Sunday, June 10, 2012

I Was Running...



So here we go again with another non-cycling adventure.  This time I would run a 5k as part of the Rockin' Tomahawk 5k and Half Marathon.  It was slightly breezy, hot, and thank god it was only a 5k on tap for us today.  

(Photo: Sam Lund)
We would take to the course 5 minutes after the half marathon started so after they took off we strutted our way to the start line track parade of athletes style.  I knew it was going to be important to get a spot up front as I didn't want to dodge multiple people while I try to track down the leader, but that would still happen about a mile into the race.  Immediately, I knew before this thing started that I would need to keep Connor Ahrens and Dylan Dahl (both 2012 THS grads) in my sight if I wanted a good result, both are very capable of some fast times and of course we had Reuben Frey from UWSP looking to get out to a fast start as well.  The  airhorn sounds and quickly Reuben, Connor, and I formed a breakaway and it was game over almost before we rounded the first corner.  Couldn't see the chasers, and as we got to Sammy's Subs, we started to split apart, first Reuben kicked it up and built a 10 second gap and then Connor started started to pull away from me at about the same distance.  We would start catching half marathoners about a half mile into it and it started to become difficult to find Connor through the crowd, but I could still see him dodging through 100's of people pacing themselves on their 13.1 mile journey as we basically sprint by them as it would seem anyway.  So the first mile was pretty quick, about 5:35 or so, but now we would begin to go uphill along the hogsback, I would still be dodging people left and right just trying to stay out of trouble all while keeping tabs on connor and I could see him getting closer foot by foot, but just as I thought I was making ground I would lose sight of him as we headed out of Bradley Park to not be seen again.  The two mile mark I was feeling pretty good, but did not like being on the blacktop again and running along the sara park runway I was glad to be closing in on the finish.  Reuben came across in 17:08 first overall, Connor in 2nd at 19:04, and I would finish 3rd overall at 19:40.  I wasn't too thrilled with my time, but it was a hard course with more hills than I remembered so I am okay with that as I was rewarded for the effort not the time right!!??  Anyway,  that was a great race, great volunteers, promoters, timing and everything.  

Results 

Other News: In the Half Marathon, Andy Schiltz came through 4th overall making it a successful day for athletes powered by infint nutrition.  Jason Vanden Elzen ran his first ever 5k and finished solidly well into the top half of the field.  Great job to everyone who braved the heat on Saturday.

(Photo: Angie Larson)
Afterwards we talked about the race, I blabbed about bikes, we talked about future races and plans...lovin life.


Saturdays medalists and overall winners.  Sorry Twin Six for blocking your beautiful shirt, but the 1st place medal was just necessary to get in the way hahaha.  Don't worry I got you in here Rudy Project and Infinit


(Photo: Angie Larson)
THS Cross Country Runners:  Past, wayyyy past (me), and the future.
Left to Right: Connor Ahrens, Justin Lund, Austin Kaiser, Emmy Larson, Stephanie Welke
After that it would be time to get out and enjoy the weekend and have some fun in the sun, clearly Charlee here doesn't have to be asked twice if she wants to go on a boat ride.  She fell asleep on the boat just as we got back to shore,  she was all partied out.  What a perfect ending to a perfect weekend.





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