We wrapped up the another year of the Winter Racing Circuit last Saturday with the 30K at Bee Hive Homes in Ogden Valley.  

At the start of the 30K, Bryant Jensen (who won the Salt Lake Marathon a week prior with a 2:30 performance) indicated that the SL Marathon was just a training run, but he was going race the 30K because he was over 2 minutes behind Brett Hales in the overall standings.  So, at the sound of the horn Bryant took off like his shorts were on fire.  In the 7 years we've been staging the 30K, nobody has ever really gone out and raced the whole 18.6 miles.  Historically at that point in the Circuit, all the overall leader needed to do was stay with the lead pack and not blow his overall lead - just like Lance did all those years at the Tour. 

Bryant wanted the win, the course record and the overall cumulative record and he succeeded at them all.  I'm predicting his 1:39:05 30K win on Saturday will stand for a long time.  Moreover, his 4:36:50 overall Cumulative time should withstand the test of time as well.  We're all excited to see if Bryant can pull-off another marathon win in Ogden next month.

Bryant made up the 2 minute lead Brett Hales had on him in the 30K, but a year ago Brett was still running around a track and is now developing into a road racer.  Had Bryant decided to stay home, Brett's 1:47:54 would have been a new course record (not by much, however.  Ben VanBeekum ran a 1:47:56 in 2010) and his 4:43 overall cumulative time would have been a new record too.  If anybody is going to put Bryant's new records in jeopardy next year, it will be Brett.  Is Brett going to run the Ogden Marathon next month?  We hope so...how bout it Brett?  

In the women's race, Cynthia Fowler had a narrow 80 second lead over her nearest competitor going into the 30K. But, you have to run all 5 WRC races to be in the money, and when all the dust settled Cynthia ran to the overall women's win.  Cynthia is the defending Ogden Marathon women's champion and current course record holder; will anybody rise up to challenge her next month at Ogden?  We'll soon find out.  

Heather Loughton stayed the course and finished 2nd overall to Cynthia with a very impressive 6:07:35 cumulative time in all 5 races.  In 2010, Heather finished 3rd overall with a 6:16 cumulative finish time; so she's running better than ever and improving every year.  We're not sure if Heather is running the Ogden Marathon next month, but if she is she'll definitely be a contender.  Adrienne Morgart, who finished 3rd overall in the WRC but finished 2 seconds ahead of Heather in the 30K, will also be a factor at the Ogden Marathon next month.  We can wait to see how it all plays out in 3 weeks at Ogden.

We want to congratulate all the 2013 Winter Racing Circuit finishers on a job well done.  Completing all 5 WRC races is a huge commitment and a very big challenge - it's a tough 51 total miles that spans over 3 months during a very difficult time of year to run; and to top it all off there's a lot of hills :-) 

Thanks for running with us! 

If you didn't get a medal from the half, 30K or a water bottle, you can pick it all up at STRIDERS in Layton.  The Ogden STRIDERS will open in May, stay tuned for details.  

All the volunteers were awesome this year!  We especially want to thank the Happy Utah Mountain Runners (HUMR's) for showing up sober and helping us out in a pinch at the half marathon and 30K.  Like the Sasquatch, the HUMR's are elusive, hairy and could use a bath.  But they're good folks and we appreciate their help knowing they would rather be on a mountain somewhere.  If you want in, send them a note at humr@outlook.com and beg for a sponsor to vouch for you.

Our sponsors are awesome - Thank You!  None of this would be possible without the support of Weber State, Weber County and Ogden City. As runners, we're all lucky we live where we do.

Kristin and I have a great team at STRIDERS...better than we could ask for, Thank You.  

Good luck to all of you running in Ogden on May 18th, we'll see you there.

The 2013 Winter Racing Circuit is down to one last long run before the Ogden Marathon; the 30K at Bee Hive Homes on April 27th. 

The 30K starts at 7:30am at the Bee Hive Homes (2547 N Valley Junction Dr, Eden UT).  The race starts and ends at Bee Hive Homes. Please park in the field south/east of Bee Hive Homes or in the Powder Mountain lot across the street.

