Run For The Red Fish - Panama City Beach, FL

Great Race, Great Organization! This inaugural event is sure to become one of Florida's Premier Half Marathon Events!

The day started out a little wet and cold but the sun came out and made all things wonderful. The race course takes you down Back Beach Road along the Gulf Shoreline. I'm talkin' over 6 miles out and six miles back along the Gulf. What more could you ask for?

The fine folks at Freedom Sports opens their doors for packet pickup on Friday and then on race day there is "Race Central" at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville at Pier Point . Margaritaville provides a great location for race day packet pickup and the after race party for the awards ceremony complete with free Landshark beer!! It's a race and a party all in one.

Hoffmaster Trail Run - Hoffmaster State Park, Muskegon, MI

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.

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.

Kernal Klassic 5K - Van Buren, IN

Now here's a great summer classic run - The Kernal Klassic 5K run as one of the events of the 37th annual Van Buren Indiana Popcorn Festival sponsored by Weaver Popcorn. If you didn't know it, Van Buren , is the Popcorn Capital of the World! And they put on a very nice race! The 23rd running of the 5K event went off with a bang and finished with some fast times on the main street that runs through the town. 174 finishers had a great time and enjoyed perfect (well maybe a little warm) weather for their efforts. Rewards for the top finishers were umm... POPCORN!! Lots of it! The community support makes this race one to come back to year after year. Put this one on your calendar!

Please leave a comment, suggestion, or your reflections on this event. Thanks!

Log Cabin Run - Delafield, WI

This was a beautiful trail run in Lapham Peak State Park just outside of Delafield, Wisconsin. Normally very challenging on its own but Mother Nature had to throw in some (lots of) rain and thunder just to make sure we REALLY wanted to do this. Everyone had a great time and a great time. The after-run refreshments include the normal fare of bananas and oranges but there were also power carb drinks on hand as well, BEER, and Root Beer on tap!! A great event!

Please give us your comments, suggestions, and/or reflections on the race.

Thanks!

Northside 5K - N Muskegon, MI

HUGE!! Smashed last years participation by almost double. This years running had 220 participants! Very nice race, wonderful running weather, run along the main street (Ruddiman) of North Muskegon with the streets lined with a large crowd waiting for the parade.

Everyone gets to feel like a track star. The finish is in the football stadium finishing on the track. This is a great fund raiser for the NM Cross Country team. They appreciate your participation.

Please give us your comments, suggestions, and/or reflections on the race.

Thanks!

Lakeshore Miles for Meals 5K - Muskegon, MI

The Lakeshore Miles for Meals 5K Run is a well organized race with a course that will knock your socks off. The course takes you along the Lake Michigan shoreline and gives inspirational views of the lake nearly 80% of your run.

This years race day was partly sunny and windy. The lake, it seemed, was one of your competitors, moving fast and showing alot of aggression with high waves. If you could tap into its energy you would most certainly run a PR. Amazing!!

Please give us your comments, suggestions, and/or reflections on the race.

Thanks!