Bozeman Classic

The 31st Annual running of the Bozeman Classic was held yesterday (for us old-schoolers it will forever be remembered as the Sweet Pea Run).

The most competitive race of the day was in the men's 5K with John Ricardi (new Idaho State grad) taking his 3rd win in a row with a 15:41.7. John grew up in the area (went to high school at Manhattan Christian (in addition to some time in Gardiner and Bozeman) and has been running the race since he was a little kid (I can always remember the "Runnin' Ricardis" showing up to this and other road races in the area starting back in the 90's).

John's time gave him a 5 second + win over Steve Hickman (15:46) with Kurt Michels another 5 seconds back in 15:51.

The first master's man was Kirk Keller of Three Forks. With some renewed spring in his step since he has turned 50, Kirk ran 17:58.7 and became the first over 50 runner to go sub-18:00 at this event.

On the women's side, Elisabeth Driscoll (Bozeman High and MSU grad) won in 18:01.4 (good for 12th overall). The time gave her a comfortable 61 second win over Heidi Fry-Johnson (19:02). Keeping the masters titles in the over 50 category, Priscilla Flesch-Birtic of Bozeman (58) took the top slot in 22:07.

The 10K wasn't quite as competitive. Dan Jackson of Bozeman took the win over Birch Haraden of Billings as their 34:04 and 34:50 were the only two sub-36:00 times of the day. Lindsey Evans of Bozeman took a 42 second win over Renee Graham (Azusa, CA) - 40:11 to 40:53. Ultra-goddess Nikki Kimball continues to work on a return to race sharpness and gathered a 4th place finish with her 41:26.

Masters crowns went to Scott Snedden of Billings in 37:23 (6th overall) and Kisa Francis (Wilson, WY) in 43:36.

See www.perfect-timing.org for full results. And the Chronicle had a nice story about the event at http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2009/08/09/sports/000classic.txt

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard