Rutabaga Run

I have never done the Cumberland Rutabaga Fest before.  It was kind of like a reunion of friends who I know from many area towns.  The race attracted many people.  There was a 5K race which partially wound through a hilly section of town in a park area.  It was a challenging race due to the hills present.  I cleared the challenging course in 19:33, which was good for 4th overall out of 340 runners.  The 12.4 mile course also brought in 123 runners.  The Rutabaga Fest did the race up right.  The race started by running through the streets of Cumberland, including Main Street.  The finish was right in the middle of the Rutabaga Fest celebration.  Pictures were courtesy of the New Richmond Running Club.

OK Cucumber Run

I don't know why but the OK Cucumber Race has been a fascination for years.  OK (no pun intended to the race organizers), I do.  What an unusual trophy.  This thing weighs about 2 or 3 pounds and is a pickle figurine with a pickle running and crossing a finish line with his hands in the air.  The pickle in the center must be solid metal since this trophy is much heavier than you'd think just by looking at it.

The race distances are a choice of 1 mile, 5K and 10K.  Runners can pick which event they wish to participate in.  Most of the time kids will end up doing the 1 mile race and sometimes the occasional adult will enter the 1 mile race in an attempt to "steal" the trophy away from the kids.  I will have to apologize for offending any adult who enters (and wins) the 1 mile race, but when there are larger distances races available, it is unfair for an adult to win the 1 mile race in my opinion.  The awards ceremony always looks a little funny if the winner of the 1 mile race is an adult and the second and third place winners are 8 and 10 years old (again, in my opinion).  I will now clarify one point here.  I am not saying that an adult cannot enter the 1 mile race under any circumstances.  Many adults will choose to run with their child as their child is just getting into running in order to give them someone to run with and encourage them while they are at the early stage of beginning taking up an interest in running.  Proper etiquette in this case still dictates that you let your child finish ahead of you in the race.  I personally have already run three or four races with my daughter ranging from 1/4 mile to 1 kilometer, and no matter how long it takes her, she beats me every time.  If you really want to seriously challenge your kids to a race, wait until they can do the longer distance so they have the stamina to really kick your butt.
This was my fourth year participating in this race.  In 2007, I did the 10K and finished third.  In 2009, I did the 5K and finished third in 19:02.  In 2010 I did the 5K and finished second in 18:53.  In 2009, I missed a turn which cost me some valuable time and a place.  I have always been excited about this race and see it as a benchmark for how my fitness in the summer has gone.  Getting back to the initial purpose of this blog entry, I think the thing that has been most intriguing about this race is the bizarre trophy the male and female winner of each race wins.  The trophy is a figurine of a weird pickle with it's hands in the air crossing a finish line.  It is one of the weirdest trophies I have ever seen, but that is what makes it so appealing.  I have been so close so many times to winning this trophy that it has been my goal.  I told my wife before I left today that my ultimate goal was to bring home the pickle trophy.  This year, my dream would become a reality. 
I decided to participate in the 5K race again this year.  Runners participating in the 10K race were excited this year as several minutes before the race began no one had seen the perennial favorite, Matt Schauf, who had won nearly 8 or 9 straight 10K races in a row.  He has blown everyone away for so many years and this appeared to be an opportunity to open the door for a new 10K male winner if Matt didn't show up this year.  One of the race volunteers mentioned that Matt had some work obligation and didn't think he would be at the race.  Well, about 2 minutes before the race began as everyone was standing in line for the start, Matt showed up.  This didn't affect me since I wasn't racing that distance, but several of the people who typically run the 10K race were apparently disappointed by their lost opportunity.  A race volunteer snapped this photo at the beginning which I thought was funny since it shows everyone else all lined up in apparently behind some car.  I don't remember the car being part of the race.  Maybe a picture directly in front of the runners might be a better perspective.

The 5K began as always, with all 1 mile, 5K, and 10K racers starting at the same time.  If my goal was to make the 5K win a reality, I had to start strong.  I had no way of knowing who was in each race.  The 1 mile and 5K are both out and back courses which turn around after a specified distance.  The 10K is a large loop.  As a runner, you have no way of knowing unless you ask other runners what race they are in (I am not sure if there is a different type of race bib for the different races, but I am not aware of this).  A race photographer snapped this photo about a mile into the race at which time I was holding everyone else off.  Fortunately for me the pack behind me where mostly 10K racers.

A little over a mile into the race Matt yelled out "way to go Delf!"  Matt and a small group of 10K runners passed me up shortly before the 5K turnaround point.  I was passed also by a girl who appeared in her 20's.  I think she must have been one of Matt's cross country runners (Matt coaches track and cross country for the University of Wisconsin Stout).  Matt yelled to her to just keep her pace and not to slow down and she would be fine.  This girl then rounded the turn around just ahead of me.  I was technically still the first place guy at the turn around, but now was racing for second.  I worked hard to keep pace with the lead woman, but I could not close the gap to her.  She edged me out to the line for first at 18:45, while I settled for 18:55.  I was second overall out of 95 runners, but the lead male.

