The 12th annual Big River Run, held at the Northwest Sports Complex in House Springs, was “awesome” this year, according to Jefferson County recreation manager Ryan Quirk.
The event included 5K and 10-mile races, with a Eureka man potentially setting a new record in the 10-mile run.
Dylan Belles, 33, placed first in the run with a time of 53 minutes, 7 seconds. His average pace was 5 minutes and 19 seconds.
“That’s just crazy,” Quirk said. “It’s like a 5-minute pace, for 10 miles. That could be a record for our run.”
The first-place finisher in the 5K was 15-year-old Jacob Judge of House Springs, with a time of 17 minutes and 51 seconds.
In all, about 120 people ran and walked in the two races, Quirk said. He said that’s about how many people participated in last year’s races.
Quirk said many people were happy with the new finisher medal idea introduced this year. Everyone who participated in one of the two races received a medal this year, whereas in years past only the top three finishers in each age category received a medal. To differentiate the participants from the top finishers, a special ribbon slider with the Big River Run logo and place designation was given to the top three male and female finishers in each race. The slider can be added to the finisher medal.
“Everything really went off pretty well,” Quirk said. “I know the one thing that we are going to try to improve next year is traffic control. I know there were still some cars that were trying to drive through during the run, so that’s one thing that we’re going to try to really hammer out next year is traffic control, essentially, and potentially blocking the streets off during the run.
“But other than that, I mean, we got a lot of compliments. A lot of first timers who were running had a lot of good things to say, which is always exciting.”
Quirk said information on the 13th annual Big River Run will likely become available in the next six months. All information will be posted on the Parks and Recreation Department website, jeffcoparks.recdesk.com, and Facebook page.
