4 FORE 30 INFINITY BACKYARD ULTRA (updated December 7th)

Cody Eubanks of Jefferson City was the last man standing at this year's 4 Fore 30 backyard ultra  Cody needed 32 hours (133.3 miles) to dispatch last year's winner, Dena Carr, and become 4 Fore 30's second two-time winner.  (Andy Emerson, who dropped out after 8 hours (33.3 miles) this year, won the 2018 and 2019 races.)

Thirty-two hours was the second-longest duration to determine a finisher in the race's six-year history.  Only Chris Boyle's victory in 2020 took longer, at 38 hours.  (Coincidentally, Cody was Chris' only challenger during the last seven hours of that race.)

This year's starting field of 77 competitors was the second-largest in the race's history.  Here are the year-by-year totals:

2018      36
2019      59
2020    103
2021      61
2022      51
2023      77

For five years, 4 Fore 30 competitors lucked out with generally mild weather on race day.  This year, that streak ended.  Overcast skies, with steady temperatures around 40°, made for a chilly day, and late-afternoon rain made conditions miserable. Over the course of two hours, when rain and darkness set in, half the remaining field dropped out.

The complete race results are posted here.

Below is a chart showing this year's rate of attrition, with prior years' shown by comparison. In line with prior years, half the starting field was gone after the 10th hour (41.7 miles).  Last year, it took 12 hours to lose half the field.

Twenty-seven, or 35%, of the 77 competitors in this year's field were from the Lake area. That's the highest percentage ever for this race.  Here are their results:

This year's competitors completed an average of 46.7 miles, just below last year's average of 47.2 miles. 

Four competitors extended their streak of having run in every 4 Fore 30. They are: Gavin Eubank (of Columbia), Rob Kucsik, Tucker Seise and John Shelby.

Mile 90 Photography's photos from the race can be found here.

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REHOBOTH BEACH SEASHORE MARATHON (posted December 4th)

Twenty-one years ago, former Lake-area runner Todd Raney, who now lives in Kansas City, struggled at his very first 5K--the long gone Abs & Glutes 5K in Linn Creek.  He was so winded, he had to walk some of the race.

It wasn't until ten years later that Todd attempted his very first marathon.  He finished the 2012 Rock n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon in 5:03:59, but he struggled.  As he reported in an e-mail after the race, "It was a learning experience!! I hit the wall, legs started cramping, the wind, and I really wasn't ready. I will do better on the next one." 

He did indeed do better on the next one, and went on to run a marathon in all 50 states--twice.  He also completed at least one in every state in under 4 hours--a very rare achievement.

On Saturday, Todd completed his 150th marathon.  He did so at the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon in Delware, finishing in 5:28:10.  This was his second time running this race; he finished it eight years ago, in 3:52:24.

At that first 5K, Todd probably never expected to run a marathon, much less 150 of them.  It's a perfect example of not knowing what twists and turns your life will take. 

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LOTO TURKEY TROT (posted November 24th)

The 14th annual LOTO Turkey Trot 5K & 1-Mile Fun brought out nearly 200 participants to Camdenton High School on Thanksgiving Day.  Among the participants were 27 who did the 1-mile fun walk that was added to this year's event. 

As it's always been, the race was a battle among current and former cross country runners.

Tucker Seise became a three-time overall Turkey Trot winner, with a winning time of 17:18.  The runner-up was former Camdenton High School, and now senior U.S. Coast Guard Academy, cross country runner Jake Thoenen, who finished in 17:34.  This was almost the exact opposite of the 2021 results, when Jake won in 17:17 (his first and only Turkey Trot victory) and Tucker took second in 17:36.  Former Laker Jeremy Ryan, who owns a record four Turkey Trot victories as well as the course record, didn't appear at this year's race.

In the women's race, former Laker--and now Truman State-- cross country runner Ellie Webb won her second consecutive Turkey Trot.  Ellie won in 19:58 (versus 20:00 last year), easily beating her nearest rivals by over 2 minutes.

The 5K results can be viewed by finish order or by age group.

Interestingly, of the 164 5K finishers, 76 whose hometowns were listed in the results were not from the Lake area. 

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THANKSGIVING DAY RACES

The single biggest race day of the year in the U.S. is upon us. No matter where you are on Thanksgiving Day, there's probably a "turkey trot" nearby.

Here at the Lake of the Ozarks, the 14th annual LOTO Turkey Trot 5K (formerly known as the Laker Turkey Trot) will take place on Thanksgiving Day at Camdenton High School.   New to the event this year is a 1-mile fun run that starts at 8:00 a.m.  The 5K run/walk will start at 8:30 a.m.  Race-day registration opens at 7:00 a.m.  Scroll further down this column under "Upcoming Events" for links to more information.

If you're traveling to other parts of Missouri for Thanksgiving, here are other turkey trots happening around the state.

(Note:  I haven't had time to update the list to make sure the links are still correct.  If a link doesn't work, you might do a Google search for the race to see if it's happening.)

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GOBBLER GRIND MARATHON, HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted November 20th)

The Gobbler Grind Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K celebrated its 30th anniversary on Sunday--a rare distinction in running races. (Kansas City has a few other long-time races, including the Kansas City Marathon, which dates back to 1979 (under the name Macy's Marathon), and the Hospital Hill Run, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this past June.)

Four runners from the Lake area competed at this year's race. 

In the marathon, Brandon Sparks of Versailles finished in 3:57:40, placing 8th (of 17) in the men's 30-39 age group. 

The others ran the half marathon, finishing in an identical 2:03:02.  Marvin Bescheinen of Versailles won the men's 70 and over age group over 5 others.  Heather Doyle and Amanda Twenter, both of Tipton, took 18th (of 51) and 14th (of 47), respectively, in the women's 40-49 and 30-39 age group.

Complete race results can be found here.  There were 147 finishers of the marathon, 528 of the half, and 329 of the 5K.

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HONORING OUR HEROES MARATHON, MARATHON RELAY, HALF MARATHON, 10K & 5K (posted November 20th)

The eighth annual Honoring Our Heroes Marathon, Marathon Relay, Half Marathon, 10K & 5K (Facebook page) took place on Saturday.  The marathoners started in Salem, the half marathoners started halfway between Salem and Rolla, and the 5K/10K runners started in Rolla.

Three runners were from the Lake area.

April Leonard finished her sixth Honoring Our Heroes marathon, crossing the line this year in 5:19:29, just 68 seconds slower than last year.  April took second in the women's 55-59 age group.  It also extended her Lake-area women's record for completing a marathon at the oldest age.

Melissa Martinez-Sharp, formerly of Crocker but who now calls Richland home, won the women's 50-54 age group in the marathon with a 4:25:54 finish.  It was another busy November for Melissa.  As she's done in past years, Melissa ran the Bass Pro Conservation Marathon two weeks ago and the Dogwood Canyon 15K and 25K Trail Runs last weekend.

John Brody of Eldon ran the 10K, finishing in 1:12:27 and placing third (of three) in the men's 45-49 age group.

The complete race results can be found here.

Honoring Our Heroes' sentimental favorite, 86 year-old veteran Bob Gravley of Salem, Missouri, returned to extend his streak of having finished this race every year since inception.  He finished the marathon in 2016, 2017 and 2018, before stepping down to the 5K in 2019, then stepping back up to a 10K in 2020, 2021, 2022 and again this year.  Bob finished in 1:58:10.

Participation was up 52% from last year (last year's race weather was very cold), and represented a new race record, with 399 total finishers.  Here are the number of finishers, by distance, in the race's eight-year history.

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Weekend race highlights:

At the Tunnel 100-Miler in Vienna, Illinois, a Swedish runner won in a race-reoord 11:26:19. He finished over an hour ahead of the second-place finisher. He also beat to the finish line 143 of the 344 competitors who did the 50-mile race.

Despite a scary medical issue that he endured recently (read about it on his Facebook page), it still attended the race. 

