Upcoming Events  (See the Calendar for more details)

• Jan 28    BTC Half Marathon and 5k
• Feb 4     Anthony's Seeing is Believing
• Feb 11   Valentine's Run
• Feb 18   BUMR
• Mar 3     Stockdale Scholarship Stampede
• Mar 17   5k, 10k at The Bridge
• Mar 17   St. Patrick's Day 5k
• Mar 24   Kern River Trail Run
• Mar 31   Run for a Reason
• Apr 7     Rabbit Run
• Apr 14   Sherriff's Honor Run
• Apr 14   Rio Bravo 10 Miler
• Apr 14   Greenhorn Ride and Tie
• Apr 28   Bucks 4 Blades 5k

Yokuts Park Fun Runs are held on the second Saturday of each month at 7am.  Presented by the BTC in cooperation with the Bakersfield Parks and Recreation Department. Pick from 1,2,3, and 5 mile distances for these free, timed training runs and earn points for the BTC Points Series.  -- Check the calendar for exact dates.

Our Mission;  The Bakersfield Track Club is dedicated to providing a healthy and active lifestyle within the running community by organizing and directing racing events for runners of all ages in and around Bakersfield. Our affiliates achieve personal athletic goals through the sport of running. We offer numerous flat, cross-country runs, and road and bike path races. The Bakersfield Track Club is committed to providing runners of all levels information on upcoming events. The club encourages participation in group activities—club meetings, web discussion, race events, and other social activities.  We are here for you!

1/15 Just an FYI, the IronHeart Duathlon that was set for February 18 has been postponed. I'll post details as soon as a new date is selected.

1/7 Well, the first race of 2012 is in the books. On a relatively warm (high 40's), overcast morning, over 800 runners completed the annual Victim Witness Auxiliary Fog Run. Cameron Miller led in a fast group of high school athletes to win the 10k with a speedy 31:58. Sarah Baker, who is visiting home from her college studies in Flagstaff, AZ, handily won the women's 10k in 41:41. In the 5k, Ryan Lucker and Carolyn Haney were the overall winners in 16:47 and 21:17 respectively. The complete results have been posted on the Race Results page.

12/15 Glinn and Giordano Physical Therapy will provide a first aid tent at a race site at no charge to the event as their schedule allows. They have seen a need in our community and are stepping up to fill the need. If you are promoting a race, contact Joe Rizo at 327-4357 or jrizo@ggphysicaltherapy.com in order to see if they are available for the date of your event.

12/3 The morning was cold (28 degrees while we were setting up), but the suns rays brought race temperatures up into the 40's. 323 runners came out to enjoy Mr. Toads Wild 5k and 20k runs. The results have been posted.

11/20 For those who like running with their i-phones, I found an article titled "50 Awesome iPhone Apps for Runners." Enjoy.

11/17 What a change from last year's weather! For those who were out there, it was known as the dust bowl of 2010. Runner after runner appeared out of the blowing brown haze with a thick brown crust. This year we got to run under an overcast sky, temps in the 50's, and just a hint of precipitation. A record number of runners were blessed with this weather today, and several PR's were the result (there may have been some training in there somewhere, but I am choosing to credit the weather). Times have been posted.

11/5 What amazing weather we had for the Police Memorial Run this morning!! Just over 400 runners turned out on a crisp, blue November sky to enjoy a great morning run. On a personal note, I would like to say that I really like the crowd of people that we get at running events. One of the reasons I enjoy running and volunteering so much is the social aspect of the sport. That being said, to those who don't put their age on the entry form and then check the box for 40-49 and then complain that we have them in the wrong age group because they are 33, or the brother and sister who get their bibs mixed up and then end up scored as each other, or the people who get out on the course and decide to switch to the 5k.... I really don't need the additional challenges in timing the event. Please pay attention to what you are doing, if people around you always seem to be grumpy, it's probably you. By the way, results are posted. I think I'll go take a nap now.

10/30 Ron's Run had a good turn out, great weather, and once again, a fun course. It's nice to run a race with a variety of terrain. And for a good cause too. After opening with a prayer and the pledge of allegiance, the runners were off. Going down the hill right after the start, I could see Ryan Lucker already down the hill and running around the first left had bend of the bike path on his way to a 16:24 overall win in the 5k. Bruce Deeter and Timmy Box ran for 2nd and 3rd overall in the event. On the women's side, the next in the Baker running dynasty, 13 year old Maggie Baker, ran a 21:35 for the overall win! Lupe Eberle and Nicole Eleiff rounded out the top 3. In the 10k, we had a pretty fast race with David Bacus (35:31), Steve Dirkse (37:31), and Josh Johnson (37:43) taking the first 3 spots overall. The top women were Bobbi McCord (48:05), Denise Jorgensen (48:54), and Chelsea McGauhey (50:33). Complete results have been posted on the results page.

I haven't heard yet how the Mutt Strutt went this weekend, but they put on a great event that is usually well attended.

