BALLWIN, MO – For the fourth Thursday in a row, runners at the Alpine Shop Summer Trail Run Series presented by Marmot enjoyed unseasonably cool temperatures for St. Louis in August, resulting in a beautiful evening for a run. For the final race in the series, runners were treated to two flat miles along the Meramec River before climbing the infamous Castlewood stairs up the bluff and descending via the technical River Scene trail back to the finish line and post-race party.
Jack Wilkinson took the top overall spot with a time of 22:58.2. This was Wilkinson’s second win in the Series after placing 2nd for the past 2 weeks. Chad Silker ran his best race of the series, finishing in 2nd place overall with a time of 23:16.9, and JP LaVenture was 3rd in 23:32.9.
Aimee DeGuire won her third-straight Women’s Open race in a time of 27:28.3. 13-year-and-1-week-old Savannah Lesher was 2nd in 27:48.3, and Julia Grunloh shook up the podium in 3rd (29:48.8).
The Men’s Master’s 50+ field finished in the same configuration it has all series, with Eric Buckley taking the top spot (and 6th overall in 25:16.3), ahead of Steve Worley (2nd in 25:59.6) and Darryl Holman (3rd in 26:17.6). Though their placements have remained unchanged, the men assured us that the races are still full of drama – because they are all so close in speed, one mistake on anyone’s part would change the standings immediately.
In the Women’s Master’s 50+ race, Bev Oftshun won her first race (34:29.7) after finishing in 2nd for Races 1, 2, and 3. She was followed closely by Cheryl Laux (2nd in 35:29.7) and Jean Goldsberry (3rd in 37:06.9). These three women have also battled throughout the series, trading spots within the top three positions for every race.
With this being the final race of the Alpine Shop Summer Trail Run Series presented by Marmot, series awards were presented during the post-race party. Series winners in each division received a Marmot Minimalist jacket while 2nd and 3rd places received gift cards to the best store on the planet…Alpine Shop! Final point totals are available here.
Join us in 1 month for the inaugural Battle The Bluff Trail Half-Marathon at Council Bluff Lake on Saturday, September 26th. Advance registration is available here, and be sure to check out the Facebook event page here.
Overall results can be found here.
Age Group results can be found here.
Race photo album can be found here.