I'll admit it, I had my concerns about this year's race. Smoke from nearby forest fires had been extremely thick in the days leading up to the race and I wasn't sure if the air would clear out in time. On top of that, we had rain and wind in the forecast, scheduled to hit us on race morning. So basically, I had two worries, either the storm system wouldn't roll through as advertised and the air would still be full of choking smoke, or the storm would move in just in time for race morning and nobody would want to get out of bed to run in the rain. I forced myself to stay positive and lo and behold, a cleansing rain washed through the valley in the early morning hours, creating ideal race conditions for this time of year. The beautiful morning brought many participants out and we had about 20 race day sign ups, which is more than usual. I always hope for a big turnout because the race helps benefit Friends of the Animal Shelter (FOTAS).
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| Some seriously fast high school runners set the early pace! |
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| Robby Vos with a great run to take home the win! |
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| 2012 Champion, Aaron Luksich puts an 18:25 5K in the records! |
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| Sera Mathewes, the 2015 women's champion! |
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| David Hollensbe running hard up the hill for 4th place overall! |
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| Kevin Littman delivers a sub 20 minute 5K! |
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| Chris Redfelt putting in another solid effort! |
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| Dorsey Dobry takes 2nd place overall for the Women's division! |
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| Becky Hacker with a strong finish for 3rd place overall in the Women's division! |
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| Patrick Mathewes gets in some family time while he races! |
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| Kelsey Dennis and Ken Kendall run to the finish line together! |
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| Young racers flying into the finish! |
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| Dru Griffen with Nasra Ali close behind! |
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| The Kid's race began with a lightning fast pace! |
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| Gabriel Luksich won the kid's dash for the second year in a row! |
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| Evan Luksich had a solid time of 3 minutes flat! A 46 second PR! |
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| Rocco White improves by 1 minute and 19 seconds over last year's run and takes 3rd place! |
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| Hunter Vos with a great run! |
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| My daughter, Rylynn Sotos was the female champion! |
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| Leni White and Addison Dinger run side by side to the finish. |
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| Robby Vos, Overall Men's 5K Champion 2015! |
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| Sera Mathewes, Women's 5K Champion 2015 and new 5K women's record holder! |
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| Gabriel Luksich Kid's Dash 2015 Champion and he broke his record from last year! |
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| My daughter, Rylynn Sotos wins the girl's 7 and older category! |
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| Leni White wins the 6 and under division! |
Overall, I was very happy with how the race turned out, especially with the potential obstacles leading up to race day. We ended up with 7 more runners than the previous year. More runners means more money raised for FOTAS, and that's the goal. I need to thank my awesome sponsor, Ashland Anytime Fitness. Sherri Strandlien, the owner of Ashland Anytime fitness is always a great volunteer at the race, and I couldn't do it without her. I need to thank my wife, Breanne Eagles for taking pictures this year. Blaine Hight and Derek Barber helped man the corners and the turn around to make sure that no runners got off course, and I thank them for their time. Thanks to Rogue Valley Race Group and Southern Oregon Runners for doing a great job timing the event. They are always organized and very professional. Thank you to all the racers for showing up and supporting our race. I hope to see all of you next year. And Finally, I'm very thankful for all the amazing businesses that so willingly donated to the prize raffle. They always make the prize raffle a very special part of this race. The following businesses made contributions to the race and I hope you will go out there and support them.
Race Raffle Contributions
El Paraiso
Ruby’s Neighborhood Restaurant
Heartsong Nutrition
Anytime Fitness
Ashland Cycle Sport
SOU Athletics
Brian Johnson Massage LMT
Branson’s Chocolate
Small Change
TreeHouse Books
Northwest Nature Shop
Rogue Valley Race Group
Bug A Boo of Ashland
Rogue Valley Runners
Therapeutics in Motion, Shaggy McLaughlin LMT
Advanced Myotherapy, Janie Chandler LMT,EEM-AP
Active Acupuncture of Ashland, Molly Romero MAcOM, LAc
Breadboard Restaurant
El Tapatio
Organic Grind
Ashland Anytime Fitness 5K Women's Top Ten Times:
1) Sera Mathewes-2015 18:54
2) Molly Reimer-2010 20:58
3) Suzanne Ray-2010 21:03
4) Dorsey Dobry-2015 21:15
5) Elena Meyer-2010 21:43
6) Suzanne Ray-2011 21:45
7) Becky Hacker-2015 22:02
8) Melanie Neilitz-2010 22:09
9) Suzanne Ray-2015 22:11
10) Melanie Neilitz-2011 22:15
Ashland Anytime Fitness 5K Men's Top Ten Times:
1) Trevor Palmer-2013 15:44
2) Jeff Olson-2010 16:03
3) Zorg Loustalet-2010 16:44
4) Aaron Luksich-2012 17:58
5) Alan Vos-2014 18:02
6) Aaron Luksich-2013 18:09
7) Robby Vos-2015 18:12
8) Aaron Luksich -2015 18:25
9) David Hollensbe-2015 18:57
10) Joshua Wallace-2012 19:04
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