K runs in Columbia and Springfield on Saturday, and both drew much larger crowds than in the past two years.

Among those participating in the Columbia race was, for the third consecutive year, Willard Haley, who finished the 15K in 1:34:47 and placed second (of two) in the men's 55-59 age group.

Our Marshfield friend Randy Acklin raced the 15K in Springfield, finishing in 1:16:32. Randy took eighth place (of 19) in the 35-39 age group.

Click for complete race results for Columbia and Springfield.

Here are the total number of finishers for each race for the past three years.

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OZARK HIGHLANDS ENDURANCE RUN (posted March 4th)

Congratulations to Chris Boyle for his overall 50K victory at the Ozark Highlands Endurance Run in the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest in north-central Arkansas on Saturday.   Chris led a field of 13 runners and finished in 5:01:13.  He crossed the finish line over 30 minutes ahead of his nearest rival.

A 21-mile race was also offered, and had 22 finishers.

Complete race results can be found here.   Check out the race's Facebook page for some interesting photos and more about the race.

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QUIVERING QUADS TRAIL HALF MARATHON (posted March 4th)

John Shelby took the lead of our most miles raced ranking for Lake-area men after finishing the Quivering Quads Trail Half Marathon at Cuivre River State Park in Troy, Missouri on Sunday.   Quivering Quads is one of the oldest and most popular trail races in the state, having been introduced in 1994 and resurrected in 2010 following a six-year hiatus.

John finished in 2:24:50, placing 14th (of 37) in the men's 50-59 age group.  Back in 28th place was LOTO Runners Facebook group member Ed Green of Lebanon, who finished in 2:55:28.   Complete race results can be found here.

Participation was almost unchanged from last year's record total.  Here are the number of finishers, by year, since 2010:

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LITTLE ROCK MARATHON, HALF MARATHON, 10K & 5K (posted March 4th)

It was déjà vu for many who ran in the Little Rock Marathon, Half Marathon & 10K on Sunday.  Light rain and mist, combined with temperatures in the mid 40s and a light breeze, was almost exactly the same as the conditions they ran in last year. 

Two of our Lake-area runners competed in the marathon.

Heather Doyle, who ran this race three years ago, finished in 4:48:22. Heather placed 50th in the women's 35-39 age group.

Maybe it was for the ginormous finisher's medal that this marathon is famous for, but Angela Martin ran her first Little Rock Marathon and finished in 5:04:09.  She placed 41st in the 45-49 age group.  On Saturday, she ran the 5K in 30:21 and took 9th place (of 151) in her age group.

Randy Acklin of Marshfield was in Little Rock to once again to pace the 5:00:00 marathon group.  Last year, he brought his group to the line in 4:54:19, but he cut it way too close for comfort this year, finishing in 4:59:33.  Perhaps he was devilishly toying with the minds of his group, after being assigned bib number 666.

Also returning this year were Allen and Shandi Brinkman of West Plains.  And, just as they did last year, they ran the marathon together and finished in 5:15:38.

Full results can be found here.

Participation in the marathon and half marathon was down about 10% from last year.

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LIBERTY HOSPITAL HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted March 3rd)

Jade Fletcher smashed her previous half marathon PR and added to her list of age-group victories at the Liberty Hospital Half Marathon & 5K near Kansas City on Saturday.   Jade, whose three previous half marathon finish times were 2:01:21, 1:58:00 and 2:05:27, finished in 1:49:30, placing first (of two) in the women's 14-and-under age group.  At age 13, she was the second-youngest female in the half. 

Complete race results can be found here.

Appearing elsewhere in the results were Kim Ream and Lori Hurt--the running Frick and Frack of Sedalia (i.e. one never seems to race without the other) and three-year Bridge & Dam Half Marathon finishers.

Perhaps it was today's ideal running weather, or rave reviews from last year's inaugural race, but this year's half had the biggest year-to-year increase in participation of any medium-sized or larger half marathon in Missouri in years. There were 753 half marathon finishers this year, versus 456 last year--a stunning increase of 65%.   The number of 5K participants rose substantially as well, from 652 to 1003, an increase of 54%.

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THE GREATEST RUNNER IN LAKE-AREA HISTORY  (posted March 2nd)

If you were told that the greatest runner we've ever had in the Lake area was Gary Thompson, odds are your first question would be, "Gary who?".  That would be understandable, considering that Gary's running career peaked about 30 years ago, and because he's very modest about his running and other accomplishments.  You have to drag it out of him.  (That's how I found out.) 

