Is this Martian feeling a bit blue?Aliens were everywhere as the Beyond marathoners blast through space along with 3,500 other runners at the 2007 Martian Invasion of Races! Does the race have a special alien factory to crank out hundreds of these extra-terrestrial creatures? We sure do, reported Race Director Randy Step, the ET running store owner from another galaxy who has somehow managed to connect with the Kalamazoo Area Runners for the third time in the last month and gain hug status. Far fetched rumor has it that Brenda Stoddard and Bonnie Sexton returned home to their families with 4 baby alien hitchhikers. Speaking of babies, we welcome Phil Goodwin’s new son, Aiden Neil Goodwin! Aiden was born March 29, 2007, and remained nameless for 24 hours postpartum!
Now back to the Martian Marathon! We are excited to announce that Kayla and Tim Kling have now officially completed their first marathon! Kayla finished in 4:16:34 and finished 3rd in her age division, while Tim finished in 5:10:29. Congratulations to our favorite father-daughter duo on their first 26.2! Julie Wojtaszek set a brand new PR of 3:48:32 for her 2nd marathon finish, as well as a fourth place finish in her age division (top 5 receive awards). Brian Campbell finished in 4:41:15. Rumor has it Brian coerced a co-worker into running the marathon with him.
What an incredible first marathon story! Beyond satellite runner and first-time marathoner Paul Dewolf ran an amazing 2:59:11 to win his age division. Paul was a top runner from Schoolcraft High School and has been following the Beyond training schedule from his college campus in Grand Rapids!
Now back to the Martian Marathon! We are excited to announce that Kayla and Tim Kling have now officially completed their first marathon! Kayla finished in 4:16:34 and finished 3rd in her age division, while Tim finished in 5:10:29. Congratulations to our favorite father-daughter duo on their first 26.2! Julie Wojtaszek set a brand new PR of 3:48:32 for her 2nd marathon finish, as well as a fourth place finish in her age division (top 5 receive awards). Brian Campbell finished in 4:41:15. Rumor has it Brian coerced a co-worker into running the marathon with him.
What an incredible first marathon story! Beyond satellite runner and first-time marathoner Paul Dewolf ran an amazing 2:59:11 to win his age division. Paul was a top runner from Schoolcraft High School and has been following the Beyond training schedule from his college campus in Grand Rapids!
Brenda Stoddard takes 2nd at Martian!
In the Martian Half Marathon, the team of BS Squared finished at the top of their age groups leaving the stamp of the Kalamazoo Area Runners on the extraterrestrial soil of another planet! Bonnie Sexton won her age group and finished 6th overall with a 1:34:38, finishing ahead of 81 other women in her division, and earned a Martian Marathon Duffle Bag to carry her baby aliens. Brenda Stoddard placed 2nd in her age division, out of 72, and earned a Martian Marathon baseball cap for her baby alien to wear. Mark Sigfrids mysteriously disappeared from the course for 3 minutes, before reappearing and finishing in 1:35:24. Bob Smola ran a very strong 1:36:51 and witnessed this strange incident.
Could this event possible grow to 10,000 in the next few years? Check out this article written by World Record Marathoner, Doug Kurtis. http://www.runmichigan.com/columns/dougkurtis/dougcolumn_287.php Speaking of Doug Kurtis, he became the easy target of an unsuspecting volunteer until Bonnie intervened in the tense situation. “You are NOT famous,” stated the volunteer, who was trying to escort the World Record holder away from the pizza tables. Bonnie was chatting with the humbled Doug and informed the young volunteer that he was Doug Kurtis, and he really IS famous. “Yeah,” reported another who had joined the conversation, “He is a world record holder!” As the story ends, the volunteer and Doug Kurtis became good friends. Doug also, as usual, won his age group.
In other recent marathon news, Peter Gower and Todd Raab ran the Georgia Marathon on March 25. Georgia represented Peter’s 3rd marathon of the year and he finished in 3:55:37. Todd Raab made it his 2nd with a 3:59:32!
