As promised, here are the winners of the 2020-21 Desert Runner Trail Series and a few fun stats mixed in. This was the 11th year for some of these races and a nice little milestone for Aravaipa Running and how far we’ve come.
As you all know, a lot can happen over the course of the series, this time beginning in November with Pass Mountain. Pulling from your three best races keeps things interesting and opens up the top spots to a lot more runners then you may see on a typical race day. You don’t have to win a single race to make the podium in the series.
Here are a few fun facts updated for our 2020-21 DRT Series (I’m a baseball fan and enjoy stats so feel free to skip over these and head straight to the results):
Hummingbird Series
- This series was new in the Spring of 2020 and picked up steam in 2021. As we slowly added in more short and mid-distance races to the series, we brought on this fifth series pass that sits right in that 5K range over the four races.
- 168 different women completed a race in this series. 105 men completed at least one Hummingbird Series race. 11 Runners completed all four races!
- We had 4 different winners for each of the Spring races on both the men and women’s podium.
- Kaesha Guillaume, at just 14 years old, led the way as she finished on the podium in three of her four Spring races.
- David Carson, at 16 years old, took the men’s side finishing no worse than second in any of the Spring races and won the Elephant Mountain 6K.
- Kevin Morris rolled through his second straight Hummingbird Series, winning the Master’s Division in back to back years.
- Fun fact: the Hummingbird Series saw runners toe the line from 4 years old to 82 years young!!
Quail Series
- 293 different women completed a race. 220 men completed at least one race.
- We saw 7 different winners for the men and 6 different winners for the women in the Quail Series. Only Abbie Tuomi won two races- more on her below.
- We had competitors ranging from 7 years old to 77 years old in the Quail Series! Now that’s impressive.
- We saw Joe Shea run all seven races on his way to the overall Quail Series win.
- Kaitlin Tanner placed third in the Quail Open Division AND third in the Hummingbird Open Division this year as she finished all seven DRT Series races.
- Tim Young, at 65 years young, finished third in the Open Division after taking second in the Master’s Division last season.
- Lyndee Tisinger wrapped up first place for the ladies (second overall behind Joe) in the Quail Open Division with with three Spring races.
- Tracie Loveall won the Master’s Division and completed all seven DRT Series Races!
- For the first time in four years, we have a new winner in the Youth Division for the ladies. Kyley Lucas finished two races for the win (3 total finishes in the DRT Series) . Tyler Tisinger won for the men with his first place finish at Coldwater.
Roadrunner Series
- 315 different women completed a race. 291 men completed at least one race. Runners aging from 12 to 75 years old completed a race.
- 10 of the top 12 ladies and 8 of the top 10 men were all of the “master’s” qualifying age out there showing the young bucks how to get it done!
- Terri Rashid, won the Master’s Division by just 44 points after a solid showing at the Mesquite Canyon finale.
- Richard Rashid, at an impressive 69 years old (!), finished all 7 races and took home the Grandmaster’s award for the men.
- Yuval Zurai, finished all 7 races including 3 wins and 4 second place finishes! One heck of a season Yuval!
- Abbie Tuomi was new to our series this year and won all four races she competed in, setting a new course record at all of them!
- Pati Coury, or Mama Coury as we so fondly know her as, won the Grandmaster’s Division with three strong finishes this Spring as we got her out from behind the main aid stations and laced up her shoes. Congrats Pati!
Owl Series
- 227 different women completed a race. 329 men completed at least one race. We had runners ranging in age from 12 to 73 years old!
- Megan Kupres won the Open Division for the ladies with a win at Cave Creek Thriller and finishing on the podium three other times.
- Alex Potter finished second, completing five races in the series including a win at Elephant Mountain and her first 50K at Mesquite to close out the Series.
- Kevin Tuck, at 64 years young, finished all 7 races in the series and secured the second place spot in the Open Division. This man is the epitome of consistency. So impressive.
- Matthew Hamilton arrived on the scene with a bang, completing 6 races and a win at Elephant Mountain.
- Dan Kuch, similarly, joined our DRT Series for the first time this year and collected a pair of second place finishes.
Hawk Ultra Series
- 253 different women completed a race. 510 men completed at least one race. Both figures are records for finishers in the Ultra Division!
- Sarah Garrigan finished first overall in the Hawk/Ultra Division, completing three races including the Coldwater 100 Miler & Frenzy 50 miler on her way to the Open Division Hawk Victory after winning the Master’s Division last year!
- Speaking of kicking it up a notch, Jordan Schmidt is your men’s Open Division winner with four Ultra finishes including his Coldwater 100 mile finish, and 50 mile finishes at both Frenzy and Mesquite! Beast mode.
- Andre Lee completed all seven Ultra distance races in the Series while John Maroushek grabbed six finishes. That’s a lot of ultras in under 6 months boys!
- Bill Nictakis, at 62 years old, toed the line for all 7 Ultras, finishing five of them, as he’s your Grandmaster’s Division winner.
