Theo Combos and Emili Crispi took top honors Saturday morning in the 8th annual Wild Thangs Big Foot 10K at Monte Sano State Park.
Combos, 31, of Huntsville, finished in 47:04 to win by about 40 seconds. Robert Youngren, 51, of Owens Cross Roads, was second in 47:41.
Crispi, 30, of Huntsville and the 2024 winner, finished sixth overall in 51:28. Her time was third-best on the women’s record list, about 40 seconds faster than her winning time last year. Crispi is no stranger to the podium, with multiple wins and top finishes. Averiel Bringinger, 19, of Huntsville, was second (15th) in 54:42.
In the 5K race, Jacob Wierenga, 15, of Huntsville, cruised to the win in 21:23. Daniel Leonard, 41, of Huntsville, was second in 25:42.
Nora Allan, 13, of Huntsville, won the women’s title in a zippy 26:15. She was sixth overall. That time puts her seventh on the women’s Top 10 record list. Victoria Tkacs, 30, of Huntsville was second (10th) in 28:54.
The 10K and 5K are the kickoff to the Wild Thangs Trail Runs summer series, which consists of four events with long- and short-course runs. The next three include the July 5 Jackalope 4- and 8-mile, July 26 Skunk Ape 5- and 10-mile and Aug. 16 Chupacabra 10K and Half. Runners can build up the mileage in the long runs, vary the short or long depending on training, or however they want. All events are in Monte Sano State Park. Runners will find well-marked trails, aid stations and a solid finish line vibe with cool finisher medals and Marco’s Pizza (mmmm, pizza).
The series is put on by RunningLane Events, with timing by Allan Timing Company. Saturday’s 10K race had 145 runners and the 5K had almost 200.
See the results for the Big Foot 10K here and the 5K here.
