An EVENT-full weekend...

What a great weekend to be running in the midwest!

Locally we had the second edition of the Zumbro 100 which saw some great times on a tough course especially for runners coming off winter training. I enjoyed the few hours I spent there Friday afternoon/evening getting to see all of the runners pass through either the start/finish area or later at AS 1/4. It was still relatively early in the race so everyone was looking very strong and still smiling... well, perhaps not everyone was smiling. Congrats to John Storkamp who held a commanding lead throughout the day on Friday, battled through stomach issues in the night, and took the win in 23:20.

Saturday morning we set off for New Auburn at an early hour - to run the Chippewa Moraine 50K. A very scenic jaunt along the Ice Age Trail. We all had a good run and it was great to catch up with so many people - all of us very glad that Jeff resurrected the wonderful race that Wynn had conceived of and directed in '08 & '09. I was very happy to win it again though as with last year I was humbled by how tough the relentless hills were. At a glance it seems like an "easier" course than other local 50K but my legs were having none of it yesterday! The full race report will follow shortly.

Further south, in Kansas, a group of local runners took part in the Olathe Marathon and, quite simply, kicked ass! Brian Peterson whose name you'll know from the local trails ran an amazing 2:36 to win (and PR by about 20 minutes). MN took 6 of the 10 men's places with ultrarunners Joe Zigenfuss and Tony Kocanda among them. And in the women's race my buddy Shelley Nelson took 2nd place in 3:17 (another big PR).