March/April 07 Archives

OKC Memorial Marathon

TATUR/RunnersWorld group moments before the race.

L-R Bill Ford, ?, Carmie Anderson, Robin Hudson, Ed Burns, David Anderson, Johnny Spriggs, Julie Burns, Austen Hoover, Kathy Hoover, Jonathan Johnson, Austin Weed, Susan Sulpher, Robert Boyd, Caroline Glenn, Roman Broyles, Sloan Taylor, Cindy Metcalf, Joy and Candace, Teresa Ellington.

Well here are the official results for the TATURs who did the OKC Memorial Marathon

Marathon Results

Half Results

The gang at the OKC Expo

Austen Hoover and Austin Weed, age fourteen, after their first 1/2 marathon (2:39:41)

Lake McMurtry 2007 -Results

Teresa Ellington, Caroline Glenn, Cindy Metcalf at the 10.3 mile mark!!!

On Friday , the day before the race, the skies opened up and spewed forth a vicious amount of pelting rain and wind. Early Saturday morning, the day of the race, many participants who chose to drive into Stillwater that morning , were treated to a large amount of very BIG snowflakes.

Johnny Speed finally shows his mug!!! See the Tatur Message Board for the inside story.

The day started off very cold, °39 F. It was windy, cloudy and very muddy. In other words, great conditions for a trail race. The 50K'ers started at 8am and the 25kers at 8:30. There were several steep and slippery hills, and some participants questioned their sanity for showing up in these awful weather conditions.

However, a great race ensued. TATUR members had a great showing at the race. Kari Sever came in 2nd in the women's 25K, Bill Richardson captured 2nd place in the Men's 25K, Kathy Hoover battled for 2nd place in the 50K and sweeping 4th 5th and 6th in the Men's 50K were, Tom Dorothy, Chris Corbin, and Randy Ellis, respectively. Several other TATURs had some very impressive performances. Please check out the results for our newer TATURs, including Bill Ford, Carie Harris, and Roman Broyles. Click here for the Full Results.

Who Volunteered in 2007:

The famous Diana and Dana

Lake McMurtry Trail Run: The Event

The infamous "Leap O' Doom"

Who Is Competing:

Fishing boat to the left; soft easy and scenic trail to the right.

We are going to have a huge crowd heading west to Stillwater on Saturday April 14th. The Lake McMurtry Trail Run features a 50K and a 25K. These trails are mostly flat and scenic. The Race Director (Earl Blewett) is a TATUR and knows how to put on a fabulous event.

We should have a large contingency of trail walkers and first time trail runners, so if you know of anyone else who is interested, encourage them to sign up.

Taturs from the 2006 version of the LMTR 50K/25K

We also need about 20 volunteers to set up, man the aid station, cheer-lead, break down the aid station and clean up. We will need people from 6:30am to 5pm. If you have any kids, wives, husbands, parents, neighbors, or pets that would like to help out, feel free to join us.

We will have a generator, the TATUR TENT, loud music, and dancing children. If we can raise a little bit of money, we may even cook some real food to feed all the skinny runners. This is an "anything goes" aid station. If you have an idea to help Earls's race and to promote our TATUR Club, speak loud, proud and now.

It may be a mudfest, it may be 95°, or it may be snowing. Either way we are going to have a blast. If you can only help for a couple of hours or all day long we would love to have you. This is a no experience needed type of job. We will have an Aid station captain that will show everyone the ropes.

Who Volunteerd in 2007:

Thank You !!!!!

Post race at the LMTR Trail Run

Most of all we need cheerleaders!!! We want people who may dress up, yell, scream and make fools of themselves in order to take the pain away from the runners' very tired brains and bodys even if it is only for a moment.

Once again I cannot say how great of a race this is!!! Please invite your friends and family to come out and run it or at least help at the TATUR Aid Station.

Wow!!! What a Difference We Made!

The Turkey Mountain Cleanup Crew.

(3/10) On Saturday March 10th, 2007 about 50-55 members of Tatur, Jenks High School, ORU Mountain bike class and other helpful individuals showed up in full force to cleanup and maintain some of the trail at Turkey Mountain.

The parking lot was bursting at the seams with vehicles, tools wheelbarrows and antsy volunteers, ready to do some back breaking labor. A labor of love actually on our little jewel within the city, Turkey Mountain. The wilderness area had been needing some heavy duty TLC for some time and between our four crews of workers we were ready to roll.

Before..........................................................After

One of the areas we cleaned was along Elwood, west of where it turns into 61st St. The crew had to pack over 125 tires and 95 heavy duty lawn bags over seventy five yards to the roadside where we piled it up for RiverParks to collect later. All the work done by this crew was strictly by hand, no heavy equipment other than a couple wheelbarrows a yellow pull wagon and some strong backs and huge dedication.

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Hundreds of tires, trash bags and other debris

Another crew lead by Scott Robertson toiled on the red trail near the "Bomb Shelter" to make a long berm that had severely eroded over the years. Using over a ton of dirt and cut up logs they shaped the berm into the desired length and slope. They also dug out some drainage canals and picked up several bags of garbage in the area. Other crews fanned out in both the upper and lower parking lots and along Elwood/ 61st street, picking up dozens of bags of litter and other refuse along the way.

Great young ladies picking up trash along Elwood

Some of the interesting items we found were two dead dogs and a dead cat...aaaawww. Two pornographic video cassettes, a purse, and even a death certificate. The weather got warmer as the morning rolled into afternoon. Luckily we had planned ahead and water, doughnuts and even pizzas were provided to the hardworking volunteers. Dozens of motorists stopped to honk their horns and thank us for what we were doing.

Before....................................................................After

We had a great time and can't wait to do it again. Thank you to all of you who came out to volunteer. We really appreciate all your hard work and dedication. I hope you all find as much sense of satisfaction for making a difference as I do.

Two Marathons in Two Days

One of the very few flat sections of Hogeye's ultra hilly super steep course

Johnny Spriggs and Brian Hoover survived their back-to-back marathons this weekend. Saturday, during the Olathe Marathon it was cloudy, humid and very windy. The course had gentle rolling hills for the WHOLE 26.2 miles that really wore you out. Brian gave up on trying to run fast and limped in with a 3:59:96. Johnny (TATUR Uno) ran a smart race and came in at 4:55 dish)

On Sunday we were both tired and sore. If you have ever been to Fayetteville you know how steep and numerous those hills are. They are similar to San Francisco type hills. We took the early start and walked/ran for most of the course. Brian finished in 5:04:57 and Johnny would have beat me if the course was five miles longer. Johnny finished around 5:16:18

Kathy Hoover came down on Sunday and decided to run the Hogeye marathon with a stress fracture and all. Smart, daring or dumb? She ended up whooping all the men with a fantastic sub-five hour time of 4:55:56. Great job Kathy. Roman Broyles ran the half marathon with a superb time of 2:32:56.

Actually running marathons back to back is not as difficult as it seemed. I would recommend it to anyone who has a sense of adventure and a lack of functional brain cells. Just don't plan on getting any PR's on either day.

March 23rd Was TATUR's One Year Birthday!!!

What a great year we have had. I want to thank all of you who have made TATUR a roaring success. Many clubs measure success by how many members they have or how much is in the club's bank account. I like to measure success by the amount of fun we have. I don't think any club is richer than ours in the sheer enjoyment we take from our varied activities.

The Turkey & Taturs Trail Run was a great, grand and fun event. We have had a ball at all of TATUR meetings, and we have met some lifelong friends at our club runs and training events.

And isn't it ironic that our 100th member signed up today on TATUR's one year birthday. I am still waiting on suggestions as to the best and most fitting way to celebrate our club's b-day. Please let me know and be sure to congratulate a fine young fellow named Roman Broyles for unknowing becoming the 100th TATUR on TATUR's B-Day. I swear to ya folks, I did not plan it this way.

Congrats to All Who Ran Long this Weekend

Ya wonder why they call it the Prickly Pear 50K?

(3/17)Kathy Sager and Roman Broyles competed in the Rome Marathon this weekend (3/18/07). Yes folks that would be Rome Italy not Rome Texas. Caroline Glenn was signed up but the problems making a connecting flight forced her to stay home.

Ken Childress and Johnny Spriggs ran a double this weekend in Southern Texas. They ran the Prickly Pear 50K in San Antonio on Saturday 3/17 and then drove to Houston to compete in the Seabrook Marathon. Brian Hoover went on the trip and did the Prickly Pear 50K.

Next weekend (March 31st & April 1st) Johnny Spriggs and Brian Hoover will attempt another double marathon. On the 31st they will compete in Saturday's Olathe Marathon in Kansas City, then travel to Fayetteville to run in Sunday's Hogeye Marathon. If anyone is interested we would love some company. Did I mention by doing two marathons in two days vaults you up to the Iridium Level (4 stars) in the Marathon Maniac's Club?

