I mentioned it in our thank you email to the runners who came out to our Mesquite Canyon Trail runs this past weekend but it’s hard to believe we’ve already closed the books on another season of the Desert Runner Trail Series. A lot can happen over the course of the series beginning in October and this series always seems to find a way to bring these changes to the forefront. We had a couple runners finish in first place following their Mesquite effort despite entering the race off of the podium.
We had some of our largest races to date in the DRT Series and we’re so grateful to have had you join us for a race, multiple races, or the whole series! It’s great to get to know some of you as the season’s progress.
Here are a few fun facts updated for our 2018-19 DRT Series (I’m a baseball fan and enjoy stats so feel free to skip over these and head straight to the results):
Quail Series
- 284 different women completed a race. 201 Men completed at least one race.
- Unlike 2018 when 6 people ran all 7 DRT races, no one toed the line for the entire Quail Series this year despite more people running this distance.
- Once again, there were 7 different winners for both the men and women in the Quail Series
- We had competitors ranging from 5 years old to 80 years old in the Quail Series! Now that’s impressive.
- Brian Pasero wrapped up first place in the Quail Open Division with a course record win at Mesquite Canyon while Stacey Kuznetnov and Jenni Ofstie came in from outside the top 10 with strong finishes at Mesquite to finish first and second respectively.
- Braeden Leftwich & Addison Wingo both took home the Junior’s Division overall champion for the second straight year.
Roadrunner Series
- 324 different women completed a race. 287 men completed at least one race.
- Four men did all 7 races in the series including Mike McLean who took home the top honors in the Open Division. Five women did them all in 2019, up from just two last year.
- Similar to the Quail ladies podium, Katie Boligitz came out to Mesquite with only two races under her belt and after a strong finish, jumped from outside the top 10 to the top lady in the Roadrunner Open Division. See, she got the pro-tip to run Mesquite. 😉
- There were 7 different winners for the men & women in this year’s series.
- Florence Pool, who, by the way is 79 years old, bumped up her distance from 2018 where she won the Grandmaster’s award in the Quail Series to take home the Grandmaster’s award in the Roadrunner Series a year later. Truly inspiring stuff Florence!
Owl Series
- 220 different women completed a race. 300 men completed at least one race.
- Continuing the trend of the first two series, there were 7 different winners for the women in this series.
- 6 different men won a race in the Owl Series. Aravaipa racing team member, Charlie Ware, was the only male to win twice (San Tan Scramble & Coldwater Rumble).
- Dan Watson took first place in the Open Division in the Owl Series (24K-35K) by a mere 4 points over Seth Rutt .
- The entire Open Division for the women were in the “Master’s” classification of over 40 years of age.
- Rainey Weaver made her third race in the series count at Mesquite as she jumped to the top of the Open Division to take the crown.
Hawk Ultra Series
- 198 different women completed a race. 424 men completed at least one race. That’s more than 100 more men making the jump to the Ultra distance in 2019!
- Once again, there were 7 different winners for both the men and women in the Hawk Series.
- Bill Nictakis was the only runner in this series to complete all seven races.
- Ultra running legend, Ian Torrence, joined us this spring to take third in Hawk Series. This man has some 200+ ultra finishes (not kidding)!
- For the first time in three years, we have a new winner on the women’s podium as Meghan Slavin finished third at Mesquite in the 50 miler to push her to the top of the podium in the DRT Series.
In addition to overall awards, we will also have a masters category for runners 40 years of age or older. Returning in 2019 for the Quail & Roadrunner Series, we are awarding our top Grand Master’s Division runner for all you bad a** runners still getting after it into your 60’s and 70’s (and 80’s this year thanks to Tom Alford!). A junior division overall winner will also be awarded for those of you hitting the trail scene under the age of 17!
Here are a couple things to remember with the Series standings:
-Points are allocated based upon your finish percentage time off the winner’s time.
-We score only your best 3 races in the whole series (of 7 races).