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Bass Pro postscript:  Some of the Camdenton High School cross country runners went to Springfield on Sunday and won their division at the Bass Pro Conservation Marathon Relay. Jesus Garcia, Ava Canales, Gunnar Rhoads, Payton Canales, and Luke Webb were the relay team members.

I can't find a finish time for the team, as the marathon relay results page is apparently broken.  (It shows the top 10 teams, but the link to show all the teams never loads.)

Another tip of the hat to Gary Thompson for bringing this to my attention.

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BASS PRO SHOPS FITNESS SERIES MARATHON, MARATHON RELAY, HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted November 6th)

Nine Lake-area runners competed at Sunday's Bass Pro Shops Fitness Series marathon, half marathon and 5K.  That was (barely) enough for Bass Pro to regain its status as the most popular out-of-town race for Lake-area runners.  (It lost that status last year, following eight straight years of being the most popular.)

Former Lake-area runner Heather Oddo, who moved to Springfield years ago, took second among the women and seventh overall in the marathon, finishing in 2:58:37.

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

Complete race results can be found here.

Total participation was up 13% from last year, with increases experienced at every race distance.  Here are the total number of finishers, by distance, since 2015:

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TCS New York City Marathon postscript: Former Camdenton High School and Drury University cross country standout Jeremy Ryan, now 28 and living in St. Louis, ran perhaps a new personal record at the New York City Marathon on Sunday. Jeremy finished in 2:35:37, and placed 129th overall (of 51,316 finishers). Some of his previous fast marathon finishes have included Bass Pro in 2020, when his 2:38:22 earned him second overall, and GO! St. Louis in 2018, where he finished in 2:38:39 and took sixth overall. (Had Jeremy opted instead to run Bass Pro this past weekend, a 2:35:37 would have given him third overall.)

A tip of the hat to Gary Thompson for bringing Jeremy's New York City result to my attention.

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TCS New York City Marathon: The women's race had an exciting ending, with Hellen Obiri of Kenya outsprinting her closest challenger to the finish line. If her name sounds familiar, she won this year's Boston Marathon.

The winner of the men's marathon, Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia, set a new course record of 2:04:58 while cruising to victory.

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MISSOURI STATE HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS (posted October 9th)

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

In the Class 3 team standings, the Osage girls placed 9th of 16 teams.

The fastest boys and girls runners in the state were in the Class 5 race.  The boys winner won in 14:51 (with a margin of victory of a mere 0.2 seconds), and the girls winner in 17:12. 

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KANSAS RAILS-TO-TRAILS EXTRAVAGANZA (posted October 31st)

Congratulations to Alysia Maschino for achieving her lofty goal of finishing her first 100-mile race last Saturday-Sunday at the Rails-to-Trails Extravaganza (100M/100K/
50M/50K/Marathon/Half Marathon) in Ottawa, Kansas. Alysia also set a goal of finishing in under 24 hours, and managed to do so by a mere 3 seconds. Her 23:59:57 finish time placed her 9th among the 17 finishers, and second among the two female finishers.

In the 100K, Scott Page took third overall (of 11 competitors), finishing in 13:47:50.

Eastern Kansas had the same cold, wet and windy weather that we had at the Lake this past weekend, making the race that much more difficult.   

Complete race results can be found here.

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HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY DISTRICT MEET RESULTS FOR OCTOBER 28th (posted October 9th)

At Saturday's district meets, twelve of our Lake-area high school cross country runners qualified as individuals for the state championships to be held next Friday and Saturday at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia.   The Eldon girls team won their district, so some members of their teams who didn't qualify as individuals will still be going to state. This marks the sixth year in a row that Osage's girls team has advanced.

The Class 1 and 2 championships will be held on Friday, November 3rd.  The Class 3, 4 and 5 championships take place on Saturday, November 4th.

The top 30 boys and girls individual finishers, and the top four boys and girls teams, in each district race qualified for state.  Here are the results for all of our Lake-area cross country runners at the district meets.  Those who qualified by their individual performances appear in red:

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BIG DOG'S BACKYARD ULTRA

Superhuman Harvey Lewis won his second Big Dog's Backyard Ultra in two years, and again in world record fashion. He shocked everyone in 2021 by completing an extraordinary 85 "yards", or 354.1 miles to outlast his final challenger.  He smashed that record this past week with 108 yards (450 miles) to win this year's world championship.

Scroll to the 6:02:00 mark of the YouTube livestream coverage to see Harvey cross the line, followed by his comments on the race.

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GARMIN KANSAS CITY MARATHON, HALF MARATHON, 10K AND 5K (posted October 22nd)

After going unrepresented at last year's race, the Lake area was represented by seven runners at Saturday's Garmin Kansas City Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K and 5K. Here are their results:

Complete results can be found here.

Total participation at this year's race was up 8% over last year, and 22% over 2021. 

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LAKE OF THE OZARKS OKTOBERFEST .5K AND 5K RUN/WALK (posted October 21st)

The inaugural Lake of the Ozarks Oktoberfest .5K and 5K took place on Saturday at the recently opened The Sanctuary Brewery in Osage Beach.  A total of 54 participants toed the starting line, with 44 doing the 5K and 10 stepping up to the challenge of a new race distance--0.5K. (That's the equivalent of about 1-1/3 trips around a high school track.)

The 5K had mostly predictable results.  Tucker Seise (17:23) once again beat Nigher Alfaro (20:15) to the finish line.  One surprise, though, was seeing Maverick Sovcik take third overall, in 21:45.  It was just a few years ago that Mav didn't have much interest in running; he's come a long way since.

Among the women, Rachael Blizzard of Columbia finished first, in 25:43.

April Leonard took the 0.5K seriously, and won in 3:01 (a per-mile pace of 9:44). Mike Clayton, who looked like he had just finished runing a marathon in one of his post-race photos, finished in 8:38 (27:48/mile). The final finisher, Vanessa Rahm of Jefferson City, somehow took 47:26 to cross the line.

Click for the the complete results:  5K and 0.5K

The race photos can be found here.

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FROG HILL HALF MARATHON & 10K and LEAPFROG 5K (posted October 8th)

The tenth annual Frog Hill Half Marathon & 5K/10K. was held Friday night and Saturday in Waynesville. April Leonard was the only Lake-area runner who competed.  April ran the 10K, finishing in 1:00:28 and won the women's 50-59 age group (over one othe competitor).

Another familiar name in the results was that of former Eldon resident Scott Gray, who now lives in Columbia.  Scott also did the 10K, finishing in 1:28:30.

The legendary, 86 year-old Bob Gravley of Salem, who's a perennial competitor at the Honoring Our Heroes Marathon/Half/10K/5K in Rolla, finished the 10K in 1:42:49.

Complete results can be found here.

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

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THE RUNNING OF THE KNIGHTS 5K/1-MILE (posted October 2nd)

There were 85 participants at Sunday afternoon's Running of the Knights 5K Run/Walk and 1-Mile Fun Run in Lake Ozark.  The race benefited The King's Academy (Facebook page) preschool and elementary school.   

Tucker Seise and Chelsey Willetts (of Kansas City) were the overall men's and women's winners in 18:22 and 26:50, respectively.

Nigher Alfaro took second overall, in 21:31.  Nigher is like NASCAR's Richard Petty: When he doesn't win, he comes in second.  (Richard Petty had 200 career victories, and 157 runner-up finishes.)

Complete results can be found here.

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MO' COWBELL MARATHON, HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted October 3rd)

We had a half-dozen runners from the Lake area at the MO' Cowbell Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K & 5K in St. Charles on Sunday, and many of them were names unfamiliar to us.

Two notable performances were turned in by our locals.  In the marathon, 16 year-old Jesus Garcia of Camdenton placed 21st overall (of 457 finishers) and 2nd (of 8) in the men's 19-and-under age group with a 3:22:12 finish time. Another youngster, 13 year-old Jayleigh Grant of Lake Ozark, took 14th overall (of 596 finishers) and 3rd among 424 female finishers in the 5K with a 22:55 finish.

Here are the results for our local runners and former Lake-area runner Todd Raney, who completed his 147th marathon.   If I missed anyone, please let me know.

