Northshore Inline Marathon

My wife was kind to me this year. Instead of letting me fend for myself and not knowing when I would finish, she decided to do the event with me. We skated side-by-side, although she could have easily finished far ahead of me. Maybe she felt guilty for my getting hurt the previous year. I finished in 2:16:11. Not burning up the competition, but considerably better than last year. I was just happy I finished on my roller blades this year. I was 1,691th place out of 2,275 inline skaters. Not bad for not much practice.

Pride of Canada Marathon

My second attempt at a marathon was staged in Thunder Bay, Ontario. A beautiful park was the location for the run. I led the pack until about mile 12, which was fun because the course director was riding a bicycle and showing us the path on the two loop route. Eventually, I was passed up by Doug Scott of Thunder Bay, ON (shown in the yellow shirt above). I ran with him for a few miles, but eventually he outpaced me and he went on to win in 3:02:51. I finished second in 3:10:48. This was 11 seconds ahead of the 3:10:59 cutoff to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I had a blast and Doug was kind enough to treat me to a pasta dinner with his family after the race. I was definitely the ringer in the race, for the top ten finishing times were all from people from Thunder Bay, with the exception of my second place finish.

2006 Brewhouse Triathlon

Angela, Joe, and I participated in the 2006 Duluth Brewhouse Triathlon. We broke up the events with each person doing one event. Angela started with the 0.8 mile swim in 32:46. Joe followed up with the 20.6 mile bike. He mentioned he had problems with his bike during the event, and this slowed his time to 1:24:30. I did the final leg, the 5 mile run. I ran it in 32:43, which was 2nd out of 10 in the mixed relay for the event. Overall we finished 9th out of 10 teams. We finished in 2:29:39.

Two Harbors Kayak Festival

Angela and Doreen came to watch me do this race. Luckily, there were no problems this year. It was a pretty clean race. No nasty weather to deal with. I stayed afloat in the kayak without problems. I sprinted toward the end and edged out some other kayaker by 3 seconds. The route is beautiful and goes around an island at the midway point before circling back. It also was a beautiful day for a ride. I finished in 3:24:12 in the male 20-39 composite, even though the website for this event is completely off base and put me in the female 40-54 plastic category.

2006 Grandma's Marathon

This race started out so well, but ended up a tough day for my brother and I. I ran the race exactly as planned early on, running 10K in 41:47, the halfway point in 1:29:46, and the 20 mile marker in 2:23:00. I was on pace at 20 miles to finish in the 3:07-3:08 range. Unfortunately, the slight sprain I felt during the race I did just 4 days earlier weakened my ankle enough that it gave in to the pressure and I walked, jogged, and hobbled the remaining 6.2 miles. My pace over the last 10 K was 1:10:16, which killed my time. I finished 721st overall with a chip time of 3:33:15 and a gun time of 3:33:38. I was 246 out of 1465 in my age group and 609th out of 4320 overall. My brother suffered from the heat and had dehydration issues, but still finished in 3:59:32 (under 4 hours bro!). He too could have finished higher had conditions the heat not been so bad. We had a blast though and for both of us, it was our first marathon.

2006 Aquafest 10K

My first of what I plan to be many Aquafest 10K runs was tonight. It was a great time. The run takes place on the Tuscobia Trail and is an out-and-back run along a nice old railroad path which has been converted to trail. Still new to racing, I kept and maintained a nice pace which I was happy about considering that my first Grandma's Marathon was in a few days. I finished in 39:55, which was first in my age group and 3rd overall out of 53 runners in the 10K race. My wife participated in the 2 mile run and finished in 18:13 and was second in her age group.

Baldwin-Woodville Uff Da Run

My first ever competitive running race. Angela said I was pretty nervous. She said I kept making comments about how all the other people looked fast and she got sick of me saying those kinds of things. This was a great run. 13.1 miles in length, it was the perfect preparation for Grandma's marathon next month. I ran a strong race and felt great throughout, however it was tough to touch the times on the fastest guys. I was in a tough age group as I finished fifth overall, and fourth in my age group. My time was 1:26.56. My wife had hardly run at all and she finished third in her age group. Included is a picture of me toward the start of the race (5K and half marathon). I am about the fifth person from the front in the red shorts and no shirt. Photos by Anderson Photography.