All's Fine at Alpine

If you haven't run the Alpine Races Half-Marathon in Lake Zurich, it's your loss. Yesterday's perfect running weather was augmented by the race's great course, organization and competition. I wasn't sure how my body would react after vacationing six time zones away, but things were just fine. I'll take 1:34:22 any time. There were fewer than 300 finishers in this race. Go figure. The small field makes it nice for those of us who are there, but a lot of people who weren't there would have loved it. Up front, Chris Setzler, 35, of Wonder Lake, broke away early, running solo almost the entire route. Setzler, who coaches cross-country at Johnsburg High School, won it in 1:13:52.81. The real battle was for second, with masters master Mike Egle, 46, of Glenview, running 1:17:44.49 to edge Hunter Brock, 30, of Glen Ellyn, who clocked 1:17:44.93. Jacqui Aubert, 32, of Crystal lake, avoiding her hometown half-marathon run simultaneously, won the women's race in 1:31:10.46. She was followed by Pam Blair, 27, of Chicago, who ran 1:32:30.49 as a training run for the Chicago Marathon. Kristy Howland, 45, of Elmhurst, took third in 1:32:46.80. I was running near national-class Nancy Rollins, 61, of Evanston, as she posted another sensational race. Her time was 1:34:43. Hats off to Pat and Beth Onines and the rest of the Alpine Runners crew for an outstanding CARA Circuit race.