I was still fortunate to claim the coveted "pickle trophy."  The look on my face when I walked up to collect the trophy was a moment of true happiness. 

I had worked hard for this bizarre trophy.  My wife and I agreed to a plan that anyone who earned a trophy would have the opportunity to have it on display on our mantel for an indefinite amount of time.  Little did she know that our mantel would soon hold such a weird trophy that everyone would have to ask what it was since it was so weird.  Mission accomplished.

Matt claimed title again in the 10K race.  He even came ahead of the white car in the photo earlier in this blog post.  The Boyceville Cucumber Run website lists that he has won every year from 2007 to the present, but race results are not posted prior to 2007.  However, if you look at the photo album that is available at the start of the race he is listed in the winner's results for several years prior to 2007 as well.
The last picture is included just because of the nature of the postrace food which is exactly what you'd expect from the Cucumber Run.  Pickles were served.  Here, some of the volunteers pose with their knives prior to event.  

 

 

The Boyceville Public Library was very gracious to allow me to utilize the pictures used in this post so I thank them for allowing me to use these.  My favorite picture of the group that they took was the picture below.  I don't know the age of the runners, but the look on the face of both runners tells an interesting story.  The runner on the right looks like he is ready to challenge Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt to a 100 meter dash, whereas the guy on the left (the guy's dad?) looks like both runners must have run side by side the entire race with the goals of crossing the finish line together.  Perhaps at the last second, the guy in red decided to steal the fame and glory in whatever race they were in and then kicked it the last half a block or so, surprising the guy in the gray and making him ticked off at the guy in red.  Perhaps the guy in gray decided he would make a go to challenge the guy in red and the camera caught him at just the right moment to make a funny picture.  This very well could have been a father and son or perhaps some good friends.  In any case, a very funny picture.  The guy in the red looks like he could outstridge the guy in the gray by about 3:1.  I wish I knew the true story behind what is going on.

 

Spooner Jack Pine Savage Days Fun Run

There were not a lot of days of rest between the extremely hot Jack Pine Savage Days Mud Run (Friday) and this day's run (Sunday). Barely over 36 hours between races and I was back at it. The Jack Pine Savage Days fun run used to be a 5 mile event held on a Saturday, but was now a 5K and held on a Sunday. The weather was definitely a change of pace. Low 50's made for a nice change compared to the high 80's/low 90's of the race a couple of days before. There was also a new location for the race this year which made for yet another change this year. Well, at least there were a couple of things that were the same. Seven-time winner Eric Atkinson showed up again. The next similarity was also related to Eric. . .when the gun went off Eric and a couple of other runners took off like Jack rabbits (no pun intended for Jack Pine Savage Days). My plan was to stick to a stead pace and see what I could do. About a 1/2 mile into the race, I came across a guy who was coming up from behind me in the race and looked like he could be in my age group (his name was Brett Ridout). Because he looked to be in contention for an age group award it gave me extra motivation to try to hang with him. We ran side by side for the majority of the rest of the race and occasionally we traded surges forward to see who might try taking the lead. However, nothing changed for over a mile and a half. As the two of us were about 3/4 mile from the finish, we started down a nice downhill leading toward the finish area. I heard some heavy breathing and foot steps behind us. Looking to the side I saw a man much older than I was and a younger girl who looked to be high school-aged. I would later find out they were a dad and his daughter. Getting past by two people so drastically different in age from me gave some additional motivation to pick the pace up. I tried to stay with them and hung with them for a couple of blocks and then threw in a surge to try to shake things up. I ended up getting some distance on Brett, and the dad and daughter. This lead would have probably been effective in improving my place in the overall standings except for one thing. The course was, for the most part, pretty well marked except for one spot about 3 blocks from the finish. I continued in a straight line in what I thought was going to be the way to the finish, but I didn't see the a couple of people watching the race a half a block down the street to the right. The problem was that I continued straight and the other three runners behind me went right. I lost valuable time and abruptly changed direction to now play the game of catch up. At this point I was in seventh place overall. I had no choice but to sprint for the finish and passed up the dad and his daughter, but was not able to catch Brett. Brett finished in 18:45, I finished in 18:47, and the girl and her dad finished in 18:48 and 18:50, respectively. I do not tend to finish in such a tight pack in a lot of the races I do so it was fun to try the full sprint to the finish. I finished fifth overall in the race and second in my age group. Following the race I had a nice conversation with a young man named Daniel Pederson who was going to be a freshman at Spooner High School. He finished second overall in the low 17 minute range. I told him he would have a wonderful high school career if he continued to race the way he did today. My prediction was that I will see him on the podium at a State cross country meet someday. I was happy to finish in the 18's again as it has been a while since I have had that happen. The best part of the day was getting the opportunity to eat with all the fire fighters who put on a pancake breakfast for the community and the racers. I saw many people I knew at this event and went home with a full belly. Oh, and the other similarity I saw in this race was that Eric Atkinson won again for the eighth straight year.

