Scovill, Ryan Best at Windrunner 10K

High humidity on the limestone trails at Danada and Herrick Lake Forest Preserves didn't deter 289 finishers on Sunday at the annual Windrunners 10K through the two DuPage County Forest Preserves near Wheaton. Overall winner was Jeff Scovill, 36, of Minneapolis, in 33:58.6. The women's champion, also 36, was Suzanne Ryan of West Chicago, who ran a 38:07.7. Archie Bareikis, 24, of Oak Forest, was second overall in 34:31.4, and Colin Young, 34, of Mount Prospect, was third in 34:45.1. Considerably behind Ryan on the women's side was runner-up Kate Kostal, 25, of Winfield, in 42:47.3, and third-place finisher Maegan Harris, 31, of Aurora, in 44:39.3. I've always wanted to do this race, but confess I haven't because it was close to other races I've done a week later on Labor Day weekend. I think I would love it because I've run, roller-skied and snow-skied on those trails hundreds of times. Kudos to the Lisle Windrunners for producing a high-quality event.

Baby's Due in March -- Deena out of NYC Marathon

Deena Kastor is pregnant and will not compete in this year's New York City Marathon. If you didn't read it in the Sun-Times or Tribune today, you have now. Deena, a Chicago favorite for her past wins in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and Shamrock Shuffle 8K, is one class act. Who can forget her memorable bronze-medal run at the 2004 Olympic marathon in Athens? Best wishes and godspeed to Deena, her husband, and their expected child next March.

Cornfest Results Corrected

Results from the Cornfest 10K in DeKalb have been fixed. A note from the race director with the race survey said that apparently the initial results had been posted as gun time, not chip time. It's been corrected for all of the hungry CARA Runners Choice Circuit runners (as well as people who just ran it to run it), and from a personal point of view, I'm happy. I got the time I thought I'd run. OK, 44:59.2 isn't going to get me into the hall of fame, but in 100 percent humidity, I'm a happy old fart with a performance like that. Kudos to the race for getting it right. They did another great job out there.

Champion's Race Goes to Flaherty

The Dick Pond Champion's Race 10K on Saturday was a newbie, but as the USATF "state championship," it drew a decent contingent of runners, mostly from the city. Matt Flaherty, 25, was the winner in 31:52.30 on the course that started and finished near Montrose Harbor. Mark Wehrman, 23, of Chicago, was second in 33:47.35, and John Taylor, 38, was third in 34:15.75. The women's top three went like this: Sue DeHaan, 43, in 40:48.85; Jennifer Pfaff, 34, in 41:07.70, and Kristen Frey, 26, in 41:18.95. In the 5K, Kevin Granato, 32, won in 16:55.60, while Holly Porter, 34, was the women's winner in 19:41.00 This was intriguing to say the least. Dick Pond is located in the suburbs not the city. I'll bet organizers meant for it to be Champions' (plural possessive), not Champion's (singular possessive) Race. And going up against the DeKalb Cornfest 10K CARA Runners' Choice Circuit race didn't help, but some powerful runners did show up to make this event a success.

Two Geneva XC Runners Medal at Youth Olympics

Standout Geneva High School cross-country runners Kevin McDowell and Kelly Whitley won silver and bronze medals respectively last week in the triathlon at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. Both competed in events that included 750-yard swims, 20K bike rides and 5K runs. McDowell finished second to Aaron Barclay of New Zealand. Whitley was third, losing only to winner Yuka Sato of Japan and Ellie Salthouse of Australia. McDowell and Whitley train with the Illinois-based Multisport Madness Triathlon Team and qualified for Singapore at the April 16 ITU Triathlon American Youth Olympic Games Qualifier in Monterrey, Mexico.

Brady, Marinangeli Pace Humid Cornfest 10K

The humidity couldn't have been much higher, but at least temperatures were only in the high 70s on Saturday at the CARA Runners Choice Circuit's westernmost race, the DeKalb Cornfest 10K. The event drew its usual strong field with Kyle Brady, 22, of Wheaton, winning the overall title in 31:33:33, and Jean Marinangeli, 26, of Arlington Heights, taking the women's crown in 36:08:19. Brady bested Chad Ware, 25, of Deerfield, who led early, but couldn't hold on against Brady in the brutally sticky weather. Ware ran 31:46.76. Both times are superb considering both runners are in full-bore marathon training with some triple-digit mileage weeks under their belts. Third went to always reliable Emisael Favela, 33, of Cicero, who also got under 32 with a 31:58.64. I'm not certain if Favela plans to run a fall marathon or not. Matt Thull of Milwaukee, who took second last year, was registered but did not compete. Back on the women's side, Marinangeli had things to herself. Second place was taken by Olivia Aranda, 31, of Rockford, who posted a 39:04.18, just edging third-place runner Tammy Lifka, 40, of Glen Ellyn, who came in at 39:05.5, easily the first female masters finisher. Top male master was Bob Cisler, 41, of Darien, who ran a 34:57.46. Immediately after the race, finish times were off by 16-17 seconds. I think they are still off by 3-4 seconds. Does anyone else think the times are slightly off? I know mine is shown as 4 seconds slower than what I got on my watch. There were 564 total finishers, up from 561 in 2009. Driving through almost zero-visibility fog to get there from the Chicago area added to the interesting day.

