Reminder: Daylight Saving Time ends Saturday night/Sunday morning.

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WEEKEND EVENTS FOR NOVEMBER 1 - 2

We have a local race this weekend. On Saturday, the second annual Phylicia Carson Memorial 5K run/walk takes place at Osage Beach City Hall.   Race-day registration will be open from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m.  Opening festivities start at 8:35 a.m., followed by the run/walk at 9:00 a.m.  More details can be found under "Upcoming Events" near the bottom of this column.

This is a crucial weekend for high school cross country runners across the state.  District meets on Saturday will determine who advances to the state championship meet on Friday-Saturday, November 7-8.  The top 30 runners and top 4 teams in each district meet will advance.

Camdenton competes at the Class 4, District 2 meet in Nixa 

Osage travels to El Dorado Springs for the Class 3, District 2 meet

Eldon and Versailles go to the Class 3, District 3 meet at Linn

Macks Creek heads to the Class 1, District 2 meet in Hermitage

The Bass Pro Marathon, Marathon Relay, Half & 5K takes place on Sunday in Springfield.  Bass Pro is almost always the most popular out-of-town race for Lake-area runners.  (Last year, nineteen made the trek to Springfield for it.)  As of Monday night, all distances still have spots available.

 
A nostalgic look back:  LOTO runners at Bass Pro in 2013

If, instead of running, you're looking for something more relaxing to do this weekend, the TCS New York City Marathon will be broadcast live on Sunday morning.   ESPN2 and the ESPN App will broadcast the race starting at 7:00 a.m. Central Standard Time.  Many of the best marathoners in the world will be in this year's field, including past world record-holder and sentimental favorite Eliud Kipchoge.

Elsewhere:

Springfield:

Bass Pro Marathon, Marathon Relay, Half & 5K, Sunday

Kansas City and vicinity:

Nuttin', as far as I can find.

St. Louis and vicinity:

The Skippo trail races (10K on Saturday; half marathon and 30K on Sunday), Castlewood State Park
Run S'more for Hope 5K, Saturday afternoon

See the Big River Running calendar for more events.

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Weekend races (October 25 - 26):

Despite a busy race calendar this past weekend, I didn't see any Lake-area runners listed in any posted race results. If I missed your results, you know the drill.

The biggest Missouri races this past weekend were the Spooky Sprint events held in Kansas City and St. Louis.  The races, which offered half marathon, 10K and 5K options, had 578 and 368 finishers, respectively.  I've never seen this happen before, but the winner of the half marathon in St. Louis was listed as "Anonymous Participant".

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LAKE OF THE OZARKS OKTOBERFEST .5K AND 5K RUN/WALK (updated October 27th)

On Saturday, October 15th, twenty-two runners and walkers braved stormy weather to participate in the third annual Lake of the Ozarks Oktoberfest .5K and 5K at The Sanctuary Brewery in Osage Beach, benefiting Wonderland Camp. The thunder and lightning mostly stayed off to the north and south, leaving only a light rain for the participants to deal with.

For the third year in a row, Tucker Seise won the men's 5K over Nigher Alfaro.  Tucker's winning time this year was 17:37.  Nigher finished in 20:59.

The women's race, by comparison, had its third different winner in three years.  Brittany Parrish won this year, in 27:48.

April Leonard won the 0.5K race by default when Mike Clayton, the only other 0.5K competitor, shamelessly and pathetically cut the course short--in full view of those watching at the finish line.

The race results can be found here.

You can view all the race photos here.

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BIG DOG'S BACKYARD ULTRA INDIVIDUAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP  (updated October 27th)

Austrailian Phil Gore was the finisher of this year's backyard individual world championship. He needed 114 hours/yards, covering an astonishing 475 miles, to dispatch the last of his 74 competitors, Ivo Steyaert of Belgium.   (As I've noted many times, it's not the finisher who determines the length of a backyard race, but rather the second-strongest competitor.)  Going into the race, Phil's personal record was 119 yards; Ivo's was 110.  The top Americans, Harvey Lewis and John Noll, both stopped at 111 yards.  They each set new personal records.

