Record turnout for the 16th Annual Hoffmaster Trail Run! 236 signed up and 222 finished! It was a great day for running a trail run. It was noticed that a few runners finished barefoot. Most notably the Overall Winner - Sam Darling of Muskegon came through the finishline - with no shoes on - with a rocket man time of 25:46 for the 4.3 Mile course. He wore his shoes through the trails and once he hit the beach, he shed his shoes for the approximately 1 mile distance along the Lake Michigan shoreline. The Female Overall Winner, Tauna Blackport of Wyoming, MI came in with a scorching time of 34:38. Masters winners were Eric Hayward (Grand Haven, MI) and Cindy Kikkert-Penning (Spring Lake, MI) with beach burning times of 29:16 and 35:32 respectively.
The waves were pounding and many of the runners said it was refreshing. A good time was had by all and plans for a better race next year are already underway. One of the improvements planned is a water stop somewhere midway into the course. It is difficult to provide but with the temps in the high 60's it would have been nice to have this year. Usually for trail runs the runner(s) should bring their own water to carry throughout the race. Hand held bottles or waist packs are popular. Another improvement needed is in packet pickup. We will have packets assembled ahead of time next year to make getting through the line much quicker.
The "MyResultsNOW!" results label stations were a hit! 
The finishers were happy to be able to see their results immediately (within a minute) after finishing the race. All they had to do was enter their bib number and a label printed out with their time, place, and pace.
The finishers were happy to be able to see their results immediately (within a minute) after finishing the race. All they had to do was enter their bib number and a label printed out with their time, place, and pace. I would like to thank the Hoffmaster State Park service for allowing us to use their wonderful trail system, Alan from Running Circles for his wonderful job of Race/Awards Announcing. The Ham Radio guys that monitor the course and help make it safer for everyone. And all the volunteers that help make this event come off smoothly.
