Thermal 3

The Santa suit made another appearance at the Thermal 3 race in Chippewa Falls. It was a chilly morning, but perfect for a pair of shorts for a run. The race involved the Thermal 3 (3 mile) and a Frigid 8 (8 mile) race. Both start at the same time and location. The 8 mile winner held his crown for the 6th straight year. In the 3 mile race, the field was tight for about 2 1/2 miles. From the gun I dictated the pace of the race and again loved the encouragement of fellow runners cheering for Santa. I earned several high-fives from runners, since this was an out-and-back course and I was able to see all the other runners when I turned to run back. I finished the race in 18:11, so not quite on par with the previous weeks race, but given the conditions (the roads were coated with snow), I was certainly happy. The outfit attracts the attention of numerous fans, and I had to pose with some Santa admirers for a few pictures prior to the start of the race.

Turkey Leg 5K

Going into the race this Thanksgiving, I had just a couple of goals. I wanted to improve on my best time and I wanted to have fun doing it. Using my wife's idea from last year's Thanksgiving Day run where she and her brother dressed up, I wanted to do the same at this year's Turkey Leg 5K in Willmar, MN. I had picked up a pair of Santa boxers after Christmas last year. Combine that with a Santa hat and I had the makings of a great costume. Temperatures were supposed to be about 28 degrees, but with a wind the temperatures felt like 18 degrees. From the start of the race I picked the pace up well and actually led for the first mile and a quarter. Shortly before the half way point, a couple of runners edged me out and continued to the finish. I kept the pace high and crossed the line in 18:01, which was a PR for me and significantly better than my previous PR of 18:32.9 from about a year and a half prior. I finished 5th place out of 203 runners which was awesome. I was also second in my age group. What a way to finish the season. I definitely felt like I deserved the Thanksgiving meal soon to follow. My parents actually came out to watch the race and took some great pictures of the action. The best part of the event was that everyone cheered for me as "Go Santa." It was a great way to attract the applause of everyone. Surprisingly, I wasn't cold during the run or for a while after. The scary part is I plan to dress the same way for a race in the future.

Brill Woolly Mammoth 10K

The Brill Woolly Mammoth 10K was held under very nice conditions. It is always a fun run as it is an opportunity to run with many friends who come together to run in this local race. It is an out-and-back course held on the scenic Ice Age Trail. As a result, it is easy on the feet as one is not pounding the pavement on blacktop, asphalt, or concrete. I set an early pace of 3:25 min/K for the first kilometer. That would have been a PR had I been able to hold that. However, soon after that my pace slowed considerably. Leading at the 5K halfway point, I almost thoought of continuing on and going for the 10K race, but I wasn't registered for that. I finished the 5K race and finished in 19:13, which was 7 seconds faster than two years prior. I had hoped to be in the 18 minute range in this race, but unfortunately, was not able to achieve this on that day. We immediately left to attend Angela's grandma's 80th birthday. My wife would have run one of her first races as a pregnant woman on this day, and finished in 28:41. Photos were posted courtesy of Laura Sandstrom.

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.