Verzbicas Blasts Out of Starting Gate

Lukas Verzbicas, the phenomenal high school runner/triathlete-duathlete, is worth watching. If you didn't see it in person or read the accounts in the Sun-Times and Tribune on Sunday, the 16-year-old sophomore made his debut for Sandburg High School wish a smashing win at the Lions Pride Invitational, hosted by Lyons Township in Western Springs. He covered the 4,800-meter course in 14:19.76, more than 16 seconds better than the course record he set there last year as a freshman at Lincoln-Way Central. Runner-up Sam Telfer of Lyons, an all-stater last year, came in at 15:15.62. Everyone wants to see what Verzbicas do on Sept. 19 at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational at Detweiller Park, site of the state meet in November, but Lukas may be tapering that week for the International Triathlon Union Short Course World Duathlon Championship in Concord, N.C. Then it's likely he'll focus on cross-country throughout the rest of the fall. This kid is incredible. There's no telling what he might do before his high school career is over.

Fryin, Hattendorf Win Oak Brook Half-Marathon

With a bit of fog and a lot of humidity, runners at the second annual Oak Brook Half-Marathon got going about 7:20 a.m. on Monday, 20 minutes late. When it was over, Mark Fryin, 23, of Elmhurst, was the winner in 1:11:19. Joseph Sepe, 23, of Madison, Wis., was second in 1:13:10.8, and Mike Ptack, 23, of Elmhurst, was third in 1:13:41.5. The women's championships went to Lindsay Hattendorf, 25, of Crown Point, Ind., who ran a 1:18:58.9. I remember Lindsay from when she came up in 2007 and won the Community Bank of Elmhurst 4 on the 4th. Second woman on Monday was Kim Miltz, 35, of Hoffman Estates. Miltz, who once ran in the U.S. Olympic marathon trials, ran a 1:24:14.9, Third-place finisher was Jennifer Goebel, 27, of Lombard, who ran a 1:26:53.8. I was not at the race but I heard there was some confusion about when it would start. I am told it was announced that the race would start at 7:30 from its original 7 a.m. Then it was changed back to 7:15 and eventually went off at 7:20. There were 1,509 finishers. Congrats to all.

The Fast Lane -- Park Forest Scenic 5-Miler

It was a bit humid, but the temperature was 63 with cloud cover as runners in the Park Forest Scenic 5 headed out on Monday morning. It was a small but quality group of runners for the race directed by Bud James. In the men's division, Kenyan Julius Kiptoo, 32, based in Durham, N.C., won in 23:30, setting an event record. Harbert Okuti, 23, based in New Rochelle, N.Y., was second in 23:56, and Lazarus O Nyakeraka, 33, living in Country Club Hills, Ill., was third in 23:57. As you can see, James still has no problem luring top-level runners to his watered-down event from what used to be the nationally-known Scenic 10. On the women's side, defending champion Lucie Mays-Sulewski, 39, of Westfield, Ind., won again in 28:56. She was followed by Jean E. Marinangeli, 25, of Arlington Heights in 29:05, and CARA overall women's leader Suet-Fei Li, 33, of Schaumburg, in 29:20. This was a superb event with no flaws to speak of. It was a small field of 372 finishers, many of whom were competing for points on the CARA Runners' Choice Circuit. For those of you who have raced in Park Forest in the past, but have not done the 5-miler, the pancakes are better than ever!

Juhl Wins Foot Mechanics 13.1: Updated

Lars Juhl (photo) won the second annual Foot Mechanics Half-Madness 13.1 on Sunday in Batavia with plenty of room to spare. Juhl, 32, of Chicago, was by himself as he crossed the finish line in 1:07:45. Nick Hird, 25, of Naperville, was runner-up in 1:11:37, and Steve Imig, 32, of Geneva, was third in 1:12:28. The women's division was won by Lisa Phillps, 24, of Aurora, who ran a 1:27:42. Elena Shemayakina, 50, of Geneva, was second in 1:28:20, and Janeth Salazar-Ohst, 42, of Naperville, one of the area's strong and consistent runners over the years, was third in 1:30:45. Hird won the men's race last year in 1:09:20. Last year's women's champ, Carrie Day, finished in 1:32:38, good for fifth place this time. That time was 2:20 faster than her winning time last year. There were 989 finishers.

