Boyceville Cucumber 5K

The Boyceville Cucumber Run was the site of my 10K PR two years ago. My goal going today was two-fold. Bring home the covetted cucumber trophy and also set a new 5K PR. Easier said than done. The out and back course was a game of follow-the-leader. Unfortunately, the lead guy took off at such a fast rate (he finished in 15:39) that although I was the second place runner up until the last half mile of the course, the course twisted and turned through downtown Boyceville that I missed a turnoff. I went straight in an area that I should have turned. The tough part was that I had about a 20 second lead over the third place runner prior to the missed turn and was on pace for setting a PR. The third place runner followed me for a block before coming to his senses, but I kept running and ran extra distance down the wrong street before I heard cheering on another block and then looked to find that I had missed the finish. I ran through a field and then crossed the finish line from the reverse direction prior to then walking through in the right direction. I have never done that before. My mistake cost me a PR and a place. I finished in third overall (19:02) whereas I should have had my fastest time ever. Very frustrating, but that's what I get for not paying attention. I don't have any race pictures, but I thought the post-race picture I posted was awesome. The race was so popular and they had so many more people than the previous year that several kids had to make race numbers out of paper. That's why when they posted the final results, several sheets of paper show up on the results wall. I thought this was hilarious.

Laona Souper 5K

I saw a cool article in the August 2009 issue of Runner's World magazine (page 97. . . Best Schwag). I showed an awesome trophy which was of a handmade soup-bowl trophy which was to be given to the top three male and female winners in the 5K race. Although farther than I typically like to travel for a race, I couldn't pass up on the opportunity for the cool Schwag. Somehow I convinced my wife to get up before 5 am to travel about 150 miles to this race. It was cool. I posted an18:38 time, which is 5.1 seconds from my personal best. I was 10 seconds from the winner. Although the prizes were cool, they mentioned there were special awards for the top three male and female winners. Everyone benefited in that they had made porcelain soup bowls for most participants. They had some many that the top three winners in each age group won bowls and medals, plus they had extra bowls they handed out to other participants when they had finished awards. I loved the bowl, but I hope they return to the trophy design they had pictured in Runner's World magazine. The trophy they had pictured would look great on any fireplace in my opinion (I'm not sure about my wife's opinion, though). My only trade off in this event was that my wife and I had to stop for ice cream on the way home. I thought that was a fair trade off. I was pretty happy with my time because although I have been running, I would not say that I have really been doing a lot of speedwork. This race will serve as a springboard for some great fall races.

CaRunBi Triathlon

The third annual CaRunBi triathlon was quite an event. It was a fun race although I was expecting a bigger turnout than what we had received. Supposedly there were three flat tires during the race. One guy yelled at me to let some volunteers know he needed a pump because he had dropped his pump near some railroad tracks. I would have kept the pump with me until I was done before trying to drop some weight. They warned everyone about not crossing the railroad tracks too fast, but some people apparently raised a big stink about this to the race directors. It was a great race as always. I finished in 1:06:39, which was 4 seconds slower than last year (still pretty consistent if you ask me). I was the second paddler back after the paddling portion and the second biker back after the biking portion. I finished first overall (third straight year) in the solo division and second overall if you include the teams. The team with Paul Hetke ("Paul's Angels") beat me. He's such a fast guy. My wife also participated and finished first overall out of the females. Congrats to Angela. It sounds like they may change the route a bit next year. Afterwards, my wife and I had a nice brunch with Sharon and Gary Mikolon and Steve Schultz. I tried some wonderful banana pecan pancakes. I would have posted a picture had I had my camera with me. They were that good!

