BALLWIN, MO – Well, we’ll be talking about that race for awhile, won’t we? Storms weren’t supposed to push through the area until after 9 pm. Mother Nature had other plans. After the race had already begun, a line of thunderstorms barrelled straight through Castlewood State Park, bringing 60 mph wind gusts, driving rain, and an experience we won’t soon forget.
But, run they did!
As he did last week, newcomer Adam Ethier (32) blitzed the course in a winning time of 25:39.1, once again, beating second-place runner Andy Rains (28, 26:22.7) to the finish line, this time by 40 seconds. Jon-Paul LaVenture (39) crossed the finish line just under a minute later to round out the same top three as last week. This is the second consecutive win for Ethier, while Rains has now placed second in six straight Trail Run Series races. LaVenture now has six straight top three finishes, as well.
On the women’s side, fellow newcomer Lindsay Hustedde (37) returned to the top spot for the second week in a row (and fifth overall) with a time of 28:27.4, beating her closest competitor to the line by more than four and a half minutes. Lory Cooper (34), who had two second-place finishes in 2019, put herself back on the podium this week with a final time 33:06.6. Leslie Crais (50) rounded out the women’s top three while also taking the top spot in the women’s master’s category for the second straight week with a final time of 33:52.9. (For the purposes of the Trail Run Series, our Masters Division starts at age 50.)
Last week, Chris Martel (55) had a streak of 12 straight Masters wins going back to 2017 broken by Mike Barro. It took one week for Martel to reclaim the crown with a final time of 29:27.4. Jacob Varadian (51) took second in a time of 32:33.2 (after finishing third last week), and Christopher Bognar (50, 35:04.5) finished third. On the women’s side, as stated above Leslie Crais repeated at the top of the standings with Robin Putnam (50, 40:18.3) reclaiming second place and JoAnne Steineman finishing third (52, 41:35.0).
Due to the storm, prizes were not given out at the race. Winners of the prizes from Hoka One One footwear, Altra Footwear, FITS Socks and more, will be notified by email.
Race 3 of the 2021 Alpine Shop Trail Run Series will take place next Thursday night, August 19 at 6:15 pm. These races are sold out. Limited on-site registrations may be available due to no-shows, but will be extremely limited.
Overall Results
Age Group Results
Race Photos
Point Series Totals