10/12 Any member who did not receive an emailed newsletter today, please contact Katie at katienickell@gmail.com

9/5 There is a new running group in town. They are calling themselves the Legend Inx: Running Xrew. They will be having organized training runs based around an 11 week training schedule. Check out their Facebook page for all the details.

9/1 Hey, the Summer Series Pizza Party is coming up. It will be held on September 21st. Check the flyer for all of the details. 

8/20 Talk about a cool event!! This morning's Mr. Toad's Back to School 15k Relay was great. There were a lot of accolades about the great course, which varied quite a bit from the traditional Toad's 5k.The original shirt design by Patty Renfro Wonderly is one of the best looking shirts I have seen lately. Pete's announcing was stellar as ever. The results are now up, and for those who missed out, plan on coming out next year... it was great.

8/13 Actually it is about 1:00 A.M. on the 14th, but whatever.... Anyway, the results for the Howlin' at the Moon races have been posted.

8/6 Yeah, I know it has been a while since I posted here, but I've been on vacation. Check my facebook page to see pictures of my family on top of Mt. St. Helens.

Anyway, I just posted the results for the TNT Memorial 5k run. Also, come to the Howlin' at the Moon run next Saturday evening where we will be using our chip timing system.

6/21 There were 484 finishers for tonight's Summer Series 5K. 180 of those were out there for the first time this summer. Are you guys nuts? It was 105 today! Who in their right mind runs, let alone tries to race a 5K when it is 105? And wasn't that fun down by the river with the humid, stagnant air? (Yes, I ran too. I am asking if you are nuts. I already know I am a little imbalanced.) Results are on their way. Larry Wells was out behind the camera. Check his Facebook page to see if he captured a little bit of your soul.

6/8 Temporary results for the Summer Series #1 have been posted. Bruce is about 4/5 the way through entering names so we can post final results.

6/7 The BTC Summer Series5k #1 was great tonight. We had a record 514 runners under fantastic conditions for our new course. The chip mats missed 6 of you at the start, and 5 of you at the finish, but thanks to the back up hand written list, we have times for everyone. We still have to enter all of your names and other information before we post results. The hamsters will be busy at work on this over the next few days.  Trivia tidbit for you guys. It took 1 minute, 27.65 seconds for all of you to cross the start line tonight.

6/4 The 2nd annual HALT 5k had a great turnout and some great weather! Over 220 runners and probably 50 dogs showed up to strut their stuff over the 5k course. The results are posted on the Race Results page.

5/14 The results for the KEDF Fit for Business 5K/10K have been posted.

On another note, the BTC had a good showing at the Whiskey Flat Train Run. Zach Parris and Anna Frank won the 10K for male and female overall. Adam Setzer and Pam Boyles won the 5K for male and female overall. If you have never been up for this event, plan on trying it out some time. Make sure to bring your trail shoes as you will be hopping over rocks, running across logs, up and down single track trail, and just about anything else you would expect to see on a trail run. The course is a lot of fun, and quite scenic (although this year it is a little blackened due to a fire last season).

5/8 The results for the inaugural Bucks for Blades 5K have been posted.

4/23 FARA Rabbit Run results have been posted. What a wonderful day we had for this race today! Yesterday's wind cleared out the air, leaving the runners with a clearer than normal sky and mid 60's weather for this fundraising event. This was the biggest year yet for the Rabbit Run with 235 registered runners in the 5K and 10K. I don't know how many kids were in the 1K bunny run, but it looked to be about 30 waist high runners taking off in the pack at 8:00.

4/20 Rio Bravo 10 miler and 5K results have been posted.

4/20 OK so I go camping in the desert for a few days and I miss the biggest news in marathoning of the year. Ryan Hall beat the American record by running Boston in 2:04:58, a time which beat the old Boston marathon course record by 54 seconds!! BUT his time was only good enough for 4th because Geoffrey Mutai (from Kenya) ran the fastest marathon ever 2:03:02 to set an even faster course record. HOWEVER, Mutai's time does not count as a world record according to the IAAF because world record courses can't be point to point races like Boston. I definitely need to get a copy of the broadcast of this race.

3/26 The results have been posted for the Kern River Trail Run. There were 346 registered runners this year, with a few of those not showing. Even at the race finish, the temperature was only 57 degrees under overcast sky making for absolutely wonderful running weather. Big props to the ladies who made the breakfast burritos, those were great.
   I'd also like to say that the chip timing worked flawlessly. Not one missed runner. On the other side of things, it is always interesting to me that there is almost always someone who registered online that types their own name wrong, or someone who circles female instead of male on their registration form. I fix as many of those as I notice as the race progresses. It keeps my morning interesting as I try to catch all of these. Now for some cold medicine and a nap....

3/10 There will be no Yokut's Park Fun Run in April.

3/3 Rock to Pier date this year is July 16.

2/23 Check out the Running Groups page to see what the Rosedale Racers and the RoadRunner Track Club are both up to this spring. Time to get your youth involved in their spring running.

First Time for Everything Trying out a treadmill for the first time