Paleozoic Trail Runs
Silurian Fall II

12th Annual Fall-Season Paleozoic 50-Km and 25-Km
Trail Runs!

This eleventh annual fall celebration of "going long" made its rollicking return to our `south racecourse` within the Sag Valley System - Region 7. The south racecourse is a wonderful mix of wide crushed gravel paths and sometimes narrower more rugged dirt trails. We prefer to chart these trails for fall Paleozoic racing... so nice to be back. Each out-n-back lap totals a running distance of 15.534 miles. 50-Km = two laps; 25-Km = one lap. Set up with its start/finish aid station at Palos Park Woods-North Grove #1, and satellite aid station at the intersection of Will-Cook Road and the Green Trail. Silurian Fall II marked the tenth time on our `south racecourse`, and twenty-first running of our semiannual race, which has always featured the event distances of 50 kilometers and 25 kilometers.

Official statistics for our 2023 Paleozoic Trail Runs - Silurian Fall II...
Great racing conditions endured throughout the day with daylight temperatures ranging from 48° - 55°F, light winds and cloudy skies. Runners took advantage of a dry/fast racecourse that featured long stretches of trail that were blanketed under layers of fallen leaves. Paleozoic runners are an opportunist breed and despite a few slips, falls, and bruises this version, Silurian Fall II posted an impressive finish rate of 96.4%!

It was a day for the Paleozoic Trail Runs record books!
The 25 Kilometer event...
In her Paleozoic debut Maria Luevano-Salazar led all runners to the halfway aid station, getting there seven seconds ahead of Justin Jacobson and Ismael Rubiano. Max Blaisdell and Brandon LaBash paced more conservatively, arriving a minute-and-a-half later. Running as second female Margaret Rivera, also in her Paleozoic debut made the turnaround station in a solid sixth position. Maria held first position to the finish, and for the first-time-ever Paleozoic had a female overall champion! Max ran negative splits and moved up to second overall, with a hard-charging Ismael finishing third overall. Margaret maintained her position finishing sixth overall and second place female, with Gabriel Ellis (Paleozoic debut) finishing as third place female.

The 50 Kilometer ultramarathon...
Paleozoic-vet Daniel Regalado had won all six of his past Paleo 25-Km events, but had never attempted an ultra distance. Dan remains undefeated with this record breaking ultra debut, finishing with the fastest Paleo 50-Km ever in a time of 3:18:09.1. Dan Kittivanichkulkrai ran his third and fastest Paleo 50-Km finishing second overall, with Seb Gulka (Paleozoic debut) finishing as third place overall. In her Paleozoic debut Alia Abiad finished as top female overall in 4:33:11.0, missing the Paleo 50-Km female record by just 8.31 seconds! Whitney Hastings and Radka Cabrera (Paleozoic debut for both) made their finish as second and third female respectively.

Paleozoic Milestones...
Heather Debelak, and Andrae Marak finished their 10th lifetime Paleozoic races earning "Ten-Time Finisher" pint glass awards. Danny Machak, Angela Freeman, Nicolette Mireles, Matthew Tassone, Jorge Amaro, Eric Salinas, and Matthew Clarage finished their 5th lifetime Paleozoic races earning "Five-Time Finisher" zipper-draw-string shoe bags. 18 brand new ultra-marathoners earned "My First Ultra" pint glass awards.

Nearing the finish line...
Circling the black-walnut-obstacled `parade loop`, through the Paleozoic feather flags, under the race banner, across the finish line timing mats, awaiting all runners... customized finisher-medals, special awards, optional beer, and the drawing-them-in-siren-sound of cowbells and cheering race enthusiasts. Leading all veteran-paleo-dinosaur-multitime finishers is Les Hockenberry with 20 finishes, and 419.558 accumulated miles!  With their finish at today's race, the following veterans have moved up in all-time Paleozoic-finishing-stats position... 3rd) Sam Severson, 14, 435.095;  4th) Mark Bowman, 14, 341.953;  5th) Andy McDonough, 14, 216.175;  8th) Ross Meyer, 12, 201.943;  13th) Andrae Marak, 10, 310.951;  17th) Heather Debelak, 10, 155.407. Search past participant finishers under the "History" tab.