JAMAICAN ME CRAZY 5K RUN/WALK (updated May 18h)

The Jamaican Me Crazy 5K Run/Walk, organized by The Church at Osage Hills to support a youth missionary trip this summer, was held last Saturday (May 12th) at the Linn Creek City Park.  The event had a big turnout, with 154 participants.

Finish times aren't available, but Jeremy Glassmaker was known to be the first to cross the finish line, in 18:43.

Congratulations to Alice Staats of Springfield, Illinois, who won her age group in 29:38.  That gave Alice some pretty rare bragging rights--three age-group wins at Lake-area 5Ks over three consecutive weekends.  Alice's husband, Keith Staat, won the male 50+ age group in 25:13.  That comes two weeks after Keith finished second to Rodney Wright at the Lake Regional 5K. 

MIGHTY MELODY MIRACLE MARATHON, HALF MARATHON, 10K, 5K AND FUN TRAIL WALK (posted May 7th)

A special event is being held on Saturday, May 19th, in Liberty, Missouri (just northeast of Kansas City). The Mighty Melody Miracle Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, 5K and Fun Trail Walk is a fund-raiser to support the continuing medical care of Melody Faith Unger, who will be celebrating her first birthday two days later. Melody is a miracle baby.  She was born 13 weeks prematurely--weighing just 13 ounces at birth--and spent the first six months of her life in the hospital overcoming all the challenges and complications of a very premature birth.  She was given the nickname, "Mighty Melody".  As if that wasn't enough of a nightmare for the family, eight days after Melody finally went home, in October 2011, a terrible tragedy followed--Melody's mother, Lois, died.  You can read more about the miracle and tragedy at the link shown above, or at a special Facebook page.

If you are going to be near Kansas City on the 19th, please consider participating in one of the distances offered.  If not, please consider making a donation to the cause.

Thanks go to Jim McDermott for making me aware of this event.  Jim was planning to run the marathon.

JOPLIN MEMORIAL RUN (posted May 16th)

A brand new event, the Joplin Memorial Run, will include a half marathon, 5K and a kids' race.  It's on Saturday, May 19th--just days shy of the one-year anniversary of the devastating tornado that took 161 lives.  If you've been wanting to see the aftermath of that tornado, this would be a good excuse to do so.  Here are some photos taken last September, after most of the debris had been cleared.

TA-TA TROT 5K RUN/WALK (updated May 13th)

(Click to view a larger image.)

The biggest 5K event in Lake-area history was also among the best ever.  If you weren't there, you really missed out on a wonderful, inspiring and fun event.  The event was yesterday's (May 12th) Ta-Ta Trot 5K Run/Walk, which was held in memory of the late Eldon high school teacher, Betty White.  Proceeds from the event will benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

As mentioned above, this was by far the biggest 5K we've ever had in the Lake area.  An astounding total of 277 participants registered for the event.  That's 32 more than the previous record holder (Jax Attack 5K in November 2010), and about four or five times the typical number for a local 5K.  All of the credit goes to the We Bleed Pink team of Jayna Gray, Kari Salsman, Holly Thomas (a cancer survivor herself) and Jennifer Wrye.  They did an incredible job of organizing the event and recruiting participants.  Together, they will also be participating in Komen's 3-Day event--a 60-mile walk over three days--in Dallas/Fort Worth on November 2-4, 2012.

(Click to view a larger image.)
The "We Bleed Pink" Team
Pictured (left to right):  Kari Salsman, Jennifer Wrye, Holly Thomas and Jayna Gray 

The overall male and female winners were Jason Drake and Stacy Turner in 19:09 and 22:46, respectively.

(Click to view a larger image.)
The Fast People
Pictured (left to right):  Nigher Alfaro (second place, male 40-49), Rodney Wright (first place, male 50-59, in a 5K personal best of 20:49) and Stacy Turner (overall female winner)

An abbreviated set of results, showing just the top three finishers in each age group, can be found here.  I will post the complete results as soon as they're available.

A page of photos taken at the event can be found here.

As a personal postscript, I first contacted Jayna Gray back in mid March after seeing the Ta-Ta Trot listed on the Jefferson City Road Runners race calendar.  I offered to post it on this website as well, and she immediately accepted.  To be honest, though, I was worried that, with another Lake-area 5K scheduled for that same day, Jayna, Holly, Jennifer and Kari might not be able to able to attract many participants to their first-time event, and end up disappointed with the amount of money raised.  Boy, was I dead wrong!  (And glad to be, as well.)  I was literally shocked when I read an e-mail from Jayna a week ago saying that they already had 210 people pre-registered.  And with the final total of 277 participants, this event will probably stand as the largest Lake-area 5K event for years to come.

However, it wasn't the record number of participants that made this event special. This was an inspiring event, made all the more evident by the release of hundreds of pink balloons in memory of Betty White, and in support of all those diagnosed with breast cancer.  Unlike the racing at most 5K events, the racing at this event clearly took a back seat to the seriousness of the cause, and rightly so.

The balloon release.

Congratulations, and thank you, Jayna, Holly, Kari and Jennifer, and good luck to all of you in Dallas. Betty would be so proud of you!

TOUR DE CURE (posted May 1st)

TRIZOU TRIATHLON (posted May 6th)

Congratulations to our Lake-area athletes who participated in today's (May 6th) TriZou Triathlon in Columbia. The triathlon included a 400-meter pool swim, a 14-mile bike, and a 3-mile run.