Complete results can be found here.

Total participation was up 18% over last year, thanks to a 30% increase in the number of half marathon participants.  Here are the total number of race finishers, by distance, since the race's peak participation in 2014.

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BETSY FARRIS MEMORIAL RUN (posted October 2nd)

Betsy Farris was the festival director for the Roots 'n' Blues 'n' BBQ Festival from 2009 to 2016.  The festival was cancelled this year, but the festival's half marathon, 10K and 5K live on as the Betsy Farris Memorial Run.

Marvin Bescheinen of Versailles and Heather Doyle of Tipton were the only Lake-area runners in the race.  A they normally do, Marvin and Heather ran the half marathon side-by-side from start to finish, finishing in 2:23:15.  That earned age-group victories for both Marvin and Heather--Marvin in the men's 70-74, and Heather in the women's 45-49.

Complete race results can be found here. 

Participation was down 30% from 2022, to the lowest level in race history.  Here are the totals, by distance, since 2014. 

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ST. JOSEPH MARATHON  (posted September 29th)

The inaugural St. Joseph Marathon was held last Saturday, and one of the 79 finishers was the most prolific racer in Lake-area history, Todd Raney.  This was Todd's 146th marathon finish, with just four more to go to reach his goal of 150 marathon finishes by December.  He finished St. Joe in a relatively leisurely 5:13:16.

Todd, who moved to Kansas City in 2017, has twice finished a marathon in all 50 states.  In accomplishing that feat, he also managed to achieve another, more difficult one: finishing a marathon in every state in under 4 hours. 

Tood will admit that he was very lucky to have completed his feats by September 2019.  Had he needed another year or two, COVID would have been a nightmare for him.

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Weekend race results (September 9 - 10):

The Plaza 10K in Kansas City had 1,696 finishers on Sunday, up 9% from last year. One of those was from the Lake area--Meagan Witt of Gravois Mills, who finished in 58:48, placing 43rd (of 161) in the women's 30-34 age group.

It was a family affair for two Lake Ozark families at the Onesie Funsie Rhino Run 5K in Kansas City on Saturday. Susan McNerny led the pack, finishing in 34:55, followed by Alyssa Gamm (34:58), two Gamm youngsters (35:02 and 35:06), Amanda McNerny (42:14), Dylan McNerny (42:18) and David McNerny (55:05).

At the Linn Invitational high school cross country meet, Nathan Reynolds of Eldon High School was the overall winner (over 79 others) in the boys event, finishing in 16:51.  Eldon's Zoe Martonfi took second among the 83 girls, finishing in 19:25.  Complete results are here.

Camdenton and Macks Creek runners competed at the Lebanon Invitational. The top local finisher was Caleb Phillips of Macks Creek, in 17:56.  He placed 15th of 77.  Camdenton's top male, Luke Webb, finished in 35th in a time of 18:59. The top local female finisher was Camdenton's Payton Canales, in 22:40. Complete results are here.

Finally, at the Father Tolton Invitational in Columbia, Colin Misenheimer of Osage High School took 14th overall, finishing in 17:38. Freshman Ben Koeppen finished in 18:30.   Another freshman, Rosie Falter, was the top girls finisher for Osage, crossing the line in 21:21. Host school Father Tolton had the top four finishers in the girls' race.  Complete results are here.

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Other weekend race results (September 2- 4):

At the Southwest Baptist University's Bearcat Invitational cross country meet on Friday, Clare Holmes finished the 5K in 20:43, placing 44th among the 102 finishers.

In her collegiate debut running for Truman State University, Ellie Webb finished the 4K (2.5 miles) in 15:51, at the Hawkeye Invitational in Iowa. She took 40th among the 55 finishers.

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TRIFEST FOR MS (posted September 4th)

Glickert defeats McDermott!

Yes, it's true.  Jim McDermott had his hat handed to him this weekend in the sprint distance triathlon at the TriFest for MS in Bentonville, Arkansas.  Jim finished in 1:21:44, over 18 minutes behind . . .  Greg Glickert.  (Greg is the 24 year-old son of a cousin of mine.)

This was Jim's fourth appearance at the triathlon, with prior appearances--and multiple age-group victories--in 2019, 2020 and 2022.

On Saturday afternoon, Jim finished the 400-meter pool swim, 15-mile bike and 5K run in 1:21:44.  He won his 70-74 age group over one other competitor.  Here are his splits:

Swim:        10:40 
T-1:             2:43
Bike:          37:17
T-2:             4:18
Run:          26:40 
Finish:    1:21:44

In the morning, Jim did the Olympic distance race, consisting of an 800-meter swim, 13-mile bike, and 5K run, followed by another 700-meter swim, 13-mile bike and 5K run. Here are his splits:

Swim:        23:01 
T-1:             3:14
Bike:          38:20
T-2:             2:12
Run:          28:27
T3               4:51
Swim:        21:44 
T-1:             4:20
Bike:          38:15
T-2:             2:25
Run:          29:48  
Finish:    3:16:36

Jim took second in his age group in the Olympic race (behind a fellow I know from Redman Triathlon days.)

Complete results can be found here.

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LEAKY HOURGLASS ULTRA (posted August 28th)  

This year's Leaky Hourglass Ultra in Half Way, Missouri was a virtual repeat of last year's race.  Cody Eubanks of Jefferson City outlasted Tim Barbee of Columbia, Illinois, except that it took him 18 hours (75 miles) to do so this year, versus 17 hours last year. 

The Lake area was again represented by Alysia Maschino, who went 3 hours (12.5 miles) this year, down from 4 last year.

Full results can be found here.  Mile 90 Photography posted its race photos here.

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THE MISSOURI AMERICAN WATER 340 (posted August 7th)

The Missouri American Water 340 paddling race from Kansas City to St. Charles on the MIssouri River that started last Tuesday was stopped on Wednesday due to unsafe river conditions. The river was littered with trees, logs and debris that washed into the river from heavy rains. MR340 has been cancelled or postponed due to river conditions before, but I believe this is the first time it's been cancelled mid-race--and certainly after less than two days of racing.

Here's the message sent out to paddlers when the race was stopped:

"Due to existing and predicted river and weather conditions the 2023 MR340 is ENDING NOW. A rising river, increased driftwood and debris (including large trees), flooding tributaries, a storm with very heavy rain targeting the final 100+ miles of the race combined with nighttime paddling and no moon light combine with other variables to make this decision."

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RAGBRAI  (posted August 3rd)

If you're a cyclist, you know about RAGBRAI, even if you never ridden it.  If you're a runner, though, chances are you've never heard of it.  There's really no running equivalent.

Each summer, tens of thousands of cyclists spend up to eight days leisurely riding their bikes across the entire state of Iowa. (RAGBRAI is an acronym for "Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.) This year's ride was the 50th anniversary of the event. Rather than trying to describe what RAGBRAI's all about, check out this documentary.

Over the years, we've had a few locals do RAGBRAI.  This year, Mike Korst rode it alongside his son, Chris, from Metairie, Louisiana, and eight others.  (More than anything else, RAGBRAI is about camaraderie.)  Mike says they rode a total of 522 miles, with 15,532 feet of climbing.  It was a baptism-by-fire for Chris, who prior to this year had never ridden a bike for more than 10 miles.  He also had to persevere through a cold halfway through the ride that nearly ended his participation.  (That probably paled in comparison to the suffering from saddle soreness.)

Here are Mike and Chris doing the usual celebratory dipping of their front wheels in the Mississippi River at the end of the ride:

Here are more photos passed along by Mike:

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Local runners featured:

It's been published since 2015, but I had never heard of Sports Locker Magazine (Facebook page) until the other day.  The magazine focuses on high school and collegiate athletes in mid Missouri.

Two of our top runners in the Lake area, Zoe Martonfi and Nate Reynolds, both of Eldon High School, were featured in the July/August edition (download). The article about Zoe can be found on page 26; Nate's story appears on page 44.   Or, you can click on the thumbnails below to read them here.