Gary was born in Fulton and, after his family moved to the Lake area, he ran track and cross country for Camdenton HIgh School.  He was fast.  His one- and two-mile track records at Camdenton went unbroken for 27 years. He was an All-State athlete in both sports.

Gary attended Central Missouri State University (now known as the University of Central Missouri) on a scholarship and ran for the school's track and cross country teams.  He qualified for the NCAA national championships in track and cross country.

After college, Gary moved up to the marathon distance, and continued distinguishing himself.  He's a two-time finisher of the Boston Marathon.  He finished the 1983 race in an incredible 2:25:37, placing 192nd overall.    (To show you how much tougher the competition was back then, that same finish time at this year's marathon would have placed him 38th among the men.)  He finished the 1984 Boston Marathon in 2:26:04, placing 109th.  In all, he's run about ten marathons in 2:40:00 or less.

Left photo:  Gary Thompson, wearing a Kansas City Track Club uniform, crossing the finish line (in 2:25:37) of the 1983 Boston Marathon.  Right photo:  Gary moved to Texas in 1984 (hence the Dallas-based American Airlines Sports jersey), and finished the Boston Marathon that year in 2:26:04--109th overall.  Note the plastic bag worn under his jersey on that cold, rainy day.  Photos provided by Ellen Thompson.

Gary's personal marathon best goes back to his very first marathon--the White Rock Marathon in Dallas in 1982, where he ran a 2:21:01.   (That was one minute shy of the 2:20:00 qualifying standard for the 1980 U.S. Olympic Trials.)  A 2:21:01 finish time is faster than any winning time at any marathon in Missouri this past year. 

Three more of Gary's many marathon finishes, including (from left) The Cowtown in Dallas, The Great Marathon in New Orleans, and the Kansas City Marathon.

No other Lake-area runner, to my knowledge, has ever finished a marathon within 30 minutes of Gary's personal best.   Among our current crop of Lake-area runners, none have a marathon best within about an hour of Gary's.

Gary's fastest half marathon was an incredible 1:08:45, set during the first half of one of his Boston finishes.

His personal best in the 5K was 14:58.  That's notably faster than Casey O'Connor's "modern" Lake-area record of 16:05 set in 2013.  (Gary, coincidentally, was Casey's cross country coach at Camdenton High School.)  Gary's fastest 10K best was 31:02.  None of our current runners have come anywhere close to those times. 

In more recent decades, Gary switched his focus to hiking and adventure racing.  In 2009, he hiked the 2,180-mile Appalachian Trail, a trek from Georgia to Maine that took five months to complete.

Gary's orienteering abiliies are equally phenomenal.  (You'd swear he has a GPS receiver built into his brain.)  During his adventure racing career, Gary teamed up with St. Louisan David Frei--himself one of the top adventure racers and orienteers in the country--and twice finished second in the highly competitive North American adventure racing championships. 

These days, besides being an assistant coach at Camdenton High School and volunteering to handle the timing at some of our local races, you'll likely find Gary running the Rocky Top Trail in the Lake of the Ozarks State Park near Public Beach #2.

If ever a Sports Hall of Fame were to be built in the Lake area, Gary Thompson would most deservedly be one of the first inductees.

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ROCHEPORT ROUBAIX (updated February 25th)

Due to the threat of heavy rain and thunderstorms on Saturday, the Rocheport Roubaix gravel road bicycle race was postponed 24 hours, much to the delight of a race-record 200 competitors who enjoyed riding under sunny skies after a week of dreary, wet weather.

Five Lake-area cyclists were among the competitors.

Casey O'Connor was the overall winner of the 20-mile race, beating 36 other competitors to the finish line.  Casey finished in 1:15:54, averaging about 16 mph.

Dr. Scott Hofer, Chris Orr, Ron Bentch and Josh Schrock competed in the 70-mile race.  Scott finished in 3:55:20, placing 4th (of 15) in the men's 50-59 age group. Chris placed 9th (of 21) in the 40-49 age group with a 4:21:11 finish time. Ron finished in 4:52:30, taking 11th (of 15) in the 50-59 age group and Josh crossed the line in 4:53:26, placing 15th (of 26) in the 30-39 age group.

Full results can be found here.

