BALLWIN, MO. – For only the second time in Alpine Shop’s Trail Run Series history, a runner dropped below the six-minute/mile pace mark as Justin Stewart of Springfield, Ill., dominated in his first ever appearance in an Off-Road Racing League event.
Featuring a rare night with temperatures in the 70s and a course that featured only one main climb, race directors expected fast times; what they received was the second-fastest recorded pace ever. Stewart (30), with an average mile pace of 5:59 over the 3.9 mile course, just missed the record pace of 5:55 set last year by George Price in August last year. Stewart’s total time was 23:22.0, beating Benjamin Hudson (St. Louis, 32), the winner of the first two races of the 2018 series, by just over 43 seconds to the finish line (24:05.2). Jon-Paul LaVenture (Ballwin, Mo. 36) crossed the line just 16 seconds later (24:21.5) to take third.
On the women’s side, Hannah Floyd (St. Louis, 32) won her second race of the 2018 series with a time of 30:04.3. Katherine O’Brien (St. Louis, 28), improved on her third place finish in race one to grab a second place finish on this night with a time of 30:54.7, just 50 seconds behind Floyd. Julia Grunloh (St. Louis, 30) rounded out the top three, improving from a fifth place finish in race one, with a time of 31:26.4.
Chris Martel (Webster Groves, Mo., 52) won his seventh straight Masters competition (50+) in the Trail Run Series with a time of 26:14.3. He was trailed by, once again, Eric Buckley (St. Louis, 55) with a time of 28:13.0. And in familiar fashion, rounding out the top three was Keith Lyston (Chesterfield, Mo., 52) just over two minutes behind him (30:06.6).
On the women’s Masters side, Susan Richmond (Eureka, Mo., 57) won her seventh straight Masters race with a time of 34:46.7. Rachel Hartmann (St. Louis, 52) moved up a spot from third place last week to second on this course (39:07.1) followed by a new entrant into the top three, Cheryl Laux (Ballwin, 53) who was forty seconds behind Hartmann.
The first 150 series racers to arrive at this third race of the 2018 Trail Race Series all received free pairs of FITS Sock Co. Light Runners Socks. Four lucky participants also received pairs of Hoka One One and Altra Running trail runners.
At next week’s finale for the 2018 series, Alpine Shop is pleased to welcome both Hoka One One and Altra Running to Castlewood State Park where both brands will have demo shoes on hand for all racers to try out.
Overall Results – Preliminary (Updated 08/23/18 9 pm)
Age Group Results – Preliminary (Updated 08/23/18 9 pm)
Photos- Facebook
Point Totals – After Three Races