Stanley Watermelon Fest 5K

Angela could not understand the reason why I would want to drive over an hour a way on a Sunday morning to run in a small town race.  All I can say is my reason is based on a picture.

In the summer of 2010 when my daughter was about three or four months old, my wife and I thought it would be fun to have Kaia pose for some fun pictures of her in a watermelon.  I cut the top off and made two holes for her legs to fit through and then hollowed it out.  Then we put my daughter in the watermelon and posed her for a few dozen pictures.  Above is one of the pictures from that day.  Although we thought the pictures were fun to take, I can't say the same about our daughter's feelings toward it.  One thing is for sure. . .she will not want to show these to her friends when she graduates from high school.  I am sure we will qualify as the most "uncool" parents.
 I had a chance to travel to Stanley, Wisconsin, for the first annual Watermelon Fest 5K. This is a small town summer festival based on eating one of my favorite summer foods. I saw an advertisement for the race and saw the cool award for the top finishers, a glass blown watermelon. It was one of the coolest awards I have seen and I thought I ought to lace up my running shoes and make a run for it (no pun intended).

The race was not a huge event. A local Lions club put it on and had the goal of attracting a local crowd plus other runners from the surrounding area. The watermelon fest was a great event. The festival has gone on for years, but this was the first year for the run. The course was an out and back course through the country side of Stanley. It was well-staffed and had a water station at the one mile and two mile points of the course. It was relatively flat over the course of the route. It also began and ended in the city park where the Watermelon Fest was held. There were 18 participants in the race this first year. Not as many as the organizers had hoped for, but it was a well-run event.  Stanley Lions Club members granted me access to use a picture they had taken at the event to post on my website, so I thank them for this picture.

I visited with a few of the organizers and gave them some pointers of suggestions to increase the popularity of the event so expect a bigger event next year. My first place time of 19:26 was enough to allow me to earn the coveted Watermelon Award. These are so pretty. My wife doesn't even think of the Watermelon as an award but actually says I can keep this "trophy" on display next to a picture of my daughter in a watermelon. This award actually qualifies as a decorative item in our home now since my wife thinks it has sentimental value which reminds her of the day we placed Kaia in a watermelon. If that's the case, I need to find a race that has a pumpkin award since we have also placed Kaia in a pumpkin that same fall.

Chetek Fishy Four

It has been a few years since I have been able to do the Fishy 4 race in Chetek. A big decision by the race coordinators was when to put this race. With the fourth of July on a Wednesday, organizers had a tough choice on when to host this race. The problem was it was hosted on the same day as the other largest running race in the area this time of year. The Fishy 4 and the RCU Charity Classic were put on the same day. It was a tough choice because I have not missed an RCU Charity Classic for years, but love to support the local races. I went with the smart choice of the Chetek race. You have to love this course. Because it is a loop course, top runners get a chance to be cheered by fellow runners at points earlier in the course (and also to cheer on their favorite runners). My daughter elected to do the 1/2 mile kids race. I am proud of Kaia as she was the youngest runner in the race at 2 years old. No one else was her age. Kaia was racing against many kids 5-6 times her age. I am proud of her running the course and finishing in 8:15.4. She was cheered on probably more than any other kid in the race (especially by her dad).

As far as my race was concerned. I had recorded a personal best of 25:16 several years ago on this course when I was training for Grandma's Marathon. I began with a fast first mile of 6:06 min/mile. My second and third miles plummetted as I recorded 6:43 min/mile and 6:56 min/mile, consecutively. Then, on the final mile I decided it was now or never to make something happen. Aided by a student cheering on the sidelines whom I had cheered on for years in cross country, I kicked it in and set my sights for the finish with about a mile to go. As I neared the finish line to the cheers of "Go Daddy!" I pushed into high gear as evident by the series of pictures Angela took at the event. I just edged a couple of runners right at the line to finish 25:25.5, just 0.3 seconds ahead of a local Chetek runner who thought he had me. The pictures were a short distance from the finish and show how I gained on the two runners at the finish so I had a little reserve in the tank that obviously helped out. I finished 16th overall out of 487 runners and was 15th out of the males and second in my age group. My final mile was a 5:42 min/mile pace which was the fastest of the race, but I think of what I could have done if my middle miles would have been more consistent. I was thrilled to do well and was happy with my final efforts. My wife and daughter were here to cheer me on in this well run event.

Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon

I didn't quite have the audience that I normally do for this race.  When I had signed up to do the event in February, I had family living in the city of Duluth.  With my family moving in the spring, I lost the opportunity to have family around for the day.  My wife, Angela, was also not up for the weekend, so I stayed with friends and did the event under nice conditions.  I had hoped going into the race that I might meet a lofty goal of breaking 1:30.  Lofty as I have not been able to get in the long distance training that I have in past years.  I set out with a goal of trying to stay ahead of the 1:30 pacer.  Previous half marathons I have been able to easily do this, but this year would be different.  I ran through the 5K mark at a respectable time of 20:00 even and cleared the 10K mark at 41:37.  I then crossed the 10 mile line at 1:08:44 and at that time the 1:30 pace group which I had been ahead of up until now finally reached me.  The pacer for the group told me as his group caught me to "jump on and I'll bring you to the finish."  I jumped on for a while, but the pace proved too quick as I tired and I held the pace for only about a half mile or so before realizing I needed more miles in the belt before keeping up with that group.  As I crossed by Pizza Luce, I raised my hands to the sky and tried to rouse the crowd who were surprisingly quiet.  I would have expected fans to be cheering all runners on but it was quiet at this place in the race, but some hand movements to rouse the crowd got the fans cheering loudly and gave myself and my fellow runners around me a needed boost to push us all to the finish.  I crossed the 11.9 mile point at 1:22:09, meaning a 1:30 finish could still, technically be possible.  I only needed to do a 7:13.6/mile pace to achieve 1:30, but not today.  Today I would settle for a nice final kick to come in at 1:30:51, just seconds ahead of 1:31.  Upon finishing the race, I went on to belly up to the feast that Grandma's Marathon provides to it's finishers.  In my opinion, there is no other race that does better.  Today's stats were that I finished 182/2724 males an 208/6478 overall.  I was 22/333 in the male 35-39 age group.  I still haven't gotten used to hearing that I an now in that age group.  Most importantly, on this long run I maintained a 6:57/mile pace over the course of the race and felt good on finishing.
MTec Results posted a finisher's video that can be viewed at the following website.
http://www.mtecresults.com/runner/videoResults?rid=13900&race=735
In the video I am the fourth runner to cross the line.  I am wearing green shorts and no shirt.

Rice Lake Aquafest Run

 Valerie Leiar snapped this wonderful picture at the start of the Aquafest Run.  She always does a wonderful job of covering running events in Rice Lake and the surrounding communities.  She was gracious enough to allow me to use this photo showing the start of the race.  I have decided to try using a GPS watch during my runs and obviously from the picture it is apparent I don't know what I am doing.
This year I was not only a financial sponsor of the run, but I also became a member of the Aquafest Committee.  This year the head of the committee shifted to a new person, Jon Gargulak, which meant that there was opportunity to change the event.  Many different logistics needed to be worked out in order for this race to happen.  I learned first-hand how much is involved with holding a race.  I have always enjoyed the Tuesday night runs on the Tuscobia Trail during previous Aquafests.  However, this year there were many reasons to hold the race at a different venue.  Pressures from competing Aquafest events and a desire to try something new led to the development of a Saturday Aquafest race which was held in Rice Lake.  Briefly stated, there would now be a 6 K and a 10 K race with a route that starts at the Rice Lake High School and headed north on Wisconsin Avenue and cut across toward Rainbow and then toward the Lake for a running course which I am familar with.  Runners from both distances then cut over on Messenger Street toward the high school.  Six kilometer runners finished at the school while 10 K runners continued on Augusta Street to Arrowhead Family Dental, cut south on 19th Avenue, and then back east again on Allen Street before arriving at the high school.  The route was nice in its inclusion of a peaceful run past the lake which I do often.  The Augusta Street hill was the tough part of the course to include in a race.
Angela ran the 6K pushing Kaia in 38:04.3.  She also did not like how hot the race day temperature was.  Upon the completion of the event, my daughter Kaia cheered on the finishers using a cowbell.

With a warm day for the event, I was tired by the time I arrived at this hill and was passed by Dave Gerber on the hill during the 10 K. I held the position of fourth overall with a time of 41:46.9 to finish first in my age group. The heat must have affected me big time since I finished a few seconds slower than running the same distance in Chetek a few weeks before while I pushed Kaia in the stroller. Today, the only slowing factors I had to deal with were the heat and the big hill on August Street.

The winners of the varioues age-groups in the race posed for a picture following the race.  Congratulations to all runners.

I met up with a cross country runner from my past at this event, Curtis Matton.  I was happy to see him out running for fun.  He told me he hadn't been doing a lot of training, but was thinking about doing the Rice Lake Triathlon.  Curtis was one of the key runners who brought the Rice Lake Cross Country team to state in 2008.  He is a gutsy runner that has proven to me he can run through tremendous pain to put his team first.  He had a nice run and I wish him luck with the triathlon.