-If you ran 2 races in the Quail division and 3 in the Roadrunner division, they do NOT combine and will be listed in the results separately.
–(Pro-Tip) Mesquite Canyon results are out of 1,250 points rather than the standard 1,000 which can make a significant difference in jumping the rankings.
-If you are 40+ years of age and lead the Open Division, you will be awarded in the Open/Overall Division and your ranking within the Master’s or Grand Master’s Division will go to the next runner on the list.
The final point standings are currently on Ultrasignup can be found here:
Quail Standings (Short Series)
Roadrunner Standings (Middle Series)
Owl Standings (Trail Series)
Hawk Standings (Ultra Series)
With Easter Sunday landing on our typical Dam Good Run day at the lake, awards will be presented at our March 24th Dam Good Run at Lake Pleasant Regional Park. Join us for a fun day on the lake!
….DRUMROLL PLEASE……….
Quail Series: 5 Km – 12 Km 
Women’s Quail Series Open Division
- Stacey Kuznetnov (34)
- Jenni Ofstie (52)
- Margaret Brosnahan (53)
Women’s Quail Series Master’s Division
- Rebekah Helpingstine (40)
- Amy Burnett (44)
- Holly Bowers (44)
Women’s Quail Series Grand Master’s & Junior’s Division
(overall winner only)
- Patti Brown (64) 1. Addison Wingo (11)
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Men’s Quail Series Open Division
- Brian Pasero (40)
- David Brewer (32)
- Jacob Adamson (40)
Men’s Quail Series Master’s Division
- Tom Curran (64)
- Chris Worden (41)
- Tony Asbell (52)
Men’s Quail Series Grand Master’s & Junior’s Division
(overall winner only)
- Rick Kerr (64) 1. Braeden Leftwich (11)
_____________________________________________
Roadrunner Series: 10 Km – 22 Km
Women’s Roadrunner Open Division
- Katie Boligitz (25)
- Catriona Forrest (35)
- Alynn Davis (44)
Women’s Roadrunner Master’s Division
- Amy Boodry (40)
- Karen Weller (61)
- Cynthia Monroe (45)
Women’s Roadrunner Grand Master’s & Junior’s Division
(overall winner only)
- Florence Pool (79) 1. Maida Knapton (16)
—————————————-
Men’s Roadrunner Open Division
- Mike McLean (46)
- Alex Tunas-Corzon (25)
- Yuval Zarai (46)
Men’s Roadrunner Master’s Division
- Andre Lee (48)
- Aaron Schmidt (44)
- TJ Gardner (44)
Men’s Roadrunner Grand Master’s Division
(overall winner only)
- Robert Kazar (63) 1. Kaden Clark (15)
____________________________________________ ____
Owl Series: 24 Km – 35 Km 
Women’s Owl Open Division
- Rainey Weaver (53)
- Liz Trokey (42)
- Heather Larson (45)
Women’s Owl Master’s Division
- Stephanie Whitman (54)
- Kate Smith (50)
- Sheri Sadler (55)
————————————
Men’s Owl Open Division
- Dan Watson (43)
- Seth Rutt (31)
- James Breyfogle (37)
Men’s Owl Master’s Division
- David Santiago (54)
- John Bawden (48)
- John Kruelle (55)
________________________________________________
Hawk Division: 50 Km – 52 Mile 
Women’s Hawk Open Division
- Meghan Slavin (33)
- Karleen Dirmantas (39)
- Jennifer Gustafson (47)
Women’s Hawk Master’s Division
- Carin Dietz (44)
- Colleen Lingley (40)
- Becky Barcon (50)
———————————–
Men’s Hawk Open Division
- Daniel Swensen (30)
- Diego Espinosa (57)
- Ian Torrence (46)
Men’s Hawk Master’s Division
- John Maroushek (52)
- Bill Nictakis (59)
- Catlow Shipek (40)
That’s all folks! Thanks to everyone for joining us this season!
