ROSEVILLE (11/10) -- Big Bird veterans have come to expect several things from this annual race held on residential streets: the Roseville High Marching Band revving up runners before the starting gun (or should I say "muskets"?), a mostly-flat course with marshals everywhere, dozens of "Big Birds" (i.e. turkeys) being raffled, and unpredictable weather. This event was no different. Race day dawned 60 degrees with near-100-percent humidity. Big Bird old-timers -- who through the years have seen downpours, blizzards, the gales of November, fog ... -- weren't surprised by the balmy weather. But less-experienced runners were. Some struggled in fleeces, long pants and stocking caps; more than a few stopped to peel off layers they didn't need. This Roseville classic always brings excellent racing too. Team Hansons members Joseph Gibson (30:31), Jeff Campbell (30:43) and Kevin Doyle (30:48) finished 1-2-3 in the 10K. Others from the nationally-recognized team finished fifth and eighth. Michigan Grand Masters (over age 50) stars Pete Hallop, Doug Goodhue and Jim Carlton placed 18th, 22nd and 30th overall. Robin Sarris-Hallop was the women's masters and overall winner in 40:42, nearly four minutes faster than second place. The accompanying 4K was won by male master Todd Kelly (13:47) and Rochester Hills high-schooler Megan Young (14:54). Claiming the men's and women's mile were Tyrone Williams (5:19) and Ashley Lietzau (6:49). The three races drew close to 600 participants, with the 10K (347) most popular. "The morning rain hurt us with race-day registration, but we still had more 4K and 10K runners than last year," director Tony Lipinski said. One runner not deterred by the rain was Darrell McKee, 68. Wearing bib No. 24, he made it to the starting line for his 24th Big Bird -- that's all of them! Lipinski wants to do something special for Big Bird's silver anniversary. Noting next year is Michigan Runner magazine's 25th also, he hinted at something on michiganrunner.tv. Race results can be found at www.gaultracemanagement.com MR