7th Annual Fall into St. Michaels Sports Boosters 5K - Saturday, October 25, 2008

Left: Finishers gather after the Fall into St. Michaels Sports Boosters 5K Run. Right: A photo of a few of the top male finishers after the race (from left to right): Mike Bickford (2nd overall), Mike Keene (3rd overall), and James Woodring (16-29 male age division winner).



Saturday, October 25, 2008

The rains cleared and the temperatures rose to present a warmer and sunny Saturday for the Fall in St. Michaels festival. One of the events at this festival was the 7th Annual Fall into St. Michaels Sports Boosters 5K Run/Walk at St. Michaels Elementary School.

The 5-kilometer (approximately 3.1-mile course) was flat and it wound through many different streets through the neighborhoods, by the water, and it even went by a marina a couple of times. A majority of the course was out and back, and runners got to enjoy running by the water, boat docks, churches, houses, and boats and they ran through the streets of St. Michaels.

Kate Rogers won the race for the females with atime of 24:22 One of the youngest female finshers was Molly Pittman, who won the under 15 age divsion for females. Nancy Toby, a very avid runner and triathlete, won the fifty-and-over age division for females with a time of 29:05; her second-fastest 5K she ever ran. Despite some injuries and illnesses, Toby has really improved her 5K and 10K, along with running longer distances and competing in longer distance events, and you can read about her resilient and strong approach to her training and races at: http://nancytoby.blogspot.com

Noah Wood was the first male and the overall winner of the race with a time of 18:54. Wood may have been about 15-20 seconds faster had he not gone the wrong way towards the end by accident, but fortunately one of the race staff driving a cart saw him go the wrong way and quickly redirected him. Wood did not mind too much, as this race marked his personal record-breaking completion of his quixotic goal to run in a running event in every county of Maryland (including Baltimore City) within half-a-year between May 3 and November 3; a six-month time frame that also saw him run a race in every county of Delaware within a week as well as a race in Fairfax, Virginia and one in Washington D.C. Mike Bickford finished second overall with a time of 20:07, winning the 30-49 age group division. Not too far behind was third place finisher, Michael Keene, with a time of 20:28, which I believe was quite a bit better than he was expecting. Keene is an avid runner and is a member of the Rise Up Runners (http://riseuprunners.blogspot.com) around the Mid-Shore area of Maryland's Eastern Shore. He helped put on the Bridge-to-Bridge Half-Marathon from Tilghman Island to St. Michaels, Maryland on Saturday, April 21, 2007; a race that seemed to be a big hit and it even included a 5K as well. Keene also placed third in this past March's Talbot Kids Fun Run (which was a bit less than three miles) in Easton.

Also worth noting is James Woodring, who ran his first 5K race and finished with a time somewhere between 22 and 23 minutes (probably closer to 22 minutes), and he won the 16-29 age group division. Woodring went on to compete at the Inaugural Rehoboth Beach Marathon on a relay team about a month later in Sussex County, Delaware. Al Kubeluis won the men's fifty-and-over age division, and Peggy Draughis was the eldest finisher of the event. Awesome work everyone!

Here are the results below, and right now I only have the overall and age group division winners by gender. I have not been able to get everyone's time (yet). I apologize this is over two months past the event's actual occurrence and I hope to have some photos up from it in the near future! Please let me know of any corrections or improvements that can be made! Happy holidays :)

Female:

Overall Winner: Kate Rogers - 24:22

15 and Under: Molly Pittman

16-29: Zoe Loca

30-49: Allison Jones

50 and Over: Nancy Toby - 29:05

Eldest Finisher: Peggy Draughis

Male

Overall Winner: Noah Wood - 18:54

16-29: James Woodring

30-49: Mike Bickford

50 and Over: Al Kubeluis

Upcoming Event: Run for Hospice, Friday, November 28, 2008

The YMCA of Talbot County in Easton, MD will host the 7th Annual Run for Hospice 10K Run and 5K Fun Run on Friday, November 28, 2008. The 10K starts at 10 A.M. and the 5K at 10:05 A.M. This should be a fun way to burn off some of that Thanksgiving food! Both courses are sid to be flat.

If you are interested, you are welcome to check out this website through the YMCA of Talbot County: http://www.talbotymca.org/easton/wellness.html#section-11

Have fun to all who participate and have a happy Thanksgiving!

YMCA of Talbot County - Talbot Kids Fun Run 2008

Talbot Kids Fun Run, Saturday, March 8, 2008

North Easton Sportsplex (on the "Rails-to-Trails" trails), Easton, Maryland

The off-and-on rains of the day and the cloudy skies did not stop close-to in not over a hundred participants from coming out to participate in the Talbot Kids Fun Run last Saturday in Easton. The staff and volunteers (many of which were from the YMCA of Talbot County in Easton) were just as tenacious in putting on the event, and a great number of them showed up. Fortunately it did not rain (at least not very hard) during the races or post-race ceremonies.

This event had two distances that started simultaneously at around 1 P.M. There was a one-mile for children ages 4-6 and then a three-mile distance for those seven or older (although a lot of participants seemed to agree that the flat, shaded and well-staffed course was probably much shorter than three-miles). The out-and-back course was pretty much straight, crossing a neighborhood street (that was well-staffed with traffic/course marshals) near the beginning of the route and near the end of it. There were one or two wooden bridges on the course as well, otherwise it was pretty much well-paved bikepaths.

The event was a fun fundraiser for Camp Lazy Days, a program put on by this YMCA. The Talbot Kids Fun Run has been going on for the past several years.

"I think it was great," said E, camp director and a coordinator for the Talbot Kids Fun Run at the YMCA of Talbot County in Easton. "We raised over $6,000 for Camp Lazy Days."

In the one-mile among the younger girls, Evelyn Campbell finished first followed by second place Kate Povis and third place Harper Melton. Among the younger boys in the one-mile, Matt Daniels finished first followed by second place Dylan Shreve and third place Jay Albrecht.

In the three-mile race, Stephanie Bazel was one of the first female finishers. Noah Wood was the first runner in for the three-mile race, followed by second place Curt Hutchison, and third place Mike Keene (16:57), who helped put on last year's inaugural Bridge-to-Bridge Half-Marathon in the St. Michael's area of Talbot County, MD last April.

"I think it's nice to have a race this early in the spring to come right out of winter," said Darryl Calloway, who ran this event for the first time and finished fourth overall in the three-mile race with a time of 17:30. "It's a good transition into the spring."

Many children and adults enjoyed this family-oriented event, whihc has drawn over 300-400 participants in the past. The event is not timed (unless you time yourself, which was how I was able to find out some of the other runners' times), and this year there were some issues with the order of finish, so I do not think I am able to accurately display all of the participants' names in the results at this moment aside from top finishers. Aside from that, this event is wonderful and it raised so much money. Children even won awards and honorable mentions for dressing up in St. Patrick's Day attire/costumes. The Talbot Kids Fun Run event was a fine example of how many people can come together and contribute towards a beneficial cause, despite rainy weather!


Talbot Kids Fun Run 1-Mile Results:

Girls:

1. Evelyn Campbell
2. Kate Povis
3. Harper Melton

Boys:

1. Matt Daniels
2. Dylan Shreve
3. Jay Albrecht

Talbot Kids Fun Run "3-mile" results

Females:
1. Stephanie Bazel

Males:
1. Noah Wood
2. Curt Hutchison
3. Mike Keene - 16:57
4. Darryl Calloway - 17:30


Hopefully photos of this event will come soon!