Feb. 12, -- the Fruita “Sweetheart” 5k & 10k. New course(s) this year, start/finish at the F. Community Center. Good attendance for an early-in-the-year event à almost 400 runners between the two races. Young high-school runners pretty much swept the 4 categories, save for KARA ROPER (a mere 40-years young) winning the women’s 10k.
10K: 83 finishers, led by JORDAN LEBLOW (17) and Kara (4th over-all). JAMES ROCHE (age 34) was the only other top-5 finisher NOT of high-school age.
WOMEN MEN
- Kara, 38:21 1. Leblow (17), 35:18
- Malissa Squires (49), 47:18 2. Alex Fisher (17), 35:26
- Lindsay Stansfield (40), 47:21 3. Roche, 36:44
- Kathy Meyer (40), 48:19 4. Lucas Olson (16), 40:26
- Nicki Huprich (36), 48:37 – 1st under-40! 5. Bobby Lehman (50), 41:23
Ms. Roper won over-all Master’s title. Note that Bobby Lehman was men’s master’s winner, with Sean Meissner (48) about 80 seconds later. Kyle Clark (39) was 9th over-all with 44:59, and 57-years-young Morgan Murri was exactly one minute after Clark. Bryan Baroffio (63) missed top ten by one place, winning the 60+ group in 46:04.
5k: 302 runners (including walkers) finished this event, paced by TYLER STOGSDILL (17) in 15:29 (a sub-5 pace) and JOCELYN OLSON (16) with 20:39. The fastest runners NOT under-20 were KEVIN BAKER (49), 9th-place, 19:45 and MICHELLE DAVIS (33), 4th woman and 28th over-all, 24:33.
Other times and runners of note were: Jackson Edwards (17), 15:57 – 2nd over-all; Billy Adams (18), 16:32 – 3rd over-all; Jacob Buddecke (18) – 4th over-all. Joel Thatcher, 19:59 – was 10th and 2nd over-40. 11-years-young Owen Roper was 14th over-all, 20:57. Joel Kincaid won the men’s over-50, 15th place and 21:04. Cassidy Cordova (21:28) won the 20-29 age group. John Ferguson (22:54) won the 60+ and Glenn Smith was 1st over-70 (29:30).
Taylor Skinner (15) was 2nd female, 23:16; Lillian Thatcher (15) was 3rd, 23:45; Michelle Davis mentioned above; G. Roper (age 9) was 5th female, 24:44. Kim Short won the lady’s 50+ group with 24:47 AND was first “master”, followed by Annie Fox (25:29) in that category; Lora Andrews was 2nd in the 30-39 (25:56) and Joan Levy was fastest 60+, 29:38.
MMS Directors meeting, Jan. 18: the editor was tired and not very observant (as usual) but
there may have been 8 directors in attendance. & Roxie. Membership is UP ˄ @ 177. We have $1M liability insurance (don’t push it, members!). Conrad made sure “our” events are on the RRCA website – again, RRCA covers running events – if one has a problem in the “Breaking Bad” Duathlon, the bike portion isn’t covered. Martin is going to acquire a “sit-skiing” device, emphasizing that “this is NOT easy.” The pi-day (π) run will, of course, be on March 14 and it will be an “actual” trail run. The Palisade “Brews & Cruise” Festival is slated for May 14. Does that mean Rondo’s Races will be that same weekend?
The M M S Directors, currently, are:
KARLA NEPHEW – President (& Jaguar-Timing-System).
ANDY WINNEFELD – Vice-President (& frequent medical insight).
TOM ELA – Membership (among many other things). ROSCO BETUNADA – Secretary, NL.
LARRY INGRAM -- Calendar, Race Director Consultant. MARTIN WIESIOLEK -- Web Site &.
SHERYL DOUGLAS (former President). CONRAD COLE – Treasurer & Purchaser of Stuff.
Striders T-shirts are available for $20. Pick one up at a group run or contact Karla at [email protected].
Please note that we are trusting that if you show up for group runs or events, you are either vaccinated or you will adhere to recommended safety protocols of masking and distancing. Thanks for keeping the community healthy!
For submissions for next newsletter: Email articles to [email protected]
Doesn’t have to be a ‘submission’! Let me know of O-missions, etc.
or ‘regular’ mail to MMS, c/o Betunada, 230 Sunset Hills, Grand Jct., CO 81503
MESA MONUMENT STRIDERS website: http://www.mesamonumentstriders.com –
www.facebook.com/pages/Mesa-Monument-Striders/282653486288
“Umpteenth” Annual APPLETON FREEZER (4-mile), Jan.15
36 runners ran this year’s Freezer, which has been run for many years. The Editor has run it a few times, back in the 1990’s, and it wasn’t an exactly “new” race then. Anyhow …
SUZIE STEEL & ADAM FEIGH were the quickest. Sean Meissner and Ezzy Rostel were runners-up. Women: Steel (62 years young), 30:33 2. Rostel (35), 30:48 3. Deborah Anderson (39), 32:18 4. Karla Nephew (42) and Angie Leonhart (39), 35:26
Men: Feigh (29), 22:45 2. Sean Meissner (48), 26:43 3. Cody Esbenshade (32), 29:24 4. Evan Rich (42), 29:47 5. Tim Davis (47), 30:16 Craig Parks (31:06) and Bob Thome (31:54) paced the men’s over-60 bunch. Thanks to Ray Jensen for Race-Directing.
For complete results, see the MMS website.