Atoka 2007 Results

L-R Teresa Ellington, Terriann VanDeventer, Cindy Metcalf

Thank you to all who participated. Wasn't it a blast!!!!! Click above to see results.

Short Notice on Saturday's Trail Run

This pic was taken from the trail around the two mile mark

On Saturday March 24, we will try out a new and exciting trail.  It is a very easy, flat and scenic trail that is 13 miles long and is point to point.  It is on Oolagah Lake, which is only 35 minutes from Tulsa.  We will park a vehicle at the end and drive to the beginning of the trailhead at Blue Creek Park.

It may be a bit muddy, so do not wear your bright white tennis shoes. Also make sure to bring at least one water bottle as there is no water for thirteen miles. If anyone is interested we will meet in the Albertsons Parking lot on the corner of 15th & Lewis at 7am. We will follow the yellow trail. Starting in the northeast (Blue Creek Park) and ending in the southeast portion of the map.

Before the Mudfest Trial Run/Swim at Lake Oolagah.
L-R Austen Hoover, Raton Parmain, Lisa Wei Haas, Mary Minielli, Ken Childress, Earl Blewett, Terriann VanDeventer, Deanna and Don Fain

Trail Clean-Up and Pizza Party

In lieu of having our Winter Meeting, we will participate in a massive clean-up day at Turkey Mountain. On Saturday March 10, 2007 at 10am we will team up with Scott Robertson (scottrobertson1@cox.net), ORU and Jenks High School students to help clean up Turkey Mountain.

Scott and his team of volunteers have made huge improvements to the trails and their past clean-up efforts have made a big difference. River Parks has also donated time, manpower and equipment. However, there is much more that needs to be done.
A garbage pile next to a great trail at Turkey Mtn.

Tulsa is making great strides towards improving the Arkansas River, River Parks, our paved trail system and other areas which are vital to the economic health of Tulsa. Vision 2025 has great plans for shaping Tulsa. The Kaiser Foundation is pouring money into improving the River Parks area, and another group is proposing a project called The Channels. However, we also need to take care of our fabulous existing areas. Turkey Mountain is a jewel right in our own backyard and we need to take steps to ensure its beauty.

Austen Hoover, next to a pit where a homeless man slept.

We need volunteers both young and old to help us. On March 10th TATUR will concentrate on two areas that are in desperate need of care. We will haul away both large and small refuse including trash, washing machines, tires, an abandoned homeless shelter, and other large junk. These areas are not accessible by road. This means that we will need wheelbarrows, wagons, or other devices to carry the large garbage to waiting trucks to be hauled away. Motorized vehicles are not allowed on Turkey Mtn. However, I am in the process of finding out if River Parks will allow ATV's, Mules etc. for our clean-up day.

We will take a group break around 1pm and have several pizzas delivered to the Turkey Mountain parking lot.

We will have the Tatur tent set up and will provide hot/cold drinks, and a donation jar set-up to help fund future trail improvements such as trail markings, clean-up, improved trail maps, garbage bag dispensers, and other improvements TATUR has planned.

Some idiot used our beautiful trails as a place to dump his load of old tires.

Items that will be needed on March 10, include heavy duty garbage bags, tarps, shovels (flat and rounded) grain scoops/snow shovels, metal rakes, gas powered chainsaws, gas powered weedeaters, gas powered leaf blowers, pry bars, sledge hammers, rope, ratchet tie downs, bungee cords, wheelbarrows, hand trucks, dollys, wagons, pick up trucks, dumpsters, etc. We will need lots of able bodies just to carry all this equipment up to the work sites. Also you will need to wear gloves, old clothing, pants, and sturdy boots or shoes. I promise you, we will get dirty.

Perhaps the biggest help you could provide would be to spread the word. We would love to get the media involved. Also, if you know of any companies that would loan us some equipment feel free to enlist their help. We also would like to get more schools/clubs/churches involved. We need your friends, families and neighbors to help.

We also are in dire need of crew leaders that have experience in coordinating large groups of people and ensuring that we are working smart and utilizing our limited amount of time in the most efficient way possible.

Even if you can't make it out to help us on March 10th, we would still like to use any materials you could provide. Kids and dogs are welcome and we will make it a fun and rewarding adventure. Come join us ya hear!!! We will all meet in the Turkey Mountain Parking Lot no later than 9:45 to coordinate and plan our strategy. If you have any suggestions or questions PLEASE email me at brian@tatur.org