30K race course: http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=87788

Aid stations for the 30K will be at miles 3, 6, 9, 12 & 15; water and Gatorade will be available at all the aid stations. Cliff Shot Gels will be available at miles 6, 9 & 12.  Portable restrooms will be at all the aid stations.  

We anticipate starting the awards ceremony for runners who have completed all 5 WRC races at about noon.  All 2013 WRC finishers will receive a medal!  

PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU DON'T PLAN ON RUNNING THE 30K, assuming you're already registered.

Packet pick-up for the 30K will be at STRIDERS on Thursday & Friday (April 25th & 26th) from 10am-7pm.  Registration is still available online at www.strideracing.com ; registration forms are also available at STRIDERS and at www.stridersrunning.com  or www.stridersrunningblog.com Same day registration and packet pick-up will also be available from 6am-7:15am at Bee Hive Homes.

During packet pick-up at STRIDERS on Friday, April 26th, BROOKS RUNNING will be here (2pm-6pm) with their ‘Cavalcade of Curiosities,’ which is a big trailer full of Brooks running gear.  In the trailer, the Brooks running crew will be demoing shoes, gear and giving stuff away to anybody who walks through the trailer.  We have prize cards available at STRIDERS; everybody is a winner!  All Brooks shoes and apparel will be on sale throughout the day.  For more details on the Brooks Cavalcade, please visit www.runhappy.com

The weather is supposed to be perfect in Ogden Valley on Saturday morning; lows in the mid 40’s and highs in the mid 60’s with no rain in the forecast. The Winter Racing Circuit will officially start the spring running season. 

From all of us at STRIDERS, Thank You for a great 2013 winter running season!

God Bless Boston, MA. Boston Marathon 'We are One Community' shirts are available at STRIDERS while supplies last for $20.  Proceeds from the shirts will benefit The One Fund Boston. 

We had us a heck of a race last week with the Winter Racing Circuit Half Marathon.  The conditions were just about perfect with temperatures in the high 30's to start and low 50's to finish.  With all the talk of rain and wind, we didn't have to contend with either.  We're very thankful to all the volunteers who came out and worked an aid station; we even got a group of mountain runners to come out of the wild and help with water and Gatorade - Thanks HUMR's!

The race was blazing fast; the top four male runners all finished under 1:09 and the top three female runners all finished under 1:25.  In total we had 526 finishers!  This was the first year we had the American Flyers Pace team come out to help runners reach their time goals.  The American Flyers were awesome, so awesome in fact we've invited them back for the 30K on April 27th.  

BeeHive Homes have taken over the old Red Moose Lodge building and were very accommodating hosts; Thank You to the staff and residents of BeeHive homes for sharing their home with 500 runners.  I'm told they were a little shy, but they watched all the activity from the windows.  Next time we'll all wave and yell 'hello.'

Roosters and the Union Grill feed everybody and The Daily Rise provided hot drinks and good vibes - Thank you!

The Weber County Sheriff's Deputies were fantastic in keeping all of us safe. We couldn't do it without them and we're very grateful for their support.  

We love Ogden Valley, thank you for sharing your roads and your beautiful community with us.  As runners, we promise to never leave a mess and as visitors we vow to always be respectful and humble.  

Okay, results are up at www.strideracing.com Thanks Kurt and Mark for doing such a great job of organizing the results and getting them posted so fast.  Without Stride Racing, scoring these races would be impossible.

Top Male & Female Half Marathon runners:

Male:
1 - Bryant Jensen 1:07:36
2 - Riley Cook 1:07:53
3 - Brett Hales 1:08:02

Female:
1 - Kassi Harmon 1:21:43
2 - Katy Cargiulo 1:24:29
3 - Merrilee Blackham 1:24:55

Male Masters:
1 - Walter Brown 1:14:19
2 - Rob Murphy 1:18:29
3 - Steve Turley 1:27:11

Female Masters:
1 - Melisa Harrison 1:40:39
2 - Phaedra Kilbourn 1:42:14
3 - Katie Cassiday - 1:43:33

Congratulations to all the Half Marathon finishers!

