Other weekend races (October 24-25th):
Participation at half marathon and longer races has been noticeably up this year over last, but, for no apparent reason, it was down at all six half marathons held across the state this past weekend. From largest to smallest 2025 field size, here are the numbers:
Race |
2025 |
2026 |
% change |
|---|---|---|---|
Great GO! St. Louis Halloween Half |
643 |
592 |
(8) |
Bear Creek Half Marathon |
231 |
211 |
(9) |
Innsbrook Half Marathon |
174 |
98 |
(43) |
Spooky Sprint KC Half Marathon |
125 |
52 |
(58) |
Quivering Quads Half Marathon |
117 |
52 |
(56) |
Spooky Sprint STL Half Marathon |
75 |
71 |
(5) |
* * * * *
INNSBROOK HALF MARATHON & 10K (posted October 26th)

Since its debut in 2020, the Innsbrook Half Marathon & 10K has never had a Lake-area participant, until this year. Our senior phenom, 66 year-old Dan Robertson of Eldon, made us proud by running the half marathon--on a very hilly course--in an outstanding 2:04:07, and taking second-place (among four competitors) in the 65-69 age group. Photos of Dan can be found at his individual results page.
There were 98 half marathon and 126 10K finishers, respectively.
Innsbrook is a private community and resort about 25 miles west of St. Louis.
Complete race results can be found here.
* * * * *
BIG DOG'S BACKYARD ULTRA WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (updated October 20th)
Final results: The U.S. team won this year's championship, with a combined total of 1,120 yards completed by its 15-member team. The most yards completed by any individual on the U.S. team was 107, by Mark Dowdie.
Belgium, as a team, finished third, behind Australia. Its two top team members each went 124 yards--the most at this year's race. However, those two runners didn't continue on to a 125th yard, so there was no "finisher" in the Belgium national race.
Here are some links (better ones are listed near the to):
YouTube channel (for livestreams)
* * * * *
LAKE OF THE OZARKS OKTOBERFEST .5K AND 5K RUN/WALK (updated October 19th)
What a difference a year makes. Last year's third annual Lake of the Ozarks Oktoberfest .5K and 5K at The Sanctuary Brewery in Osage Beach was marred by rain and lightning in the area, with just 22 runners and walkers braving the elements. The weather for Saturday's race was perfect, with cool weather and sunny skies. Not surprisingly, the turnout was triple that of last year, with 65 participants.
Tucker Seise was the overall winner for the fourth year in a row. Tucker's winning time this year was 16:27 (5:18 per mile), beating last year's winning time of 17:37 by over a minute. Nigher Alfaro, who placed second to Tucker in the race's first three years, didn't attend this year, so Eli Wherley played runner-up, finishing more than three minutes behind Tucker, in 19:36.
The women's race, by comparison, had its fourth different winner in four years. Emma Greer of Sedalia won in 22:37--the race's fastest women's winning time. Mariah Conner of Rolla crossed the line 24 seconds later, making this the smallest margin of victory for the women's--or men's--race these past four years.
In the geezer-dominated 0.5K race (indeed the average age of the 11 participants was 64), Mike Clayton, director of fund development and communications for Wonderland Camp--the race's beneficiary--won in 7:24, a pokey, per-mile pace of about 22 minutes.
The race results can be found here.
* * * * *
GARMIN KANSAS CITY MARATHON, HALF MARATHON, 10K AND 5K (posted October 19th)
Four runners from the Lake area 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:
| GARMIN KANSAS CITY MARATHON, HALF MARATHON, 10K & 5K KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI OCTOBER 17, 2026 RESULTS FOR LAKE-AREA PARTICIPANTS |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Name |
City |
Finish Time |
Age Group |
Age Group Place |
| MARATHON: | ||||
| HALF MARATHON: | ||||
| Betsy Spica | Lake Ozark | 1:55:32 |
F35-39 |
34 of 278 |
| Amy Shatto | Osage Beach | 2:13:05 |
F40-44 |
74 of 189 |
| Amy Fowler | Lake Ozark | 2:20:21 |
F45-49 |
60 of 146 |
| 10K: | ||||
| Erika Harlow | Lake Ozark | 1:05:40 |
F30-34 |
65 of 170 |
| 5K: | ||||
Complete results can be found here.
For the second year in a row, participation reached a record high. There were 9,564 finishers at this year's race, up 10% from last year. Amazingly, that's nearly double the number that finished in 2021--the first race in the post-Covid era. Here are year-by-year totals, by distance, since 2017:
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marathon | 1,285 |
1,264 |
1,227 |
941 |
1,002 |
1,231 |
1,292 | 1,538 |
1,796 |
|
| Half Marathon | 3,584 |
3,990 |
4,137 |
2,432 |
2,782 |
2,833 |
3,176 | 4.004 |
4,388 |
|
| 10K | 1,146 |
1,365 |
1,297 |
811 |
949 |
979 |
1,221 | 1,605 |
1,707 |
|
| 5K | 950 |
1,272 |
1,006 |
725 |
820 |
962 |
1.205 | 1,506 |
1,673 |
|
| Total | 6,965 |
7,891 |
7,667 |
4,909 |
5,553 |
6,005 |
6,894 | 8,653 |
9,564 |
* * * * *
ROCK BRIDGE REVENGE 50K/25K TRAIL RUNS (posted October 19th)

Two runners from Linn Creek traveled to Columbia on Saturday to compete at the Rock Bridge Revenge Trail Runs.
Sydney Taylor--at age 14, the youngest of all competitors--and Kristin Doran ran and finished the 25K together, in 3:49:16. Among the 37 women in the race, they placed 31st and 32nd, respectively.
Complete results can be found here.
* * * * *
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* * * * *
PHYLICIA CARSON MEMORIAL 5K (posted October 3rd)
The third annual Phylicia Carson Memorial 5K Run/Walk will be held on Saturday, November 7th 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 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. The pre-race festivities begin at 8:35, and the run/walk will start at 9:00 a.m.
The entry fee for those 18-and-over is $30, or $35 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.
Proceeds from the race benefit The Phylicia Carson 916 Foundation.
Online registration and more details can be found here.
* * * * *
I'll post details of these upcoming events as soon as I can. Until then, here are links to them:
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
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