Lithia Loop Trail Marathon Wrap-Up and Photos

Well, we have finally had a moment to catch our breath and unbury ourselves from the leftover and dirty aid station equipment here at Rogue Valley Runners. However, while that was happening, we've accumulated some photos and some links to some stories about our trail marathon last weekend.

Ten Interesting Lithia Loop Trail Marathon Facts and Tid-bits:
1) Seven of the top fifteen finishers were women!
2) 86 of 88 starters, finished! A 97.7% finisher rate!
3) We got real lucky with the weather. Rain started to fall only after the awards ceremony wrapped up.
4) 43 volunteers helped you get to the finish line. That's a volunteer for every two runners!
5) You didn't drink as much water as we had thought.
6) You liked the food at the finish and at the aid stations because we didn't have much left to deal with.
7) Most of you stayed for the awards, we thank you for your patience.
8) You came from Oregon, California, Washington, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Ohio to run our event.
9) You're all good sports and fantastic runners. We thank you for your participation.
10) Make plans now for this race next year! We'll find out in early December if we've won the USA Track and Field Trail Marathon Championship bid.

Let's direct your attention first to the Mailtribune and a story Andy Atkinson wrote about the race. Go to the story and take a look at Andy's photo gallery as well.

Here's Krissy Moehl's account of her run in the Ashland Watershed. Krissy, from Bend, finished in 3:24:54 and 15th overall.

Here's Heather Daniel's account of her day on the trails. Heather, from Portland, finished in 3:36:28.

Here's a post from the Bend specialty running shoe store FootZone. It discusses their central Oregon running heros' results at the LLTM.

Sean Meissner, the second place finisher, wrote about his experience. Find this Sisters, Oregon resident's account here.

Off they go!

Sean Gordon works the radio at West Fork.

Home Sweet Home; West Fork Aid Station awaits runners.

Ashland's Kim Larson smiles. She finished in 4:37:51.

Yamhill, Oregon's Dean Heuberger is all arms. He finished in 5:36:35.

Jacksonville's Ali Miles (3:15:41) and Bend's Katie Caba (3:09:26) match each other's stride into Windburn Ridge Aid Station.

RVR employee Darcy Kleinman, 3:53:26, discussed her issues with RVR employee and Windburn Ridge Aid Station Captain Chris Rennaker.

Ashland's Jenn Shelton (3:13:24) refills at Windburn.

Medford's Adam Seibert (3:02:04) speeds through Windburn Aid Station.

Sister's Sean Meissner (2:53:09) looks for refreshment at Windburn.

Tailgate Party! Katie Schubert and Jenny Gunter have all the fixin's at Windburn Ridge Aid Station.

White Rabbit Aid Station; The Invasion of the Brits. Dog Tipper, Rob Cain (in the hat), Erin Keller and John Price inspire racer Sarah DeMulder (6:12:14) to the finish.

A special thanks to all the volunteers that made this event possible and to Lithia Motors for all there transportation help!

Until Next Year!!!