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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels July 12, 2004 18-year-old sets S.O.B. course record By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings The flowers seemed more abundant than ever. The sun made an appearance, but temperatures remained cool. And a record number of participants converged on the Mount Ashland ski lodge Saturday morning for the sixth-annual Siskiyou Outback Trail Run. "It went very, very well," said Marilyn Bailey, the co-race director. "People just really enjoyed it." The event, better known as the S.O.B., actually includes two trail runs - 15-kilometer and 50-kilometer races - as part of a seven-race series of ultra-trail runs in Oregon. In Saturday's event, all but one of the race directors from the other six ultra-trail runs in Oregon competed. Neil Olson, 37, won the 50k event in four hours, 13.28 seconds. The Central Point resident out-did second-place John Ticer of Eugene by 50 seconds. Beverly Anderson-Abbs of Red Bluff, Calif., was the first woman and seventh finisher overall. Anderson-Abbs, 40, cruised through the 31-mile course in 4:30.11. In the 15k event, Trevor Hanlin of Grants Pass stunned the field. The 18-year-old set a new course record at 1:00.23. Amber Simmons, 22, of Crescent City, Calif., won the women's race in 1:08.2. The course takes racers south along the Pacific Crest Trail from the ski lodge. The 15-kilometer turns around at the Willamette Meridian Overlook, while the 50K continues on to the Jackson Gap at the base of Dutchman Peak before returning to the lodge. All together, 123 runners completed the longer race and 147 finished the 9.3-mile event. "There's really a growing ultra-marathon community around here," said Bailey, who started the S.O.B. six years ago with a group of running buddies. "A lot of people really make it an excuse to make a weekend of it down here." Several competitors have finished every one of the S.O.B. races, including a runner who visits Ashland from Texas for the run every summer. "We love to promote it as the most beautiful 50k," Bailey said. "It was great and it was a perfect day weather-wise. People were just in awe of the wildflowers on the course." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams