We couldn’t mess up race with that setting

What a glorious day for the inaugural Newspapers Rock 10K race on October 13. Lots of athletes, friends and family (three distinct groups?) took advantage of a beautiful day to run in the race.

No amount of goofing up by the first-time race sponsors at the San Juan Record could interrupt such a beautiful run through spectacular Indian Creek canyon.

Actually, the race ran quite smoothly, thanks in large part to those who helped us out. Thanks to Blue Mountain Foods, Monticello High School cross country coaches, the City of Monticello, San Juan County Visitors Services and Pick a Stitch for their support. Gary and Dee Torres, Bert and Mernice Odette and Suzanne Duke were tremendously helpful. The contributions of the San Juan Record staff and the immediate and extended Boyle family are also appreciated.

In addition to those who helped, an even larger number of volunteers offered to help. If we didn’t use you this year, don’t worry. We may call in the future.

Start getting ready for next year’s race... only 359 days left to prepare!

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On October 12 in the middle of the day in front of Monticello High School, seven young bucks raced up the street in single-file on a mad dash toward the Blue Mountains. I wondered if it was an omen of the Monticello Bucks bringing home a trophy from the state cross country tournament today (October 17) in Salt Lake City.

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Our condolences to the family of Pieter Haller, who passed away after a deadly motorcycle accident on October 10. He was renowned for his fun-loving teasing and practical jokes. Haller’s widow Terry is collecting stories about Pieter. Send them to her directly or leave them at the San Juan Mortuary website at www.sanjuanmortuary.com/ .