A foggy start for the 2007 Kal-Haven Trail RelayGood luck to all the Beyond marathoners running the Martian Half and Full Marathon next weekend! It will be a very first for father/daughter duo Kayla and Tim Kling as well as Beyond satellite runner from Grand Rapids Paul Dewolf! Kayla and Tim, by the way, were given a boost of confidence Saturday at the Gobles Grad Bash 5k! Kayla won women’s overall for the very first time to bring home the trophy, and both Tim and Kayla set brand new PR’s!
It was Beyond a blunder as we once again managed to mangle a name. This reprimand was issued by Steve Downard, “Just a slight correction.” “It was Chad Thompson not Steve Chapman who joined us for the run this weekend.” Welcome Chad! The country music star part was, however, true.
Thanks to Race Director Terry Hutchins, Volunteer Coordinator Cindi MacDonald and the many volunteers from Beyond, the 2007 Kal-Haven Trail Relay set a new participation record with 116 registered runners, 114 of which actually participated despite the early morning showers! Thanks to all of our volunteers from the Beyond, Jim Roth, Julie Wojtaszek, Steve Rice, Brian Campbell and wife Tammy, Marty Buffenbarger’s wife Carolyn, Eric & Peggy Zeeb, as well as sag bikers Neil Zeeb and Bob Smola!
What an exciting day of running it was with close to 200 runners hitting the trails Saturday morning; some of them coming from as far away as Alabama. Among them was our banquet guest speaker Running Fit’s Randy Step who brought his own team from the east side of the state. The legendary George Dales and Tom Coyne were live on the scene with their co-ed squad from the WMU Running Club.
By 7:00 am the Kal-Haven parking lot was already full of cars with both members of the Beyond and SHufflers marathon groups hitting the trail. Thanks once again to Pat Johnson as well as Bonnie Sexton for dropping 5 colorful balloon decorated aid stations on the trail. Soon after the marathoners set off, the Kal-Haven Run Solo and Relay Runners appeared for their 8:00 and 9:00 starts. What a spectacular showing on the part of all the Beyond Marathoners entered in the Relay with program participants taking 3 of the 5 team titles and setting 2 new records! Could it be possible we are doing something right?
In the 33.5 mile solo run, the Beyond’s Chris Roach took 2nd place overall for the men in the solo run. Congratulations Chris!
Marty Buffenbarger teamed with Jennifer Shaffer to form team Master Elite and shatter the Co-ed 2 –person team record by 20 minutes, finishing their 33.5 miles in an amazing 3:51:57! Guess who is the master and who is the elite? After averaging a 6:40 pace for nearly 17 miles, Jen Shaffer is shedding her sub-elite status. Fortunately no scouts from the Hanson’s were present.
Amanda Portis teamed with collegiate arch rival Heidi Saunders to form but what else, team Arch Rivals! The duo shattered the female two-person team record with an even greater margin of 51 minutes with a 4:19:22. The second place team of Brenda Stoddard and Trish Downard also broke the prior female two-person record with an excellent 4:33:12. The Beyond’s Kim Williams joined fellow Tri-kat Michelle Kagey to run a 2-person training run!
In the 2-person male division, Beyond teams swept 2nd, 3rd and 4th places with Steve Downard and Chad Thompson just missing 1st place by 2 minutes with a 3:53:22. They forgot to name their team. Mark Sigfrids and Bob Poznanski of team S&P took 3rd with 4:24:15. Mark Sigfrids somehow managed to run the Gobles Grad Bash 5k AND run the 2nd leg of his 2-person relay. Scott Taylor and Tim Sochor took 4th with 4:40:36. Tim magically transported himself to about 100 points along the trail.
Who even said age and the female gender were handicaps? Current 6-Person Co-ed Record-holders, team Six Pack To Go was the very first relay team to cross the finish line after their arch rivals, the all male high school stars from the Parchmont Stealthy Penguins fell out of contention due to injury. They won out over their nearest co-ed competition, the youngsters from the WMU Running Club by 20 minutes with a 3:38:13. The Beyond’s Jon Williard, Gale Fischer and Bonnie Sexton joined forces with Dave Walch, Jeff Domenico and legendary Olympic trials qualifier Anne Flynn to form this speedy team which cranked out lots of sixes and even a few subs!
Many thanks to ALL who participated & volunteered to support the Girls on the Run, Girls on Track program!
