Spooner Jack Pine Savage Run

No pictures available to report on the run here. The only thing I can say about this race was it was amazing so many people showed up on such a hot day for this race. My wife and I were confused as to the actual location of the run. Usually I like to get to a race with plenty of time to spare. Not in this case. We arrived at the school for the start of the race just in time to register. . . and that's about it. We pulled in to the parking lot at 7 minutes to race time. Oh, I had enough time to use the bathroom prior to the start. When I left the bathroom, I heard the race organizer announce for everyone to move to the start for the announcements of the race route. Then the gun went off and all of us crazy runners were released to run through the searing streets of Spooner. On a day like this, we worried about keeping our daughter out too long because it was too hot. I was sweating bullets upon the completion of the run. The nice advantage of the school allowed runners to shower afterwards in the school locker rooms if they chose to. Usually I wouldn't complain about a hot shower, but that is the only temperature the shower could be adjusted to. There was no cool setting. If you have ever showered in your house on such a hot and humid day and then left the shower and dried off and within minutes you felt just as sweaty and grose as before your run, that's what I felt like after my first hot shower. I told Angela that I was going to jump back in the shower. I went for round two. No offense, but after a hard workout and massive sweating, a cool shower is sometimes a wonderful thing to help cool off. I finished in 32:35, which was only 15 seconds from my PR for this distance. Given the hot temperatures and lack of a warm up, I was pretty happy with my finish. I was fourth overall and first in my age group. The winner of the race won for the 8th consecutive time. After the race, my wife and daughter and I went to the car and I placed my medal on the top of the car and put Kaia in the car seat before leaving. We then left and drove a mile away to the craft show downtown. Then I wondered where I had placed the medal. I realized it was on the top of the car and had not moved from where I had put it.

RCU Charity Classic 2011

The RCU Charity Classic provided a first for my wife and I. We had completed an inline marathon together several years ago. However, we had never run a race together. I decided that it would be fun to run the race with Angela. We ran side by side and I pushed our beautiful daughter in our running stroller. We had a great time. Angela kept up a wonderful pace and we completed the race together. My time was 59:18 (239 out of 441). Angela finished a place and a second ahead of me. I think this might have been a record for her in the 10K and I was there to be there with her for it. Kaia just had a blast on the run and had the easiest time with the run. I love outfitting the stroller with a race number. It is so fun to have Kaia be such an active member of the race. I am not sure where she finished in the stroller division (there really isn't a stroller division), but she was tops in my eyes. It was another hot day for the RCU Charity Classic. After finishing, I decided to do subject myself to round two in the two mile race. Angela snapped a couple of great pictures during this race, including one of me looking back at the next closest runner on the bridge in the final seconds of the race. Perhaps this gave me some encouragement in the final seconds of the race to pass another runner or two. I finished in 12:04 (12th out of 310 and 3rd in my age group to medal on this hot morning). Angela snapped a few pictures of me as I found a sprinkler to cool off in the moments after finishing the race.

Rice Lake Aquafest 10K

The annual Aquafest race in Rice Lake has finally arrived. This is always one of my favorite races of the year because I get the opportunity to see quite a few of my running friends. The race started off with the sound of the gun and was a fast-paced match. Monte, Chris, and I headed up to the front for the start of the race. The Aquafest race is always known for being a hot and humid race and this race was like all others. Soon after the start Troy joined us in the front. The four of us headed the race up for the first few miles, but Chris and Monte kept the pace high up front. Monte was last year's winner, but could not match up with Chris who was the winner of the race. Troy finished third. Bryan Arnold secured the fourth spot with a surge at about 4 miles into the race which I could not match up. I finished in fifth overall and was first in my age group in a time of 41:58. My wife was able to catch a couple of pictures of Bryan and I near the finish line. Bryan got me by about 25-30 seconds. We also got a great picture of all the biking guys and their families. I especially like the picture of Ron in his USA basketball jersey. It sounds like several people migt dress to make this a costume race. That will be something fun to look forward to in the future. Stay tuned next year to see what types of costumes prevail. The photo of me running in the pack and the closeup of me running were taken by Valerie Leair of the Chronotype. My wife took the other pictures.

Hailey's Comet Run

This was the first year of the Haley's Comet Run. The course offered a 5K and 10K course. Special thanks to Dave Gerber for announcing that I was the carrot for everyone to chase before the start of the race. Way to put the pressure on me, Dave. In any case, my wife and I both decided to run this race. It was a blistering hot day. During the course of the race the temperatures soared into the 80's. The rest of the day got even warmer than that. A good friend of mine, Brian Arnold, ran with me for much of the race. He and I pushed each other during the race. We traded stride for stride and matched each other's pace for the first two and a half miles. I thank Brian for helping me achieve my second fastest 5K ever in 18:19. Brian came in shortly after in 18:45. Brian later told me that it was his fastest 5K ever. Way to PR, Brian. Since this was an out and back course, I saw my wife as I had looped back on the return route and she asked me how much Brian had beat me by. Brian, even my own wife thought you were going to beat me. I must have looked tired when she saw me. Thanks also for the confidence, Angela. Brian, thanks for pushing the pace on this brutally hot morning. I went on to finish first out of 201 runners. My wife and her friend Stephanie finished in 28:41. Not bad for someone pushing a stroller. My daughter enjoyed the day. We hope that she will be able to run this race some day in the future. With the family friendly atmosphere that this race held, there is something for all ages. Oh, and the medals are simply awesome. Dave Gerber says they were homemade by one of his relatives. When Kaia starts running, I hope that this race will be a fun thing for her. She is the best running stroller companion. She just loves going for rides in the stroller. Thanks to Brett Moravitz for providing a family picture of us following the race.

