Here for your inspiration and reading pleasure is the Striders Newsletter for JANUARY 2024. You also should be receiving the once a year paper copy of the Striders Newsletter. It should be landing in members' mailboxes shortly. Check the mailing label to see when your membership expires. You can renew online or by mailing in the form that's included. If you don't receive one:
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Paid Striders members get access to periodic discounts and deals. They are listed under the Special Deals link on the Striders webpage: https://mesamonumentstriders.com/specialdeals This code is for paid members only so please don't share. A new discount just became available to the Gemini Adventures UTMB Desert Rats Festival Apr. 12-14. It's good until Feb. 14.
This is YOUR newsletter! We encourage any Strider to write up and submit an account of your race, your everyday run, your injury, your life. Your experience is interesting and we want to hear about it. Email articles to [email protected]
T h e s t r i d e r
In this issue: ANNUAL CALENDAR included ! Annual MMS Treasurer’s Report.
Not in this issue: could NOT find GJFireFighters last Thanksgiving Turkey -Trot results ! (?)
THANKS to Conrad Cole, Larry Ingram, Karla Nephew (“Tales”), and Tom Ela for contributions
NEXT ISSUE à whatever readers send in – experiences of out-of-area running events, etc.
Out-of-body running experiences? Yeah … that, too …
New World Record 10k ! On Jan. 14 at a race in Valencia, Spain, AGNES NGETICH set the women’s world record, being the first lady to run the distance under 29 minutes! 28:46 is the new w.r. set by this elite Kenyan runner.
Local runners “doing well” away from home were: Whit Blair – Richmond (Virginia) Marathon 3rd overall 2:29 and Ryan Sullivan - JFK 50 mile 3rd overall 5:40. The JFK (held “back east” somewhere) is the U.S.’s longest-running ultra.
MMS Directors meeting, November 28: 9 (all) directors were present. Tom & Karla attended a Jaguar (timing system) training session (see summary, below). And, regarding any possible need for “dementia” health-care, concentrate on “exercise, diet, and an active mind.” See the Treasurer’s report elsewhere this issue regarding selling a (somewhat outdated) timing system. MMS provided timing for “Santa Cause” – and see separate “thank you” for MMS personnel (Conrad & Kim) timing a CMU race in November. The Rimrock Marathon & ½ had 67 finish the long race, and 250 ran 13.1 miles. And … our annual interacting with the BLM regarding permits on BLM land – e.g., Run-2-Whitewater, Garfield, etc. –should be conducted soon if not already.
TALES FROM THE TRIP TO ST. LOUIS
Saturday, day 1. - Tom and I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to get through security and wait at the gate. Our stay at the airport was lengthened by 3 hours due to incoming plane issues. We enjoyed the airport so much with all the other passengers that we missed our connection in Denver. Upon departing the plane in Denver we were greeted by a line for customer service that spanned the length of a football field (at least). Good thing we both charged our phones because the hour long wait on hold with customer service yielded our rebooked flights for the following day. Brilliant as he is, Tom had the forethought to book a hotel so we didn't have to enjoy a night at DIA, with so many other passengers. We arrived at the hotel at 11 pm; fingers crossed we would fly to St Louis the next day.
Sunday- day 2 we both enjoyed a workout at the hotel gym and took our time having breakfast and coffee before heading back to the airport at 1pm. Our 6pm flight moved gates and terminals and finally became a 7:20pm flight. We had been traveling for 28ish hours and had only made it 4 hours from home. We were hopeful, but also not trusting of the flight apps. If we didn't make it out that night a hard decision might have to have been made - do we cut our losses and go home or chance getting to St Louis and getting stuck there. Lady luck was finally on our side and we made it to St Louis. Another 11 pm arrival at the hotel, but we made it.
Monday - day 3 I woke up early and it was a balmy -4 degrees; no way I was going to run outside! Treadmill it is. I don't know how I used to run 10+ miles on the treadmill, but that was before I ran on trails. I know better now ;)
Now it was time to get down to the nitty-gritty and learn all there is to know about the Jaguar timing system. Opening statements by the owner were interesting and entertaining. Tom and I attended a session specializing in timing lap races, after which we headed down to the open lab room where we had a chance to see some new equipment and talk to Bobby, one of the lead technicians who has helped me troubleshoot issues in the past. He was again very helpful and informative.
After lunch we were able to listen to a very experienced timer from the East Coast speak about disaster recovery of race data when things go wrong during a race. That was followed by what we thought was going to be a presentation by the engineers, but we lucked out and it turned into a one-on-one with Bobby. He was finally able to figure out some of our report issues that we had recently seen. For dinner we ventured outside of the hotel to the Cheesecake Factory; neither of us knew what to expect having not been there before, but we're pleasantly surprised with their dining options. The late night session, from 7:00 to 10 ish p.m. discussed basics of the Jaguar timing system and was a great refresher and confidence booster for us. Throughout the day, Tom and I were able to network with several people from Colorado and are confident that it will be a valuable resource to us if we need them in the future.
