2009 Book Across the Bay

It seems like I say this about many races, but this race is one of the most fun races I have ever done. It is a blast. The first picture shows a bunch of containers made from ice which are used to hold candles. These luminaries line the race course and light the path for the entire duration o the race. This year, they could not start it in Ashland, but it did a loop course starting and ending in Washburn (which is the typical finish). The event was shortened from a 10K race to a 7K race due to compromised snow and ice conditions since it was so warm the days leading up to the race. I finished the race in 35:38 and was first overall out of 386 people. The post race party is awesome. There was a band, plenty of food, and best of all. . .it was all in a warm tent so racers could be out of the cold.

Eau Claire Rumble in the Jungle

This snowshoe event held a 2 mile noncompetitive and a 5 mile competitive event. The pace from the start was intense. Snowshoers kept fairly close throughout. There was wonderful singletrack on this course and it was definitely a challenging route which proved difficult as there were many hills. The lead runner took off and held a fast pace and won by about a minute and a half. Dave Schuneman (Duluth, MN) was the winner in 38:35. He placed 5th in the Duluth snowshoe marathon a few weeks ago. I finished 3rd overall in 40:04, just eight seconds back of second place. The second place winner is currently training for the Ironman Triathlon. Angela may have gotten interested in snowshoe running in this race. We will be doing at least one more snowshoe race this winter before the snow melts.

Perkinstown 10K Snowshoe Race

This was my very first snowshoe race. It was a blast. Snow actually fell throughout the race. The race took place primarily on groomed snowmobile trails, with a mile or so of the race on singletrack. I was very conservative throughout the race. A fellow friend of mine who also snowshoes mentioned that a common problem that many fall into is going out too fast and not having enough gas in the tank at the end. I watched the conditions and gave my kick at the end and it ended up giving me a first place finish in this 10K race out of 47 snowshoers. My time was 54:26.2. I must say this was a well-organized race and the directors did a wonderful job with the post-race food and awards. The great picture was taken by Image by Faud, a photographer out of Depere, Wisconsin.

2008 Duluth Turkey Trot

There is nothing better than running a 5K race right before you get a chance to eat a Thanksgiving meal. It is somewhat of a tradition that Thanksgiving and a run should be tied together. It snowed heavy an hour before the race so the roads are covered in very slippery snow. Each step I could feel myself slipping and did not have a lot of power to accumulate a lot of speed. This was a great race, however. There were 909 runners, which was a great turnout. I finished the race in 19:36.3, which was good enough for 21st place overall, but 10th in my age group. Had conditions had been better I was hoping for a faster time, but that is winter weather in Minnesota. My wife and brother-in-law did the 2 mile walk and won the costume contest for the best costumes following the race.

Living History Farms Race

This was one of the running highlights of my career. The Living History Farms Race is a 7 mile race which is one of the more "Extreme" types of cross country runs out there. There are a total of 8 creek crossings, and the website promotes the fact that you will get cold and you will get wet. It was a huge race, with 6,938 finishers. I finished 236th out of 3,698 males and 240th overall. My time was 49:55, so I just edged the 50 minute mark. My brother and my wife did this race with me. We had a blast. It snowed during the race, so we were definitely cold after the race. There was plenty of wonderful food. The age group winners in the race earn food awards like whole frozen turkeys and other food like that. My brother and I started at the front, so we found that this was as a good strategy. Starting too far back makes it difficult as you have to wait more at the creek crossings because everyone gets bunched up and everyone slows down at the creeks. Temperatures that day were in the low 20's with light wind and it was cloudy.

River Falls Extreme Run

I had a chance to run this meet dressed in cross country uniform (blue Rice Lake CC uniform). I never participated in cross country before, but this meet is more of a fun run and the organizers let the coaches run the event with the kids, so I did and had a blast. It was a 5K event. The only stipulation was that I had to pull out of the race at the end and not enter the finisher's chute. That was fine, I still was able to get in all 6 river crossings. What a great race, and some great pictures as well. I wish all cross country meets were more like this, and all regular races for us older runners.

2008 Firehouse 50 Best of Both

The Firehouse 50 was a weekend full of fun and excitement. This year, several Rice Lake natives participated, with a good overall showing for the region. I was able to stay with the main pack once again to finish 10 seconds behind the first place finisher. My time for the bike race of 50.5 miles was 2:00:20.9 (24.9 mph). I was 49th overall out of 447 registrants (389 finishers). Fifty six bikers were in the main pack. I finished toward the back of the pack, but after last year's crash, I wanted to finish safely. In the 15K run, I finished 12th with a 1:03:07.1. This was about 3 seconds faster than last year's time. My best of both time was 3:03:28.0. I was fourth overall for the second straight year, and second in my age group. Brent Kann finished second overall and Mark Bittner was 10th overall in the Best of Both competition. Mike Cragg of Rice Lake finished in 2:00:17.0, which was the fastest anyone has finished the race in the 60-64 age group. My wife Angela also competed in the run and finished in 1:36:29.3.