In addition to overall awards, we will also have a masters category for runners 40 years of age or older. Returning in 2021 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. 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. The 100 mile distance at Coldwater also receives additional points in the series standings.
-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:
Hummingbird Standings (Mini Series)
Quail Standings (Short Series)
Roadrunner Standings (Middle Series)
Owl Standings (Trail Series)
Hawk Standings (Ultra Series)
….DRUMROLL PLEASE……….
Hummingbird Series: 5Km – 8 Km
Women’s Hummingbird Series Open Division
- Kaesha Guillaume (14)
- Celia Scott (37)
- Tenisha Germosen (32)
Women’s Hummingbird Series Master’s Division
- Susan Mason (54)
- J Covarrubias (55)
- Nicole Eller (48)
Men’s Hummingbird Series Open Division
- David Carson (16)
- Eric Scott (42)
- Kyle Johnson (33)
Men’s Hummingbird Series Master’s Division
- Kevin Morris (63)
- Mike Bruns (61)
- Robert Yeoman Jr (47)
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Quail Series: 5 Km – 1/2 Marathon
Women’s Quail Series Open Division
- Lyndee Tisinger (48)
- Rebecca Luiten (29)
- Kaitlin Tanner (31)
Women’s Quail Series Master’s Division
- Tracie Loveall (52)
- Ann Miller (63)
- Samantha Horn (51)
Women’s Quail Series Grand Master’s & Junior’s Division
(overall winner only)
- Patti Brown (65) 1. Kyley Lucas (16)
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Men’s Quail Series Open Division
- Joe Shea (37)
- Jun Moteki (33)
- Tim Young (65)
Men’s Quail Series Master’s Division
- Jay Dittman (56)
- Greg Moffitt (59)
- Marcus Lehmann (41)
Men’s Quail Series Grand Master’s & Junior’s Division
(overall winner only)
- Michael Jessick (60) 1. Tyler Tisinger (16)
_____________________________________________
Roadrunner Series: 10 Km – 22 Km Women’s Roadrunner Open Division
- Abbie Tuomi (36) (4 wins, all course records!)
- Kiona Ogle (47)
- Kelly Duffy (42)
Women’s Roadrunner Master’s Division
- Terri Rashid (54)
- Rebecca Vanderford (47)
- Lindsay Mastry (41)
Women’s Roadrunner Grand Master’s & Junior’s Division
(overall winner only)
- Pati Coury (62) 1. Antonia Dunn (15)
—————————————-
Men’s Roadrunner Open Division
- Yuval Zurai (48) (Second straight year)
- Jared Elerick (24)
- David Shreiner (54)
Men’s Roadrunner Master’s Division
- Hemanth Shival (44)
- Lila Mijocevic (56)
- Geoffrey Foote (52)
Men’s Roadrunner Grand Master’s Division
(overall winner only)
- Richard Rashid (69) (Finished all 7 races!) 1. Owen Dueck (12)
____________________________________________ ____
Owl Series: 24 Km – 35 Km
Women’s Owl Open Division
- Megan Kupres (27)
- Alex Potter (31)
- Kelley Garcia (40)
Women’s Owl Master’s Division
- Louise Turner (49)
- Sara Hermann (42)
- Kelly Mulvany (44)
Women’s Owl Grand Master’s Division & Junior Division
- Pam Reed (60) 1. N/A (2nd year with no 17 or under finishes)
————————————
Men’s Owl Open Division
- Matthew Hamilton (28)
- Kevin Tuck (64)
- Dan Watson (45)
Men’s Owl Master’s Division
- Dan Kuch (46)
- Christopher Callahan (41)
- Jeff Scaturro (44)
Men’s Owl Grand Master’s Division & Junior Division
- Matthew Carr (61) 1. Jakob Dueck (14) (back to back years!)
________________________________________________
Hawk Division: 50 Km- 100 Mile
Women’s Hawk Open Division
- Sarah Garrigan (44) (First overall & won Master’s Division last season)
- Ashley Durstine (38) (second overall)
- Supaporn Walton-Robertson (35) (won Coldwater 100 Miler!)
Women’s Hawk Master’s Division
- Laura Hunter (50)
- Jascia Redwine (48)
- Christine Harrison (62)
Women’s Hawk Grand Master’s Division (60+ yrs of age)
- Norma Roberts (61) (finished Coldwater 100 Miler)
———————————–
Men’s Hawk Open Division
- Jordan Schmidt (27) (finished 100 Miler & 50 miler)
- John Maroushek (52) (finished 6 of the 7 ultra races!)
- Steven Crawford (48) (finished Coldwater 100 miler & Frenzy 50 Mile)
Men’s Hawk Master’s Division
- Steven Dueck (42)
- Noel Kingston (55) (Two 50+ mile finishes)
- Daryl Teo (49) (finished 5 of the 7 ultra races)
Men’s Hawk Grand Master’s Division (60+yrs of age)
- Bill Nictakis (62) (Finished 5 of the 7 ultra races)
That’s all folks! Thanks to everyone for joining us this season!
