The Oracle Run celebrated 30 years of running on Sat., Oct. 27. There were 181 runners that participated in what many say may be the toughest 10K in Arizona.
It was a windy day but it didn’t stop the enthusiasm for this year’s race. A special commemorative T-shirt featured the art of Elizabeth Ott. Elizabeth was a beloved young woman by all that knew her in Oracle.
A special exhibit of some of her paintings was displayed in the Acadia Ranch Museum. Another special feature was the return of an Oracle “home girl” and Oracle Run record holder Kellie Cathey (Archuleta). Kellie still holds the best overall time for women. Kellie was a prolific runner at San Manuel High School and the University of Oklahoma.
She was a high school and college All-American. She competed against the best runners in the world after leaving school and more than held her own.
Kellie no longer runs but was named the official starter for this year’s race. The men’s overall Oracle Run record holder and last years overall champion Craig Curley made an appearance although he did not run.
No records would be broken this year. The overall first place men’s finisher this year was James Miles of Tucson with a time of 37:32:00. Aaron Ragsdale took second place overall and first in the 20-24 age division.
Third place overall went to Brian Hall. He finished first in the 35-39 age division. The women’s overall best time was 42:36:00 by Polly Campbell of Tucson. Second place overall female finisher was Allie Keogh who finished first in the 20-25 age division. Marjanne Schnarr finished third overall and first in the 35-39 division.
Ken Huff “The Man Who Runs in Jeans” of Oracle was the top finisher of local runners. He finished 34th overall but third in his age division 55-59.
The top local women’s runner was Cathleen Piermarini of Oracle who finished first in her age division 60-64.
The first place finisher in the one-mile fun run was Andreas Valenzuela. To view all the results of the Oracle 10K run visit AZRoadrunners.org.
This year’s award plaques contained the image of an Elizabeth Ott painting of Cherry Valley in Oracle. There were many raffle prizes given away including pumpkins from the historic Carlink Ranch, dinners from local restaurants, margarita glasses, a one night’s stay at the Triangle L Ranch and much more.
A special commemorative clay mug made by Oracle artist Karen Medley was given to the overall men and women’s winners. The mug also contained a small bag of 100 percent Kona Coffee from the Kona Coffee Café in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
The café is owned by former San Manuel resident Trish Merschdorf. The Oracle Historical Society would like to thank the family of Elizabeth Ott, the Southern Arizona Roadrunners, Ken and Marie Huff for the great food, all the volunteers, donors, runners, Kellie Cathey Archuleta and of course Darrell “Hills R’ Us” Klesch who made the Oracle Run another successful event.
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