CARA Adjusts Circuit

With DeKalb's Cornfest tomorrow and Runners' Choice Circuit runners wondering what was up because of the cancellation of the competitive version of the Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10-miler, CARA made the following announcement today.


Due to the Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10 Mile being cancelled because of severe weather, the CARA Race Committee has made the following changes to the Runners' Choice Circuit scoring:

Individual: Runners will now only need to participate in six (6) races to be eligible for a Runners' Choice Circuit award. We will now score your best nine (9) races instead of ten.

Corporate: The Chicago Half Marathon will be the replacement race for the cancelled Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10 Mile.

Long Distance: To be eligible for a Long Distance Award, runners need to complete 5 races of 10 miles or more.

There will be no changes made to the Club or Participation Award rules. If you have any questions, please contact Brian Ulery, Road Race/Volunteer Services.

K-Fest 5K Goes to Favela, Brewster

Prize money and a fast course based from the Foster Bank on the north side of Chicago brought out some top-tier runners for the annual K-Fest 5K on Sunday. Sponsored by the bank and the Chicago Korean-American Chamber of Commerce, the race was won by Emisael Favela, 33, of Cicero, in 15:29.5. Joe Guinness, 25, of Chicago, was second in 15:51.4, and Daniel Kittaka, 22, of Chicago, was third in 15:55.3. Bethany Brewster, 25, of Madison, WI, was the women's winner in 17:33.3. Chicago-area regular Columba Montes, 30, of Chicago, was second in 18:05.7, and Simonetta Magnani, 42, of Catawba, OH, was third in 18:30.7.

What's New? Plenty

The race landscape around the Chicago area just keeps on changing. Three events that really are grabbing my attention are a new Park Forest Running and Pancake Club 10-miler on Saturday, Sept. 4; the inaugural Naperville Trails Half Marathon on the chopped limestone trails of Danada and Herrick Lake Forest Preserves on Sunday, Sept. 12; and the Prairie State Marathon, Half Marathon and 5K, all based from Independence Grove Forest Preserve near Libertyville, on Saturday, Oct. 9. With all of the other events and training programs alrteady in place, it's amazing to me to see this happening. The Park Forest run will be on bike trails in Mokena, not Park Forest, and does not replace the current 5-miler in Park Forest on Sept. 6. The new 10-miler will not be competitive, but possibly a trial run for a new serious 10-miler in the future (we all remember and miss the PF Scenic 10 that was discontinued by the village . . . not the club), organizer Joe Baska told me. The Naperville race goes head-to-head against the Chicago Half and is two weeks after the Peapod Half Madness (Sept. 5) and Oak Brook (Sept. 6) Halfs on Labor Day weekend. The new marathon in Libertyville will get some people left out of Chicago and some limestone trail lovers who like to go long. It's all very interesting. Stay tuned.

Bear Down! Chicago Half Start Time Now 7 a.m.

This is the week for announcements of start time changes. First, there was the Xtreme 10, and now there is the Chicago Half Marathon on Sept. 12. The time has been moved from 7:30 to 7 to accommodate the city, which among other things that day, will be dealing with the Bears' opener at Soldier Field just up Lake Shore Drive at noon. Here is the official announcement:
START TIME CHANGE!
The 2010 Chicago Half Marathon will start at 7:00 AM! This marks a change from the advertised time of 7:30 AM. The start time of the event was changed due to the Chicago Bears home opener also occurring on September 12, 2010.
The Chicago Half Marathon has worked in conjunction with the City of Chicago to make this change to lessen the impact of both large events occurring on the same day.
Please plan accordingly. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Rizzo, Moody Rule Humid Rock 'N Roll Half

I'm betting it was way more humid on Sunday than it usually is in Colorado where Illinois natives Patrick Rizzo and Tera Moody do their training. Neither set a PR at the Rock 'N Roll Chicago Half Marathon, but both had enough in their tanks to win this huge mid-summer race. As was the pattern for just about everyone, splits were faster early, even for the elites. Rizzo won in 1:06:19, a 5:04 pace, but went through the first 5K at 4:58 pace before settling down. Moody's pattern was similar. She was at 5:31 pace through the 5K and finished in 1:13:36 (5:37 pace). On the men's side, second place went to Daniel Jackson of Michigan in 1:07:12, and third went to Justin Grunewald of Minnesota in 1:07:52. Runner-up woman was Flora Docherty of Colorado in 1:14:45, and third was taken by Jessica Graf of Michigan in 1:19:36. As of now, there were 18,555 finishers, including Today Show weatherman Al Roker. As for the rest of us, it was deceptively tough. The temperature was tolerable, but the humidity was high. You had to moderate your pace or pay the price.