Boulder Lake 8K Snowshoe Stomp

John Kann and I travelled to Duluth to attempt to qualify for the United States National Snowshoe Championships. On a frigid cold day that saw race temperatures at the start below zero, it was a day that proved nothing but chilly. However, racers turned out in large numbers to attempt to qualify the the championships to be held in Cable, Wisconsin, in mid March. The course was sugary in nature, making it difficult to achieve fast times. It was a slow race by standards of some snowshoe races that I have been to. The deep snow just seemed to sap the energy right out of you. This course had the option of either a 4K or an 8K loop. Competition was stacked for the 8K qualifying race, with many well known racers from the Duluth and Twin Cities area. In a race that was only my third time on snowshoes this winter, I held on for 18th place overall out of 44 racers with a time of 52:56. It was a little bit of a wakeup call for my training, because I didn't know when I left if I had qualified or not. I had to wait until full results were published on the internet before I found out that I had qualified and would be heading to Lakewoods Resort for the National Championships.

New Richmond Decide Commit Succeed 5K

No pictures are available to prove my craziness, but the shorts were donned for one last winter race at the Decide Commit Succeed 5K race series. My wife told me someone she knows said to her one time that for as much education as I have had I should know more about dressing more warmly during the winter. My comment in return is that with as much heat as you generate in running, a little 20 or 30 degree cold doesn't even come close to chilling me off when I run. Granted I wouldn't run a marathon dressed like that if that was the temperature throughout the race, but it certainly is acceptable for a 5K. I even know a few friends that wear shorts while they snowshoe in subzero weather (probably just to show off how tought they are). At least I am not that crazy as I have only wore shorts into December, but not January or February, yet. I wore the Santa outfit I have worn so many times before for one last race of the year to bring my yearly total to 20 races, tying my all time high for a year. This was a low key course which was pretty loosely organized. My understanding of the event was they are trying to keep members of the New Richmond Area Centre (that's how they spell it) motivated. There are no prizes and they don't list any times. It is for your own benefit. They say the course changes from month to month. It was a relatively flat course other than a hill after the first half mile and since it was an out and back course, there was a hill a half mile from the end as well. I finished 2nd in a time of 19:37. I think there might have been about 19 or 20 runners. Angela would be proud in that I wasn't a race groupee after the race. From the time I got to the race, registered, ran the race, ate the post race food, and pulled out of the parking lot to leave for home, I was there less than an hour. I don't know if I have ever been in and out of a race that fast before.

2010 Gobble Gallop 5K

Thanksgiving Day races are the best runs of the year. It certainly helps to justify eating a bunch if you can say that you already ran a race the morning of Thanksgiving. This year marked the fifth year in a row that my wife and I have done this event. Traditions are great. Conditions were not. Much of the middle of the course was very slushy. Running on the bricks of downtown with all the slush and ice made for very slippery conditions. I saw one runner fall down at the halfway mark. The conditions were fair for the beginning and end of the race, but tricky for running otherwise. It was not my fastest 5K of the year, as I clocked in at 19:37, which was 36th out of 878 runners. This was pretty comparable to my time and finish from two years ago which was the last time that I ran this race. My wife and brother-in law also ran the race together, but decided not to wear costumes this year.

Halloween Hustle 5K

This was my first crack at a race following the cross country season. I was pumped. I planned the outfit well as it was super easy to run in. Everyone knows that I am the type of guy who will run in shorts in the middle of winter, so I dressed up like an old lady. To all other real grandmas out there, eat your heart out. I was pretty cute. The race was won overall by local Duluthian Eric Hartmark. He ran a speedy 16:27, but one of the race directors said that his time was really slow and that he was having an off day. I would hate to see what a great day was like. I did get the pleasure of keeping up with him for the first half mile before he pulled away into the distance. I finished in 18:54, which was not too bad for getting back into running. I was 6th overall out of 138 runners. I was a little disappointed I didn't win one of the prizes in the costume contest. The costume contest was won by a guy who wore a pair of underwear and a cape and was called "Captain Underpants." Sounds like an idea he thought of an hour before the race, but congrats to him. Angela also ran the race as well as shown in the picture. She hates dogs ("hate" is not a strong enough word for how much she dislikes dogs), but yet her mom had this costume sitting around and somehow Angela didn't hesitate to wear it during the race. At least she was warm during the run. She finished in 31:04.

Woolly Mammoth Run

I was super pumped for today's race as one of the kids that I coached during the previous year of cross country who had made it to the Wisconsin State High School Cross Country tournament showed up. He was signed up for the 10K race and I was hoping he was going to do really well. As a cross country coach, you love to see your kids do well while you are coaching them, but you also love to see kids develop a love for the sport that stays with them and encourages them to pursue running later in life as well. This kid that I coached had not run a lot over the summer and he told me he had only run about three times over the summer. He led until about the 8K mark as he told me, finishing second overall. I think with some training he would have dominated the race as this runner was one of the top runners in the State during his senior year. I finished the 5K as the first place runner in a not-so-stellar time of 19:39. This race is a well-run race which tends to not attract too large of a crowd. It is mostly composed of local runners, but it would be great to see it expand to bring in runners from further away. I am on the committee for helping to promote this race. It continues to bring in more runners year after year which is definitely a great thing.

Boyceville "OK" Cucumber 10K

This year my goal was to stick to the path and not lose track of the sign markers. Not wanting to repeat what happened last year, I made sure to check out the route very well. One of these days there needs to be some competition brought for the 10K, as it is won on a yearly basis by the same guy for something like 10 years. On a funny basis, some guy in his forties or fifties ran and won the 1 mile race and stood on the podium with a couple of kids under 10 (who finished 2nd and 3rd). It would have been a funny picture. I am sure the picture of that would have some label underneath it such as "easy as taking candy from a baby" in reference to the forty/fifty year olds accomplishment, but congrats to him anyway. I ran the 5K race with a good early pace, but at the halfway point it was by no means a record-setting pace. I actually was on pace for a time about 19 minutes at the halfway point, but I think the push for the finish kept we working as I finished 2nd overall in a time of 18:53. The winning time was 10 seconds faster than my time. One of these days I will find a way to get a hold of one of those famous cucumber trophies. It would be a great thing for my collection.

Cumberland Shooting Stars 5K

Last year I didn't look closely enough at the newspaper listing the Shooting Stars 5K. I drove out to Cumberland only to find that the race was the next weekend. What a let down. This year I made sure to watch the date closely. It was fun to hear the race director describe the course. He mentioned it was a fairly flat course through the whole length of the course. It was anything but that. A huge hill that continued on for about the first 1/2 mile, then a steep downhill, and a real grinder at the end when you are ready to be done. It was a fun course. I finished in 19:09, with the male winner being a friend of mine, in 19:03. The female winner finished in 18:54 (I hear she is on a full-ride scholarship to the University of Washington for their cross country team). The post race festivities included a fun pancake breakfast. Pictures were taken by Katie Wilder from Katie Wilder Photography.

Complete results are found at
http://www.raceberryjam.com/indexrr.html