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Jen Shaffer and Glen Cathy celebrate their engagement at Websters!Shaffer Gets Engaged! Hui Forgets Shoes!
How could we have possibly failed to notice the sparkling new diamond on Jen Shaffer’s finger? Yes, that’s right! The evening before the first day of Safari, Glen Cathy proposed to Jen the old fashioned way; bent on one knee at Websters restaurant! Her nonobservant running partners failed to notice the new piece of hardware, until Jen stuck it in one of their faces! In keeping with jungle tradition, this year’s Safari has kicked off with the promise of nuptial celebrations in the air. Last year it was Lisa Hanson & Chip Hanson as well as Julie Pomeroy who started their marathon training adventure with a wedding. Congratulations Jen!
Kent Bakeman will be running the Chicago Marathon in memory of his wife, Claudia Bakeman. Claudia was a participant in the 2006 Safari who passed away this winter. This will be Kent's very first marathon.
The stork is on its way for injury coach Carl Fried. Carl and his wife LeAnn are expecting their second child…….any day now. We will keep you posted on the latest news. Marty Buffenbarger provided course entertainment for the very first Safari run by stationing himself on the course dressed in full police uniform.
Team Leader Frank Hui, who resides in Mattawan, hopped in his car psyched and ready to go for his first day of Safari. He was almost to West Main when he looked down and realized he was wearing sandals! Rather than head all the way back home, Frank resorted to purchasing a new pair of shoes at Gazelle Sports so he could run with his team. Yes, this really is a true story!
The Shafer family makes the Safari a family affair with mom Amy, dad Joel and daughter Kailey all participating. Mom and Dad will be going the full 26.2, while young Kailey will be training for a half marathon!
Carrie Hybels and Sherrie Mann skipped out on the first day of Safari training to run with the real jungle animals at the inaugural Cheetah Chase 5k in Battle Creek. We are happy to report, Sherrie, Carrie and their kids made it to the finish unscathed. After a brief encounter with an escaped monkey, Sherrie secured a 2nd place finish in her age division.
Over 1200 participants celebrated a community tradition as part of the 29th annual Kalamazoo Klassic! Among the 1200 were 65 of the Safari’s very own Gazelles, Gnus, Impalas, Leopards, Cheetahs and Jaquars! The information below is based on Safari registrants as of June 21.
If you don’t already know, Jen Shaffer is not only getting married, she is fast! Jen won the Kalamazoo Klassic 10k with a smoking 38:35, then turned around and placed 3rd in the 5k with an 18:51. Congratulations Jen!
Eleven of the Safari did the triple loop challenge by mastering both the 10k and 5k courses. Cristi Dedoes, Tessa Emenheiser, Giti Henrie, Frank Hui, Kayla Kling, Tim Kling, Pam McBride, Ron Reid, Stephanie Sabin, Jennifer Shaffer and Bonnie Sexton all ran both events. It was reported however that Bonnie removed her timing chip for the third loop in an attempt to thwart allegations that she was monopolizing her age division. Tessa Emenheiser has threatened to throw a “going away” birthday party on behalf of all the women in the 35-39 ranks.
Here’s presenting all of our Safari Kalamazoo Klassic Stars, many of them winning age group awards:
Kalamazoo Klassic 10k
Ausema, David 0:49:13
Bakeman, Kent 0:47:23
Baldwin, Cathy 1:09:14
Bangs, Francine 0:58:01
Barnhard, Jennifer 0:46:43
Batchos, Jason 1:15:50
Batchos, Julie 1:15:49
Carr, Erika 1:00:43
DeDoes, Cristi 0:55:00
DeLisle, Elizabeth 0:48:58
Dettloff, Dottie 0:59:47
Emenheiser, Tessa 0:58:15
Feilen, Martin 1:02:16
Gephart, Bill 0:58:17
Henrie, Giti 0:52:56
Hui, Frank 0:57:09
Kitchen, Jennifer 1:03:39
Kling, Kayla 0:46:40
Kling, Tim 0:51:20
Kunkel, Terri 0:55:37
Laugavitz, Annie 1:03:51
Lumbard, Ryan 0:45:38
Mallett, Cecilia 0:55:42
McBride, Pam 0:46:35
Mergen, Vicky 0:55:35
Reid, Ronald 0:48:25
Sabin, Stephanie 0:46:28
Sexton, Bonnie 0:43:13
Shaffer, Amy 1:02:27
Shaffer, Jennifer 0:38:35
Smith, Daniel 0:49:27
Stanley, Aaron 0:51:24
Stanley, Jody 1:08:18
Steeby, Julie 0:50:56
Stevens, Carole 0:52:56
Toburen, Mike 0:47:03
Vendeville, Nancy 1:00:05
Warner, Nicole 1:02:13
Willy, Mike 0:51:01
Wiswell, Tom 0:57:07
Worden, Judy 1:04:01
Wright, Elizabeth 0:54:28
Yoder, Josh 0:45:36
Kalamazoo Klassic 5k
Cachero, Colleen 0:32:05
Clothier, Sheila 0:26:39
DeDoes, Cristi 0:30:31
Dobbie, Brian 0:20:01
Emenheiser, Tessa 0:27:28
Fernando, Peter 0:30:50
Gardner, Joy 0:37:02
Henrie, Giti 0:28:48
Hui, Frank 0:28:40
Jackson, Kathy 0:40:39
Jacobs, Katie 0:29:27
Kling, Kayla 0:23:51
Kling, Tim 0:27:25
Korf, Kelly 0:28:07
Mann, Sherrie 0:24:11
McBride, Pam 0:29:38
Reid, Ronald 0:26:39
Sabin, Stephanie 0:22:36
Shaffer, Jennifer 0:18:51
Shaffer, Joel 0:22:22
Shaffer, Kailey 0:24:53
Sundberg, Nancy 0:25:53
