Well, the Shamrock Runs around the state have come and gone and brought us squarely into spring. The first of these was the annual AOH Locker Room Bar Run in Anaconda. I’ve already noted those results in my post of March 11th. This last weekend saw races in Billings, Missoula, Bozeman and Great Falls.
In trying to get results of those races, I’m finding that it’s not quite so easy to find race results from around the state. Runmt.com does a great job of posting the calendar. But, not all of the races or host clubs are super timely about posting results. And, for the most part, forget about finding results on newspaper sites. They were bad enough prior to the internet revolution. But now, the sport is all but invisible to them. Bozeman tends to be a decent exception (thank Tim Dumas and your cohorts at the Daily Chronicle). But even Missoula, a hyper-fit outdoors community is only so-so in listing results of anything but the bigger papers.
I would love to do my part in trying to spread the word and let our statewide running community know how races pan out. So, if you have run a race (or are involved in putting one on) and know where the results will be posted, let me know and I’ll pass the word. Likewise, if they aren’t going to be posted anywhere else, send me the results and I’ll post them here (or at least the top finishers).
Now, on to the races.
The most competitive of the runs (at least on the men’ side) would seem to be Bozeman’s race (The Run to the Pub) on the 15th. Kurt Michels (an MSU grad (he’s now doing post-grad work in mathematics) and Flathead HS alum) set a new record on the 10K course at 32:33. That bested his sometimes training partner Kelly Fulton by 37 seconds (33:10). Kelly is a BSDP team member, a Billings Senior grad, a cross-country all American at DIII St. Olaf University, and currently doing his masters in architecture at MSU). Also, Kelly is to get married this August to Liz White, a Tacoma native and another Ole grad.
First master’s man was an old Irishman straight from the streets of Butte, Pat O’Connor in 35:51 (4th overall).
The women’s open winner was Melissa Dock of Bozeman in a fine time of 38:06. First master woman was Marybeth Adams of Belgrade in 48:19. Full results at perfect-timing.org.
The Billings Shamrock Run was held on the 16th. I believe that this is the first Shamrock Run that I’ve missed since 1991 when we moved to Billings from southern California. It was strange to not be out there at 1:00 on Sunday hitting the pavement with the other members of the Blue Dome Social Club. That being said, it’s funny, but they held the race even without me present. I guess life does go on. In the last couple of years they have dropped the 10K event and have gone to a 5K only. So, the talent pool doesn’t get at all diluted. And, there was some pretty solid racing this year – probably the best overall set of performances here in the last several years.
As expected, Alan King dominated the field. Alan has been on a roll since about this time last year and is really establishing himself as one of the top runners in Montana. He’s a Billings West grad and did his collegiate running at Dakota Wesleyan. After a year in Alaska (where he suffered a severe ankle break playing tundra football), he’s come back to his home turf. After a solid year of training and mileage in his legs, he’s really starting to show his talent. Alan’s 16:33 was followed by a close race for the top 5 with Ryan Archer at 17:22, Josh Dean, as senior at Billings Skyview in 17:35, and Mark Bolt and Eban Nordhal (senior at Rapelje HS I believe) in 17:41.
The first master’s man was Stephen Kosnar in 17:54.
On the women’s side, Sarah Graves of Billings continues her stellar running of the last year with an 18:59. Sarah is a Sidney native who ran for Dave Coppock at MSU-B. In the last 1 or 2 years she has really developed as a runner setting PR’s from the mile to the marathon. In the marathon, she just missed qualifying for the Oly Trials with a breakout performance at the St. George Marathon.
The first master’s woman was Kathy Perrins in 21:43. Full results at rimrunners.org.
Up in Great Falls, the crowd seemed a bit smaller, but the runners were out for a good cause (raising funds to help the UGF track and XC teams. It’s good to see that Nathan Taylor is still running and racing and he took first place in the 4 mile event with a solid time of 22:33. CMR standout Keely West finished 10th overall and took home t women’s title at 26:47.
Spring has sprung, the races are being run and the trails they are a callin’.
See you on the roads, tracks and trails (watch for ticks kiddies)
Tony B
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