BALLWIN, MO. — With one of the fastest runs ever recorded in the seven-year history of the series, George Price won his second race of the 2017 FITS Sock Co. Trail Run Series Thursday night at Castlewood State Park. Finishing nearly two full minutes ahead of his nearest competition, Price took advantage of a course with only one major climb and broke an unofficial series record in the progress.
Price (33) finished the 4.1 mile course in a time of 24:14.7, becoming (unofficially) the first Trail Run Series athlete to record a pace under 6 minutes per mile for any race on record. Caleb Brackett (29), accustomed to spending much of his time atop the win column over the past three years, took second place for the third straight week with a time of 26:05.1. JP Laventure (35) finally broke into the top three this week after fourth-place finishes during the first two weeks of the series. his time of 27:12.0 was more than a minute faster than the fourth-place finisher this week.
On the women’s side, Sunny Gilbert (38) returned to the series for the first time this year and promptly returned to the spot atop the leaderboard she has been accustomed to for many years. As far as our records indicate, Gilbert has never lost a race she has participated in during the Trail Run Series. In this race, she was more than three minutes ahead of her nearest competitor, Megan Berg (32), who finished in 32:47.4. Go! St. Louis president, Mona Langenberg (36), grabbed her second straight top-three-finish with a final time of 32:55.5
On the master’s side of things, Chris Martel (51) won his third straight race of the series, beating out second-place finisher Michael Montgomery (56) by nearly a minute and a half (31:34.8). Tim Lang (53) rounded out the top three with a final time of 32:27.8. For the ladies, Dianna Murphy (53) enjoyed her first win of the year in a time of 35:21.3. She was followed to the line by the champion the first two weeks of the series, Susan Richmond (56) with a final time of 37:09.4. Bev Osthun (54), a long-time runner with the series, finished in the top three for the first time this season in a time of 43:39.9.
The course was approximately 4.1 miles, the same as last week’s course, but without a second climb for runners to face, times fell by more than four minutes compared to last Thursday. This was even after the park received nearly two inches of rain the evening before when the St. Louis area was hit by a line of significant thunderstorms. The trails were in remarkably good condition after a warm day dried much of the moisture before the races began.
The final race of the 2017 FITS Sock Co. Trail Run Series begins next Thursday, August 24 at 6:15 pm at Castlewood State Park once again. Individual race registrations are open on-line until next Tuesday here.
QUICK LINKS:
Overall Preliminary Results – Posted 08/17/17 – 10:30 pm
Age Group Results – Posted 08/17/17 – 10:30 pm
Photo Album – Top of Grotpeter Trail & Finish Line | Creek Crossing