The Walk/Run for Laura started early for me. I was up early at the College at 0600 to mark the course, drop off the tables, chairs and water jugs. The volunteers started showing up at 0700. Some of the runners showed up early and were warming up. Coach Anthony Barnes had them going through the paces. Sign ups were many and before you know it was time to start the fun. We gave them a loop course, from the gym parking lot down College Heights blvd. to Javis, tuned East to Sunland, up Sunland to the College fence. Turn West to College Heights blvd. and down back to the College gym parking lot. The 10k'ers did it a second time. I think all had a good time.
It was a pleasant morning for a run or walk. We gave out awards, some nice donations from our local merchants, and had the winning raffle ticket pulled for the award winning quilt from Laura's Mom. It was great to see this many folks come to support this event for Laura Warren, and we hope to have as many or more next year.
Thanks to all the walkers, runners and volunteers. Plus a thanks
to the local merchants who made donations. But the biggest thank
you to Paul Weimholt of Outragn' for the donation of all the t-shirts.
You all the Man Paul.
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2. Justin Salinas 16 22:32 3. Stevens Pearl 16 22:33 4. Jeremy Daugherty 1 22:34 5. Rebecca Hoff F 16 25:17 6. Trevor Barnes 12 25:58 7. Audrey Adcock F 14 27:35 8. Michael Gross 15 27:36 9. Bernie Wasserman 59 35:33 10. Ted Ribultan 47 35:49 11. Briana Songer F 19 39:12 12. Arron Rietz 25 39:13 13. Scott Smith 10 39:31 14. Lynn Boaz F 53 39:44 15. James Murray 66 40:06 16. Lisa French F 40 43:32 17. Jean Carlton F 39 43:33 18. Dianne Dilley F 61 43:54 19. Tiana McGowan F 35 44:47 20. Bob McGowan 41 44:48 21. Judy Deal F 48 46:03 22. Mark McKinney +1 33 46:47 23. Brenda Waters F 45 47:18 24. Bonnie Hart F 62 47:19 25. Mark Kuttan 10 48:40 26. Hal Leonard 55 48:55 27. Suzanne Barken F 27 49:08 28. Antoinette Beste F 33 50:44 29. Sharrel Pendleton F 43 50:44 30. Diane Foucher F 48 50:45 31. Collette Nalley F 43 50:46 32. Margarita Chapman F 53 50:47 33. Donna Hocker F 36 50:49 34. Shelly Hill F 39 50:49 35. Tom Pearl 56 50:49 36. Mary Kay Bornfleth F 56 51:40 37. Ann Ledden F 57 52:15 38. Rebecca Adams F 21 53:01 39. Debra Mitchell F 35 53:03 40. Jay Bornfleth 56 53:50 41. Kathy Martin F 54 55:23 42. Grace Miskimen F 45 57:05 43. Frances Kutton F 40 58:49 44. Mary Ann Koncel F 60 58:49 45. N. Kutton 8 58:50 46. Natalie Kutton F 6 58:50 47. Glenn Risley 48 59:08 48. Larry Sawyer 56 59:09 49. Susan Ernst F 54 59:10 50. Shirley Heaton F 52 59:11 51. Coral Sawyer F 50 59:12 52. Melanie Smith F 32 1:03:37 53. Marsha Driggs F 49 1:03:37 |
2. John Shillings 46 40:18 3. Mike Garrison 14 48:22 4. Mark Brewster 40 48:43 5. David Boaz 55 49:04 6. Joe Oliver 60 50:44 7. Lena Wolf F 16 51:36 8. Dan Frame 53 51:57 9. Paul Weimholt 36 53:45 10. Dianne Rindt F 57 56:09 11. Kayno Wolf F 14 56:40 12. Larry Lewellen 58 59:06 13. Carol Wolfe F 41 1:03:09 14. Ted Fiske 51 1:03:45 15. Bill Webster 60 1:03:52 16. Nancy Webster F 58 1:03:55 17. Ashley Lundquist F 14 1:15:45 18. June Wasserman F 53 1:18:25 |
