Duluth Results!

Holy cats was it cold! It's still winter up in northern Minnesota. I had a great weekend with 2 races in less then 12 hours. 

I ran the 5k and was 2nd overall out of about 1,700 people. The course is very flat and the way back was into the wind. Myself and 2 others seperated early from the main pack and went through mile 1 around 4:34 and then mile 2 was into the wind so i sat in and drafted the whole mile. We went through mile 2 around 5:08 and then with a mile to go we started changing the lead and shacking things up a bit. Then rounding the backside of the DECC it was just he and I. We both made our moves and sprinted it out and Scott, a 24 year old from Duluth beat me by about 4 seconds. Hats off to him, it was a great race. 

Then I cooled down and  started getting ready for tomorrow.  I finished with a 15:22.

Up and at um early, we awoke to fog, mist, slight tail wind and 45 degrees... and the gun went off at the start of another Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon. What a sweet course, with great support and big crowds! Half way through i felt slugish and tierd but then with 2 miles 2 go i opened it up and bolted for the finish line. I saw my mom, my wife Janelle and our kids gave them a high five and ended up running the last mile in 5:10.

I took 53rd place out of 7,592 runners and ran my 3rd best time 1:11.58. Had i not ran the 5k I would have ran a new Personal Best.  And considering that i only run about 3 days a week, and that i am training specifically for a long distance endurance race in September. 

So another great weekend filled with fast times and good memories.  I will return next year to race but i dont know what race yet. It is to soon to tell, and next year i bet it will be hot weather.

I am now in Madison, Wisconsin and heading out the door to preview all 112 miles of bike course amd then run 6 miles and see how my legs feel.  

Adios!

Double Header!!!

This is one of the best weekends of the summer! And I have been going up to Duluth every year for this race since I was 13. This is a top notch race and is tough to beat the venue, the point A to point B race course, atmosphere, store fronts and dinning and of course the thousands of people volunteering there support. This race is a Minnesota favorite much like the State Fair!

My kids are doing the Whipper Snapper races on Friday afternoon, they love the Mascot run right before the kids race starts.

On Friday night I run the William A. Irvin 5K, I have ran this twice in the past helping pace my brother when we were younger. But this Friday night I get to blast off like a rocket and see how fast I can propel myself in 5k.

Then after the race I get re focused and get ready for the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon on Saturday morning.  This weekend has great potential for fast times and great memories. 

When the gun goes off, just ran as fast as you can!

Wish me luck!

Buffalo Triathlon Results

That's me trying to scan my chip going into transition, because I kicked my chip off in the first 100 yards of the swim. I turned around and caught it and stuffed it down my wetsuit for safe keeping. What a hassle... and remember no chip, no time.

The above picture is sunny and nice looking, but the whole morning up until 5 minutes before the race and then again 5 minutes after the race was over it rained like a mad man.

While biking I caught a hand full of guys, I had the 3rd fastest bike split of the day. And then started the run and I was making up time and catching people like it was my job.
And guess what? I had the fastest run splits of the day! my last 3 mile splits were: 5:23, 5:20 and 4:55!

So it was a good day and I took 5th overall.
High 5ing my kids on the way to the finish line!
Thanks for cheering Bb, Juni & Harbor.

Photos by Leslie Hoffman