Next year's race will be a world team championship event. 

Here are some links:

Live tracking

Big Dog's Backyard Ultra Run Group Facebook page

Main website

YouTube channel (for livestreams)

Instagram page

Ultrasignup page

Bell Buckle, Tennessee weather

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DETROIT FREE PRESS MARATHON, INTERNATIONAL HALF MARATHON & 5K (posted October 20th)

Much to their relief, four of our local runners were allowed re-entry into the United States after running 5 miles in Canada during the Detroit Free Press Marathon & International Half Marathon on Sunday. This is one of very few races that cross international borders. (Interestingly, a second half marathon, the Motor City Half Marathon, is held concurrently, but doesn't enter Canada.)

Natasha Boettcher ran the marathon, finishing in 4:46:48, and placing 111th (of 173) in the women's 35-39 age group. Natasha's detailed results and race photos can be found here.

Margie Gunter, Kim Sovcik and Christina Wilson opted for the half marathon. Margie finished in 4:39:29 (results and photos here), Kim in 3:43:18 (here), and Christina in 4:33:08 (here).

The races had a total of nearly 16,000 finishers, broken down as follows:

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GARMIN KANSAS CITY MARATHON, HALF MARATHON, 10K AND 5K (posted October 20th)

Three of our younger Lake-area runners were in Kansas City on Saturday for the Garmin Kansas City Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K and 5K--the biggest running race in the state. Here are their results:

Complete results can be found here.

This was a record-breaking year for participation at the race.  Total participation race was up 26% over last year, 76% over 2021 (the first race after COVID), and 10% over the previous record set in 2018.  Here are year-by-year totals, by distance, since 2015:  

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PHYLICIA CARSON MEMORIAL 5K (posted September 16th)

The second annual Phylicia Carson Memorial 5K Run/Walk will be held on Saturday, November 1st at Osage Beach City Hall. Phylicia Carson was an Osage Beach police officer who tragically died in the line of duty on Labor Day weekend in 2024, leaving behind a husband and six children.

Race-day registration will be open from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. The festivities begin at 8:35 with the playing of the national anthem.  The run/walk will start at 9:00 a.m. 

The entry fee for those 18-and-over is $25, or $30 on race day. T-shirts can only be guaranteed for those who register on or before October 1st.  Participants under 18 run or walk free of charge. 

T-shirts can be purchase at the event for $20.

Missouri Concerns of Police Survivors (donate here) and the Pregnancy Help Center (donate here) are the event's beneficiaries. Donations can also be made by cash or check at the race.

Online registration and more details can be found here.

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HONORING OUR HEROES MARATHON, MARATHON RELAY, HALF MARATHON, 10K & 5K (posted October 9th)

The eleventh Honoring Our Heroes race will take place on Saturday, November 15th. 

The 10K and 5K start and end in Rolla.  The point-to-point marathon and marathon relay races start in Salem and end in Rolla.  The half marathon starts at the marathon halfway point, and also ends in Rolla.  Bus transportation is provided to the full and half marathon starting points.

An expo and pasta party (free to race participants) takes place Friday evening.

Complete race information is available here. Online and mail-in registration information is here.

Check out the race's Facebook page for still more information.

Veterans and active-duty military members--and their family members--get a 50% discount on their entry fees.

Seven-time HOH marathon finisher April Leonard of Eldon is a race ambassador, and can provide you a discount code on your entry fee.  (Note: Discount codes can't be stacked.)  E-mail her here.

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4 FORE 30 INFINITY (posted October 27th) 

The eighth annual 4 Fore 30 Infinity (Facebook) backyard ultra takes place on Saturday, November 15th at the Ballparks National baseball/softball complex west of Camdenton.  The race will start at 7:00 a.m., and end when the last runner in the race finishes one more lap of the 4.16-mile course.  Kids' Harbor will again being the race's nonprofit beneficiary.

This will be the final year of 4 Fore 30, so if you're looking to set a personal backyard best, or to see just how far you can push yourself, this is your last, best chance to do so in the Lake area.

Registration and complete details about the race can be found here.

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