Brill Harvest Fest 5K

I have always enjoyed the Woolly Mammoth race.  This year, I decided to have Arrowhead Family Dental sponsor the Nordic Walk 5K.  I won this race the year before and decided this would be a wonderful event to sponsor in order to help promote this event to others interested in the sport of nordic walking.  I worked with the business "Out There" to be the primary sponsor for the event.  The tough decision rested in determining which event to do.  I guess the thought in my mind was that I would need to run the 5K and not do the nordic walk.  I want to see the nordic walk championships grow since this is an event that nearly everyone can do.  It doesn't take specialized material.  Truthfully, if a competitor had a comfortable pair of walking shoes and a walking stick of some kind, that would be enough to participate in the event.  I would like to see more people take up this activity to promote physical fitness.
My wife and daughter came to this event to cheer me on. This would be the first of two races that I did would do this day. The other event would be another 5K Warrior Dash. My daughter and wife are truly my best fans (especially my cute little daughter).  I truly can say that I run faster knowing that she is waiting at the finish line to cheer me on.

 

She watches me while I stretch before the race (although sometimes I think she is just as excited about her snack as she is of watching me).

 

 

She loves to hug on dad before and after a race.

 

 Did I say that she is really proud of dad and loves to hug me a lot?

Sometimes she hugs me so long she gets tired and just about falls asleep in my arms.  Yes, she is my biggest fan (Sidenote: the only reason I don't have pictures of my wife, my other biggest fan, is that someone has to actually take the pictures. . .Thanks Angela!)

 

My biggest fan helped me run to a victory in today's 5K, running an unofficial time of 19:59.  I am not sure of the exact time.  Although I have a watch, I accidentally did not start it at the beginning.  There was a problem with the time clock leading to times which were high by an unknown amount, but several runners think it was thirty seconds to a minute high which would bring me to a time I would be more happy with.

 

I got to present the award to this year's 5K winner of the nordic walk.  This year's winner was Jeff Koppa, who won a couple of years ago.  He is a great guy.  I hope that he decides to enroll in the National Nordic Walking Championship.  He entered a couple of years ago and placed second in the nation.  He didn't say if he would be enrolling in the national championships.  Thanks to the Ice Age Trail Alliance for a wonderful 11th annual Woolly Mammoth event.