Records Take A Tumble at Tarantula Run

Three race records, and 17 age-group records fell at the Third Annual Los Vaqueros Tarantula Run on Saturday, Oct. 25.

The most impressive record shattering performance came from Thomas Taylor of Phoenix in the half-marathon, who finished with a 1:21:51, breaking Jeff Cowling's old mark by nearly nine minutes. He ran most of the race unchallenged, winning by nearly seven minutes.

Also in the half-marathon, Sharon Kovar was the only repeat overall winner of the day, breaking her old record set last year by more than two minutes with a 1:21:16.

Beautiful weather greeted the more than 300 runners, who competed in four events ranging from a 1K for kids up to the 12.2 mile half-marathon.

We had a new winner in the 5K for the first time, with 15-year-old Dan Crabtree of Antioch High School winning. The first two years, Nathan Litwiller of Concord won. Nathan did not enter this year's race, though his record for the event still stands

Dan's cross country coach, Michael Amorosa, won the 10K in 45:15, but it was MaryAnn Smith of Davis who wowed the crowd at Kellogg Creek, finishing second overall with a 45:45.

You can see all the results here:

5k

10k

Half-Marathon

We'll post our pictures soon. Thanks to the more than 40 volunteers, On Your Mark Events, and all who participated. We really enjoyed the day...see you next year!

In the photo above, half-marathon winners Sharon Kovar and Thomas Taylor, who both set race records, pose with the low-flow shower heads they won.