Forrest Run

The Rice Lake Forrest Run held its second annual 5K event today. This was held on the same course as the Rice Lake Cross Country team runs. It is a 5K race held in honor of Forrest Olson, who was a local athlete that died of Brain Cancer. This event served as a fundraiser event which donated money to support cancer research. I don't know at this time how many runners showed up on this cold and blustery morning, but the organizers I visited with feel it was more than in the first year. 

The Rice Lake Forrest Run held its second annual 5K event today. This was held on the same course as the Rice Lake Cross Country team runs. It is a 5K race held in honor of Forrest Olson, who was a local athlete that died of Brain Cancer. This event served as a fundraiser event which donated money to support cancer research. I don't know at this time how many runners showed up on this cold and blustery morning, but the organizers I visited with feel it was more than in the first year.  The event was well organized with an easily visible route marked with a thick white painted line running the entire length of the course. You couldn't get lost. Because it was the cross country course which a lot of people are familar with, it was easy for fans to move around to view runners at different places on the course. There were actually a few people who moved to various spots on the course to cheer on the competitors. Among the people who were there to cheer us on were my wife and daughter. Since my daughter was so good to come out and cheer me on today, I thought a nice reward for her later was to take her to her favorite restaurant (Casa Mexicana) for chips and queso cheese sauce.

The winning time from last year was 20:14 which was achieved by a friend of mine, Ted Romportl. This year, a new record time was set by a huge margin. A 2007 graduate from Bruce High School won the race in 17:42. One of the Gilbert boys who are huge soccer players (but should go out for cross country in my opinion) got second with a time in the low 19's. I finished third overall in a time of 19:57 according to my watch, but 20 minutes even according to the race directors. I enjoyed running against a previous kid I had coached named JT Postlewaite who finished fourth in 20:38.

This was a challenging race for me because while I was a cross country coach for four years, I have never ran the course in a race type situation myself. I have run it dozens of times during practices, but never actually raced it. It was tougher than I had expected it to be. I enjoyed the colors which were still beautiful despite the heavy winds which have knocked down most of the leaves in Rice Lake over the last couple of days.

 

 

A great post-race selection of food was also present after the race. Water, gatorade, bananas, granola bars, and turkey sandwiches were all awaiting the finishers of the race today. This was one of the better races as far as post-race refreshments I have run as many settle for things like water and bagels/bananas. The turkey sandwiches hit the spot.  Thanks to all the organizers for a wonderful event.  We hope the event was a success in your eyes and the eyes of those who will benefit from the fundraising and donations generated from today's race.  It was exciting to finish the 5K in the same location as great runners from the Rice Lake Cross Country team have had the chance to do over the years.