Haley's Comet Run

The Haley's Comet Run of 2012 was a tough run for me in several respects.  Being last year's winner of the 5K, there was the mental desire to want to repeat.  I would love to be able to reclaim the top spot at the race.  However, this was complicated by the fact that I was not actively training to any appreciable amount.  Currently, I am not putting any mileage in other than running the occasional weekend race.  This makes it hard to achieve the goals I have set for myself.  All I can say is for me a lackluster training schedule led to a lackluster performance for what I would have liked to be able to do.  Last year I won with a time of 18:19.  This year I ran a time of 19:21, which was good enough for second.  I gave up the record for the 5K distance to fellow cross country runner Nathan Tripp who crossed the line in 18:16.9, beating my old mark by 2.1 seconds.  That is a tough break.  I told Nate during the first part of the race that I needed someone to push me so that I could try to achieve a PR, but my lack of training was obvious early and I easily settled for a second place finish.  All I can say is at least I got a cool race picture my wife took.  It is always nice when you have a picture where both feet are off the ground.  It looks like you are really working and it is a rare picture.  Thanks for the photography, Angela.  Angela finished in 30:59.33.  She pushed Kaia in the running stroller.  All I can say is that when the race director tells everyone that you are the course record holder before the start of the race and tells everyone to chase after the guy in the orange shirt, that is never a good thing.  It's like painting a bullseye on my chest.  And it allows runners a perfect opportunity to close in for the kill.  Why do the Haley's Comet's races always have to be so darn hot.  I can't believe how hot and humid these races have been the last couple of years.  I would move for an 8 am start time as opposed to the 9 am start time that traditionally happens.

Chetek Miles for Music 5K

The first year of the Chetek-Weyerhaeuser Miles for Music 5K was a nice success.  It marked the first official race that my daughter participated in.  Here you can see a picture of her, a 2 year old little girl, lining up at the start line with all the other "big kids."  She ran the 1/4 mile race which was one loop around the track against 16 other older kids.  She was the youngest in the race by several years.  Because of this, I think she earned a lot of admiration from adults watching the race.  Kaia finished the race all by herself.  The thing is, she didn't want to stop.  When she was about half done, she was slowing down a little so I asked her if she wanted me to carry her to the finish and she said "No daddy.  I run."  She sped up and finished the race.  As far as where she finished, I won't say other than she will benefit from growing taller someday as we hope she is blessed with her mom and dad's height.  Taller height means longer legs and then we'll see how future races go for her.  She seemed pretty excited.  As she neared the finish line, she got to run in  with the Chetek-Weyerhaeuser Bulldog to the applause of many adults and kids.  She then got a glass of water as a post-race refreshment.  Then came daddy's turn in the 10K.  The event was a nonrepeating loop which went into the country around Chetek and actually crossed a bridge that traveled over the interstate at two points.  Runners could choose either a 5K or a 10K run.  I pushed Kaia in the running stroller.  Karen Swanson of Chetek won the race in 40:52, but Kaia was not far behind as her stroller finished in 41:44, and daddy finished with the same time, but just behind Kaia.  Dad finished second overall behind Karen, but I joked with a friend of mine that technically Kaia finished ahead of me in the stroller. 

 

 

Kaia and daddy posed by the finish line after the race on this beautiful day.  Angela missed seeing Kaia run that day but was still proud for Kaia and the accomplishments she had.

 

Cinco de Kilo 5K

The Cinco de Kilo race was a fundraiser race that was put on to benefit a woman in Hudson named Karis Steenberg who had been diagnosed with cancer.  The fundraiser was designed to help raise money to help Karis.  My wife and daughter and I attended the 5K race on May 5 in Hudson, Wisconsin.  We were lucky to have some cool weather for the event.  There were 77 people that participated in the event.  My wife, Angela, pushed Kaia in the stroller and finished in 35:08.  This was her longest run since having a stress fracture in her foot 3 months ago.  She was pretty excited to be able to run at all.  She also did great as she pushed Kaia during the event.  After I had finished I got a few pictures of Angela and Kaia.  Kaia looks like she was maxin' and relaxin'.  Afterward, I decided to go for a quick swim in the river before we met up with family.  It was very invigorating.  Angela snuck a quick picture of me and caught me by surprise.  I took a picture of the snacks at the end of the race since my brother Dan and I had once run a Thanksgiving Day race where the fruit was cut up with a knife which was left out in the open for anyone to grab or play with.  Not a very safe idea, but since it has been a few years since I have seen this, I figured I better include a picture of this in the blog.  I would recommend hiding the knife when little kids are around, but that is just my opinion.  I finished first overall in 19:43, roughly a half minute in front of the next competitor.  It was a nice race which did double up on some of the routes in the park down by the river in Hudson.