The cumulative standings are getting tight; Cynthia Fowler is holding onto a narrow 80 second lead over Merrilee Blackham while on the men's side Brett Hales is clinging on to less than a 3 minute lead over Bryant Jensen.  It's all going to come down to the 30K in a few weeks.  

The Ogden Marathon is only 5 weeks away, we hope your training is going well and we like to believe the WRC helps in your preparation for the marathon. 

STRIDERS will be in Ogden soon (2nd location) and we're all working overtime to get open in time for the marathon!  

The Winter Racing Circuit Half-Marathon is less than 2 weeks away - April 6th at 8:00am! 

The Red Moose Lodge is now an assisted living center called Bee Hive Homes. The Bee Hive home owner and staff are very excited to host us and we're thankful they're allowing us to stage the finish line in their back yard (literally). We won't have access to the building but we'll have portable restrooms and Roosters will be out on the patio with food and The Daily Rise will be there with drink.  We all just need to be respectful of BeeHive Homes and their staff as they conduct business; they have 24 residents in the home who are very eager to watch you guys run!

Here are the details for the race weekend:

• Course Map: http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=114603

• Registration is still open at www.strideracing.com or at STRIDERS in Layton.  Race Day registration will be available for $55 at packet pick-up, but we encourage you to pre-register and take advantage of the $45 rate.  Online registration will close at 5:00pm on April 5th. Bandit running is not allowed; if you don't have a bib you won't be allowed on the bus. 
  

• Packet pick-up will be at STRIDERS in Layton on Thursday & Friday, April 4th & 5th, from 10am-7pm.  If you can't make it then, packets will be available the morning of the race at Bee Hive Homes at 6:00am.

• The address to Bee Hive Homes is 2547 N Valley Junction Dr, Eden UT. Please park in the field on the south/east of Bee Hive Homes.  We'll have volunteers there directing you to park.
  

• The race starts at South Fork on Hwy 39, we'll shuttle you there from Bee Hive Homes.  ALL the buses will leave BeeHive Homes at 7:00am.  There IS NO parking available at the start line, so don't drive up there.  It will be cold at the start line, so dress accordingly.  We'll give you a drop bag for your sweats at packet pick-up.  We'll get your clothes back down to you at the finish line.  You can also drop clothing at any of the aid stations, but don't drop anything you can't live without as STRIDERS is not responsible for lost or stolen clothing.  Don't drop a $200 jacket at an aid station. 

• There are four aid stations: Miles 3, 6, 9 & 11.  Water and Gatorade at each aid station and Cliff Shot gels at miles 6 & 9.  There will be portable restrooms at each aid station as well as at the start and finish lines. Water only at the start line. 
  

• Every runner will receive a finishers medal.  There will be an awards ceremony at about 11am for Overall, Masters and age division winners.  Awards will NOT be handed out early so please don't ask us at the finish line.  If you need to leave early, you can pick up your winnings later at STRIDERS.

• If it's going to take you longer than 3 hours to complete the course, please run on the shoulder of the road so you don't hold traffic up.  Otherwise, the course is certified on the right lane of the road.  The Weber County Sheriff's Deputies will be controlling traffic for us, but please run with common sense and be aware of your surroundings.  The course will be open to traffic so we're advising you NOT to wear headphones.  If you choose to wear headphones, it's at your own risk and if you fail to obey instructions from a Sheriff's Deputy, you will be pulled off the course.

• If you're registered for the Half Marathon but will NOT be running, please let us know at the contact info below:

If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at STRIDERS:
801-728-9121 or striders@stridersrunning.com

Thanks, we'll see you all soon! 

It was a perfect day for a run on Saturday; the sun was shining and the temps were above freezing. It's still winter, but spring is in the air. 

The WRC 10 miler wraps up the Ogden City portion of the Winter Racing Circuit, now we take it up to Ogden Valley for the Half-Marathon and 30K.  With over 1,700 feet of climbing in the 5K, 10K and 10 Miler, everybody is looking forward to some fast downhill running in the Valley. 

