Weekend race results (February 14 - 15):
Two more Lake-area runners kicked off their season this past weekend at the Runnin' Against Multiple Sclerosis 5K in Columbia. Mitchell Allen of Osage Beach finished in 31:23 and placed 32nd among the 60 men finishers. Karli Wolfe of Linn Creek placed 49th among 108 women, finishing in 35:01.
The biggest race of the weekend was the Running from Yeti 5K/10K and half marathon in St. Louis, with a total of 693 finishers. The Snowball Series 4-Mile race in St. Louis on Sunday had nearly 800 runners registered, but only 521 turned out, despite much better weather than Saturday.
The Iron Heart Run in St. James had 10 race distance options (5K/10K/20K/10M/15M/20M/50K/50M/100K/100M--the most I've ever seen for a single event--but only 28 total competitors. All but 7 had podium finishes.
The Heart of the Ozarks Half Marathon in West Plains attracts lots of high school and college-age cross country runners from southwest Missouri, making it one of the youngest fields you'll find in a half marathon. There were 41 finishers in the men's field, and no one over the age of 25 finished higher that 19th. Three out of four finished in under two hours. If you need a dose of humility, that's your race.
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GROUNDHOG RUN 5K/10K (posted February 2nd)
It took 32 days, but we finally have a 2026 race finisher among our Lake-area runners. Three of our locals traveled to Kansas City for Sunday's Groundhog Run, held underground at the Hunt Subtropolis in its constant 65-68° temperatures. They were joined by 2,600 others fleeing the freezing weather above.
All three of our locals signed up for the 10K. Natasha Boettcher was first to finish, in 54:52, placing 9th (of 59) in the women's 35-39 age group. Kim Sovcik finished in 1:37:10, placing 57th in that age group. Christina Wilson had a 58:15 split at the 5K mark, but no reported 10K result. She placed 731st of 746 overall.
Complete results can be found here. Total participation of 2,621 finishers this year was up 10% from last year's 2,387.
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Other weekend race results (January 31 - February 1):
Besides the Groundhog Run, six other races were scheduled this races, but four of them were either postponed or cancelled due to the weather and/or course conditions. The two races that did proceed--the Columbia Track Club's Runner's Choice Trail Run (10K/20K) and the Eric's Run 5K in Carthage--had small turnouts, with 26 and 28 finishers, respectively.
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Weekend race results (January 17 - 18):
Three weekends into the year, we're still waiting to crown the Lake area's first 2026 race finisher. No one was crazy enough to race in subfreezing temperatures this past weekend. Maybe you guys are smarter than I thought. :)
The brutally cold weather didn't deter the diehards who competed at The Shippey Endurance Runs on Saturday-Sunday. There were 137 total finishers in the 100M100K/40M/20M races, and only 30 DNFs. Not surprisingly, eighteen of those DNFs were in the 100-mile race. That race was won--for the third time--by the phenomenal Chris Roberts of Kirkwood (check out his race history here), in a race-record 18:45:51, more than four hours ahead of his nearest rival. The final finisher crossed the line in 33:32:29. During that time, the temperature ranged from 10° to 25°, and the wind chill from 1° to 22°.
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Greater GO! St. Louis Marathon news: For the very first time in its history, the Greater GO! St. Louis Marathon & Half Marathon is offering a one-hour, early-start option. This is an excellent opportunity for slower runners or walkers who would like to do a marathon or half marathon, but who have doubts as to whether they could finish within the usual time necessary (6:30 for the marathon, 3:15 for the half) to be an official finisher. (There are few things more anxiety-producing on a race course than having to play beat-the-clock, especially in the later miles.) For anyone with a decent level of training, a 7:30 marathon is certainly doable, although it's still going to hurt.
There are some eligibility requirements for the early start. You can find them on this page.
The race takes place on Saturday, April 11th.
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Houston Chevron Marathon and Aramco Half Marathon: The first big U.S. marathon and half marathon of the year U.S. took place on Sunday in Houston. (Normally, the Houston Marathon and Half is held on the Sunday before the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, but this year's race was held one week earlier. In 2027, it moves back to its traditional day.) There were about 9,000 official marathon finishers (before the 6-hour cutoff), and about 14,300 half finishers (before the 4-hour cutoff). The race continues to remain popular. Ten years ago, when interest in running was peaking in the U.S., this race had about 7,000 marathon and 11,600 half finishers.
The large prize purse always brings out some fast runners. The men's races had new course records, with the winners finishing in 2:05:45 and 59:01 in the marathon and half, respectively. The women's race winners crossed the line in 2:24:17 and 1:04:49.
If you're interested in a mid-winter marathon, gives this race a look. The flat course winds through the nicest, most scenic parts of the city. Check out lots of photos taken at the 2015 race.
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RACE PARTICIPATION UP SLIGHTLY IN 2025
Interest in running grew a little last year, using the total number of half marathon, marathon and ultramarathon finishers at Missouri races as our gauge. There were 32,957 finishers at such races in 2025, in Missouri, up 3% from 2024. It still falls 8% short of the 35,731 finishers in 2019--the last year before COVID reared its ugly head.
Will we ever see participation reach the record levels of the early/mid 2010s? That's looking less and less likely as time goes on.
Here's a graph for the years 2012 through 2025. (Click on it for a larger image.)
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Weekend race results (January 1 - 4):
Lots of runners across the state crossed a finish line this past holiday weekend, although I didn't see the names of any Lake-area runners among them. (Similar to those first newborn baby of the year announcements, I'm always curious as to who among our locals will be the first to race in the new year. In 2025, it wasn't until January 26th that we finally crowned our first finisher.)
There were 1,670 total finishers at the five races held this past weekend. Here's the list, ranked by size.
| Snowball Series 5K (St. Louis) | 770 |
| Hangover Half Marathon & 10K (Kansas City) | 312 |
| SHiTR Trail Race (Half/10K/5K/1M) (St. Louis) | 274 |
| Time Travel Half Marathon & 5K/10K (Parkville) | 255 |
| Doomsday 5K Trail Race (St. Louis) | 59 |
| Total | 1,670 |
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