A tip-of-the-hat to Scott Gray for bringing the magazine and these articles to my attention.

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LAKE SPRINGFIELD TRIATHLON (posted July 31st)

Jim McDermott won the men's 70-74 age-group victory by default at the Lake Springfield Triathlon in Springfield, Illinois on Saturday.

Jim did the Oympic distance race, completing the 1500-meter swim, 40K bike and 10K run in 3:18:02.  Here are his splits:

Swim:        49:33  (3:18 per 100 meters)
T-1:             2:57
Bike:       1:14:58  (19.8 miles per hour)
T-2:             2:57
Run:        1:07:40  (10:54 per mile) 
Finish:     3:18:02

Full results can be found here.

The half-iron distance race (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run) was cancelled due to the heat.  Local officials insisted that all participants be off the course by 11:30 a.m., making that distance impossible to offer.

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Other weekend races:

The Show-Me State Games 5K/10K had a rather paltry turnout--21 ran the 5K, and 8 did the 10K. Tony Rigdon of Columbia, a three-time winner of the Rock Island Road Race 5K, was the overall 5K winner in 20:27.

Despite the brutal heat and humidity, the Rock Island Trail Half Marathon & 5K went off as scheduled on Saturday in Pleasant Hill. It looks, though, like some opted for the shorter race. There were 195 finishers of the half marathon, down 28 from last year, but that was almost exactly offset by the 5K, which had 33 more finishers this year (120) than last (87).

One of the rarest phenomenon in racing is to see a husband and wife be the overall winners of a race.  That happened down in Republic on Saturday at the Republic Tiger Triathlon.  What's even rarer is for the wife to beat the husband to the finish line.  In the sprint distance race, Erin Edminister of Bentonville won household bragging rights for the coming year after finishing two minutes ahead of husband Steve.  They finished ahead of 117 others.

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CHRISTMAS IN JULY 5K RUN/WALK (posted July 22nd)

Here are the race results (click on results for a larger image):

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Other race results:

The Last Annual Vol State Road Race 500K ended on Saturday, ten days after it started. One hundred and twenty started at the Mississippi River, and 93 (78%) made it to Castle Rock, Georgia. The final finishers crossed the line a mere 3-1/2 hours before the cutoff. Among the racers' comments on the detailed tracker page were these immortal words, "This is what volstate has taught me: I don't wanna walk, much less run, EVER again!"

The Badwater 135 ("The world's toughest foot race") was held earlier in July, and Ashley Paulson was the overall winner, in 21:44:35. She broke her own women's course record set last year. This should settle, once and for all, last year's big controversy as to whether she cheated by catching a ride along the course. It was written about at MarathonInvestigation.com.  After a review, Badwater's race director accepted her winning time.

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Weekend race results (July 15 - 16):

Steve Brennaman was apparently the only Lake-area runner who raced this past weekend.  Steve ran the 5K at Branson's Great Bacon Race on Saturday.  He finished in 32:02, placing third in the men's 60-and-over age group.  In the half marathon, one of our former locals, Andy Goessmann, took third overall (among 21 finishers).  Andy finished in 1:39:49.

Lazarus Lake's Vol State 500K race across Tennessee started last Thursday (July 13th) and continues until this coming Saturday. This year's winner finished in 3 days, 17 hours and 22 minutes. He beat the legendary Bob Hearn, who set the uncrewed race record of 3 days, 4 hours and 9 minutes two years ago.

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SUMMER ROUNDUP TRIATHLON (posted July 4th)

(Note: This triathlon took place on Sunday, June 25th. Results were slow in being posted, and I failed to keep checking for them until about a week later.)

Jim McDermott scored a men's 70-74 age-group victory by default at Sunday's Summer Roundup Triathlon in Jasper, Missouri.

Jim did the Oympic distance race, completing the 1500-meter swim, 40K bike and 10K run in 3:10:19.  Here are his splits:

Swim:        44:47  (2:59 per 100 meters)
T-1:             3:12
Bike:       1:16:07  (19.6 miles per hour)
T-2:             2:05
Run:        1:04:10  (10:20 per mile) 
Finish:     3:10:19

Full results can be found here.

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Other weekend races:

The Macklind Mile always brings out the fastest runners in the St. Louis area. The fastest mile among the men at this year's race on Saturday was 4:20.   For the women, it was 4:47. Here are the complete results.

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RUN FOR THE HORSES 5K/10K RUN/WALK (posted June 25th

Here are links to the race results: 10K overall, 5K overall and the top three finishers in each 5K division.

The photos can be found here.

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THE GREAT ESCAPE TRIATHLON & DUATHLON (posted June 12th)

The seventh annual Great Escape Triathlon & Duathlon in Jefferson City on Sunday dodged the threat of cancellation from possible thunderstorms, but light drizzle did manage to slightly mar the event. Ninety-one solo competitors and six relay teams competed in one of the three distances offered.

Mike Korst and Pete Groce, both of whom ran the Rock Island Road Race on Saturday, competed in the sprint distance triathlon (400-meter pool swim, 12-mile bike and 5K run), as did Cody Eubanks, one of our running friends from Jefferson City who periodically races at the Lake. 

Here are their results and splits:

Mike Korst (14th overall of 64):

Swim:         9:46 (2:26 per 100 meters) 
T-1:            3:21
Bike:         43:32 (16.5 mph)  
T-2:             1:46
Run:          28:30 (9:03 per mile) 
Finish:    1:26:55

Pete Groce (26th overall of 64):

Swim:       13:31 (3:22 per 100 meters) 
T-1:            3:08
Bike:         45:47 (15.7 mph)  
T-2:             1:48
Run:          28:14 (8:58 per mile) 
Finish:    1:32:27

Cody Eubanks (14th overall of 64):

Swim:       10:11 (2:32 per 100 meters) 
T-1:            2:28
Bike:         43:20 (16.6 mph)  
T-2:             0:23
Run:          22:33 (7:10 per mile) 
Finish:    1:18:55

Complete results can be found here.

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Other weekend races (June 10 - 11):

The inaugural Mighty Missouri Relay (45-mile, marathon, half and 10K) took place on Saturday in Rocheport. Results haven't been posted.  Some photos can be found on the Facebook page, but I didn't spot any familiar faces.

The Arkansas Backyard Ultra Championship came down to a battle between two women.  Lily Charles of Winona, Missouri, outlasted her final challenger and completed 104.16 miles (25 hours).  Complete results are here.  This year's race had 73 participants--the same as last year.

The smoke from the Canadian wildfires cleared in the days leading up to Sunday's Lake Placid Marathon in upstate New York. Participation was way up over 2022, although I suspect COVID-related restrictions were still in place last year. Still, the number of finishers were higher than pre-COVID 2019.

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ELDON ROCK ISLAND ROAD RACE (updated June 13th)

Click for the overall race results (15K 10K 5K) or division winners (15K 10K 5K). 

The race photos have been posted here. 

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HOSPITAL HILL RUN (posted June 5th)

The Hospital Hill Run in Kansas City celebrated its 50th anniversary race on Saturday with a much larger than normal turnout.  (Perhaps it was the swag--finishers received a special commemorative running jacket and medal.)  Hospital Hill is one of the oldest running races in the state; only the Columbia Track Club's Heart of America Marathon, which was first held in 1960, is known to be older.

Here are the results for our Lake-area runners, plus others we know:

Complete race results can be found here.  Athlinks.com results can't be searched by the participants' cities, so it was necessary to do a quick scan through the 65 pages of half marathon and 10K results.  If I missed anyone, or someone ran the 5K, please let me know.  

Total participation was up 93% over 2022, and was the largest turnout since 2016.  As far as I can tell, only two other races in the state can brag that their 2023 race is about the same size as their 2016, and that's only because their field sizes are limited.

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GO GIRL RUN COLUMBIA HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted June 5th)

Two Lake-area runners traveled to Columbia for Sunday's women-only Go Girl Run Half Marathon & 5K.   Of note, 13 year-old Rose Falter of Lake Ozark, who won the RunStock 10K and took second in the 5K, ran the half marathon and finished in 2:03:06.  Rose finished 11th overall among 105 female finishers.

