Tater Trot

Up until 10 minutes before the race, I was planning on running the 5K race. I was excited to try to set a PR in the 5K, but as I heard that many of the cross country runners I coached who were members of the National Honor Society were out at the water stations, I thought it would be fun to see them. I changed gears and attempted to run the half marathon instead. I hadn't run many long distance runs in several months, but I did manage to finish 6th overall, with a time of 1:28:15. I held 3rd place until the top of some hills at mile 7, and gave up two more places in the last mile of the race. But for not training for this distance, I was not too far off of my PR for that distance from Baldwin-Woodville's Uff Da Run.

Chequamegon XXV

This was my first mountain bike race. I raced the race on a rental bike as my bike was in the shop. Not ideal to be riding a bike you are not familiar with, but at least I was able to ride. I stopped two miles in to adjust my seat post, which was too low and I had not noticed that when I initially picked up the bike. It was a beautiful day and was wonderful for being able to gain some experience handling the trails. Luckily I didn't have to stop once, but I did have to walk the bike up the Firetower Hill. I think if there wouldn't have been such a big mass of people walking their bikes, I probably could have pedalled up the hill in low gear, but I will never know that. Unfortunately, that is an area where there tends to be a big bottleneck of riders since everyone slows down at that point. My goal was to finish in under 3 hours and my time was 2:52:52.8. I was 498th out of 1742 overall and 74/175 in age group.

2007 Cleghorn Harvest Fest 22 mile race

This was a relatively short 22 mile race, but was fairly hilly. The pace started off very slow. No riders wanted to share in trying to take the lead, so I pushed the pace. A couple of riders jumped on behind me and rode my wheel for the rest of the race until right before the finish. It was a good strategy for them, as I finished third overall with a time of 57:25.9, which was 1.7 seconds behind the first place rider.

Brill Woolly Mammoth Classic

This was a run in conjunction with the Brill Harvest Fest. 5K and 10K runs were run simultaneously on an out-and-back course. The 5K turn around-point is before the 10K turn-around point and happens on the scenic Ice Age Trail. My wife and I participated in this event. I did the 5K and ran a 19:20 time which was first overall. It would be nice in coming years to see this event grow, as it was a small race, but food was good and there was a nice awards ceremony afterwards.

Chris Kerr Memorial Race

I didn't bring all my aces to the table on this race. The Chris Kerr Memorial Race is 45 miles long and winds through the hills and countryside around Cameron, Wisconsin. About 3 or 4 miles into the race, I got dropped on the opening hill and couldn't maintain the speed of the rest of the group. I fought wind most of the ride and rode solo for much of the race. I felt great in that even though it was very windy and I rode solo, I still average over 20 miles per hour. My time was 1:49:48.0 and I was 41st out of 91 riders. I was seventh in my age group and the leaders were not anywhere in sight most of the race.

Boyceville Cucumber Run

The Boyceville Cucumber Run is a small race, but very challenging. There are some hills through the course which tends to wind through the countryside. I ran the 10K distance and had my PR for this distance of 39:19. I was 3rd overall out of 10 entrants. The winning time was 37:15 and the second place guy came in at 37:17, so I just missed second by seconds. The trophies you win for being top person in the race are cool. . .they are a model of a giant pickle crossing the finish line. I'd love to have one.

Firehouse 50

The pinnacle of the summer was the Firehouse 50 weekend. I participated as a biker and a runner. I am the third from the right side on the biking picture and am wearing red. The ride went well aside from a crash about 7 miles from the finish. I crashed out, and then was luckily able to get up and back on my bike in time to then pedal like a madman to the finish. Amazingly, I was able to keep a small group charging to the finish and I only lost a minute time on the peleton after the crash. I finished in 1:56.39.5 (58th overall out of 444 and 10th overall in my age group). The average speed for this race was 25.7 mph. The crash wiped out or slowed down probably 20 or 30 people. The following day, I ran the 9.5 mile hilly course in 1:03.10.1 (16th out of 104 and first in my age group). My pace for the run was 6:45 min/mile. In the Best of Both competition, I finished with a total time of 2:59.49.6 (4th out of 54). Photos by Kelly Randolph.