C A L E N D A R
(should be somewhat redundant, as our (somewhat) official MMS annual calendar should accompany this issue)
Note: all phone numbers “970” unless indicated otherwise
March 14 – “Pi” (π) day run somewhere …π – a trail run this year – watch the weekly mass email and/or Facebook updates for ‘particulars’ (when, where).
March 19: The Moab “Canyonlands” Half-Marathon (& 5-mile) check madmooseevents.com
Also in the Moab area: Registration open for March 26, Behind the Rocks Ultras, and the
April 9, Amasa Trail Race 15K, 25K https://www.madmooseevents.com/
Check the MMS website for events – e.g., the “Widowmaker” trail runs are usually in early April.
Group training run every Monday, 6 PM Ongoing - Copper Club in downtown Fruita
153 N Mulberry St across(diagonally) from Hot Tomato. Note: if no tables are available inside for after-run socializing, we will adjourn to Suds on the corner for our beers and chatting.
We run in all conditions. Like the Thursday night group, this is casual and all abilities are welcome with various distances to choose from. Copper Club is family friendly so underage runners are welcome! Tom 970-773-3124
Group training run every Thursday, 6 PM Ongoing - Handlebar, corner of Monument Rd and Broadway We'll be out there rain or shine. As always, this is casual and all shapes and speeds are welcome with various routes to choose from. We'll look out for you. Handlebar is family friendly so underage runners are welcome!
Daylight Wasting Time Headlamp Run Every Thursday, 6 PM, Lunch Loops parking For those who want to continue on the trails through the Dark Season, Kirk will continue to host on Thursdays at Lunch Loops. Please text Kirk that you're coming so that he can find you in the dark parking lot to start: 970 349-1185
MORE running websites:
sjmr.club ( SJMR ) San Juan Mountain Runners, 631 S. 2nd Street, Montrose, CO 81401
West Colorado GIRLS ON THE RUN: gotrwesterncolorado.org
Steamboat Springs: www.runningseries.com – this site should show all you need to know about most (or all!) the Steamboat-area races. Get on their e-mailing list!
rrca.org (road runners clubs of america) and colorado runner: www.coloradorunnermag.com
Support the underwriters / sponsors of the MESA-MONUMENT STRIDERS:
The following: Summit Canyon Mountaineering, ALPINE AUTO-HAUS, the FOOT SUPPORT GROUP, WEBCREATE.COM, and Dr. Andy Mohler, family practice, have assisted in keeping membership costs lower than they could be.
And: they support running in the Grand Valley (& elsewhere). Support them if you can!
ALPINE AUTO-HAUS, 539 BOGART LANE – (970) 248-8004
Consider this auto-repair/servicing shop – especially for your Audi or BMW or VW or MINI ~
FOOT SUPPORT GROUP Foot/gait/orthotics/bracing/modification specialists
“European Craftsmanship – Biomechanical Design” 3212 F Road, Clifton, CO 81520
888-242-3881 or, in the 970 area code: 434-2727
Summit Canyon Mountaineering 461 Main Street, Grand Junction, CO 81501 (970) 243-2847
Dr. Andy Mohler, family practitioner – with the Primary Care Partners PC, 3150 N. 12th (G.J., 81506), 245-1220
WEBCREATE.COM – just as it appears: need help with your website? [email protected]
Saturday, January 29 Arches Ultra 50-Mile, 50K, Half Marathon, 9K https://www.madmooseevents.com/
The editor tried to find complete results for these runs – but could only find 50m & 50k finishers and times (& ages). No home towns listed, so if anyone we know participated, sorry, we can’t list them here. None-the-less, the 50Mile had 57 finish, led by Luke Metzger (age 45) with 7:18:06 of fun. Seems like a familiar name, eh? Fastest woman was Kyla Maher (37), 8:30:10. The 50k saw 280 (!) finishers, and Mike McMonagle (31) was not too far ahead of Timberlin Henderson (25) – 3:53:26 and Tim just 19 seconds back. Devon Yanko (39) was fastest lady, 4:13:43, 4th over-all.
Feb. 19, MMS “Valentine’s Massacre” 3-mile prediction run
An enthusiastic “crowd” of 11 (plus 2 helpers) participated in this, possibly the last, “Massacre”. Chilly at the “3 wave” start(s) – everyone chattering away (some already drinking beer at 11 a.m.) at and after the finish. The last time this event was held (2 years ago) was the first time a lady was the outright fastest runner. Same for this year – Suzie Steel was a few minutes clear of 2nd-fastest Evan Rich. Ms. Steel set a new age-group record, 23:42, lowering the previous 60-64 mark by almost 6 minutes. However, the actual (“prediction”) winner this year was ex-MMS-president Sheryl Douglas, just 12 seconds faster than her pre-race guesstimated chronological … uh, whatever.
- S. Douglas, 12 seconds (predicted 36:50, ran 36:38)
- S. Steel, 42 seconds slower than 23:00 predict.
- D. Plunkett, 57 seconds slower than 35:00 predict
- Marshall Steel, 1 min. faster than 28:35 5. Courtney Barella, 1:28 faster than 28:31
Evan Rich was the actual 2nd-fastest, and scanned his watch periodically to finish just ONE SECOND slower than his prediction, so we insisted he avail himself upon the beverage-prizes anyway. Fortunately, Ronda Bowen did not come anywhere near her 90 minutes prediction, walking in about 36 minutes faster. Also participating were Conrad & Kim Cole, walking in almost 7 minutes faster than their one-hour prediction. Liz Norris had 46:48 of fun (it seemed); and Ernie Langelier was a bit slower than his prediction of 27:11.
Thanks ! to Larry Ingram for assistance and company.