We had a good turnout for the Fairmount 5k this year, with 81 runners, one race walker, and 20 kids for the half mile (I think that is the record for the kids' race). The weather was hot (high of 96 degrees that day) and a bit humid, but the rain luckily held off until the picnic was over.

Kayla Young won the women's race in a blazing fast 19:36, not far off the women's course record of 19:04 set in 2014 by Bret Scofield. Andrew Biglow won the men's in 17:57. Ken Simons was the winning race walker in 41:30, beating Ed Gussie's 42:19 mark set last year. Benton Albright won the kids' half mile race in 3:55, then went on to win for the boys' 13 and under 5k in 31:07. Maria Albright was the first girl in 4:40.

Second place in the men's went to Hector Martinez, and third to George Forbes in 19:17, not bad for 47 years young! In the women's race, Rachel Perez was second in 21:14, again, impressive for 37! Isla Anderson, age 14, was the third overall female in 22:07. Look for plenty more fast times from her!

I was impressed by several fast families at the race this year: The Biglows (Andrew won overall, Heather won the womens' 40-45 in 24:14, and they had 3 little ones in the half mile race), Brenzikofers (Chad and Toni, plus 2 kids in the half mile), Martinez family (Hector-second overall, Sylvia-1st woman 19-34 in 29:41, and Dafni-1st woman 13 and under in 30:17), Sandhu's (Kris and 2 kids), Scheibe (Charles and one little guy), sorry if I missed anyone.

As usual, some of the most competitive age groups were the older ones. The top 4 in the mens' 70-74 were within 27-29 minutes, led by Michael Keyes in 27:09. Bill Faulkner's impressive 28:22 won the 75-79 category. The top 3 in the mens' 65-69 were between 26 and 28 minutes, led by Rich Martinez in 26:35. Carmen Kitts won the womens' 65-69 in 33:20. Bob Caillouette was blazing fast in 25:35 to win the men's 60-64, and Karen McKean topped that category for the women in 29:43. Other outstanding times for men were 21:04 for Eric Patterson to win the 50-54, and 20:09 for Scott Kukel , topping the 40-44. On the women's side, Suzanne Buntrock took the 55-59 in 32:33 and Lisa Atencio the 50-54 in 28:06.

As usual, the volunteers are the key to this race, and I have many to thank. First of all, I'd like to thank Ed Youngberg for all of his help before and during the race. He was key to helping me find and organize volunteers. Half the volunteer spots, he took on himself. He brought the Great Harvest bread, the ice, helped with parking and the finish line. Thanks as always to Rob Fischer and Joe Baird for their expertise at the finish line, as well as to Ken Randall, Joe Sanchez, Jim Romero and Amy Lease for their help at the finish. Ken and Jim also helped with parking, as did Tina Vollmer. Thanks to Joe also for having the necessary tool to get the water spicket working so we could fill the water coolers. Thank you to Patty Jones for running registration, and Pat Tolleson for helping out. Thank you to Kevin Snyder for tending the grill all night for the picnic and for bringing the briquettes and lighter fluid. Thanks to my son, Jacques, for sweeping the course and picking up Adam's signs (thanks to Adam Feerst for his race markings again), and to Jacques and my husband, Paul, for stopping traffic at the intersection. Thanks to my friends ,Gayle and Ruben Zorrilla, for expertly manning the water station for me. Thank you to Monica Ryan for buying the drinks and getting them to me despite being ill. Thank you to Tom Chambers for bringing the awards and helping me with the award presentation and to Jen Forker for helping clean up after the finish. Finally, thank you to our sponsors including Great Harvest, Runner's Roost Lakewood, and Runner's High in Golden for 2 gift certificates. I apologize to anyone I left out of this list-this race depends on tons of volunteers and I appreciate each and every one of you.