Firehouse 50

The pinnacle of the summer was the Firehouse 50 weekend. I participated as a biker and a runner. I am the third from the right side on the biking picture and am wearing red. The ride went well aside from a crash about 7 miles from the finish. I crashed out, and then was luckily able to get up and back on my bike in time to then pedal like a madman to the finish. Amazingly, I was able to keep a small group charging to the finish and I only lost a minute time on the peleton after the crash. I finished in 1:56.39.5 (58th overall out of 444 and 10th overall in my age group). The average speed for this race was 25.7 mph. The crash wiped out or slowed down probably 20 or 30 people. The following day, I ran the 9.5 mile hilly course in 1:03.10.1 (16th out of 104 and first in my age group). My pace for the run was 6:45 min/mile. In the Best of Both competition, I finished with a total time of 2:59.49.6 (4th out of 54). Photos by Kelly Randolph.

2007 Chetek CaRunBi Triathlon

This was the first year of the Chetek CaRunBi triathlon. It started off with a 1 mile paddle, a 9.5 mile bike, and a 4 mile "Fishy 4" run. I gained an early lead in the bike race and ended up winning the whole event, beating even the teams. I don't have exact times, but I was about 1:08 for the event.

Penokee Range Bike Classic

This race was very misleading. It was a wonderful ride through the hills of northern Wisconsin and should have been a predictable ride, but while it was labelled as a 45 mile ride, it was in actuality almost 48 miles. This made it very hard to predict the final stretch of the race. I wish the coordinators had made this known. This race was my best finish ever in a bike race, as I finished 4th out of 81 riders with a time of 1:52:26.2. I was also first in my age group. I am the sixth guy from the left in the opening pack in the picture of this race. Definitely a very hilly course.

Turtle Lake Turtle Trot

The Turtle Lake Turtle Trot was a 5K and 10K race which was held in conjunction with the Intercounty Fair. It is a loop course which is composed of some rolling hills and much open countryside. I ran the 10K race and finished in 40:16 which was a 6:27 min/mile average and 9.30 mile/hour average. I finished second overall. They have a nice pancake breakfast sponsored by the Turtle Lake Lions Club following the event.

Chetek Fishy Four

This was my first 4 mile race. The Chetek Fishy Four is a four mile flat (and hence. . .fast) course which travels south of town and is held in conjunction with the Libertyfest. I ran a 25:06 which equates to about a 6:16.5 min/mile time. I was ninth overall out of 345 runners. I am the guy in the upper left in the orange shirt. I was second in my age group.

Grandma's Marathon

3:29:06 chip time
666th overall
3:29:33 gun time
559th male
284th division place
sex place 559/4408
pace 8:00 min/mile
10K 42:42 13.1 mile 1:31:39
20 mile 2:29:56
last 10K 59:11

Rice Lake Aquafest 10K

My wife and I participated in the Aquafest 10K tonight. Local runner Tim Miller picked up the pace from the start and held a lead throughout the race. He cruised to victory, while I finished a close second and was first overall in my age group (30-39). It was a well-attended event, but it was very warm as it tends to be with this event. My time was 42:24. Four days later I participated in Grandma's Marathon, so I didn't want to wear myself out too much for this event. Pictures were taken by Valerie Leair of the Chronotype.