Tuesday - day 4 - Another early morning workout for me, followed by the closing address for the conference. This day is when the rubber meets the road and we put to the test some of the things that we learned during the conference. We participated in two different race simulations and solidified our knowledge of the Jaguar timing system. Our new friends from Breckenridge, Leadville, North Carolina, and Quebec helped us with some specific questions with the software, race reports, and how to run a demonstration of a race to ensure we have the correct settings input into the timing system.
Wednesday - day 5 - smooth sailing with our flights back to GJ.
Our trip to St. Louis started out a little bumpy, but in the end I think it was incredibly valuable for Tom and I to attend the conference; if not only for what we learned, but the connections that we made.
Tom and I would like to thank MMS for the opportunity to attend the conference.
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
The M M S Directors 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 & still? Keeper of the Keys).
CONRAD COLE – Treasurer & Purchaser of Stuff.
MEGAN SAND – “Board Member #9”
C A L E N D A R
(phone #s, if any, are 970-area unless otherwise noted)
The Moab Triple Crown, Mad Moose's stellar trail run series, started with the Dead Horse Ultras. This features excellent winter running in the desert with many distances to choose from! Run one or run them all.
https://www.madmooseevents.com/triple-crown-of-moab.
Jan. 27, Arches Ultra Feb. 24, Red Hot Ultra Mar. 23, Behind the Rocks Ultra
Feb. 10, 10 a.m. “Snow Adventure” at the Black Canyon (Park) Visitor’s Center. San Juan Mountain Runners invite all athletes (o.k., non-athletes should have fun also) – NOT a group run but bring snowshoes or your cross-country skis for some “snow fun.”
Feb. 10, 10 a.m. FRUITA “SWEETHEART” (Valentine) 5k and 10k. Fruita Community Center, 324 N. Coulson. “Generous” age groupings. 10k start @ 10, 5k starts @ 10:30. Courses are on concrete RiverFront Trail, out-&-back. No dogs, please.
http://runsignup.com/Race/CO/Fruita/FruitaSweetHeartRun5k10k
Saturday, February 17, 10AM Valentine’s Massacre 3-mile Prediction Run
Dead end of Rosevale Rd past the base of Little Park Rd. – towards the Gunnison River. Entry fee is two beverages of your choice. The cumulative ‘entry fee’ will be re-distributed to the prediction winners !
March 14: Pi Day Run, Thursday, 6PM, Tabeguache Trailhead (Lunch Loops), 3.14 mile trail timed run. Bring a circular snack (or whatever) to share if you wish. This coincides with the first Thursday back on the trails after the time change. Tom 970-773-3124
We tried to find results from last Thanksgiving’s G.J. Fireman’s 5k and though the website has results for the previous TEN YEARS, we’ve been unable to locate the most recent. (Sigh) – however, we’ve heard that that event was the best-attended running event ever in our area – about 2,000 finishers.
Group training run every Monday, 6 PM
Monday continues to have a "no drop" group that will ensure you don't have to run alone. We now meet at Basecamp Provisions Fruita 6PM as always, 155 N Mulberry St. We run in all conditions. Like the Thursday night group, this is casual and all abilities are welcome with various distances to choose from. Tom 970-773-3124
Group training run every Thursday, 6 PM
Meet at Handlebar 6PM as always, corner of Monument Rd and Broadway. We run in all conditions. This is casual and all abilities are welcome with various distances to choose from. Tom 970-773-3124
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, ZEALIOS, 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
Ask about a possible MMS discount ~ (970) 243-2847 The new owners are rumored to be avid runners.
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]
December 2, MoLo 10K ("Moab Locals") in Moab, of course.
This “new” race brings about a sense of deja-vu – yes, a reincarnation of the many-years-running “Winter-Sun” 10k … is back!
136 runners finished this event, paced by Justin Ricks (43, from Moab) in 34:46 and 2nd-over-all, winning the women’s race, Francis Maddy (26, also Moab) with 36:01. Bernie Boettcher (61-years-young) was 3rd – 37:17. Evan Rich (1st finisher from G.J.) was 9th, 41:00. 2nd among the women was Hannah Aguire (43:10) and 3rd was Cheryl Stahly (G.J.), 46:19. Tough, simplified age-groups! (13& under, 14 – 59, and 60+). The 60+ had several G.J. finishers – Ernie Langelier (only 11 years into the group) was 2nd man, 50:43 – and 3rd 60+ was Scott Hollmaier (also G.J.). The women’s 60+ had 1, 2, from our town: Catherine Green (56:27) followed by Patty Simpson. Sheryl Douglas was 5th. Marty Ashcraft was 35th, 51:38.
Jan. 6 – Bang’s Canyon “World Championship” 30k trail run
31 finishers this year, with about a dozen more doing shorter (out&back) runs. WHIT BLAIR set the course record, 2:15:29 of effort, and 15-minutes back was Grant Roper (master’s fastest), 2:30:08. Brian Glassey was 3rd, 2:31. KARA ROPER was women’s fastest, 8th over-all in 3:05:00. Keri Nelson was 2nd (& master’s winner), 3:18:17.
G. J. City “Santa Cause” 5k Run – held on Dec. 9, had over 200 finishers!
Over-all winners were James Roche (36) with 17:02 and Bailey Pommerane (14!), 4th-over-all and fastest female: 21:19. Korbin Church (15) and Rylan Starnes (17) were 2nd and 3rd over-all with 18:59 (Korbin) and 19:15 (Rylan).
Taylor Valentine (26) was lady’s runner-up, 22:30, followed by Ali Singer (23:13). Lindsay Stansfield (42 years young) was Master’s Fastest – 23:27, followed by men’s masters winner Anthony Gossman (45), 23:35.
Emily Thom, CMU Manager of Campus Wellness & Fitness, sent a note to Conrad in which … “I wanted to send you an official thank-you for letting us borrow the race clock for our “Gobble Wobble” 5k (the race/run was held later November). I appreciate you for also running the clock throughout the race – and not charging us for borrowing it. Your support of the CMU foodbank is greatly appreciated! We raised hundreds of dollars for them and restocked the Pantry just in time for the holidays. There are some students who don’t go home for holiday breaks and are in need of food.”
Striders were decked out in their holiday finery for the Devils Canyon Wreath Run. This event occurred Dec.3, and is also known as the Strider annual “Christmas Wreath” Devil’s Cabin hike/run – D3 Trail, Devil’s Canyon Trailhead.
APPLETON FREEZER (4-mile run) – January 20
What a great day for the 40th running of the Appleton Freezer! Thirty six people towed the starting line. Brian Glassey was overall winner with a time of 20:44, of which it is the 3rd fastest time on record. (See website for bright & sunny (tho’ 37 deg. F) pixure of everybody) 6th & 7th over-all were women’s fastest(s) – see results:
1. 20:44.6, Brian Glassey,33, M
2. 21:50.9, Ben Highfill, 24, M
3. 21:55.8, Grant Roper, 43, M
4. 22:30.7, Chris Sovacool, 33, M
5. 28:04.6, Cody Esbenshade, 34, M
6. 28:49.5, Esmeralda Rostel, 37, Female
7. 28:51 Cheryl Stahly, 39, F
8. 29:12 Tim O Brien, 49, M
9. 29:54 Bryan Baroffio, (60-some), M
10. 30:13 Taylor Valentine, 26, F
11. 31:20 Emil Caiza Valera, unknown, M
12. 31:58 Aleksey Kovtun, 34, M
13. 32:26 Brad Samuels, 31, M
14. 32:53 Pascal Brommeilo, 44, M
15. 34:03 Bob Thome, 69, M
16. 34:17 Erik Lionberger, 46, M
17. 34:46 Ernie Langelier, 71, M
18. 35:01 Laura Partin, 47, F
19. 35:53 Marty Wacker, 52, M
20. 35:53 Kamal Adhikari, 57, M
21. 35:59 Michael Miller, 49, M
22. 37:18 Sue Ceglowski, 57, F
23. 38:12 Sara Freidmen, 45, F
24. 40:18 Scott Hollmaier, (un), M
25. 40:38 Jessica Dahl, 39, F
26. 40:50 Mary Pitz, 60, F
27. 41:13 Tom Ela, 71, M
28. 41:16 Justin Montemarano, 41, M
29. 41:33 Nicole Rivas, 34, F
30. 42:27 Andy Winnefeld, 52, M
31. 47:11 Miranda Gillliam, 50, F
32. 47:40 Steve DeFeter, 72, M
33. 51:33 Sheryl Douglas, 72, F
34. 57:01 Juan Ciaza Velera,(un), M
35. 1:03:36 Liz Norris, 70, F
36. 1:19:14 Stephanie C. Velera, (un), F
Later that day, (Jan. 20) was the “Beer Mile” – please see results, photo, description on the MMS web page.
We are renewed with the RRCA for 2024. The total tab was $1,386.80 which includes:
Directors and Officers Insurance Dues for 191 active members 1 Million $ Liability Insurance and Volunteer Personnel Medical Coverage
Treasurer’s Blurb 2024
2023 was a good year for the Club. We ended up $1,609.94 richer than when we started. Memberships led the way in income. When we renewed our RRCA membership we had 191 paid up members. Chip timing came in second and as an individual item, our efforts to support the Tour of the Moon was third with $900 for supplying sag wagons.
We have a healthy balance in the bank, and with that have sent Karla and Tom to the Jaguar Conference to gain even greater expertise in the chip timing world.
Not all of our events were profitable. Our mission is simply to gather and enjoy the sport.
In December of 2012 Larry Ingram fronted the Club a used Ipico Chip timing system for just over $6,000. For several years that system provided the income to keep the Club going. We haven’t used this older reuseable chip system for a couple years now. Although it is more cumbersome than the Jaguar (having to take chips off at the finish line) it is still useable. It has been written down on the books to $500. If anyone knows of a club or entity that is interested in purchasing it, please give me a call at 970-201-4067.
Have a Happy New Year, Conrad
Balance Sheet & Profit-&-Loss Summary may follow, and/or included elsewhere this issue ~
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