Wow, what an experience! Gregg Fetter and Viki Prusia from Phoenix and I arrived at THE place an hour before race time but, alas, no Kevin Sizemore. What had happened to him? As we stood around waiting in our camouflage, we heard the zip-zip of yards and yards of duck tape unwinding and observed the stuff flying everywhere. Hmmm . . . seemed to be the thing to do. So we looked around until we found a harmless enough looking person and asked whether we could bum some of their duck tape when their team was finished patching up. Bingo! We had our roll and went to work taping our shoes to our feet and securing the hem of our camies down snuggly (which, we were kindly informed at the start line, was not a good idea. Sage advice from a young man’s previous trial and error that we were later very grateful for). Precious minutes before starting, Kevin arrived. Car challenges and traffic jams had been his exciting morning. Never mind--we were all present and accounted for. Now to the start line. Beginning ceremonies proceeded with firemen raising our great flag on a mountainous pile of dirt while “Proud to Be an American” rang through the speakers. Next came the raising of another beautiful flag by the Marines accompanied by a solo rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. And last but not least of the great music--bagpipes bellowed the Marine’s hymn followed by a prayer of blessing by the chaplain. And then BOOM--the canon! The first wave was off; we were in the third.
The guys hit the first mud hole at a dead run. Bam! Halfway through found them honing their belly flopping skills as the mud sucked their feet in and their bodies flew forward. Well . . . OK . . . we made it . . . in fine shape. On to the next. Over the chain link fence, over the double-high chain link fence, over the triple-high chain link fence. Oh, no. Another team just lost a member to a broken leg! Ouch! Through the trench Whew! That musta been at least a quarter-mile of shoe sucking muck. By the time we got out, our puny little toes felt all scrunched up in soggy sock wads beneath layers of duck tape. Oh, @%#$^*$%#!!! Impossible to fix. (We later found out it wasn’t our sox--every crevice and crack in our shoes was packed with mud) Suck it up . . . and march on. Then there was the first wall. Oh, no. Another team lost a member to an injured tailbone! Yikes! This is dangerous stuff. But trudge on we must. On . . .and on . . . and on. Run (or walk) a bit, hurl yourself over a sequence of logs, run (or walk) some more, slog through some more muck. Finally, a long stretch of just trotting along in the sun. But wait; just about the time we’re all dried off and “smelling” the barn door some smart-aleck Marines on top of some fangled truck get their morose “fun” by shooting us down with water. %#^$&#*#%$#!!! Honestly! Is this what we pay them to do?
And then there were THE obstacles. Trenches of mud, muck, “lakes”, ropes, bars, walls . . . And yelling Marines. “GET IN MY TRENCH!” “GET IN MY WATER!” “GET OUTTA MY WATER!” (Well . . . make up your mind! You want me in or out?) “YOU’RE TAKIN’ TOO LONG” “WHAT’RE YOU WALKIN’ FOR?” (‘cause I want to, silly!) “ON YOUR BELLY!” (Are you serious?) “ON YOUR BELLY!” (This must be a joke) “ON YOUR BELLY!” (Whatever--sit down, slide in. Silly Marines!) Well . . . OK . . . I guess I’ll give this belly stuff a try. Splash! Hmmm. That seemed to make them happy. Not bad. However, I just can’t seem to get quite low ENOUGH to shut them up. Never mind. We’re out now, and it’s “legal” to be on your feet. Now to “monkey” ourselves on ropes across this chasm of brown alligator water. Hmmm . . . a little tougher than it first appeared. But task accomplished. On to the next and the next and the next . . . and . . . the next. The final river crossing! Slip, slide, grunt, pull . . . WE’RE THERE! We finished! And we weren’t last! How ‘bout that, Viki? Hey, thanks, team: Kevin, Gregg, and Viki. You were great sports and made great team players. Let’s go get “a hosing” and enjoy our hamburgers, chips, and “adult” uh, um, “Marine” beverages.