Complete race results can be found here.

After a slight rise in participation last year, this year's turnout marked another new low for the race.  Heartland Racing took over management of the race (and perhaps even ownership) this year from the race's original organizer, Ultramax Sports. 

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Other weekend races (June 3 - 4):

The inaugural Hometown Half Marathon and 5K/10K was held in St. Charles on the Katy Trail on Sunday.  They had 191 finishers of the half marathon and 96 and 117 finishers, respectively, in the 10K and 5K.  The Kansas City version of the race takes place on June 24th.

GO! St. Louis had slightly fewer teams competing this year in their KT82 team relay race on the Katy Trail on Saturday.  (For runner safety reasons, the 82-mile race was shortened by about 7 miles to eliminate an intermediate segment that offered no shade.) They had a total of 117 teams this year, versus 134 last year.

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RUNSTOCK (updated May 23rd)

About 70 runners turned out for the inaugural RunStock this past weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks State Park. Runners had five races (5K, 10K, half marathon, marathon and 48-hour ultramarathon) from which to choose over the three-day event, with quite a few opting to take on multiple races.

Tucker Seise won the 48-hour ultra, completing 17 laps (102 miles) of the six-mile course.

Graduating Camdenton High School cross country runner Ellie Webb was the overall winner of the marathon, finishing in 3:49:24, ahead of fourteen other competitors.

Jardyn Angell of Centralia won the half marathon (over fourteen others) in 1:43:48. Two months ago, he won the Bridge & Dam 25K.

Rose Falter of Jefferson City won Saturday morning's 10K in 47:00, after finishing second (to Nigher Alfaro) in Friday evening's 5K. Nigher won the 5K in 21:14, making it his second overall 5K victory in two weeks.  He won Lake Regional's Scrub Run 5K on May 6th in 23:08.

Here are the results for our local competitors:

Complete results for all the races can be found here.  As you peruse the results, note the high percentages of half and full marathon runners who came from outside the Lake area to participate, including a surprising number from other states (Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois and Mississippi).

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CAPITAL CITY RACE (5K/10K/HALF MARATHON) (posted May 15th)

Five runners from the Lake area traveled to Jefferson City on Saturday for the inaugural Capital City Race, which offered 5K, 10K and half marathon distance options.

Here are the results for our locals:

There were 265 finishers at the race, including 103 for the half marathon, 52 for the 10K, and 110 for the 5K.

Complete results can be found here. 

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Other weekend races (May 13 - 14):

Results couldn't be found for the Run with the Cops, Not from the Cops 5K/10K in Eldon on Saturday.

The Running with the Cows Half Marathon & 5K in Bucyrus, Kansas (population 171) drew nearly 1,300 runners (mostly from the Kansas City area) for its race on Saturday. Like so many other races, participation was up from last year (despite a decline in the half marathon), though still well below pre-COVID years.

The third annual St Charles Half Marathon had 268 finishers on Sunday, down 31% from last year's 386. (Perhaps holding the race on Mother's Day wasn't such a good idea.  The first two races were held on other days.)  A 5K was added this year; it had 48 finishers.

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Other weekend races (May 6 - 7):

Bill Pauls of Camdenton ran the half marathon in 2:55:41 at Lazarus Lake's Strolling Jim in Wartrace, Tennessee on Saturday. Bill, who's 73 years old, was the second-oldest runner in the field and now holds the distinction of having finished a half marathon--as well as a full marathon--at the oldest age among Lake area runners.

No results yet from the Iron Horse Gravel Grind in Willard.

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LAKE REGIONAL SCRUB RUN (posted May 8th)

After going nearly a year without a race victory, Nigher Alfaro ended his long drought with a relatively easy win at Lake Regional's Scrub Run 5K on Saturday.  Nigher, who's now a five-time Lake Regional overall winner, finished in 23:08--three minutes slower than his winning time at the Children's Learning Center Night Glow 5K last June, and at his 2019 Lake Regional victory.  (Now 51 years of age, could Nigher finally be slowing down?)

Finishing one minute behind Nigher was Andrew Leiker of Columbia.  Andrew's wife, Mallory Leiker, was the women's overall winner, in 27:45.  (Nigher spoiled what is one of the mostly rarely-seen race results: husband and wife taking the overall victories.)

There were 65 timed runners and walkers at this year's race, down from 78 last year.  (There were 116 and 201 finishers in 2019 and 2018, respectively.)

Complete results can be found here. 

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TRAIL OF FOUR WINDS 25K / LOZ TRAVERSE / WANDERING BOBCAT 5-MILE  posted May 8th)

Trail of Four Winds 25K

Robert Bruns' long string of disappointment at the Lake of the Ozarks is finally over.  

For three years, Robert made the long trip from St. Louis to the Lake to compete at the Trail of Four Winds 25K, only to go home each time with a second-place finish.  This year, he finally went home a winner.  He finished in 2:16:58, 90 seconds ahead of the overall female winner, Sarah Billingsley of Rogers, Arkansas. This was Sarah's first appearance at TOFW.  Finishing closely behind, in third place, was our friend from Columbia, Andy Emerson who, at 54 years of age, is exactly twice that of both Robert and Sarah.

Interestingly, Robert's winning time of 2:16:58 was far slower than the in-person course record of 1:52:14, and 8 to 24 minutes slower than his own previous finish times.

LOZ Traverse

The LOZ Traverse race, consisting of 32 miles of trail running and 3 miles of paddling, was won by first-timer Jeremiah Nemechek of Kansas City.  He won in a new course record of 5:51:56, beating badass Army Ranger John Bergman's winning time of 5:54:35 last year.  Second place went to another first-timer, Tommy Doias of Eureka, who finished six minutes behind. 

The women's race has a two-time winner: Jenny Overstreet of Olathe, Kansas.  Jenny won in 6:21:12--45 minutes faster than her finish at last year's inaugural race, and nearly 90 minutes ahead of her nearest competitor, Jennifer Doias of Eureka.

Wandering Bobcat 5-Mile

The newly-added Wandering Bobcat 5-Mile trail race had 17 entrants, including three from the Lake area. Charlie and Connor Boyle--the two youngest runners (ages 13 and 12) in the field--took second and third overall, finishing in 51:09 and 56:26, respectively. Jen Schroer finished mid-pack among the women, in 1:06:12.

There were seven competitors in total from the Lake area at this year's race.  Here are their results:

Participation was down from last year for both the 25K and LOZ Traverse races, but the addition of the Wandering Bobcat 5M resulted in a slight increase in overall participation.

Complete race results are posted at both UltraSignup and Athlinks.

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MOLLY'S MILES 5K/10K (posted May 2nd)

The seventh annual Molly's Miles 5K/10K (Facebook), 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 with nearly 700 runners.  Proceeds from the event benefit Camdenton-based Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.).

Mike Malone of Lake Ozark ran the 5K in 19:48, placing 8th overall (of 560).

In the 10K, John Brody of Eldon finished in 1:08:41. That placed John 12th (of 16) in the men's 40-49 age group.

Near the back of the 10K pack was Scott Gray, formerly of Eldon but now living in Columbia, whose more leisurely pace of 1:31:59 still put him ahead of two others.

Marvin Bescheinen of Versailles and Heather Doyle of Tipton are listed at the end of the 10K results with identical 40:49 times, but no placing.   Those are obvioulsy not 10K finish times.  I have a feeling there was a timing snafu, and those represent an intermediate times along the course.

Our running friend from Rocheport, Zim Schwartze, a 21-time Polar Bear Strut 5K finisher, crossed the line in 58:23 and took third (of 9) in the women's 50-59 age group.

Complete race results can be found here.

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OZARK GREENWAYS FRISCO RAILROAD RUN  (posted May 2nd)

Three runners from the Lake area competed on Saturday at the 16th annual Ozark Greenways Frisco Railroad Run (Facebook) (50M/50K/marathon/half/8K) on the pancake-flat Highline Trail in Willard. 

