EDWARDSVILLE - Jon Yoch, a veteran runner from Glen Carbon, won for the first time ever at the Route 66 10K run road race on June 10 through the streets of downtown Edwardsville, coming in with a time of 35:40 to finish ahead of second-place Jeff Price of Edwardsville by 1:06.
Yoch, 34, has run many of the local road races for a number of years and this year, conditions were very favorable, with cool temperatures, low humidity and a slight breeze that helped make it much more comfortable for the runners.
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"Thank you to Final Lap for putting on such a great race with Run Well and Metro Milers," Yoch said after his victory. "It's one of my favorite races of the year."
Yoch was able to model his strategy on the course, one of the most interesting of its kind in the area, which utilizes both the streets and also fitness and biking trails utilized by Madison County Transit, the area's public transportation agency.
"Well, this course is interesting," Yoch said, "because it's pretty easy the first few miles. Then you hop on the trail, kinda climb the smallest of inclines. But that one really suffocates you, so I was trying not to go out too fast. So that's the nice thing about this race. It doesn't matter where you finish, everyone's suffering pretty good that second half," he said with a smile and laugh.
Nevertheless, Yoch feels that it's always a very good feeling to come out and race in his home area.
"This is a great race," Yoch said. "I'm so glad we have it here. I try to tell everyone about it, so it's fun. And the festival after is also a great time."
Saturday was the 17th running of the race, held in conjunction with the Route 66 Festival, which was celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Yoch is very glad that the Edwardsville community is very supportive of the events.
"It's so cool and that's what's great about these communities," Yoch said. "Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, we've got this stuff going on every weekend. It kind of makes you think 'I don't gotta leave, I can just stay here.' This town's got everything we need."
The Route 66 race is also the second leg of the Goshen Triple Crown series, which had the first leg on June 3 in the Run for Bonifest as a part of the annual festival at St. Boniface Catholic church and concludes June 17 with the Glen Carbon Covered Bridge 5K run, which is held as a part of the Glen Carbon Homecoming festival on Father's Day weekend. Winning the Route 66 race was a very good feeling for Yoch.
"Yeah, I've been second or third here several times," Yoch said. "So to come out on top and win, it'll probably be the only time it happens," he said with a laugh. "But, hey, if you show up enough times, that's why they call them outliers. You never know, you might step into one."
But Yoch knows what a good feeling it is to finish first and the most important thing is just being able to run with friends and fellow runners.
"Yeah, it was fun," Yoch said. "It's fun to do this with my friends and it's always good to have it done, that's for sure. Just really appreciative. Thanks again to Jen at Run Well for sponsoring our team, thanks again to Rich at Final Lap Racing; he times the best races in the area, and the Metro Milers for putting on a great race. Really appreciate it."
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