SEMO Running: September 2011

Thursday, September 22, 2011

2011 City of Roses Half Marathon

Cape Girardeau, MO -- September 18, 2011(Results @ Fleet Feet Sports Race Timing: http://www.fleetfeetstlouis.com/racetiming/results/CAPE/CAPE.htm )
(Race photos available from Goddard Photography: http://www.goddardphotographyonline.com/p887320935 )

September 18th turned out to be a beautiful day to run the 2011 edition of the City of Roses Half Marathon. The rain stayed away until after the race was completed to the delight of both runners and spectators. Fleet Fleet racetiming of St. Louis provided the chip timing and race setup. In addtion, dozens of local volunteers came out for race support to man the water stations as well as the numerous intersections for traffic control. Once again, the course tested the will of the participants as each had to negotiate the rolling hills during the last 5K of the course including the Kingsway "killer" hill just past the 10 mile water station. This section of the course often takes a toll on even the fittest of runners and this year was no exception.

228 runners finished the 13.1 mile course. A group of post-collegiate runners went out fast and ran close for the first 5 miles of the race before the leader created a gap on the rest of the field. Kevin McNab, a former SEMO and Texas A&M runner, won with a time of 1:09:49. Debbie Kerber, one of the elite Master's runners in the Midwest, ran away with the overall women's title in 1:34:14. Angie Banning and Kevin Hammes won their respective Master's categories.

111 women and 117 men finished the race.

TOP 5 OVERALL MALE WINNERS:
1. Kevin McNab, 25            1:09:49
2. Chris Losemn, 23            1:14:05
3. Cody Martin, 22              1:14:26
4. Ryan Lane, 27                 1:14:35
5. Caleb Zustiak, 34             1:19:58

TOP 5 OVERALL FEMALE WINNERS:
1. Debbie Kerber, 46                       1:34:14
2. Christine Williams-Mrotek, 46   1:38:31
3. Brigitte Kinnamen, 32                  1:39:21
4. Elizabeth Kleinlehrer, 36             1:41:09
5. Presi Sams, 42                              1:43:52

MASTERS WINNERS:
Men: Kevin Hammes, 46           1:21:29
Women: Angie Banning, 40        1:49:19

DIVISION WINNERS: WOMEN / MEN
19 and U : Alison Rexroat, 19 1:44:04/ Austin Koenig, 19 1:33:10
20-24 y/o:   Haley Bohnert, 23 1:53:45/ Blake Davenport, 24 1:26:15
25-29 y/o:   Erin Landon, 26 1:44:54/      Brett Hale   1:29:35
30-34 y/o:    Janell Kiersnowski, 30 1:44:54/   Tripp Logan, 34   1:30:39
35-39 y/o:    Chellie Jannin, 38 1:44:24/   Paul Fliege, 35 1:20:24 and **6th OA finisher.
40-44 y/o:    Adrienne Poe, 40  1:52:09/    Doug Ambler, 41 1:31:43
45-49 y/o:    Tina Lurk, 47 1:53:37/         Steve Schmittzehe, 47 1:32:11 with nearly perfect splits
50-54 y/o:    Kris Sherrill, 51 2:08:46      Dale Hoffman, 50 1:32:08
55-59 y/o:    Susan Aud, 56 2:10:02         Bill Kutz, 58 1:37:23
60-64 y/o:    Mary Behrens, 62 2:39:03   David Etheridge, 63 1:51:46
65-99 y/o:   ***Arnold Mueller, 80 2:34:45   The oldest HM finisher

Notables: Taylor Vaughan of Cape Girardeau, MO, one week after competing in the World Half-Ironman Triathlon in Henderson, Nevada ran a 1:28:29 on what had to be tired legs. This finish earned him second place in the 24 runner 35-39 y/o age division behind marathon ace Paul Fliege of Jackson, MO.

24 men competed in the 35-39 age division
21 men competed in the 45-49 age division
18 women competed in the 35-39 age division
55 men were Master's runners

--KHammes

2011 City of Roses Half Marathon. Field of 228.

Overall Winner Kevin McNab. Chip Time 1:09:49.

Third Overall Cody Martin and Fourth Overall Ryan Lane.

Masters Overall Winner Kevin Hammes.

The Force and The Nash-Man. (Photo by Robert Hearnes.)

