RCU Charity Classic

My wife and I like the RCU Charity Classic for several reasons. They offer many different race options (10K and 2 mile) for adults and they are held at different times. The benefit of this is that each of us can do a race and be able to cheer for the other person. Most races do the events at separate times, but the RCU Charity Classic has grown so big that it would be almost impossible to hold both main events together. In addition, there are a couple of kids races, which makes it nice that attending this event can truly be a family affair. I did the 10K race at the start of the morning and clipped along to a good pace of 39:49, which was good for 17th place overall out of 382. My age division was stacked with several fast runners, and I finished 6th in my age group out of 50 other runners. I was happy in that my 10K time continues to lessen as the summer is going on. My wife ran the 2 mile and finished in 19:20. She was 7th out of 33 runners in her age group. I placed a race bib on Kaia and we walked the course (her first official race). We finished in 39:36. She actually finished a few feet ahead since she was in the stroller, sleeping the whole way.

Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon

Grandma's marathon weekend is one of the best weekends in the summer. My wife was still recovering from giving birth to our beautiful daughter, Kaia. Angela kept her promise to her brother, Matt, that she would run the 5K race with him. This was Matt's first ever running race and the William A. Irvin 5K was the perfect place to do it. Matt is getting pretty excited about running, as he even has his own pair of running sunglasses. Well, I am proud of Matt to give this a try. Angela and Matt ran the race together during the 5K race, which was held the night before the half marathon. I did the half marathon the next day and loved it. I purchased a pair of green running shorts the night before the race at the runner's expo, and my family was glad I did. It made it so easy to spot me. They commented over and over how easy it was to see me from a distance. Angela finished in 40:23.5. Matt finished in 40:24.6. Way to go, Angela. Leave your brother out there hanging at the end and sprint for the finish. I thought they were going to finish together, but I guess there must have been some family pride at stake. My times were 1:28:35 (chip time) and 1:28:43 (gun time). I was about 15 seconds slower than last year, but not too bad considering my training has been down. I was 169 out of 5852 runners in the half marathon. My time at 6.9 miles was 44:59 and my time at 11.9 miles was 1:20:10. My 10K time was 40:24, which was faster than my 10K time from just a few days previous on the Tuscobia trail.

Rice Lake Aquafest 10K

This was a fantastic night. The Aquafest 10K is always one of the best runs of the year. It is held on the beautifully maintained Ice Age Trail and this year a little rain was part of the equation. It rained hard during the race. At times, the rain was 2-3 inches deep in spots. One friend of mine (Mark Bittner) slipped on the dip and got a bit muddy. I guess he was just going all out. The race was dominated by several younger college-age runners. I came in with a time of 41:14, good for fifth overall and first in my age group. The winning time was 39:35, which was won by a young runner from Shell Lake, Wisconsin. It was a great run as it was basically a reunion of many people I know from biking and running events in the area. In the picture above, are Brian Arnold and Danette Hellman up front, with the second row containing (left to right) Gary Crisler, Rob White, Jonathon Delf, Josh Moe, Ron Kay, Mark Bittner, and Dave Gerber.