Baldwin/Woodville Uff Da Run

Fatherhood makes you reconsider your plans sometimes. The Uff Da Run has consistently made our spring list of races. This race is one of the most fun we do since it is an early season race and is put on by a snowmobile trail organization. I think the interest in this race goes back to the fact that the first time we ran this race my wife hadn't trained much for a running race and placed in her age group (and as a result got to have her picture taken by the Uff Da princess for the post race celebrations) whereas I had been training seriously for my first marathon and finished the half marathon with a time that was pretty good overall but not good enough to place in my age group. For the first time ever, I switched to the 5K instead of the half marathon. Because of this, I had to trade race bib numbers. When I signed up to do the Uff Da half marathon I was given the race bib number "10." It was one of the lowest numbers I have had on a race bib ever. Unfortunately, I cannot say that most small town running races give out bib numbers like they do in professional bike racing or for the elite runners in marathons. I exchanged my "10" for a "370." To avoid having to have my wife and daughter have to wait the time necessary for the finish of the half marathon and results, the 5K seemed like a better choice. Angela ran with Kaia in the running stroller and I finished in time to grab a few pictures of her. My time of 19:56 was a slower time than I was hoping for. I tried to keep pace with the winner, but couldn't overtake him in the final minutes of the race. Not much was left in the tank on this day. I was 15 seconds off the winner and finished 2nd overall out of 193. I was a little disappointed that they no longer allow the age group winners the opportunity to have their pictures taken with the Uff Da parade royalty as in years' past. This was perhaps the most exciting part of the race in past years. I don't know why they used to photograph top age group finishers with the town royalty, but that was something that looks like is no longer an honor or a high finish in the Uff Da run. Angela finished in 32:11 and was 87th overall. Not bad for pushing a stroller. Kaia sure enjoyed the race as well, but her favorite part was probably the post race bananas and other snacks.

Powersox United States Nationals Relay Races

The relay races were held on the second day of the United States National Snowshoe Races in Cable, Wisconsin. I teamed up with the Kann Clan, which consisted of my friend John and his two sons Brent and Jared (who tried snowshoe running for the first time that day). I tried to keep the pace strong early, and held second place throug the first couple of pictures which y wife was able to take for the first kilometer or so. Around the point of the big hill I gave up second place, but kept pushing the competitors. Our overall time was 51:54, which was 5th overall in the male open division. We almost could have participated in the family division. I am tall enough where I could have passed for one of the Kann family members. We posed for a picture following the event with Brent Kann, John Kann, Jared Kann, and myself representing the team (from left to right). On our way back to the hotel room following the event, I found a squirrel that must have froze over the night. It was solid as a rock and I found it along the road. This shows that we snowshoers must be crazy to be out there in the cold that was bad enough to freeze the squirrel into a popsicle. This is about as crazy as the photos get on this website.

Powersox United States Snowshoe Nationals

My family and I travelled to Cable, Wisconsin, for what would probably be the closest Nationals Snowshoe Race I will ever participate in. Less than a 90 minute drive brought me to the beautiful Lakewoods Resort for a wonderful weekend of snowshoe racing. As always, the race brings the best of the best to one location. Being that I was involved with helping to design the race course, I was sure to put in plenty of hills into the mix. To be honest, knowing that this would be a race that would be dominated by some of the country's top snowshoers, I felt that they should at least be challenged to the fullest extent and let them remember that Wisconsin actually does have plenty of hills. We may not have all of the elevation changes of the mountains, but the hills would provide plenty of challenge. I started off more conservatively this year. I didn't want to duplicate the feeling of going into oxygen debt and redlining within minutes of the start like I did at Nationals last year. My strategy was just to pick a few snowshoers and try hang with them. I also made a concerted effort to have a better second half. The race went through a checkpoint about halfway through. I passed four snowshoers in the final half of the race. Only five snowshoers made a bigger jump ahead of the competition over that same section of the race. My final time was 53:46, which was good enough for 9th in my age group and 49th overall (exactly the same place as last year). My time was significantly better this year, but my overall placing was exactly the same. I was proud to see that I knew some of the top racers personally. I have raced against the top snowshoer from the male race, Eric Hartmark. I also went to college with and attended the same church as the winner from the female race, Brandy Erholtz. My wife, daughter, and parents were able to attend to see the race. As a race director I received several complements about the 3-4 inches of snow we received the night before and during the event, as we had been having some warmer weather the week prior. Following my race, I got to watch my wife do the citizen's 5K race. She had a blast and ran for only the second time this winter. As you can see from the picture of her, she was all smiles. This tends to be the case when she snowshoes. She takes a pretty relaxed look at snowshoeing. My parents and daughter joined in watching the festivities as shown above. Some pictures were taken from local newspaper reporter from the Rice Lake Chronotype, Dave Greschner. Another friend, Adam Speer, took a few pictures for me to post as well.