Tofte Trek

My whole goal this year was to improve on last year's performance. Last year I actually had to walk at one point in the run. My biggest thing last year is I think I talked myself into taking it easy. Not this year. I broke out to a comfortable pace and then just plugged away the miles. This 10K run is up a mountain and back on the Sugarbrush trail. It was a competitive field. Many fast runners from the Duluth area attended the race. Duluthian Greg Hexum was back from a back injury and easily took first in the race for the ninth year in a row. I talked with him for a while after the race and he had hurt himself snowshoeing earlier in the year. It is good to see him back. I kept my pace as fast as I could and passed the 5K marker at 25:06. Then it was running over boards and mudpiles as I tackled the downhill section. The last 5K I did in 19:06, for a total time of 44:11.5, which is almost 2 minutes faster than last year. As a result of the more competitive field, my better time did not improve my overall standings this year as I finished 18th overall (13th last year) and was 9th in my age group (6th last year). I keep thinking it will be easier when I get older, but the same runners will age the same as I do. Angela cut tons of time of her 1:03:57.7 time (1:40 last year. . .nice job, Angela). She finished 124th overall and was 13th in her age group. 244 people participated in the 10K event. Afterwards, Angela and I went back up to the muddy sections of the trail for some additional mud running (well, at least I went in the mud again). Both Angela and I edged out a couple runners right before the finish. You can see how muddy we got in the picture where I am cleaning myself off with the firehose after the race.

RCU Charity Classic

I learned something today. Tying a key for your car to your shoe is a terrible way to secure a key prior to running a race. This race started off great. Wonderfully cool weather. A slight mist in the air. A perfect day for a PR. I started the race off at a great pace. I felt wonderful. All until mile two in the race. The key that was attached to my shoelaces loosened and flew off into the grass. As if that wasn't enough, I then had to find my key which proved no short task. I lost at least 45 seconds to a minute searching for the key and quickly tying my shoe. That time lost allowed several runners to pass me. My time for the remainder of the race was great. I finished in 39:45, which was just 26 seconds from my PR (that's the importance of the lost 45-60 seconds). I gave up an opportunity for a personal record. Still, my time beat last years time of 40:55 and my overall placing improved as well. I finished 15th overall out of 277. My wife cruised to a personal record time of 53:14 (Congrats, Angela!). I then did the same crazy thing I did last year and ran the two mile race afterwards. I started front of the pack to start and held the lead for about 1/3 mile before finally being caught. I ran a strong 2 mile race, but also not a PR. My time was 11:57, which was good enough for 10th overall out of 245 (2nd in my age group). My wife was there to cheer me on. Afterwards, I talked with Albert Omhasa who finished 2nd in the 2 mile and 3rd in the 10K. He was fun to chat with. He told me I "have good speed, but no endurance." He told me I need to add more miles to my training. I told him I would try to see what I could do. Maybe next year will be a better year for the event. Today would have been an ideal time for a PR in the 10K. We had a blast at the race. Monte Stewart (who won this year's Aquafest run) finished strong with a 10th place finish in the 10K run with a time of 38:23.

Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon

This was one of the highlights of my running experience. A wonderfully run race which was done on a warm, hilly course. 13.1 miles running mostly along Duluth's ever-popular Lake Superior and also finishing within the beautiful downtown area of Duluth. I finished in 1:28:21, which is a little over a minute off of my PR, but I was happy to place 146th out of 5,604, which was in the top 2.6% of runners in the race. I definitely would have liked to have finished a couple of minutes faster, but my overall placing in the event was right where I had hoped it would be. The best part of running the half marathon was that I was able to watch the finishers in the full marathon. An American won this year. What's better is that it was someone who was a Minnesota native. We must be proud of local talent finishing so well and beating all the favorites who were expected to do much better. Temperatures reached a high of 90 by 1:00 pm. Even at 5:00 am in the morning as we were waiting to load into buses, the temps were 69 degrees. That's hot.

Rice Lake Aquafest Run

The Tuesday night biking group fragmented tonight as five of the bikers showed up at Rice Lake's Aquafest run and only two bikers showed up at our normal ride location. Those two bikers then headed north to the Tuscobia trail to watch the run. It was a good group. The picture of the bikers shows Brian Arnold, Ron Kay (he didn't run in khakis), Mark Bittner, Gary Crisler, and myself. Even some of the cross country students I have coached showed up. With rain hitting during the early stages of the run and the humidity very high, it made for a warm evening run. Last year's race winner (Monty from Flambeau. . .sorry I don't remember his last name) took an early lead and held it to the finish in 39:08. I finished second overall with a time of 40:14. My wife finished around 55 minutes in what she thinks was a PR for her, so congrats, Angela. The overall award for this race is pretty cool. It is an old railroad spike with the winners information painted on it. I think the railroad spike might actually be from this trail when it was previously a railroad track. Pictures were taken by Valerie Leair of the Chronotype.