HIT THE TRAILS

HIT THE TRAILS
CHESTER WOODS RACES

Thursday, June 16, 2011

10 Mile Female Winner



Cindy Blendermann still holds the record that she set in 2009 but Erin Manlove from Minneapolis came very close to beating that record running 1:12:37 that makes her the second fastest female to ever run the 10 mile race at Chester Woods.

10 Mile Course Record Holder

Mike is number 3089 in the black shirt
There have been only three people to run the 10 mile race under one hour. Ben Marvin and Kelly Mortenson in 2009, and now Rochester and the University of Minnesota's own Mike Torchia; has smashed the old course record by three minutes running an astounding 54:25.


That's an average 5:27 minutes per mile over a tough course.

Growing pains

I finally have a little time to reflect on the 2011 version of the Chester Woods Trail Races. With the addition of a 50k race we are exploring all new territory in the race directing world. It does add to the complication of getting food and water to the aid stations. We had more food available to get to the various aid stations but ran out of time to get it delivered. The multiple loop course proved a little complicated for one of our volunteers giving directions :-) All in all the 50k went well and we will have a better version for next year.
The 5k and 10 mile races had a few runners taking wrong turns also and I have plans on possibly changing the final stretch to the finish line. Also I may start the 5k first so most of the runners are off the course before the 10 milers catch up. I will definatly have more signs directing runners around the course.
We have always averaged aroind 200 runners so I planned on tee shirts for 200 well we jumped up to 300 runners in the last week of preregistration and race day registration. Next year I will plan on enough stuff for 400 runners.
Bear with us as we prepare to grow and plan on a bigger and better CWTR in 2012.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Jim Li's 2011 Chester Woods Photos

We have without question the best race photographer around. Jim Li is kind enough to get up very early and snap a ton of professional quality pictures. Click on the link, and enjoy I like the full screen slide show for the best views.
https://picasaweb.google.com/directorjim7/ChesterWoodsTrailRun2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCJOv1Z2ll5uQmAE#

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Top Notch Compitition

I am super excited to watch the races on Saturday. We have some great runners competing in all of the distances. I see Roxanne Ready, current female 5k record holder, is back to defend her title. In the 10 mile Ben Marvin, our fastest ever 10 miler is back. Mike Torchia Rochester's fastest HS CC runner is going to run the 10 mile course for the first time and the winner of the Woodbury 1/2 marathon, Onamia's Brett Wilson will be in the mix.
On the female side. Cindy Blendermann is back to defend her record time in the 10 mile.
In the 50k Matt Howard is going to set the bar high. Matt is a past winner of the Afton 50k and places near the top in a lot of ultra runs. I don't know a lot about the female 50k runners but I do know there are some very, very good athletes in the race.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Trader Joes



I'd like to thank Trader Joes for providing some delicious treats for the Chester Woods Trail Run.



Remember to thank our sponsors by visiting their stores :-)



And give a big cheery hello to Mark Ekwall #5216 (from Trader Joe's) as he and his son Nick take on the 50k run!!!

Race News

On line registration is now closed for all races. You can register up to 7:50 on race day for $20.00 for the 10 mile and 5k. I noticed that the on-line message for the 50k says that you can register for that race starting at 7:00AM :-) this is wrong, and you would be one hour behind the 6:00AM start. If you missed the deadline for the 50 send me an e-mail by Thursday June 2nd and we'll work something out.

Caribou Coffee

Caribou Coffee

Chester Woods Trail Races welcomes Caribou Coffee. They will be serving freash delicious coffee near the registration/finish area before and after the race :-)

Tee Shirts

Good news/ bad news. In the last few days the number of people registering for the Chester Woods Races is astonishing. It's looking like we could double the numbers from years past. The bad news is I don't think we'll have enough tee shirts for everybody. What I am going to do is; All preregistered runners get first crack at the shirts we have on hand. Any shirts left over will be given out after the preregistered runners get theirs. Once we run out you can put your name shirt size and address on a list and I will re-order and mail your shirt out to you.