The second Greater Omaha Area Trail Runners (GOATz) event at Black Elk-Neihardt Park grew in popularity from the first.
About 90 runners registered for the Hilly Goat Half-Marathon, 10-kilometer and 5-kilometer races Saturday morning in Blair. That's about 30 more than who registered or took part in 2021, GOATz President Ron Ruhs said.
The runners — including several local and Omaha-area athletes, but also at least one from as far away as Brazil — ran either three laps (half-marathon), two laps (10K) or one lap (5K) across the hilly terrain of the Blair park. The finish line was at the top of the long, paved hill on the east side of the recreation area.
Jason Downing of Bellevue won the half-marathon race in 1:43:22, while Crystal Kmoch of Omaha was second in 1:59.56. Dennis Garrett of Blair was ninth, too.
Omaha runner Craig Halverson won the 10K in 43:20, while Miranda Davis of Papillion was the first female to finish in fifth overall. Blair's Bobbie Ruhs was 12th.
The 5K, meanwhile, went to 13-year-old Taia Green of Omaha in 26:25. Blair cross-country coach Carson Norine was fifth as well.
A year ago, the GOATz — a non-profit organization — donated about $1,000 back to Black Elk-Neihardt Park, according to Ron Ruhs, a Blair resident. It also donated $2,500 to the Otte Blair Middle School running club as apart of its GOATz XC Grantz program.
Black Elk-Neihardt Park will next host the first races of the Nebraska Interscholastic Cycling League season on Aug. 27-28. Pre-rides for the On Your Mark at Black Elk Park event are Aug. 27 before official mountain bike racing on Aug. 28.
