Brain Mickelsen was the much beloved city manager of Cottonwood AZ., until his untimely death in 2007. This year the "Verde Mingus Blow Out" was renamed in Mickelsen's honor, as the race incorporates 2 of his favorite things-- distance running, and the beautiful high desert scenery of Cottonwood, Arizona.
The turnout for the 2 mile, 10K, and half marathon runs totalled nearly 400 runners, including me and several of my pals. Meredith Seiverd ran the 2 mile race, finishing in 11th place, at 21 minutes.
John O'Neill ran 10K in 57 minutes, arriving in 56th place.
Ruth Ellen Suding and Tim Elinski ran the 10K, arriving in 1:01, and in 76th and 77th place respectively.
Elissa Ballew ran the 10K in 1:08, placing 102nd. Ken Matthies ran the 1/2 marathon in 1:45, arriving in 20th place. And me? After having run the 10K in 1:30, coming in dead last, 68th out of 68 in 2008, I was pleased (but not esctatic) to have pared my 10K time down by 10 minutes to 1:20, coming in 128th out of 161. It seems crazy to me that a year of training for this condensed down into a mere 10 minutes! But as a mathematically-minded pal put it, that's an 11% improvement! Not too shabby! |
