CHRISTMAS IN JULY 5K RUN/WALK (posted July 25th)

A crowd of 61 runners and walkers turned out for Saturday's ninth annual Christmas in July 5K Run/Walk at the Tri-County YMCA in Osage Beach. That was down from 79 last year, but still well above the 39 that participated in 2024. Looking at the hometowns of the participants, at least a third of the field were not from the Lake area, and presumably made this race part of their stay while on vacation.

As expected for this race, the weather was very warm and humid, with a temperature of 72° and relative humidity of 100% at the 7:00 a.m. start.   Some cloud cover and a slight breeze made conditions only slightly bearable for running.

It's obligatory to get a photo of "YMCA" being spelled out at he starting line of every YMCA race.

Tucker Seise has won every YMCA race in which he's participated these last five years, but that string of victories came to an end on this day.  Ashton Mai, a 19 year-old from Ely, Iowa--and a cross country runner at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa--trailed Tucker nearly the entire race, but sprinted ahead of him near the finish line in perhaps the closest race finish ever in the Lake area.  (Both were credited with 17:04 finish times.)  Ashton came to the Lake a few earlier than the rest of his family in order to compete in this race.

The women's race was won by local runner Natasha Boettcher, in 25:19.  Natasha is no stranger to winning Lake-area races, but this was her first appearance and victory at Christmas in July.      

    Men's and women's race winners Ashton Mai
and Natasha Boettcher.

The complete race results can be found here.

Many more photos from the race should be posted this coming week.  I'll post the link at the very top of this page once they're done. 

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WEEKEND EVENTS FOR JULY 25 - 26

The current, intense heat wave will be taking a breather later this week.  (Don't worry, it returns on Sunday, and with a vengeance. :( ) 

That should be welcome news for anyone wanting to do this summer's last local race--the Tri-County YMCA's ninth annual Christmas in July 5K Run/Walk. The race starts at 7:00 a.m. Saturday at the YMCA in Osage Beach.  Race-day registration opens at 5:30 a.m.   Scroll down this column to "Upcoming Events" for more information.

There's not much else happening around the state this weekend--all the more reason to show up at the Y on Saturday.

Columbia:

Show-Me State Games 5K/10K Road Race, Sunday

Kansas City and vicinity:

Midnight Run 5K/10K for Special Olympics, Saturday night
Matt Mason "Cowboy Up" Triathlon, Sunday
Diva Dash 5K, Sunday

St. Louis and vicinity:

Kimmswick 5K, Saturday
Tour de Kirkwood Triathlon, Sunday

Springfield, Illinois:

Lake Springfield Triathlon (Half iron, Olympic and sprint distance options), Saturday

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NIGHT LIGHT 5K & 1-MILE WALK (posted July 20th)

The biggest race of the weekend took place on Friday evening northwest of Springfield in Willard.  Heartland Racing Co.'s inaugural Night Light 5K had 534 5K finishers, plus another 41 participants in the one-mile walk.

Seven runners from the Lake area participated in the 5K.  Here are their results.

Complete race results can be found here.

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

Saturday, October 10: COMC Pretty in Pink Bubble Run 5K/10K

Saturday, October 17: Oktoberfest .5K and 5K

Saturday, November 7:  Phylicia Carson Memorial 5K

Saturday, November 14: Ozark Diamond Gauntlet 3/6/9/12-Hour and 1-Lap Races

Thanksgiving Day, November 26: LOTO Turkey Trot 5K and Fun Run