On the women's side, Cynthia Fowler dominated in the 5K & 10K but was in a virtual tie with Merrilee Blackham in the 10 miler (1:07). Going into the Valley races, Cynthia has over a 3 minute lead on Merrilee, but there's still 32 miles of running left.  Anything can happen; just ask Malaika Homo, who after running a 1:08:56 10 miler on Saturday, has moved into the #3 overall women's spot and is only 5 minutes down.  Malaika is a tough competitor and will be a factor all the way to the end.  It's going to be an exciting finish to the Circuit. 

Bryant Jensen made his move at the 10 miler by finishing in a virtual tie with Brett Hales (56min) putting him in the 2nd overall position behind Brett by only 3 minutes.  Brett and Bryant are both excellent half marathoners but Brett is getting ready for his first marathon, so I'm predicting it's all going to come down to the 30K.  Steve Shepherd is having a fantastic year so far, he's essentially tied for the 2nd overall position with Bryant, so I'm sure he has Bryant and Brett right where he wants them. 

All the WRC runners will have 4 weeks to recover from the Ogden Hills and prepare for the fast WRC Half-Marathon on April 6th.  The Half-Marathon is a Utah USATF Road Racing Circuit race, so it will be a very competitive field as Utah's elite look to win some points in the Utah Circuit. 

We want to say thanks to Weber State University and the Ogden City Police Department for being such great hosts (again) in Ogden. We look forward to coming back in 2014. 

Thanks to Troy and Greg for the camera work on the 10 mile video and Thank You to all the volunteers who helped us pull off another set of 3 races at the Dee Events Center.

I've been listening to a lot of Sigur Ros this winter and Hafsol is a favorite, so I hope you enjoy it. 

Results and Cumulative results through the 10 miler are posted at www.strideracing.com

Are you ready for some serious HILL climbing in Ogden on Saturday?! The WRC 10 Miler is scheduled for this Saturday, March 9th at 8:00am at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.

If you’re registered for the 10M, we’ll have packet pick-up at STRIDERS  this Thursday & Friday (March 7th & 8th) from 10am-7pm.  If you can’t make it then, packets will also be available the morning of the race inside the east entrance of the Dee Center; 6:30am-7:45am.  Course maps are are available at www.stridersrunning.com and www.stridersrunningblog.com We'll also have 10M course maps posted at the Dee Events Center.

There will be 4 aid stations along the 10M course; the first one at mile 3, the 2nd one at mile 4.5 right before the big climb begins, the 3rd one at mile 6 at the park and the 4th one at mile 8.  Each aid station will have water and Gatorade.  You can also drop extra clothes at any of the aid stations and we'll transport it back to the finish line.  DON'T drop anything at an aid station you can't live without because there is the possibility of clothing getting misplaced.

If you're registered for the 10 Miler but do not plan on running, please let us know and we won't have a timing chip programmed in your name. 

The QR codes on the race bibs worked great at the 10K, so STRIDE RACING will have the QR codes available again for the 10 Miler.  All you need is a basic QR scanner App on your smart phone.  When you scan the QR code on your bib, it will take you to the results. 

Registration for the WRC 10 miler is still open at STRIDERS or online at www.strideracing.com

Thank you and we'll see you all soon,

STRIDERS

Thanks to all of you who ran the WRC 10K this past Saturday!  It was cold (freezing actually) but the road conditions were less frozen than the 5K; we had a great group of runners who conquered a very tough 10K course.  

Brett Hales won the whole thing with a record setting run of 33:37, that's a 5:25 minute p/mile pace.  Brett killed this course, can't wait to see what he does to the ten mile course in 3 weeks.

Steve Sheperd, who won the 5K two weeks ago, had another outstanding race with a 2nd place finish by running a 35:04.  Bryant Jensen was right on his heels, coming in at 36:20 and finishing 3rd place overall.  