Former Osage High School cross country runner Harrison Adams won the men's 20-29 age group (over 9 others), finishing in 1:37:18.  That was two minutes faster than his 1:39:31 finish at the hilly Bridge & Dam Half five weeks earlier.

Two names unfamiliar to us--Jim and Tina Utt of Kaiser--ran the half and 8K, respectively. Jim finished in 2:00:15, taking 6th (of 16) in the men's 50-59 age group.  Tina finished in 52:50, placing third (of 11) in the women's 50-59 age group.

Complete results can be found at UltraSignup.com.

Participation was up 14% over last year.  Here are the number of race finishers each year since 2014:

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Other weekend races (April 29 - 30):

Add Kansas City's CCVI Trolley Run to the growing list of races that managed to attract more runners this year than last. There were 2,696 finishers of the 4-mile race on Sunday, compared to 2,093 split between last year's 4- and 8-mile races. The Trolley Run offers a $6,000 prize purse (split between the top three male and female finishers) that attracts some of the fastest runners in the region. (Not surprisingly, though, their names are reminiscent of those for the top finishers at major marathons.) This year's (and last year's) winner, Zouhair Talbi, won in 18:01, a blistering pace of 4:30 per mile. The complete results are here. (I don't know if any Lake-area runners participated. Athlinks.com results are essentially unsearchable, and I don't have time to look through 54 pages of results.)

The Muddy River Marathon & Half Marathon in Cape Girardeau on Saturday had a 6% increase in turnout over last year. There were 85 marathon and 237 half finishers, compared to 89 and 216 last year, respectively.

The Chain of Rocks Bridge Duathlon in north St. Louis had 130 finishers on Sunday. That was only slightly less than 2022 and 2021, but still down 40% from the two years prior to COVID.

One of our local runners, Sondra Ellis of Richland, took third (of 19) in the women's 40-49 age group at the Shaw Bloom 10K Trail Race in Gray Summit (just west of St. Louis) on Saturday.  She finished in 58:02.

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THE 24 HOUR LIONS ROAR  (updated April 27th)

The 24 Hour Lions Roar (Facebook page) results have been posted at the race's Ultrasignup.com page. Here are the results for our Lake-area participants, and a few other runners we know.

Two items of note: 

The overall winner of the 24-hour race was a 49 year-old female, Oksana Loginova of Columbia. She finished second overall last year (behind Cody Eubanks), and won the 12-hour race in 2019.

The newly-added 24 Hour Tag Team Championship race ended in a tie, with the tying teams both completing 140 miles.

Some race photos are typically posted at the bottom of the race's webpage.  None have yet been posted for this year's race.

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Other weekend race results:

Former Camdenton Laker and Drury University standout cross country runner Jeremy Ryan took third overall--of 1,853 finishers--at the Cardinals 5K in downtown St. Louis on Saturday. (If any local runners participated, please let me know. I just didn't have the time nor desire to go through 38 pages of results on Athlinks.com. Nonsensically, the ability to search their results other than by name or bib number is unavailable.)

Two Lake-area runners participated in the Drink MO Wine 5K/10K/Half Marathon at the Mount Pleasant Winery in Augusta, just west of St. Louis.  Natascha Boettcher of Camdenton ran the 10K, finishing in 49:33, and placing 16th (of 120) overall. In the 5K, June Owsley of Rocky Mount finished in 30:48--pretty impressive for a 71 year-old. She won the women's 70-79 age group by default, and was the second-oldest finisher among 183 total.

The Garmin Olathe Marathon, Half Marathon & 10K had a total of 1,863 finishers on Saturday. That was up 24% from 2022. What's strange is that the marathon and 10K were both up over 50%, while the half marathon was down 14%.  Here are year-by-year totals since 2014.

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BOSTON MARATHON (posted April 17th)

Elaine Mallahan's goal of running the Boston Marathon was finally achieved after a four-year quest. In 2019, Elaine beat the Boston qualifying standard of 3:40:00 for her age group by 38 seconds, but that unfortunately came up shy of the 1:39 "beat" needed to be accepted into the 2020 race.  (The 2020 in-person race was cancelled due to COVID, and the virtual race was limited to those who were registered for the in-person race.)  Two years later, she finished the Run for the Ranch Marathon in Springfield in 3:40:04. That was nearly 10 minutes faster than the Boston qualifying standard of 3:50:00 for her new (45-49) age group, and more than enough to get into this year's race.

Despite the inclement weather, with light rain and temperatures in the upper 40s, Elaine still managed to run an outstanding race. She finished in 3:43:35, beating the qualifying standard for 2024 (should she decide this fall to apply for entry). Her pace averaged 8:32 per mile, and varied little from that throughout the entire race.

Two other runners who've appeared at our local races also ran outstanding races. Kenneth Bowling of Bolivar, who won this year's Bridge & Dam Half Marathon, finished in 2:41:07. Henri Coeme of Neosho, who won the Rock Island Road Race 15K two years ago, finished in 3:38:02. Not bad for a 70 year-old guy.

Marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, who was widely expected to win, started to slowly fade away with about six miles to go, and ended up taking sixth, in 2:09:23. (His world record of 2:01:09 was set only last fall at the Berlin Marathon.) His countryman, Evans Chebet, won his second consecutive Boston Marathon, in 2:05:54. The women's winner was another Kenyan, Hellen Obiri in 2:21:38. (This was only her second marathon; she placed sixth at the New York City Marathon last November.)  Both races were competitive up until the end. The margins of victory for the men's and women's winner were 10 and 12 seconds, respectively.

*   *   *   *   *

Other weekend race results:

Click for the results for the Ozark Foothills 100 (100M/50M/50K/Marathon/25K) held at Greensfelder Park in St. Louis County on Saturday-Sunday.   The Double Chubb 50K/25K/8M results can be found here.  Participation was down 18% from last year for Ozark Foothills (118 versus 144 finishers).  Double Chubb would have had a 9% decline (108 versus 119), but the addition of the 8-mile race option, which had 58 finishers, more than offset it. 

Heartland Racing took over the Go Girl Run Springfield Half Marathon & 5K this year, after it was cancelled due to COVID in 2020 and not resumed by its previous owner, Ultramax Events.  Despite the change in ownership, Saturday's race had less than half the number of finishers as in 2019.

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ROCK THE PARKWAY HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted April 8th)

Lauren Moriearty was the sole Lake-area runner at Saturday's Rock the Parkway Half Marathon & 5K in Kansas City.  The Rock the Parkway Half is the third largest half marathon in Missouri, after Garmin Kansas City and GO! St. Louis.

Lauren finished the half marathon in 2:02:40, placing 66th (of 199) in the women's 30-34 age group.  It wasn't a personal best for Lauren, but she did manage to beat her 2:02:57 finish time at this race in 2019.

Two weeks after running the Bridge & Dam Half, two of our running friends from Sedalia, Kim Ream and Lori Hurt, also ran the half, in 1:48:20 and 1:51:31, respectively.

Complete race results can be found here.

Participation at this year's race was higher than last year, although still well shy of that in pre-COVID years.  Here are the number of finishers, by distance, over the last nine races.

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BRIDGE AND DAM 25K, HALF MARATHON, 10K & 5K (posted March 29th)

A dreary, chilly early morning at the start turned into a sunny, beautiful day at the conclusion of the ninth annual Bridge and Dam 25K, Half Marathon, 10K & 5K (Facebook page) in Lake Ozark on Saturday.  It was another great, successful event put on by the Lake of the Ozarks chapter of the non-profit Missouri Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA).

The only downer to this year's race was the drop in participation for the second year in a row.  For years, Bridge & Dam had been able to buck the trend that started in the mid 2010s of declining participation at running races. The trend, though, has been so strong that Bridge & Dam couldn't remain insulated from it forever.

There were 313 finishers at this year's race.  That represents a 25% decline from last year's total of 418, and 43% from the record of 551 two years ago.  Percentage-wise, this year's decline was experienced almost equally at each race distance.  Shown below are the number of finishers, by distance, since 2015.   

