2012 Archives

RUN FOR THE CHOCOLATE (posted January 25th)

If the Krispy Kreme Challenge isn't decadent enough for you, perhaps the inaugural Run for the Chocolate 5K run and one-mile walk in downtown St. Louis will fill the bill.  It's scheduled for February 12th, just in time for Valentine's Day. 

Race participants will be categorized by age and relationship status, so during registration, participants will be asked to specify one of the following categories:

Winners of the bachelor and bachelorette age groups will win a blind ice cream date at Crown Candy Kitchen (a St. Louis paradise for anyone who loves ice cream) or participating restaurant with their opposite gender age group winner.

Of course, the finishers medals will be edible.

BIKEMO 2012 (posted January 25th)

Major changes to the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation's annual BikeMO event are being made for 2012.  First, the event is moving to August 25th, instead of its usual scheduling for mid October when the weather is less predictable.  Second, the event will start and end in Columbia, not Holts Summit.  Rides of varying lengths will still be offered, as well as a route on the Katy Trail. 

MIDWEST BICYCLE EXPO & SWAP MEET (posted January 23rd)

This may be of interest to any visitors looking to buy or sell bikes or bike parts.  Click here for more information.  (Collinsville is an easy drive from St. Louis.)

NEWLY-ADDED TRIATHLONS/DUATHLONS (posted January 1st)

I've learned of a few triathlons/duathlons that may be of interest to Lake-area athletes.  None of the events are new.  They're small and not well known, but they're close enough to the Lake area to perhaps justify the travel time for the distances offered.

The Summer Roundup Triathlon in Joplin is scheduled for Sunday, June 24th.  (The Big Time Youth Triathlon will be held the day before.)  Two distances are offered: sprint (500-meter swim, 15.3-mile bike and 5K run) and Olympic (1500-meter swim, 40K bike and 10K run).  The swim is an open-water swim in Scroggs Lake.  (The youth triathlon, though, features a pool swim.)  The adult event is USA Triathlon sanctioned.

Not much information is currently available on three other events, the Sedalia Spring Into Summer Duathlon (short and long courses), the Sedalia Duathlon held in September, and the Fulton Triathlon (200-meter pool swim, 10K bike and 2-mile run). In 2011, these events were held on June 4th, September 25th, and July 9th, respectively.  I'll try to find out more about these events as they draw near.

ATHLINKS.COM (posted January 1st)

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Athlinks.com maintains a huge database of past race results that you can search by simply typing in your name, or the name of any other athlete.  It includes most endurance events of a half marathon or half Ironman or longer, and it's relatively complete and accurate.

Besides the race results, athlinks.com is a social network, allowing athletes to join the website and connect with one another.  They currently have 213,000 members.

(Thanks go to Denny Gillen for reminding me of the website.)