BALLWIN, MO- The 2024 Alpine Shop Trail Run Series finished with one of the most gorgeous nights we’ve ever had with unbelievable temps in the 70’s. We had a loaded Race Headquarters with Optimal Performance Centers, GO! St Louis, Texas Roadhouse of Kirkwood, and Great Harvest all coming out to the 4Hands Brewing Co. afterparty to celebrate the season.
For the final race, Steven Stallis completed the perfect season for the second year in a row with his eigth straight victory in the Trail Run Series. Aaron Barber moved into second place this week in Andy Rains absence and Jason Lievanos finished third for the overall and Men’s Open podium.
Nikki Difani took her third top step of the year finishing a full 2 minutes ahead of Sloan Montgomery followed by Leah Grither for the exact same result as last week. The Master’s race saw another Jen Ullery victory with her third of the year. Second place went to Susan Richmond followed by Julie Dobslaw in third.
Jeff Vanderlinder got in the mix with his first win of the year with consistent Kevin Kozuszek finishing in second place for the fourth straight race. Chris Bognars pace was good for third place in the Men’s Masters.
The Overall Points were up for grabs and we saw some last minute shakeups after the results.
Steven Stallis won the fourth straight race to lock up the Men’s Open. Andy Rains missing this week left the door open for Aaron Barber to leap frog him in the standings to take home second in the Open and move Andy down to third.
Nikki Difani almost had a perfect season with just one second place finish, but she had the win locked up going into the final race. Young Leah Grither proved that persistence is key with her 4 races of points putting her one point ahead of Sloan Montgomery who missed the first race of the year putting them at two and three.
Kevin Kozuszek also laid down consistent results with 4 straight second place finishes and winning the Masters category without actually winning an individual race. Injury to Mike Barro took him off of the podium after some calf tightness, and Chris Bognar and Jeff Vanderlinder each won a race, but finished 2 and 3 behind Kevin.
A big thank you goes out to everyone who came out for the Trail Run Series this year. We’d like to thank the following folks:
- Optimal Performance Centers for supporting our racers every week and for so many years
- 4Hands Brewing Co. for the City Wide, (and Light!) YES TEA, and Zest Quest each week
- Texas Roadhouse of Kirkwood for hooking up our racers and showing your support.
- Matt Hadley with On Running for some shoe giveaways and prizes at week 2
- Dan with The North Face for being there with shoe demos and giveaways at week 2
- Saint Louis County Parks for working with us and giving us a great space in the outdoors
- All of the Alpine Shop Staff and Volunteers who come out and put on the show. You rock!
We will see everyone back in 2025! Registration is open now!
Congrats to Casey North on signing up for 2025 at the final race and winning a free entry to next year! April Clemens you won the Shaw entry!
PHOTOS | Marcus Janzow Photography | Finn McGraw