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

2011 City of Roses 5K

HealthPoint Plaza is host to the 2011 City of Roses 5K and its 104 participants. A new course this year, and it is much more runner friendly. Gone is the zig-zagging through the residential area and hills behind Southeast Hosptial. A simple loop with 150 ft. of inclines that are behind the runner by late in the second mile. Its a cool and humid morning, but the rain forecast is wrong, and the sun peeks through at start time. SEMO freshman, and former Cape Central standout Roy Leighton shakes off the rust and leads from start to finish to win the overall in 17:30. Dana Davenport claims the female overall with a 24:00 flat. Most notable today was the return to racing of now 56 year-old Marc Romine. Marc had taken nearly ten years off after tiring of racing with nagging injuries. He competed in the 1993 and 1997 City of Roses Half Marathon finishing with times of 1:12:33 and 1:13:35 respectively. Marc was still running sub-55:00 at 15K when he was in his mid-40s. Jumps right back in the mix today with a 19:35 chip time and third overall finish. Other winners:

OVERALL AND AGE GROUP WINNERS
MALE OA: ROY LEIGHTON (17:30)		FEMALE OA: DANA DAVENPORT (24:00)
01-19	Ben Rouggly (23:35)	01-19	Miranda Brewer (28:05)
20-24	Jacob Dunmyer (24:49)	20-24	Evelyn Smith (28:06)
25-29	Brad Mueth (22:58)	25-29	Kim Burger (26:37)
30-34	Matthew Sparks (27:15)	30-34	Megan Reis (24:04)
35-39	Shane Morris (22:32)	35-39	Michelle Crosnoe (25:58)
40-44	Duane Emmons (22:47)	40-44	Colleen Odom (25:02)
45-49	Kevin Bramlett (18:17)	45-49	Cara Johnson (26:36)
50-54	Scott McQuay (22:16)	50-54	Beverly Mirgeaux (29:21)
55-59	Marc Romine (19:35)	55-59	Margaret Hill (28:47)
60-64	Dennis Goodman (27:23)	60-64	Renee Brown (25:50)
65-99	Paul Pierson (31:58)	65-99	Billie Bowman (42:13)

Today will be my last 5K as a masters runner. I have been "all-in" with my half marathon training for November, so there has been no racing and no interval or speedwork for over two months. Still, I'm thinking the fitness may be in there to push for a PR. Ended up running alone in second place after about 800 meters. Was doing everything possible to keep Roy Leighton in sight for as long as possible. Thought that I had gone out too fast, so went with running on feel rather than monitoring splits with Garmin. Glanced at it twice to check current pace at top of inclines at 0.55 and 1.77 miles. (6:15 and 6:07 -- neither good enough to hit goal.) After about 8:00 to 10:00 minutes, was paying the price on every little incline for trying to race with no VO2 max workouts. Was able to get past Houck Stadium, onto the more favorable section of the course, and push harder. A 5:47 third mile saved the day. Saw the clock coming back into the HealthPoint Plaza and knew the PR was just a short kick away. Chip time of 18:17.

--K.Bramlett

2011 City of Roses 5K.

Overall Winner: Roy Leighton (17:30)

Third Overall: Marc Romine (19:30) and Second Overall: Kevin Bramlett (18:17).

Sunday, September 11, 2011

2011 World Half Ironman Championships

Henderson, NV -- September 11, 2011 (Results @ ironman.com: http://ironman.com/assets/files/results/worldchampionship70.3/2011.pdf )

This event consisted of a 1.2 mile open water swim in Lake Las Vegas followed by a 56 mile bike race through Lake Mead National Recreation area. The competitors then finished the day with a 13.1 mile run through Henderson's residential areas. All athletes had to qualify for this championship race by finishing previous races and meeting the standards for their respective divisions.

Cape Girardeau's Taylor Vaughan, 36 years old, strapped on bib number 1032 and competed in the always competitive 35-39 year old division. He did extremely well at his first world event. Taylor began with a 40:20 in the open water swim and then transitioned to his beastly bike. His 56 mile ride was completed in 2:52:09 on a very hilly course. Taylor then took 1:32 to transition to his running gear and cruised to a 1:46:01 finish in the half marathon distance.

His aggregate time of 5:23:17 was good for 138th in this competitive division. More than 170 athletes from all around the world were competing and finished in this division. The only division with more finishers than the 35-39 year old group ws the 40-44 year old men. These two age groups typically have the most experienced and fastest athletes in the triathlete events.

Over 1500 of the world's best endurance athletes competed in the Henderson race. Taylor finished with a rank of 838 out of all finishers and did a great job. His wife and several of his friends were there to cheer him on as he completed his journey.

Congratulations for competing in and finishing this grueling event. The local community looks forward to seeing Taylor continue to compete in multi-sport events as he has spent countless hours of training to become one of the top triathletes and runners in the Southeast Missouri area.

--KHammes