The Fairmount 5k had a possibly record-breaking turnout of nearly 90 participants under hot, sunny skies. No rainclouds were in sight for a change, although a few mud puddles did find their way onto the course. Many of the age groups were fiercely competitive, with some very fast times run. Hector Martinez was the overall winner in a blazing 17:12 (exactly one minute faster than his 2007 time), and Patricia Martinez led the womens' field in 22:50. Keith Johnson was the first master (and second overall) in 18:23, and Pam Iyer led the master women in 23:06 (second overall woman). We had 7 kids run in the new 13 and under age group, a good sign for the future of CMRA. Also of note, the Johnson family pulled off quite a sweep with fifteen year old son Keifer placing 3rd overall, 31 seconds behind his dad and mom Kathy placing third overall for women.

Pat Phillips gave a tribute at the start to Pat Hayes, long-time CMRA member who passed away last week after a long battle with cancer. His life will be celebrated at a party in October, rather than a memorial service, which was his preference. On a lighter note, Bruce Kirschner celebrated his 55th birthday the day of the race by winning his age category and sharing a large birthday cake with all of us after the race.

I would like to thank our previous race director, Pat Phillips, for his many years of service and for leading me step by step through the process of preparing for and directing the race. I hope that with all of his guidance, I will be able to pull this off myself next year. Thanks also to Joe Sanchez for bringing all the equipment, Adam Feerst for helping set the course, Rosalia Murch and Connie Ahrnsbrak for overseeing registration and Connie for tabulating the official results, Lucas Crespin and David Rothenburger for directing traffic at the first road crossing, Ray Sonheim for helping at the turnaround (and it sounds like doing quite a bit of traffic-directing himself), Julia Keedy and Sheri Mounteer for handing out water to all the thirsty runners at the water station, Joe Baird, Jim Price, Mike and Chris Vannoni and Ken Simons for doing the timing and directing the busy finishing line. Thanks to Good Harvest, Runner's Roost, Boulder Running Company, Running Wild and Bob Jones (for the Apex Center passes) for all the great prizes.

I hope all of this year's participants will return and bring others, and I will do my best to make friends with the weather gods to keep up the favorable conditions.