Despite this year's decline in participation, Bridge & Dam still retains its status as the largest running race in the Lake area, and one of the largest running races in Missouri held outside of a large metropolitan area. 

Race Results

Complete race results can be found here. 

25K

This was the second year for the Bridge & Dam 25K, after it replaced the All-In (22.4-mile) and Double-Down (19.3-mile) Challenges that had been offered from 2017 through 2021.

The overall winner was Bridge & Dam first-timer Jarden Angell of Centralia.  Jarden, a 3:35:44 finisher at last fall's Bass Pro Conservation Marathon, won in 1:55:21, two minutes ahead of Les Shaeffer of Neosho.

The women's race was won by Millie Cavanagh, in 2:06:42. Millie is one of a trio of women from Sedalia who have raced before at the Lake, at both Bridge & Dam and the Rock Island Road Race.  The other two Sedalia ladies, Kim Ream and Lori Hurt, finished in 2:11:15 and 2:16:26, respectively, taking second and fourth in the women's race.  (Kim and Lori also extended their streaks as having finished every Bridge & Dam half marathon or longer race since inception).

I don't believe anyone from the Lake area competed in the 25K.  The race results don't list the cities or home states for the finishers, so I may have missed someone.

Half Marathon

Charlie Schattgen of New Bloomfield looked like the odds-on favorite to win this year's half marathon, after winning it last year in a course record 1:19:53.  Repeat winners, though, are uncommon at Bridge & Dam.  Since the race began in 2015, only two runners--Gerald Holtmeyer and Heather Oddo--have won it twice. 

Charlie finished only 16 seconds slower this year, but that was only good for second place, as Kenneth Bowling of Bolivar beat him to the finish line by nearly two minutes, in new course record of 1:18:19. Kenneth is one of the most elite runners ever to compete at Bridge & Dam.  He took second overall at the Bass Pro Conservation Marathon last fall (in 2:47:41), won Bass Pro's Dogwood Canyon 25K trail race (ahead of 415 others), and finished last year's Boston Marathon in 2:45:50. 

In the women's race, another Bridge & Dam first-timer, Sarah Grigsby of Belleville, Illinois, won in 1:35:16, five minutes ahead of Jordan Haedt. Lizzy Handschy's winning time of 1:23:20 at the inaugural Bridge & Dam half in 2015 remains one of the very few Bridge & Dam records that has yet to be broken.

Harrison Adams, a former Osage High School cross country runner, was our top Lake-area finisher.  Harrison placed sixth overall, finishing in 1:39:31.  Another former Osage cross country runner, Gabrielle Hill, was the top local female finisher.  She finished fifth overall among the women, in 1:48:55.  She stepped up to the half this year, after running the 10K last year.

The phenomenal, 63 year-old, two-time winner (2015 and 2016) at Bridge & Dam, Gerald Holtmeyer from Bonnots Mill, finished seventh overall, in 1:40:04.  Eight years ago, he won in 1:22:22. 

10K

The 10K was won by dominating--but not record-breaking--performances on both the men's and women's sides.  The winners were, not surprisingly, both former collegiate cross country runners. 

Tucker Seise ran a 5:53 pace to win the men's 10K in 36:30, about 4-1/2 minutes ahead of Bryan Hollenberg. Tucker gave the Lake area one of only two overall victories at this year's Bridge & Dam.  Last year's men's winner--and still the course recordholder--Tony Hicks of Jefferson City finished third among the men, in 41:58.

Madeline Bostick of Centralia won the women's race in 41:56.  The 2021 graduate and former cross country runner for Truman State University in Kirksville finished over seven minutes ahead of second-place female Ashley Geist.

Our friend and former Lake-area runner Andy Goessmann took fifth overall, finishing in 42:05. 

5K

Bryan Opie of Eldon gave the Lake area its second overall win at this year's race.  Bryan won the 5K in 23:06.  Finishing second overall, and top female, was Danielle Stafford of Jefferson City, in 24:04.

The oldest competitor at this year's race was Carol Cange, who at age 83 finished the 5K in 54:37.

Legacy Half Finishers

Eight of the nine runners who had finished every Bridge & Dam half marathon (or longer race) since its debut in 2015 returned this year to extend their streaks. (2020 is excluded from the tally since the race was virtual only.)  Doug Kueker was the lone runner whose streak ended this year. Below is the list of the diehards. Their ages appear in parentheses.  The competition to be the very last legacy runner remaining could go on for many years.

Russell Burkett (51) (O'Fallon, MO)
Jeanette Pfetsch (48) (Kansas City)
Alisha Eldridge (42) (Eldon)
Ryan Garlock (46) (Lincoln, NE)
Lindsay Garlock (46) (Lincoln, NE)
Lori Hurt (41) (Sedalia)
Kim Ream (40) (Sedalia)
Heather Skouby (53) (Eldon)

Weather

Temperatures for this year's race were identical to last year's, with 40° at the start, and 47° at 11:00 a.m.  Cloudy skies and brisk winds made it feel colder than last year at the start, but diminishing winds and sunny skies by 10:00 a.m. made for beautiful weather for the finish.

Results for Lake-area runners

Here are the results for our Lake-area runners, by race distance and finish order.  (If I missed anyone, please let me know.)

Photos

The race photos are still being edited at this time.

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SOCK AND UNDIE RUNDIE (posted March 25th)

After blowing the dust and knocking the cobwebs off their running shoes, Scott and Jayna Gray went down to Springfield on Saturday for FosterAdopt Connect's Sock and Undie Rundie 5K. Scott and Jayna ran it side-by-side, finishing in 43:40.  That was good enough for an age-group win for Jayna, and a second-place finish for Scott.  The complete race results are here.  With a race name like that, I'm afraid to go looking for race photos for fear of what I might see.

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TOKYO MARATHON (posted March 13th)

Jeremy Ryan, a former Camdenton High School and Drury University standout cross country runner now living in St. Louis, ran the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday, March 5th.

Jeremy finished in 2:32:25, placing 228th overall (of 27,927 finishers) and 77th (of 1,150) in the men's 25-29 age group.  Among the American finishers, he was 13th.

It looks like Jeremy may have set a new personal best. Here are the past marathon results we have for him:

2018 GO! St. Louis Marathon - 2:38:39
2018 Bass Pro Marathon - 2:49:55
2019 Boston Marathon - 2:44:19
2020 Bass Pro Marathon - 2:38:22
2021 Chicago Marathon - 2:40:19

A tip of the hat to Gary Thompson for letting us know about Jeremy's race in Tokyo.

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Other weekend races:

The inaugural Three Creeks Torrent Trail Runs in Columbia on Saturday had 10, 15, and 35 finishers, respectively, in the 30-, 20-, and 10-mile races.  A couple familiar Columbia runners were among them.  Andy Emerson finished the 20-mile race in 3:16:00, placing 4th overall.  Tony Rigdon, who won last year's Rock Island Road Race 5K, finished 3rd overall in the 10-miler, in 1:32:00.    

St. Louis' St. Patrick's Day Parade Run on Saturday had 1,910 finishers in the 5-mile race, and 503 in the 3K. Both were up from last year, but still far below the norm of the mid 2010s.  This was once the biggest race in the St. Louis area (after the GO! St. Louis Marathon & Half fell in popularity), but its own decline has now put it in at least third-place, with MO' Cowbell moving ahead of it.

The Creve Coeur St. Paddy's Day Half Marathon & 7K in west St. Louis County surely attracted some runners who might have otherwise gone to downtown St. Louis for the St. Patrick's Day Parade Run. They had 348 half marathon finishers (down from 386 last year) and 447 7K finishers (up from 310). Jill Wagner of Sullivan, Missouri, who's been a multi-year winner at Bridge & Dam, finished second overall in the women's half marathon (in 1:36:45), just 9 seconds behind the winner.

