Spring Fever 2 mile

The first running race of the year was the same as last year, the Spring Fever race in Altoona. My goal going into the race was to improve on last year's time. Last year I won the race with a 12:15 effort, but I wanted to finish under 12 minutes. I started out with a 5:34 first mile and then finished with a time of 11:44, which was an average pace of 5:52 min/mile. This is my fastest average pace in a race to date. I finished fourth overall, as three college runners from the area came and finished with times in the 10 minute range. Still for me, I was happy with my finish as it laid the groundwork for a great start to the spring running season. There is definitely room for improvement. It was a beautiful day, which was perfect for racing.

Stomp the Swamp

The Stomp the Swamp race was a great race at Nine Mile Ski Area near Rib Mountain in Wausau, Wisconsin. With weather conditions supposed to be extremely warm and with so much snow gone, there was still plenty of snow in the woods to play on. This set the stage for the last snowshoe race of my season. The race course consisted of a 6K course or racers could do two loops to achieve a 12K distance. I finished the 12K course in a time of 1:01:39 and had the fastest time of the day. I posed at the finish with fellow snowshoer John Kann and the snowshoer known solely as "Braveheart" to dedicated snowshoe racers in this part of the state. Supposedly, he will run in shorts and short sleeved singlet as in the picture in most races. I didn't fare as well as Braveheart, as ice built up in a very heavy layer on my socks, and at the end of the race I forgot to peel it all off. Well, it turned into frostbite on the side of my legs. I learned a lesson and won't do that again. Perhaps some gaitors might be a better idea. My wife also participated in the race and I was able to get a nice picture of the two of us at the finish. The postrace meal was awesome. There was homemade soup, hot dogs, many homemade bars, Leine's beer, and many other things that made this postrace meal unique compared to many others I have participated in. I loved the course. The hills on this course were relentless and the course was over 90% singletrack. The race organizer, Jay Punke, has put on a wonderful race which was very well organized and well-run.

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.