Everett Runner One Step Closer to Personal Goal
Autumn Bloom 2011 Results

NEWPORT – When John Hastings, 62, of Everett, crossed the Autumn Bloom Fun Run finish line Saturday morning he moved one step closer to his personal goal of completing a race in each of Washington State’s 39 counties.

            Hastings was one of nearly 70 runners and walkers who participated in the Newport Autumn Bloom 5K/10K Fun Run Saturday in Newport. The run is sponsored by the Newport Hospital & Health Services Foundation, which is raising money to help purchase digital mammography equipment for Newport Hospital.

            Hastings was the top finisher in his age group, with a time of 56:50.50.

            The 10K winners were Larry Taylor, 51, of Rathdrum, Idaho, with a time of 43:30.30 and Cindy Ryan, of Bonners Ferry, Idaho, with a time of 47:51.07.

            Winners of the 5K division were: Dr. Geoff Jones, 41, of Newport, with a finishing time of 27:40.37 and Loree Peery, 54, of Spirit Lake, with a time of 27:40.79.

Nearly 10 years ago Hastings, who had been running for more than 25 years, began experiencing knee pain. An MRI showed a torn meniscus, probably the result of a fall in late 2011.

            “In May of 2002 I had an arthroscopic procedure to clean up the knee,” Hasting said. “The physician, a non-runner, suggested that at my age that I should take up a less stressful sport. Instead, I decided to formulate a new goal that would let me continue to run in a less competitive way.”

            Rather than base his success on speed, Hastings decided to focus on regaining his running fitness by completing a race in each county.

            “It has taken me nearly nine and a half years to complete my goal, but the best part of the journey has been all the interesting sights and places my partner, Charlotte, and I have had a chance to experience in this wonderful state,” Hastings said. “I’ve raced on the Olympic Peninsula in an event that had only three participants and in Spokane’s Bloomsday with over 40,000 runners.”

            He ran through icy creeks when unexpected warm temperatures melted snow and caused minor flooding along the course during one running of the Methow Valley’s Mazama 10K. And, he claims his most surprising experience was showing up an hour late for a 10K at Long Beach on the Pacific Coast.

            “An announcement was printed in the local paper that the starting time had been moved up by an hour, but since I was from out of town I never heard about the time change,” Hastings said. “That is probably the fastest I had to run in years – solo the entire way.”

            Hastings will realize his goal of completing a race in each of Washington State’s 39 counties later this month.



Event Photos on flickr.com

Autumn Bloom 10K Men
Taylor	Larry	51	Rathdrum	0:43:30
Samayoa	Marlon	49	Coeur d'Alene	0:44:30
King	Wyatt	15	Oldtown	0:51:13
Guajardo	Joe	36	Spokane Valley	0:51:48
Day	Franklin	36	Spokane Valley	0:52:35
Hastings	John	62	Everett	0:56:50
Trout	Michael	41	Medical Lake	0:57:40
Snyder	Des	37	Clarkston	0:58:08
Kirk	DeWayne	45	Spokane	0:59:00
Senn	Jared	43	Spokane	0:59:57
Chavis	Timothy	54	Newport	1:00:23
Miller	Nick	33	Spokane	1:15:24
Schow	James	67	Plummer	1:15:29
Autumn Bloom 10K Women
Eschenbacher	Monica	28	Spokane	0:46:32
Ryan	Cindy	44	Bonners Ferry	0:47:51
Atyeo	Janelle	28	Newport	0:50:10
Mackey	Heide	44	Spokane Valley	0:58:10
Senn	Carri	44	Spokane	0:58:10
Kelly	Karie-Lynn	37	Rathdrum	0:58:36
Butler	Sara	36	Priest River	1:01:53
Chavis	Julie	54	Newport	1:02:21
Puckett	Barbara	47	Hayden	1:03:21
Stewart	Amanda	37	Priest River	1:03:21
Kirk	Darlene	44	spokane	1:04:46
Wallis	Cathy	54	Newport	1:05:16
King	Julie	40	Oldtown	1:06:32
Hamilton	Linda	57	Priest River	1:06:34
Brown	Julie	49	Newport	1:06:56
Rose	Merci	30	Chewelah	1:11:09
Rose	Angela	46	Springdale	1:11:09
Hinchliff	Sophie	34	Newport	1:11:50
Hughes	Marie	33	Newport	1:11:50
Miller	Malia	33	Spokane	1:15:24
Endicott	Melanie	34		1:29:39
Larson	Michele	34	Cheney	1:39:07

Autumn Bloom 5K Men
Jones	Geoff	41	Newport	0:27:40
DeHaven	Richard	64	Spokane	0:47:49
Thomas	Keith	59	Spokane	0:47:50
Deerwester	Dillon	10	Newport	0:51:48
Woelk	Danny	63	Newport	0:55:21
Autumn Bloom 5K Women
Peery	Loree	54	Spirit Lake	0:27:40
Thomas	Sarah	41	Newport	0:28:42
Giles	Karen	50	Cranbrook, B.C.	0:29:33
Woodbeck	Becca	33	Spokane Valley	0:29:54
Brown	Melody	40	Newport	0:37:30
Trout	Patricia	70	Medical Lake	0:37:39
Siembieda	Gina	48	Spirit Lake	0:37:41
Gibson	Pam	58	Post Falls	0:37:50
Long	Rebecca	27	Spokane	0:37:50
Holestine	Tatum	12	Colbert	0:37:57
Schaff	Diane	58	Oldtown	0:47:10
Schaff	Krista	33	Oldtown	0:47:49
Bond	Janiece	55	Winlock	0:51:14
Deerwester	Tisha	38	Newport	0:52:20
Pierson	Kristal	33	Newport	0:52:54
Pierson	Jorden	7	Newport	0:52:55
Kuntz	Kathy	62	Spokane Valley	0:54:57