Spooner Mud Run

There comes a time in every racer's life when you participate something that is outside of your expertise and in a different category than anything you have done before.  The Spooner Mud Run on this blazing hot Friday evening in August was this monumental event.  What I can say about this event is it was a spectacular event.  What a race the city of Spooner put on.  Sure, there will be those out there who will argue that they have done a Warrior Dash or a Tough Mudder, or some other run based more on engaging in a series of physical challenges than actually doing any running.  Well, those are all big name races.  The Spooner run was a spectacular race based on these runs, but without all the hype (and usually big fee for registration) that typically accompany these bigger events.  I can say without hesitation that the Spooner Mud Run is a race worth putting on the calendar for next year as it is definitely a race worth doing again next year.  Let me share the experiences through this post, pictures, and even a couple of videos that I have found showing this race.  Be careful, race organizers, as this race could seriously balloon in popularity next year and be the biggest thing the Jack Pine Savage Days have seen.

The Spooner Mud Run had a great series of challenges.  The opening obstacle was a series of hay bales to jump over. 

The next event was a series of cars to jump over. People don't often get to jump over cars. Then there were a series of hurdles to maneuver around. You had to just over the high hurdles and crawl under the lower hurdles. This was the first event where you really started getting dirty. Following that the obstacles starting getting wet. There was a watered down hill in which runners got there first taste of mud. Then there was the huge slip and slide which was a plastic tarp which was watered down and runners got cooled off and also got to rest as they slid down the hill. My favorite obstacle was the series of long 2-2 1/2 foot in diameter pipes which were partially submerged. There was a pool of water at the start of the pipes and a pool of water at the end of the pipes but otherwise the pipes were about half submerged in water. Runners had to crawl through the pipes from one side to the other. There were a couple of tire obstacles where runners had to negotiate through the tires in a scene typical of something seen in a football practice. There were monkey bars to climp across and this was fine for me but I can see how for some it might have been a tough challenge. The monkey bars were pretty far apart. The final challenges included running through a fire hose, more hay bales jumping, and finally, the big mud pit. The city of Spooner has lined bleachers along the mud pit to allow spectators to watch. This would have been the place to watch the race. A shout out to Spooner for putting a on a spectacular event.

 
The following website shows some video coverage of the event.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoxOMVbAU5U
I can be seen at 1:01 in the video scaling a set of hay bales. You get to see me jump all four haybales in the video. Being tall has it's advantages as it was a lot easier to jump the haybales since I had a height advantage. Then at 6:55 in the same video you can see me jumping into the mud pit. I was the second place guy in the videe and am chasing after the first guy. Check out the jump into the mud. I had a lot of grace in the mud dive.
Another video of the mud pit can be seen on the website
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A51znCD7mHM
I can be seen right away and was about 10 seconds behind the lead guy on the last challenge.
I finished second overall in the event. The winner was Nick Adams and he finished in 23:52. I am not exactly sure of my finish time as the timing company has me listed as 24:36, however, in watching the videos, I was only 10 seconds from the lead guy in both videos with only about 100 yards to run after the mud pit. I wasn't 44 seconds from first place as listed in the results, but I will be honest that I didn't wear a watch to confirm my overall time. The only explanation I have is that I must have walked back across the finish line by accident after finishing and the timing company registered a later time when I went had to rush to watch my daughter so my wife could do the event.  My wife got a nice picture showing this close finish.

All that matters is that I was able to secure a second place overall finish and was awarded with a beautiful handmade plaque for my efforts. I was ecstatic with the beautiful award.

My wife finished 60th out of 167 runners with a time of 35:18.

This event was fun to watch her do so that I could see her get all dirty in the mud pit. I got some great pictures of her doing the event.  One thing is for sure.  She didn't jump in with the same flying leap that I did.  She crawled in.

I like the next couple of pictures, including the one where mud is covering Angela's front tooth.  I know a good dentist that could fix that for her.

Kaia didn't like the looks of either of us upon finishing. We got some great pictures of the two of us. All I can say is the before pictures were a lot different than the after pictures.

It took me one of the longest showers of my life to get all the dirt out.  I hosed down at a firehouse at the event twice and then when I went to take a shower a huge clump of dirt wat still within my clothing.  I found dirt in my ear for a couple of days afterward.

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.