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LITTLE ROCK MARATHON, HALF MARATHON, 10K & 5K (posted March 6th)

Mark Hampton (photo) of Tipton, whom you may remember if you ran the now-defunct Give 'Em The Bird 5K, finished the Little Rock Marathon in 3:57:54 on Sunday.

A past Rock Island Road Race competitor, Robert Dewar (photo) of Springfield, also finished the marathon, in 6:55:52.  That may not seem noteworthy, except that Robert is 77 years old.  (The marathon has a 6:00:00 time limit for general entrants, but offers an early start option for pre-approved runners giving them an additional two hours to finish.)

Participation was up from last year, although still well below that of the mid 2010s, when the race regularly sold out.

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

Thirty-four runners and walkers turned out at the Tri-County YMCA in Osage Beach on a beautiful Saturday morning for the fifth annual Whobilation 5K. 

Tucker Seise was the overall race winner in 18:09--a more leisurely pace than his 17:10 winning time two years ago. That was still nearly a five-minute margin of victory over the next two finishers, female winner Brooklyn Lercher and second-place male finisher Harley Owens, both of whom crossed the finish line in 23:03. Brooklyn is an 8th grade student from Waynesville who was also the top female at last summer's Christmas in July 5K.

Here are the full results:

    By age division
    By finish order

The photos can be found here.

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

A quick, rough count at the starting line tallied about 75 runners and walkers at this year's Polar Bear Strut 5K.  If accurate, that's slightly higher than year's field of 65, perhaps helped along by warmer temperatures (about 10° higher) for this year's race.

Tucker Seise and Ellie Webb each claimed their second overall Strut victories. Tucker won the men's race in 16:51. (He won in 2020 in 18:46, but the Strut course was shortened to about 2.8 miles beginning in 2021 for safety reasons.  He beat the 2021 and 2022 winning times by over two minutes.)  Ellie who won the women's race in 19:43--four seconds faster than her winning time last year.  Since early last November, Ellie's competed for Camdenton HIgh School at the Missouri state high school cross country championships, won her age group (the following day) at Bass Pro's Cohick Half Marathon, won the women's race at the LOTO Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving Day, and lasted 16 hours--or 66.7 miles--one week later at 4 Fore 30. She's signed to run collegiately this fall for Truman State University in Kirksville.

Full race results may or may not be posted. I'll keep an eye out for them.

The race photos are posted here.   There are fewer photos than normal since I was primarily shooting video footage for a planned video.

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TAME THE DRAGON (posted Feburary 27th)

After going untouched for three years, Gary Thompson's reputation as a LOTO version of Lazarus Lake (of Barkley Marathons infamy) for making a race course virtually impossible to complete, took a fatal blow on Saturday.

Jeff Ryan and Jason Noakes, who as team 42 Down came within one checkpoint (of a total of 36) of clearing the Tame the Dragon course back in 2021, managed to clear this year's course, thus ending Gary's invincibility.

Complete results haven't yet been posted, but check out the race's Facebook page for some photos and more.

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RUNNING FROM YETI (posted Feburary 27th)

Heartland Racing Co.'s Running from Yeti marathon, half marathon, 10K and 5K in Springfield experienced a huge increase in attendance over last year's inaugural race.  Here's a year-to-year comparison, by distance.

Two runners from the Lake of the Ozarks were among the 10K competitors.

Jeremy Zimmerman of Sunrise Beach finished in 54:52, placing 9th among the 40 male finishers.  Heather Miller of Camdenton finished in 1:13:18.  Heather was 41st among the 66 female finishers.

Complete race results are here.

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Other weekend races:

While Running from Yeti had a great turnout this weekend, that wasn't the case for the Psycho Wyco Run Toto Run trail races in Kansas City.   Participation in every race--50K, 20-mile and 10-mile--was down from last year. Here are the numbers:

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RUNNER'S CHOICE TRAIL RUN (posted January 30th)

LOTO runner Dan Robertson was one of 34 competitors at the Columbia Track Club's Runner's Choice Trail Run at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park on Saturday. Dan finished the 10K in 1:18:25, placing 16th among the 21 finishers. In the 20K race, our Columbia friend Andy Emerson took third overall (among 13 competitors) with a 1:57:46 finish.

Complete race results can be found here.

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BIG BEACH MARATHON, HALF MARATHON & 7K (posted January 30th)

Seven Lake-area runners sought relief from the cold by heading south to run the Big Beach Marathon, Half Marathon & 7K in Gulf Shores, Alabama over the weekend. Here are their results:

Tucker's marathon finish time of 2:54:47 will have beaten the 2024 Boston Marathon qualifying standard, assuming it remains unchanged from 2023's standard of 3:00:00 for 18-34 year-olds. Beating the qualifying standard doesn't guarantee entry; it only allows you the opportunity to apply for entry. In many years past, you actually had to beat your qualifying standard for your application to be accepted. For 2021's Boston Marathon, for example, 18-34 year old men had to break 2:52:13. In 2022 and 2023, though, they only had to break 3:00:00.

Tucker ran the fastest marathon for a Lake-area runner since 2015, when Lizzy Handschy finished the GO! St. Louis Marathon in 2:57:04.  (Former Camdenton cross country runner Jeremy Ryan ran faster marathons, but after having moved to St. Louis.)  Gary Thompson's 2:21:01 remains our Lake-area record, likely never to be broken.

All of our local runners ran the 7K that was held on Saturday. The 7K race results are completely screwed up.  (I can't believe they even posted them.)  The marathon results are a little screwy, too, unless you believe a 53 year-old man--whose last name is not Kipchoge--finished in 2:01:03, or that a 78 year-old ran a 2:43:14.   

Complete race results can be found here.

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WEEKEND RACE RESULTS (January 28 - 29):

The inaugural Bleak Midwinter Endurance Run at the Sac River Mountain Bike Park north of Springfield had 36 competitors among the 1/3/6/12-hour races. No one from the Lake area participated, but a few familiar names were in the 12-hour race results. Chris Hines was the winner, completing 49.2 miles, and Melissa Bland completed 28.7 miles to place 6th (of 7). Complete results are here.

The turnout for Sunday's Groundhog Run 5K/10K in Kansas City was well down from 2020, when the race was last held in person. A total of 1,845 runners (1,358 in the 5K and 487 in the 10K) participated in the underground race. That total was down 38% from the 2,970 finishers in 2020.  The Lake area was represented by one runner--Theresa Greiner of Sunrise Beach.  Theresa ran the 5K, finishing in 39:48 and placing 23rd in the women's 55-59 age group.  Complete race results are here.

The Alternate Chili 10-Mile Trail Run near Kansas City was for years a sizable midwinter trail race, with 173 finishers at its peak participation in 2017.  Last year, it had 75 finishers.  This year, just 15--far fewer than the field limit of 120.

The Wildwood Frozen Feet 13.1 Trail Race in suburban St. Louis had a 26% increase in participation over last year (151 versus 120), making it the fourth (of four) half marathon or longer races to see an increase this year. 

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WEEKEND RACE RESULTS (January 14 - 15):

There were 81 finishers at The Shippey Endurance Runs southwest of St. Louis on Saturday-Sunday, broken down as follows:

100 miles      12
100K             14
40 miles        11
20 miles        44

The most notable result came in the 100-mile race.  The winner, Chris Roberts of Kirkwood, won in 20:39:50--three hours ahead of the second-place finishers, and five hours faster than the previous course record.  If his name sounds familiar, it's because he lasted 84 hours at Big's Backyard Ultra World Championship in 2021, and was the next-to-last man standing.  Harvey Lewis went on to complete an 85th hour to win the championship.  It was 10 hours longer than any backyard ultra had ever gone before. 

Full race results can be found here. The race's Facebook page has lots of photos.

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The men's races at the 51st annual Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Half both went down to the wire, with one-second margins of victory for the winners.   A Kenyan won the marathon, ahead of an Ethiopian. The nationalities for the top two were the opposite in the half marathon. The women's marathon was won by a Japanese runner, and an Ethiopian women won the half.   No course records were set this year, after two were broken last year.

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