Ballwin, Mo. – On a night seemingly more suited for the Summer Series rather than the first race of the spring trail running season, 204 participants covered a roughly 5k course in Castlewood State Park in the opening race of the Spring Trail Run Series presented by Columbia Sportswear.
With temperatures hovering in the mid 80s and humidity above 70%, the record crowd for a Spring event covered the western half of the Grotpeter Trail and the full length of the Mountain Ridge Connector at Castlewood to finish a relatively short course. As the amount of daylight continues to grow, so will the length of the races.
32 year old Jack Wilkinson crossed the finish line first in a time of 22:20.1 for his second Off-Road Racing League win of the young season. Wilkinson won the Shaw Bloom Trail 10k this past March. Roger Moore, 42, finished second just under a minute later in a time of 23:01.3; followed by Tyler Blazey, 28, 35 seconds back at 23:36.2. In the men’s masters division, longtime competitor Eric Buckley, 52, was the top finisher (along with fourth overall) in 23:56. He was trailed by Darryl Holman, 54, in 24:09 (fifth overall) and Steven Worley, 54, in 24:33 (9th overall).
On the women’s side, Claire Beckmeyer, 31, took home her first win in the ORRL with a time of 24:28.1, also placing her as the only woman in the top 10 overall as well in ninth place. She was followed by Katie O’Brien, 25, in 25:10.8 and Jennifer Doyle, 34, at 26:50.5. In the women’s masters, Karen Spreitler’s time of 34:41.2 earned her the top spot for the night. This was her second master’s win in an ORRL event following a win during the second race of the 2014 Summer Series. Spreitler was followed by Cheryl Laux (34:58.5) and Sharia Geear (36:16.3).
Off-Road Racing League Point Totals for this race are indicated on the Age Group results. Updated point totals for the first two races of the year – the Shaw Bloom Trail 10k/20 and this race – will be posted on Monday, May 11.
The next race will be Thursday, May 14. Advance registration is still open for individual registrations through Monday, May 11 at midnight.
Overall results can be found here.
Age Group results can be found here.
Course Photos can be found here. | Finish Line Photos can be found here.