Fall Colors shines in its second year (Results too!)
By John Trent (10/26/2009)

Better weather, a huge jump in participation and a memorable duel for the top honors marked the second presentation of the Fall Colors Trail Half-Marathon, held on Sunday, Oct. 25 at the Thomas Creek Trailhead in south Reno.

Bruce Cyra, 51, of Reno, overtook former Reno High School and Washington State University cross country standout Collier Lawrence, 23, in the final miles for the win. Cyra, looking remarkably fresh, finished the challenging 13.1-mile course in 1 hour, 48 minutes and 26 seconds, just shy of Barry Smith’s course record of 1:45.

Lawrence, a former Nevada 4A state cross country champion at Reno High now assisting coach Kirk Elias’ University of Nevada, Reno women’s cross country team, crossed the finish line in the Thomas Creek horse trailer parking lot in 1:50:36 to establish a new women’s course record.

 
Paul Miers, 43, (1:53:46) and Jeremy Nunn, 34, (1:54:42) rounded out the top three men’s finishers. Multi-sport standout Lynice Anderson, 41, was the second female finisher in 1:59:42, followed closely by Sarah McMahon, 37, third in 2:01:56.

The oldest finisher was 78-year-old Jim Arthurs, who slipped under the four-hour barrier with an excellent time of 3:56:24. The race’s youngest finisher was 15-year-old Erica Hicks, a Wooster High School cross country runner who made her 13.1-mile debut a memorable one, finishing in 2:55:22.

Fall Colors was held under practically perfect conditions. Morning temperatures were a bit on the chilly side, though by the time most runners finished and were welcomed by a full-service barbecue manned by race director Lon Monroe, temperatures had risen into the very comfortable 60-degree range. This was in contrast to last year’s debut, which saw a pre-dawn start and some strong winds.

The course took runners up and then down the Thomas Creek drainage, and then up a stiff climb to Dry Pond to the Whites Creek side of the course, where they followed a winding single track back to the finish line at the Thomas Creek trailhead. The course featured a stiff 2,813 feet of elevation gain/descent.

Race participation also grew dramatically this year. Fall Colors had 94 pre-race entrants and 89 finishers, two figures which greatly exceeded the race organizers’ hopes. This year’s race benefitted from a date change, moving from the third Sunday of October to the fourth. With such an increase in race participation, look for next year’s Fall Colors to be held on the fourth Sunday in October in 2010!

2009 Fall Colors Trail Half Marathon
Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009
At Thomas Creek Trailhead
Overall finishers (Place, Name, Age, Time)
1, Bruce Cyra, 51, 1:48:26; 2, Collier Lawrence, 23, 1:50:36; 3, Paul Miers, 43, 1:53:46; 4, Jeremy Nunn, 34, 1:54:42; 5, Dominic Adams, 52, 1:59:28; 6, Lynice Anderson, 41, 1:59:42; 7, Reed Kaiser, 43, 2:00:15; 8, Chen Li-Hung, 33, 2:01:39; 9, Sarah McMahon, 2:01:56; 10, Joe Pace, 52, 2:02; 11, David Gonzales, 44, 2:02:27; 12, Bryce Henderson, 20, 2:02:47; 13, Felicia Gunther, 34, 2:02:49; 14, Marisa Pinto, 33, 2:03:31; 15, Mark Hachquet , 56, 2:06:14; 16, Cory Avery, 48, 2:07:48; 17, Iain Hall, 29, 2:08:32; 18, Dave Forshey, 39, 2:09:10; 19, Jesus Vargas, 20, 2:10:02; 20, Turi Becker, 37, 2:12:39; 21, Rick Felling, 54, 2:13:18; 22, Russell Morgan, 50, 2:15:26; 23, Judy Polakoff, 45, 2:15:35; 24, James Boyles, 56, 2:16:08; 25, Melanie Garcia, 34, 2:16:14; 26, Erika Mathews, 37, 2:16:14; 27, Jeff Freeman, 35, 2:16:40; 28, Elizabeth Scott, 36, 2:19:06; 29, Kari Lister, 27, 2:19:12; 30, Michelle Richardson, 31, 2:19:12; 31, Linda Feeney, 38, 2:20:01; 32, Mike Colpo, 34, 2:20:27; 33, Jennifer Singh, 50, 2:20:42; 34, Chad Bible, 30, 2:21:05; 35, Doug Singh, 50, 2:21:34; 36, David Durst, 53, 2:22:15; 37, Richard Kendall, 62, 2:22:37; 38, Miranda Du, 39, 2:22:45; 39, Floyd Whiting, 68, 2:23:03; 40, Gary Glogovac, 57, 2:33:07; 41, John Linton, 58, 2:33:07; 42, Marci Zavala, 35, 2:24:22; 43, William Engle, 57, 2:25:29; 44, Rita Frink, 44, 2:26:23; 45, Al Maestas, 50, 2:26:40; 46, Liz Mosco, 31: 2:27:36; 47, Aaron Stevens, 45, 2:29; 48, George Ruiz, 52, 2:32:49; 49, Ray Little, 43, 2:33:33; 50, Agustin Vargas, 47, 2:38; 51, Ron Nageotte, 60, 2:41:23; 52, Robin Skipworth, 46, 2:41:40; 53, Sandy Herback, 45, 2:41:45; 54, Bruce Yochum, 45, 2:42:14; 55, Justin Woulliet, 36, 2:43; 56, Natalie Collin, 40< 2:43:15; 57, Beth Williams, 48, 2:44:05; 58, Shelley Sedano, 40, 2:44:06; 59, Natan Marley, 33, 2:44:31; 60, Mary Delasconellos, 32, 2:47:48; 61, Crystal Ballentine, 30, 2:49:11; 62, Lynn Kothay, 35, 2:50:20; 63, Rachel Grimm, 27, 2:50:20; 64, Rebecca Evans, 33, 2:50:30; 65, Kristi Schumakev, 33, 2:51:40; 66, Alanna Worrell, 29, 3:51:58; 67, Kathryn Forshey, 60, 2:52:33; 68, Dave Lampert, 51, 2:52:58; 69, Eric Hicks, 15, 2:55:22; 70, Jennifer Bills, 38, 2:56:28; 71, Brie Moore, 33, 2:56:32; 72, Judi Igoe, 37, 2:57:15; 73, Kate O’Driscoll, 29, 2:58:24; 74, Tammy Idell, 32, 3:00:32; 75, Jenny Kossinan, 35, 3:02:26; 76, Angie Arcadia, 37, 3:02:44, 77, Andrew Wolf, 49, 3:06:22; 78, Rhonda Ruiz, 53, 3:11:03; 79, Dan McCoy, 50, 3:12:17; 80, Amity Gardner, 34, 3:20; 81, Jenny Sparks, 49, 3:29:07; 82, Rebecca Bullard, 43, 3:31:42; 83, Liana McGill, 54, 3:31:43; 84, Linda Collier, 65, 3:35:17; 85, Jim Arthurs, 78, 3:56:24; 86, Carol Nageotte, 61, 3:57:32; 87, Chris Klum, 62, 4:11:29; 88, Joan Pokroy, 62, 4:11:32; 89, Mary Ann Kidder, 70, 4:16:47.