Here are the number of finishers for each race, by year:

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CLINTON HISTORIC HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted February 24th)

Thirteen year-old Jade Fletcher is going gangbusters this year.  She had never run a half marathon prior to this year, but on Saturday she racked up her third half marathon finish at the Clinton Historic Half Marathon & 5K.  Jade ran in pouring rain and finished in 2:05:27, and placed fourth (of four) in the women's 19-and-under age group.  She was the youngest of all 109 half marathon finishers. 

With three half marathons and a 10K finish, Jade Fletcher easily tops the list of most miles raced by a Lake-area runner so far in 2018.

Complete half marathon race results can be found here.  5K results can be found here.

Three other familiar names appeared in the half marathon results. LOTO Runners Facebook group member Ed Green of Lebanon finished in 2:02:43 and took third place in the men's 50-59 age group. Kim Ream and Lori Hurt, both from Sedalia and both three-year finishers of the Bridge & Dam Half Marathon, finished in 1:56:13 and 1:56:46, respectively.

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POLAR BEAR STRUT 5K RUN/WALK (updated February 27th)

Sixty-one runners and walkers--the smallest number in at least ten years--turned out in dreary, 40-degree weather on Saturday for Special Olympics Missouri's 17th annual Polar Bear Strut 5K in Osage Beach.

Two senior high school cross country runners took overall honors. On the women's side, Emily Yaeger, who ran for Blair Oaks High School in Wardsville, won for the third consecutive year, finishing in 22:30 and beating her previous best by a mere two seconds.  In the men's race, Osage High School's Derrick Puckett was a first-time Strut winner.  He finished in 21:00, just six seconds ahead of fellow Osage cross country senior Steven Crosby.

Here are the complete Polar Bear Strut results:

By finish order
By division

A big thanks goes to Gary Thompson and crew for another great job timing the race, and for promptly reporting the results.

Despite the smaller field, there were still lots of familiar, long-time Strutters in the crowd, including Zim Schwartze (a 16-year Strutter), Anita Leyva, Denise Barnes, Laurie and Kristina Buckingham, Waynesville Frosty Feline Elsa Dubon, the Jolly Rogers gang and, of course, the entire dedicated group of Super Plungers.  You can find them and many others in the race photos.

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CASTLEWOOD CUP 15K (posted February 24th)

Heavy rain earlier this week made for muddy conditions and shin-deep creek crossings at the Castlewood Cup 15K Trail Race at Castlewood State Park in west St. Louis County on Saturday, and forced the 15K (9.2-mile) race to be shortened to 13K (8 miles).

John Shelby was our only Lake-area runner in the race. John finished in 1:18:18 and placed 14th (of 36) in the men's 50-54 age group.

A total of 411 runners finished the race, down from 474 finishers last year.  Complete results can be found here.

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SWEETHEART SHUFFLE 5K/10K (posted February 10th)

Jade Fletcher braved sub-freezing temperatures on Saturday at the Sweetheart Shuffle 5K/10K in Independence, and was rewarded with an age-group victory.  She finished the 10K in 53:48, and won the women's 11-14 age group by default.

Jade was the second-youngest of 67 competitors in the 10K.  (The youngest was a 5 year-old boy who ran an incredible 48:41.)  Jade's 53:48 is the fastest 10K among Lake-area women so far this year.  

Complete race results can be found here.

Jade Fletcher with her finisher's and age-group victory medals.  (Photo provided.)

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CHOCOLATE RUSH HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted February 4th)

All streaks eventually come to an end, and that was the case on Saturday for our local runner Jade Fletcher's string of consecutive age-group or overall race victories.  Jade's string ended at six, after finishing second behind one other runner in the women's 13-15 age group at the Chocolate Rush Half Marathon in Kansas City.   At age 13, Jade was the youngest of all 223 half marathon finishers.

Jade did manage to break the 2-hour milestone in only her second half marathon.  She finished in 1:58:00, one week after finishing her first half marathon in 2:01:21.  

Complete race results can be found here.

Jade Fletcher with her finisher's and second-place
age-group medals.  (Photo provided.)

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CHILDREN'S TLC GROUNDHOG RUN (posted January 28th)

Over 3,100 runners, including eight from the Lake area, took to the underground on Sunday at the 36th annual Children's TLC Groundhog Run in Kansas City.  The race, which includes 5K and 10K distance races in staggered starts, was held at the Hunt Midwest SubTropolis in comfortable 65-70 degree temperatures.  

Here are the results for our Lake-area runners:

Click to view the full results for the 10K or 5K.  

