Here we are half way through the 2007 Madison Area Running Series! Can you believe it is May already? Well, we thought it was time to give you some brief race reports. Be sure to check out the website to see how you rank in the series. www.madisonseries.com

New Year's Day Dash - We started out the year with the New Year's Day Dash on January 1. It was the second year that the race was in the series, and we lucked out with great weather AGAIN. It was a bit windy and cold, but no snow to keep you from having a 5 mile PR.

We had a lot of people sign up for the series that morning, so it made it a competitive event. Wendy Miller was 3rd overall for women, taking first for the series and first in the 20-29 age division. Sandy Gregorich was second for the MARS participants, and Beth Schadd was third. And for men, Bill Gilmore took 9th overall, and first for men in the series that morning, and Ron Mexico was second in the series.

It was a great race with over 250 runners, and a post party at the Quaker Steak & Lube. For complete results, check out results at onlineraceresults.com

Freeze For Food - Limited race results were available, making placement points difficult. This is being worked out for 2008. A great turnout at the event though, with 38 MARS runners taking part! Usually the race is pretty chilly and snow covered, but they lucked out with mild temps compared to previous years.

Valentine's 5k - The third event of the series was the Valentine's Run 5k. The UW-Running Club hosts this event that ranks individuals and teams (couples!). It was a nasty morning, cold and dreary, but they still had a couple hundred runners participate. The age groupers had great races, with Wendy, Beth, Mary, Tom, Phil, Rick, Ryan, Dan, Andrew, Karen, Cindy, and Kristine scoring big points for the series. For complete results, check out http://running.rso.wisc.edu/Valentines5k/

50 Furlong - The 50 Furlong is a windy, hilly 6 mile course in McFarland that has been in the series since the start. Unfortunately, the race had to be canceled this year due to weather conditions and city regulations.

Black Earth 10 Mile and 2 Mile - In April, we continued on with yucky weather, with a windy, drizzly day for the Black Earth 10 and 2 mile. The course route is always a treat, since you will have wind one way and have it at your back the other way. A tough course to negative split :) Fleet Feet Sports Madison hosted a bike ride out to the race, but only 4 diehards decided to take the bike-then-run challenge. Due to the weather, the race numbers were not extremely high, but as usual the MARS participation was great. Complete results should be on www.madisonseries.com soon.

Lake Monona 20K - The Lake Monona 20K was under new race management this year. Ryan Griessmeyer of Race Day Events, LLC did a great job for his first time race directing this event. He only made a few changes from the previous years. The race began at the same location (Winnequah Park) and looped around Lake Monona. The event drew almost 500 runners. It ended up being a nice day for racing, other than the wind. The winning times for the race by Hintz and Niederhaus were quite fast, with some great performances from the series' participants as well. The point totals are not updated on the series website, but the race results can be found at http://www.onlineraceresults.com/pdf/5237.pdf.

Press and Run 5K - This was a new event added last minute. The race took place on May 13th, and offered a twist, your running time was reduced based on the number of bench presses that you could do. The race was sponsored by Fitness Together, personal fitness trainers, who are also MARS sponsors. The results should be on the MARS site shortly and complete results are at www.ftfitcburg.com.

Final dates have been announced: WTC Track 5K is June 28 at 8 pm; Capitol Mile July 29 at 3 pm, and the Depot to Depot on August 11. All other events and dates are as listed on the MARS website.

The next events are the Dandelion Dash on June 9, and the Sun Prairie Strawberry Fest Run on June 16.

Dear MARS Participant:

We hope that you enjoyed participating in the 2006 Madison Area Running Series. The year is now over and we are beginning to plan for 2007, the 4th year of the series. We are happy to report that the MARS has over 140 active participants as of today, and interest continues to grow.

The 20006 awards ceremony will be on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 at 7:15 pm, at Fleet Feet Sports Madison, located at 8440 Old Sauk Road, Madison. Even if you are not receiving an award, please come for the good company, food and drinks, and a chance to win a door prize. We will also discuss the 2007 MARS.

Our desire is to make MARS better, and we welcome your ideas and suggestions. In 2007, the MARS will do the following:

Thank you for your participation and we hope to see you again in 2007.

Bigger things are planned for 2006, including a name change, to the Madison Area Running Series, which we hope state announce more clearly that this is a running series, but that joggers and walkers are very welcome. The planned list of events for 2006 is growing by 3 events to 16 races, but only the top 12 will be scored. This allows runners to miss or skip 4 events and still be in the running for year-end awards. Events for 2006 include the following (some dates may be tentative);

New Year's Day Dash 5 Mile Jan. 1
Freeze for Food 5K Jan. 21
Valentines Day 5K Feb. 11
50 Furlong (about 10K) Mar. 11
Black Earth 10 mile Apr. 1
Lake Monona 20K May 6
Dandelion Dash 5K June 10
Strawberry Fest 10K June 17
WTC 3K (tbd)
Capitol Mile (July 23)
Oregon Fun Run 5K Aug. 5
Depot To Depot 5 mile Aug. 12
Cow Chip Classic 5K Sept. 2
RSVP 5K (tbd)
Fall 15K Oct. 22
MATC Turkey Trot 5 mile/5K Nov. 4

The Series is also planning to have a 2006 MARS Racing Shirt. The technical top will include a list of the 2006 events and our sponsor names. Stay tuned for ordering information. [update: a tshirt was not available]

The final events of the night were Fleet Feet door prizes, and a drawing for participants in the last three Series events, RSVP, Fall 15K, and Turkey Trot. Winners of the drawing for gift certificates were Mary Anne Hinkes, Ana Considine, Bev Lampe, and Tim Goihl.