Splits and results for Trever Griswold, from Eldon:

      Swim:        8:09  (1:51/100 meters)
      T1:             3:33
      Bike:     1:09:16 (12.1 mph)
      T2:             2:24
      Run:         21:24 (7:08/mile)
      Finish:   1:44:43
      Place:         25th (of 29) in male 20-24

Splits and results for Team Osage Beach:
      Swim:        8:14  (1:53/100 meters)
      T1:             2:00
      Bike:        57:26 (14.6 mph)
      T2:             1:12
      Run:         19:54 (6:38/mile)
      Finish:   1:28:43
      Place:         3rd (of 11) teams

Does anybody know who "Team Osage Beach" consisted of? The official results didn't list individual team members, and I'd like to recognize them--especially their runner.

WARRIOR DASH (updated May 6th)

A whopping 9,535 mud-loving athletes competed on Saturday and Sunday (May 5-6th at the Warrior Dash in Kansas City.  The event consisted of a 3.1-mile run through twelve obstacles and lots of mud.  

The results didn't identify the cities of those participating, so I couldn't tell who from the Lake area joined in the fun.  If you were among them, please let me know.  (I believe we had a few who are members of Anytime Fitness in Osage Beach.) 

If you missed out on the Kansas City event, another Warrior Dash is scheduled for September 29th in Old Monroe, Missouri, about 10 miles north of Wentzville and O'Fallon, or about 25 miles northwest of St. Louis.

If you're looking for something closer to home, check out the EPIC Mud Run coming up in Columbia on September 1st.

CAPITAL CITY ADVENTURE RACE posted May 6th)

The Capital City Adventure Race scheduled for this past Saturday (May 5th) in Jefferson City was cancelled due to a low number of registrations. The race had been held for a few years, but this year's cancellation doesn't bode well for its return in the future.  I don't know if it was a reflection on just that race, or if interest in adventure racing may be waning after years of growth.

RELAY FOR LIFE FLASHLIGHT 5K RUN & 1-MILE WALK (updated May 6th)

The Relay for Life Flashlight 5K Run and 1-Mile Walk, benefiting the Relay for Life of Camden County, was held last night (May 5th) in Linn Creek.

      
The finish chute was lined with luminaries, each bearing the name of a cancer victim. (Click to view a larger image.)

A rough guess of 60-70 runners and walkers turned out for the event, on a warm (81°) and humid evening.

(Click to view a larger image.)

The overall male winner was NIgher Alfaro (21:01), who won his second local 5K of the year following last week's victory at Lake Regional's 5K at Tan-Tar-A. For the women, the overall winner was Camdenton High School's outstanding freshman cross-country runner, Faith Scheidemantle, who crossed the finish line in 22:37.  The first male and female walkers to finish were Rob Gent and Janice Steinmetz.

   
Overall winners Nigher Alfaro and Faith Scheidemantle.
(Click to view a larger image.)

Here's the full list of winners:

Congratulations to Alice Staats, from Springfield, Illinois, for winning her age group for the second Lake-area 5K in a row, after last week's win at Tan-Tar-A.

Here are a couple more photos. I regret not getting one of Dawn Standley, who dressed up for the event as a lava lamp and would clearly have won the best costume award, if one had been given.

   
Another starting line photo, and the nice goody bag and contents.
(Click to view a larger image.)

Finally, thanks go to Nikki Brauer and Natalie Pasley and all of the volunteers for putting on a wonderful event, for a very worthy cause. Everyone had a great time (despite our groans about the humidity), and hopefully the event far exceeded its fund-raising goal.

If you would like the original, uncropped, unedited version of any of the above photos, please let me know.

ELDON KIWANIS' DENNIS SCHEIDERER 5K RUN/WALK (updated April 23rd)

The Eldon Kiwanis will be holding the 6th Annual Dennis Scheiderer 5K Run/Walk on Saturday, June 2nd.  It starts at the Public Safety Building on South Oak Street in Eldon.  Race-day registration for walkers opens at 6:30 a.m., with the walk starting at 7:10 a.m. For runners, registration opens at 7:05 a.m., with the run starting at 7:45.  (This new, staggered start is rare for a local 5K, and will greatly shrink the usual time separation between runners and walkers at the finish line.  My guess is that the very first and last persons to finish will do so within 20 minutes of one another.)

Pre-register before May 7th to guarantee your t-shirt.

This is always a really enjoyable event, and the course--through Eldon's tree-lined residential streets with only a few, gradual hills--is my local favorite.

For more information and a registration form, click for either a .docx or .pdf file. 

NIGHT STRIDE 5K RUN/WALK (posted March 28th)

The Children's Learning Center has announced that its 5th Annual Night Stride 5K Run/Walk will be held on Friday, June 15th, at Camdenton High School.  Fun, kid-friendly activities and 5K registration begin that evening at 6:15 p.m., with the 5K run/walk beginning at 8:00 p.m.

Pre-registration continues until June 11th, and gets you a discounted entry fee and a guaranteed Night Stride glow-in-the dark t-shirt.  Click for a registration form and flyer.

 

2012 ARCHIVES

2011 ARCHIVES

2010 ARCHIVES

2009 ARCHIVES

HAVE SOMETHING TO POST?

Doing a race or event that others might also be interested in doing?  Planning to do a training run/ride/swim/paddle and wanting to invite others along?  Let me know and I'll post it.