Sunrise at Old Tucson, Updated Race Report

A quick post-race thank you to the almost 600 registrants for the Sunrise at Old Tucson Cross Country Trail Run.  As you can see from the race results Greg has posted, runners came from as far away as Wisconsin, Washington, New York, Minnesota and Hereford.  Indeed, it was good to see old friends in the 80+ bracket Sully Sullivan (89) and Geri Sullivan (83), plus Del Kruschke, Don Branaman, Dave Mallady, Sue Smith, and Joe Cary in the 70+.  Inspirations to all, old and young alike.  Speaking of young, thanks to Old Tucson for providing cowboy kerchiefs to the kid’s race participants—and to the 80 or so who signed up for the family fun run and walk.  As you can see from the results, some serious speed was on display today, with Matt Chandler from the UA Law School taking first place in the men’s race with Seattle’s Tahoma Kalsa taking second and Tucson’s Dustin Zimmerman picking up third. In the separate women’s race, Tia Accetta cruised to victory, with longtime Arizona running standout Beth Elickson taking second place and Stephanie Wenneborg picking up third.  Great Master’s running was displayed by Bob Schnell (first) and Toby Freebourn, while Beth Ellickson picked up the Master’s win, with Michelle Hawk and Janet Holland hot on her tail.

Age group results are listed on the results page, and if you did not pick up your age group award you can get it at The Running Shop. Please remember that men who ran in the women’s race and women who ran in the men’s race will be listed in the race that they ran and are not eligible for age group awards.

Funds from the race go to the John Wayne Cancer Foundation and the Wildcat Youth Hockey Association, as well as the Southern Arizona Roadrunners and the Children’s Fitness Fund.

Special thanks to race site, Old Tucson, for all their help with the race.  Of course, without sponsors like Body Basics, the Running Shop, BodyArmor drinks, Worldly Soles, Tucson Medical Center, Cox Communications, Caliente and the Arizona Daily Star, and MOTOACTV, the new GPS Fitness Tracker and Smart MP3 player from Motorola, races like this could never happen.  And even though they are a beneficiary, the John Wayne Cancer Foundation’s Team Duke program contributes a lot to the race, with many wonderful raffle prizes.  Thank you JWCF!

Race sponsor Body Basics “invites you to bring in your race number and receive 50% off our Movement Screen, helping you identify any imbalances that could be leading to pain or discomfort.  We can help you feel better doing what you love!  Offer good until Feb. 14th.”

And Motoral says, “Get through the toughest miles with MOTOACTV, the new GPS fitness tracker and Smart MP3 Player from Motorola that helps you power through workouts with music and tracks your stats.  For more information, visit www.motorola.com/motoactv.”

Speaking of contributing a lot, Sunrise could not be put on without the support of the Southern Arizona Roadrunners and a tremendous volunteer corps!  Thanks to Donnie, Liz, Gina, Michelle, SteveO, and Monica for setting up all the flags the day before the race—and thanks to Tia for double-checking things on race morning.  And thanks to Michelle, Craig Dabler, and Buddy for cleaning the course of all those orange flags after the race.  Thanks to Pam Schlottman and the cross country team from Sahuaro High School for the on-course and water-station help.  And thanks to Steve and Sheryl for coordinating all the registration volunteers: Judie Shyman and Ed Melnick, Kathi Hanley, Sam Caito ( friend of Kathi Hanley’s from Ohio),  Royce Marion, Michelle Hawk, Diane Manzini, Marti Ackerman, Robin Gerard, Christine Outridge, Shirley Hester, Maureen Cunningham, Connie Lopez, and Gary Giese.  Steve Outridge did triple duty, with race course, registration, the SAR table, and clean up crew.  Speaking of cleaning up, thanks to Tia, SteveO, Lucas Tyler, Tim Bentley, Craig Dabler, Craig Curley, Greg Wenneborg, and SAR President Mary Lasser for helping load up all the post-race materials—boy, that’s a chore at the end of a long day!

Finally, we ran out of the Desert Museum passes so we will track down some more and get them over to the Running Shop so that the few of you who did not receive one will still be able to receive your free pass to the great Desert Museum.  If you have questions or comments about the race, email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or post ‘em to the http://www.facebook.com/SouthernArizonaRoadrunners page. 

And photos on the facebook site are always welcome!

Thank you!

Randy Accetta, Race Director