Thanks for a great 2005 goes out to our participating running clubs and partners; the Running Club of UW, Hash House Harriers, the Wisconsin Track Club, Movin Shoes Running Club, MATC, and the Headhunters Triathlon Club, and to our race directors, without whom this would not be possible.

On November 16, 2005, participants and sponsors of the MAFS met at Fleet Feet Sports-Madison for awards, fun, food, and drinks. Tasty bagel sandwiches were provided by Big Apple Bagels, Sun Prairie. Fleet Feet provided the appropriate facility to talk running. Additional sponsors were RSVP of Dane County who provided logistical support, and Brooks, who provided two new pair of running shoes to the top male and female points gatherers.

The top three finishers in each age-group were announced, and presented with engraved trophies. Age group winners also either received a $10 gift certificate to Fleet Feet, courtesy of MAFS, or a free race entry into a 2006 Series race. They are as follows:

Joe Ketarkus, 1st Place Men 20-29
Will Hoyer, 2nd Place Men 20-29
Nick Rhodes, 3rd Place Men 20-29

Tim Goihl, 1st Place Men 30-39
Aaron Sundstrom, 2nd Place Men 30-39
John Freeman, 3rd Place Men 30-39

Ron Ofstun, 1st Place Men 40-49
Daniel Harris, 2nd Place Men 40-49
Jeff Bakken, 3rd Place Men 40-49

Greg Kesling - High Score, 1st Place Men 50-59
Jeff Pearman, 2nd Place Men 50-59
Billy Maybee, Jr., 3rd Place Men 50-59

John Schultz, 1st Place Men 60-69

Alison Ofstun, 1st Place Women Under 20
Amy Jacobs, 2nd Place Women Under 20
Kelsey Volenberg, 3rd Place Women Under 20

Wendy Miller, 1st Place Women 20-29
Jessica Anderson, 2nd Place Women 20-29
Emily Jaehnig, 3rd Place Women 20-29

Clarisse Ethridge , 1st Place Women 30-39
Beth Schadd, 2nd Place Women 30-39
Anna Boldon, 3rd Place Women 30-39

Mary Anne Hinkes - High Score, 1st Place Women 40-49
Karen Smith, 2nd Place Women 40-49
Sandra Gregorich, 3rd Place Women 40-49

Nancy Wiegand, 1st Place Women 50-59
Tina Loewenthal, 2nd Place Women 50-59
Janet Hagen, 3rd Place Women 50-59

Beverly Lampe, 1st Place Women 70-79

We had 8 brave souls that did all 13 races, they are as follows; Jeff Bakken, Tim Goihl, Bruce Maybee, Alison Ofstun, Dan Harris, Mary Anne Hinkes, Greg Kesling, and Billy Maybee, Jr. Nice job by these dedicated runners. The last 4 named even did both MATC events !

The following are the age group winners of the MAFS year-end awards.

Overall winners:

Pearman Jeff 112

Schadd Beth 118

Age Group Winners:

Men's Under 20

Rank Name Points

1 Viana Alex 50

Men's 20-29

Rank Name Points

1 Ketarkus Joe 87

Men's 30-39

Rank Name Points

1 Ethridge Brian 108

Men's 40-49

Rank Name Points

1 Bakken Jeff 92

Men's 50-59

Rank Name Points

2 Kesling Greg 87

Men's 60-69

Rank Name Points

1 Schultz John 50

Women's Under 20

Rank Name Points

1 Gerovac Tiffany 30

Women's 20-29

Rank Name Points

1 Sundstrom Anita 60

Women's 30-39

Rank Name Points

2 Ethridge Clarisse 87

Women's 40-49

Rank Name Points

1 Hinkes Mary Anne 103

Women's 50-59

Rank Name Points

1 Wiegand Nancy 60

Please plan to attend a year-end ceremony to be held on November 17, 2004 at 7:00 pm. The purpose of the informal gathering is to thank the participants and RSVP, celebrate the year, and recognize the top runners. It will be held at my office on the west side of Madison at RMT, Inc. 744 Heartland Trail. All participants will be recognized, and small trophies awarded for the persons with the most points in each category. Desert and beverages will be provided.

We will also briefly discuss preliminary plans for 2005.

Please fill out the survey form and either bring it with you, email it to us, or mail it to:

Madison Area Fitness Series

517 N. Segoe Rd. Suite 300

Madison, WI 53705

Directions: Exit the Beltline on Old Sauk Road. Go west on Old Sauk through two traffic lights, past the Walgreens on the right, and take the next right, which is Heartland Trail. (If you get to the light at Pleasant View, you went too far.) 744 is straight in front of you. Go past the building and turn left on Deming Way and park in back.