Race Director's Report for the 50K:
This 9th Annual event was a lot of fun!  And the mud didn’t get the better of most racers, after all.
There were 182 starters and 128 finishers.

A few records were broken in the 50K:
Scott Gall not only won the race by a wide margin, but he set a new course record, in addition to busting-loose the coveted sub-4-hour award, with a time of 3:59:07!  So the record stays with a Midwest Runner!  Anthony Kunkel and Brian Wandzilak brought up 2nd & third, with 4:26 and 4:37 finish times.

April Calaway was way-out-in-front in the women’s race with a 5:05 winning time. She was 45 minutes ahead of her closest challenger. Diane Diebold and Kelly Cool were second and third in 5:51 and 5:56, respectively.

There was also another record set in the 50K race: Mike Christensen from Fremont, Nebraska, was 9th place overall, and ran the first sub-5-hour (50+ y.o.) 50K.  (Mike is 54 and ran it in 4:58:11.0).

And since this a race with the name “Toto” in it, I can’t help but mention that Charlotte Keefe, a healthy Kansas City mutt set a new Canine course record in 5:02:53.1, dragging her master (Ben Keefe) along for the ride.

-Ben Holmes, RD

Course: A challenging loop course on rocky, rooty, and hilly bridle trails & single-track trails.  "But it's Kansas, how tough could it be?" Each loop is a wheel-measured 10.35 miles long.  So, 2 loops for 20 miles, and 3 loops for 50-kilometers.

Location: In beautiful Wyandotte County Lake Park, shelter 2.  This park is a gem; it's like a piece of the Ozarks, right here in Kansas City, Kansas.

Date: Saturday, February 08, 2014

Start times:

8:00 a.m. for the 50K & 20-Miler. 9:00 a.m. for the 10-miler. Chip timing will be used for all event distances.

Shirts: Beautiful, Technical Long-sleeve Tee-shirts for all participants that enter prior to January 10. No guarantee of a shirt or proper size for later registrants.  These shirts fit "true to size," and an "XS" size will also be offered, for "diminutive physiques."  

Mugs: All Entrants in all distances will receive a race logo mug!

Finishers' Medals: All event finishers will receive a LARGE finisher's medal.  All finishers will also receive a special Distance-Specific oval car sticker!

A quick Race Director's "race assessment" of the 8th Annual Psycho Wyco Run Toto Run:
Well, having a very dry and runnable course made for some fast times at Run Toto Run.  I wrote a lot of checks, yesterday, for the 50K Mud Stud Challenge.  We had twelve sub-five-hour 50K finishes, led by Jeremy Duncan (Colorado), who works for TrailRunner magazine.  His 4:21:12 finish was the third-fastest in the race's history.  Two Emporia State (Kansas) runners hit the first loop of the 50K hard, with a split that could have garnered first and 2nd place in the ten-mile race.  William Hohmeier and Ryan Hahn ran most of the race together, and finished 2nd and third, in rapid succession.

The big story yesterday:
Kaci Lickteig (25), of Omaha, Nebraska blew away the 50K female course record with an incredible finish time of 4:46:19!  She is the only sub-five-hour female finisher (so far), in the eight year history of this race.  She had almost perfect loop splits: 1:34:00, 1:35:52, 1:36:27. To add to the scope of this accomplishment, this was Kaci's first trail race, and her first ultra-distance event.  Maybe the next "Ann Trason" will be from Omaha!

Local Trail Nerd, Mindy Coolman of Independence, Missouri took 2nd place female in the 50K, and had a great sub-six-hour time of 5:38, good enough for a third best all-time result!  Imagine this: Mindy is in great company, with Kaci and world ultra great, Jamie Donaldson!  She is definitely a TRUE MUD STUD!

Not withstanding Tina Long (a non-human), our third-place 50K (definitely human) female finisher was April Gochenour, of Derby, Kansas.  She is in the record books as being one of the few sub-six-hour female finishers.

In the 20-mile race, Brandon Hidaka of Westwood, Kansas hit his stride with a winning time of 2:54:09.  He was followed by Joe Fox, owner of Cycle City in Parkville, Missouri, and Lee Dixon, of KCMO.  Sanya Lenahan of Springfield, Missouri was first female, followed by First Master's and 2nd-place overall, Suzie Scheer, who's run in a lot of Trail Nerd races, over the years.  Megan Brown of Parkville, Missouri rounded-out the top three.

The 10-mile race had a stellar top finisher in Matt Hill, of Boulder, Colorado.  He had a world-class time (on this course) of 1:13:30.  Alex Rock of Chicago, Illinois secured 2nd place, while local runner Scott McVey of Lawrence, Kansas took third.  Kate Woodward drove over from Columbia, Missouri to crush the female 10-mile competition.  Amanda Stafford and Hilda Audard Ottir-Goulay finished 2nd and third with very respectable times.

There are many other stories associated with this event.  I am very proud of the runners and the volunteers that braved the initially harsh conditions to participate.  Thank you for a great race!

Happy trails,
Ben Holmes and the Trail Nerds

Check out all of our races, here.

Read race reports and view photos from 6 previous years.

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