Buffalo Grove Stampede Opens the Weekend

The annual Buffalo Grove Stampede 5K and 10K in the northwest suburb drew its usual level of competitors on Sunday with Ryan Guilano, 24, of Schaumburg, just edging Julius Rotich, 34, of West Des Moines, Iowa, to win the 5K, 16:05.6 to 16:06.0. In the 10K, Sammy Rotich, 22, brother of Julius, won easily in 35:12. Both will run tomorrow in the Park Forest Scenic 5-Miler, a CARA Runners' Choice Series race. Among those they'll encounter there will be fellow Kenyan Julius Kiptoo, who won the Park Forest race in 2005, when it still was a national-class 10-miler. Back in Buffalo Grove on Sunday, Chris Wiatr, 18, of Long Grove, took third in the 5K with a 17:18.1 In the women's 5K, Petrana Peticorra, 36, of Lafayette, Ind., won in 19:50. Next in was Valerie Laniosz, 27, hometown not known, in 20:31. Third went to Elizabeth Cox, 13, of Palatine, in 20:36. In the 10K, men's runner-up was Archie Barribeau, 37, of North Fond du Lac, Wis., in 36:31.8, and third was taken by Sam Ramirez, 42, of Chicago, in 37:26.1. The women's 10K was won by Jacqui Aubert, 23, of Crystal Lake, in 40:28.9. Second went to Heather Weis, 23, of Chicago, in 40:48.1, with third going to Carrie Seiberlich, 37, of Kenosha, Wis., in 41:51.9. There 464 finishers in the 5K and 291 in the 10K.

Foot Mechanics Field at About 1,200

The Foot Mechanics Half Madness 13.1 half marathon goes off on Sunday morning in Batavia. It's a scnic route along and near the Fox River. A close source says the field will be at about 1,200 with defending champion Nick Hird of Rock Island (1:09:20 last year) heading the lineup. Another runner in that time range reportedly is entered. Defending women's champ is Carrie Day of Geneva, who ran 1:34:58 in last year's debut of this event.

Labor Day Weekend -- First Look

It's shaping up to be quite a weekend of racing throughout the Chicago area. From the top-shelf events like the Buffalo Grove 10K and 5K and Foot Mechanics Half-Madness half-marathon in Batavia, both on Sunday, to the Park Forest Scenic 5-Miler and Oak Brook Half-Marathobn on Monday, there's a lot going on. Then you throw in a solid mix of fun but maybe a little less competitive community races and you have a Labor Day of love for thousands of runners.
For now, I'm focusing on Park Forest. Race director Bud James has helped re-invent this event from a national-level 10-miler into a strong area 5-miler. It's still on the CARA Circuit (Runners' Choice Series), and there's still prize money, so count on a good group of runners.
"The race should be about 500 or so," Bud told me via e-mail on Thursday. "We have a good field. Julius Rotich, who won last year is back as is Lucie Mays-Sulewski. We have Sammy Rotich joining Julius this year and Matt Thull is coming from Wisconsin along with a group of decent guys from that direction. It is some of the same guys who gave us depth in the Scenic 10! The course is fast and we have a good bit of the music we had before. It actually had a better ratio of music per mile last year than the Scenic 10 had. There is almost two miles on the Old Plank Trail, which resembles the forest preserve. We tried to give it a Scenic 10 look. Hopefully the weather will be good, too. I am looking at the entries later today to see if we have anyone in the race that we don't know about."
As for the other races, expect strong fields and great venues. I'll be back with more information as it trickles in.