There were 2,108 and 1,044 finishers of the 5K and 10K, respectively.  The total of 3,152 was up 10% from last year's 2,859.

Scott Gray passed along a few photos:

Jayna and Scott Gray at the starting line.

Scott Gray with the official mascot and Chris Hein (10K finisher in 1:07:08) of Jefferson City.

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FROSTBITE SERIES 4-MILE & 13.1-MILE (posted January 28th)

Two of our youngest Lake-area runners represented us well at the St. Louis Track Club's Frostbite Series 4-Mile & 13.1-Mile in Forest Park on Saturday.  Both competed in the 13.1-mile half marathon race.

Jade Fletcher extended her Lake-area record to six consecutive age-group or overall victories, while also finishing her very first half marathon, in 2:01:21.  Jade bested two other women in the 13-14 age group.  At age 13, she joins Reagan Page as the second-youngest female half marathon finisher in the Lake area.  (The youngest was Megan Rice, at age 11.) 

Kelsey Wallis of Eldon finished minutes behind Jade, in 2:04:37.  Kelsey placed second (of three) in the women's 15-16 age group. This was likely Kelsey's first half marathon, as well. 

Complete race results can be found here.

There were 582 and 397 finishers of the 13.1- and 4-mile races, respectively.  The half marathon was up, while the 4-mile was down, from the 442 finishers at each of last year's races.

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CABIN FEVER RELIEVER 20K & RESOLUTION 5K (posted January 28th)

The weatherman's forecast of cloudy skies and a chance of rain was way off, much to the delight of those competing at the Cabin Fever Reliever 20K and Resolution 5K in Rogersville on Saturday. Sunny skies, mild temperatures and minimal wind made for ideal conditions for a mid-winter race.

Jim McDermott was our lone Lake-area runner in the race, although he was joined by four others from the Lake of the Ozarks Runners Facebook group.  Jim took second (of six) in the men's 60-69 age group with a 1:50:29 finish in the 20K. 

The 20K is a USATF-certified course, so it qualifies for Missouri state records.  Many of the state 20K records (which you can find here) have been established at this three year-old race and, looking through Saturday's results, the race attracted some very competitive runners.

Here are the results for our runners of interest:

Complete race results can be found here.

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DAVID'S TRAIL ENDURANCE RUN (updated January 22nd)

Two of our Lake-area runners traveled to Lake Norfork in northern Arkansas on Saturday for the third annual David's Trail Endurance Run (Facebook page).  (A third runner, Chris Boyle, had to skip the race due to the flu.)

Gary Braman, who race the 25K last year, stepped up to the 50K this year (his first 50K) and finished in 7:09:22, placing third (of seven) in the men's 40-49 age group.

John Shelby stayed with the 25K this year, and finished in 2:54:49.  That placed John second (of seven) in the men's 50-59 age group.

Two St. Louisans who often visit the Lake area, Ryan and Jaime Maher, were both age-group winners in their respective races.  Ryan finished the 50K in 5:48:54, beating six others in the 30-39 age group line.  Jaime trumped nine others in the women's 30-39 age group in the 25K with a 2:34:11 finish time.

Complete results can be found here.

Participation was down significantly from last year.  There were 156 finishers this year among all distances offered, versus 218 last year.

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FRESH START 5K  (posted January 7th)

Thirteen year-old Jade Fletcher of Rocky Mount has one of--if not the--longest winning streaks for a Lake-area runner.  On Saturday, Jade extended that streak by winning the women's 15-and-under age group at the Frest Start 5K in Springfield with a finish time of 27:06.  This marked her fifth consecutive victory (one overall and four age-group) in a row. 

There were 142 finishers in total. Complete race results are posted here. 

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CHILLY 5K RUN/WALK (posted January 1st)

The last Lake-area runner to race in 2017 was the first to toe a starting line in 2018.  Margie Gunter, taking advantage of her status as the newest member of the 50-59 age group, ran the Joplin Family YMCA's Chilly 5K Run/Walk on New Year's Day, finishing in 47:27 and shaving over a minute off of last year's finish time.  Margie unfortunately learned the sad fact that aging up only means that you're now competing against relatively better runners (as the slower ones find other stuff to do), and placed seventh (of eight) in her age group.

Full results can be found here.

The bone-chilling air temperature of 5° and wind chill of -6° put the hurt on attendance. Just 94 runners participated in the 5K, down from nearly 400 last year. (The one-mile Frozen Fun Run for kids run was cancelled.)

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