Brett, Steve and Bryant will have have their hands full with over 900 feet of climbing during the 10 miler with 1,900 feet of total elevation change.  Compare that to the 530 foot climb in the 10K and 330 foot climb in the 5K - Oh, the hills of Ogden are alive with the sounds of grunting (it takes too much air to holla 'woot woot' while running up 36th street).

Over in the women's race, Cynthia Fowler continues to reign supreme with another WRC win by running a 39:57 and becoming only the 2nd female to break 40 minutes on the 10K course.  We had a close race for 2nd and 3rd with Jasmine Sessions (40:38) and Janae Richardson (40:54) finishing only 16 seconds apart.  Merrilee Blackham (42:13) had a solid 5th place finish behind Sariah Long (41:09).  Merrilee will be chasing Cynthia and Janae for one of the top three spots in the cumulative WRC overall results in the 10 miler.

We had a great volunteer group on Saturday, the Pulley family made it fun with the 'nerd' theme at the mile 3 aid station and the volunteer group at mile 4.5 made the upcoming climb less daunting with a smile, a wave and a little gatorade for each runner as they made their way up 'the hill of tears.'

Thank You to all the volunteers and the Officers from the Ogden City Police Department for keeping the course safe for everybody.

The best thing about the finish line at these Circuit races is the coffee and hot chocolate by The Daily Rise - Thanks Jeff & Beth!

Thank You, Troy, for the great camera work.  What are you doing on March 9th? ;-) 

Results are up at www.strideracing.com, you can also scan the QR code on your race bib to take you to the results.

The Winter Racing Circuit 10Miler is scheduled for March 9th at 8:00am at the Dee Events Center.  We'll see you all soon.

It's time to RUN SOME HILLS!  The Winter Racing Circuit 10K is scheduled for this Saturday, February 16th, 8:00am at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on the Weber State University campus. 

If you're already registered, packet pick-up is currently happening at the Ogden STRIDERS through Friday....oops, how embarrassing.  A little slip there, I meant 'Layton' STRIDERS ;-)

If you can't make it to STRIDERS on Friday, you can pick up your packet Saturday morning at the Dee Center starting at 6:30am.

Registration is also still available at www.strideracing.com or at the STRIDERS in Ogden...I mean Layton (there I go again). Same day registration will also be available.

On your race bib for the 10K, you'll have a QR code printed next to your name.  After you cross the finish line you'll be able to scan that QR code with your smart phone and it will take you to the results where you can see how you finished.  This is a little experiment Kurt & Mark from Stride Racing are testing out.  Please let us know how it works.

Okay, we'll see you all in OGDEN real soon!!!

The 2013 Winter Racing Circuit has launched and we look forward to another great season of winter running...huh...racing. 

We printed extra shirts this year, so if you want an extra we have them right here for only $15 with FREE shipping.

Men's & Women's Asics tech shirt, comes with a free Ogden Yeti.

The 2013 Winter Racing Circuit is off and running!  It was cold and extremely icy this morning.  The Dee Events Center was like an ice rink, but there were still 405 runners who came out and conquered a very tough 5K course.  

Today's winner was Steve Shepherd, finishing in a very impressive 17:08 (5:31p/mile pace). Running 2nd was Brett Hales (17:16) and rounding off the top 3 was Bryant Jensen (17:21).  Steve is going to have his hands full warding off Brett & Bryant in the 10K, scheduled for February 16th.

In the women's race Cynthia Fowler was the 1st place runner with a 19:36 finish.  Cynthia will be back to defend her 2012 Ogden Marathon win; she's off to a great start.  Utah Running's Janae Richardson finished 2nd in 20:10 and Merrilee Blackham is making a comeback after just having a baby with a 3rd place finish today (20:23).  

It was cold but it was the first time in weeks Ogden has seen blue skies; no inversion today!  Hopefully we've turned the weather corner and it will be smooth sailing from here on...but this is winter in Utah, so be prepared for anything in the 10K.

It gets tougher with the 10K course; more miles, more hills, more ice and even more hills.  Rest up over the next two weeks and we'll see you all soon.  

5K results are here: http://strideracing.com/2013/february/striderswrc5k.html