Fowl Day Run, Atalaya Turkey Trot - Race Reports

The 30^th annual Fowl Day 5K was run at Fort Marcy Park, 11/20.  I've always loved this run because of its tough cross-country layout and because I used to do a lot of running on that side of town back in the day so I consider it to be my home course.  I didn't compete this year but I was there as a field marshal and mid-race motivator ('Hey you're moving right along!  It's not far to go now! Keep at it...'). Race day weather was unseasonably warm and sunny.  Competitors and the dominating Girls on the Run presence brought in hundreds of pounds of donated food for the Salvation Army which were loaded and carted away by truck.  

The race upfront was between Joachim Marjon, Eric Peters and a third guy that I don't know by name unfortunately.  Joachim pulled away by the half way mark (where I was helping direct traffic), and finished well ahead of the others at the end.  We didn't get a finishing time for Joachim (and neither did he), but I'm going to say he was around 19min on a tough course.  Mr. Peters ran to second place.  Liz Sponagle paced the women's race. The second and third place finishers escape me.  Someone out there knows who finished where, please add their names in the comments below.

As part of the old-school character of this fine race, numbered popsicle sticks were handed out to runners at the finish marked with finishing places.  The after-race raffle used these numbers to award large amounts of holiday pies, Striders race t-shirts, and donated gear from REI to finishers and race volunteers.  I brought three pies for the raffle in hopes of finally winning something this year, and bam!, I scored a pecan pie.  An effective rigging of the raffle for personal gain?  I think so.  Girls on the Run had a huge turnout, both in young women navigating the tough course and in running buddies who helped them train and ran alongside with encouragement during the run itself.  Congratulations to all on a very successful run. 

At the ever growing Atalaya Turkey Trot 5K, there were cold temps and snow at this year's Thanksgiving running, 11/25.  Neither of these race elements worked to slow down SFHS senior and eventual winner Andre Miller.  Miller raced to a winning time of 17:34, besting this year's Big Tesuque champion Mike Ehrmantraut in 18:21, and relative unknown Mark Barela in 18:29.  

The women's race was also lead by an under-20 speedster and former SFHS athlete, Medora Allison, who defended her previous year title winning in 21:11.  She was followed across the line by Rachel Gantt in a time of 21:30, and Alice Temple in third at 22:39.  Max Mujinaya has a race photo album posted here.

Stampede!

Several accomplished runners and friends of mine were out working up a Thanksgiving appetite that need mentioning, including ultra-marathoner Jacob Waltz in 4^th, 20:55, multi-event prep state champion Damien Passalaqua in 21:40, Duke City Marathon and Pike's Peak Marathon regular Chris Chavez in 21:48, endurance cyclist and Outside Magazine cover-athlete Steve Yore in 22:07, multi-year prep and collegiate All-American Peter Graham in 22:22, Boston marathoners Richard Curry, 23:02, and Alice Temple, 3rd place, 22:39, and Mt. Taylor quadrathlete Jan Bear in 23:43.  Quite the field.  In only its 3rd running, this is the largest 5K run in Santa Fe.

Simpson > the state of AZ

In other results, my man Dave Simpson ran to a half-marathon title at the Grand Canyon Half on 11/6.  He put 7min. into the rest of the field, running away with a 1hr 31min finish.  The win netted a pair of Salomon trail shoes, Teva sport sandals, and a professionally shot photo of himself and the Canyon. Simpson for the win sons.




Related Posts:
  - Jaguar Cross-Country Invite
  - Dale Ball Buster
  - 2011 Trail Racing Calendar

Related Links:
  - Atalaya Turkey Trot - SF Trail Runner