October is a great time to race, the crisp fall air and cooler temperatures being much more conducive to running fast. It is nice to escape the heat of Summer and enjoy the leaves changing colors. On October 4th, about 140 people of all paces got together at the local high school for this event to benefit the McMinnville Education Foundation. This was the second year of this race, and the organizers did a great job. As with any local races, it was a reunion of sorts, meeting past coaches and running partners, as well as catching up with people generally only seen at other events. The atmosphere was very happy and social, making the check in process take a little longer than usual.
Both events started at 9 and shared parts of the same course. I had opted for the 5K to help get back in the habit of hitting that pace in the eventual goal of setting a new PR. I was not aware there were going to be mile markers, but had worn my watch ( I rarely race with it), to help give me an idea of race effort. Each mile was marked, which was an unexpected bonus even though there was no hiding the fact I fell off pace in the middle.
There was a minor hill on the 5K course and a couple on the 10K. Completely paved, traversing equal parts residential and industrial areas, the course definitely has potential. The longer course is prettier, but there is nothing to complain about at either distance. Plenty of chalk arrows, and people standing at every corner, made this an easy route to stay on. There were officers at the two points where it crossed a major roadway, stopping traffic for the participants.
Personally, I had a good performance, being slightly slower than my target time. I raced alone, using my watch as a gauge of effort. This was mostly a tune up, and a benchmark to figure out where my fitness level was. I was almost 40 seconds off my PR, but a 5:08 opening mile gave me hope for the future.
You can find the complete results here
5K Results
Overall Males
1. Brian Bernier 31, 16:39
2. Cooper Rich 14, 19:53
3. Russel Weaver* 55, 20:08
Overall Females
1. Shannon Botten 30, 20:54
2. Lisa Venable 37, 23:51
3. Morgan Anderson 25, 25:15
Masters Males
1. Ben Heuberger 40, 24:14
2. Corey Rich 42, 20:33
3. Mark Weisensee, 23:13
Masters Females
1. Donna Bernhisel 52, 28:03
2. Beth Fuhrer 48, 28:13
3. Karen Duyck 52, 29:52
10K Results
Overall Males
1. Mark McCulloch 33, 36:46
2. Scott Kaper* 45, 40:30
3. Scott Dumdi 37, 41:31
Overall Females
1. Tanya Tompkins* 42, 48:45
2. Heather Roley 39, 48:55
3. Desiree Hendricks 236, 49:58
Masters Males
1. Jeffrey Nyberg 42, 45:45
2. Jason Mosiman 43, 45:58
3. Scott Schieber 47, 46:33
Masters Females
1. Wendy Autencio Brooker 48, 51:11
2. Judy Abrams 44, 55:00
3. Susan Schwartz 52, 57:32
‘*’- denotes Masters
