56 MINUTES!!!
No, it's not a new "60 Minutes" spinoff, that was my finish time from last night's Midnight Sun Run! I said my goal was to complete the race between 45 minutes to an hour, and I met it when I crossed the finish line at Pioneer Park in 56 minutes; don't know how many seconds. Great job for a first race.
But as to who really beat me to the finish? For the men, it was defending champion Mike Kramer at 32 minutes, 48.9 seconds, followed by Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (main sponsor of the race) sportswriter Matias Saari at 33:06 even. Kevin Brinegar (33:33.1), David Dyer (33:48.5), and Ben Nelson (35:30) rounded out the top five.
Crystal Pitney dominated the women's field once again, finishing at 39:28.4, with Laura Johnson (41:02.6) coming in second. Maggie Callahan and Maria Bray took third and fourth respectively; their finish times and all others -- including mine -- will be in next Sunday's News-Miner.
Of course, there was a slew of activity at the starting line. This year's cavalcade of costumes ranged from the "Three Blind Mice", to a runaway bride, three young ladies with tattered dresses attending the Worst Prom Ever, a couple Playboy Bunnies, Britney Spears (probably fresh off that horrible Matt Lauer interview), a lady dressed as a snowflake, the Couch Potatoes, a couple from "The Da Vinci Code"...and of course, that guy I was talking about last time who always go all out in those elaborate costumes year after year; this time, he was a mythical tattered bird.
The Sun Run is fast already becoming a national (with over 30 states represented) and now worldwide event. Making up the international contigent were a group of 29 elderly men from Piacenza, Italy, and ten Marines from Japan.
At 10:00pm, the cannon was fired and the race was underway. As usual, I had a smooth start weaving past the other runners, and I never even thought of turning my back. While many runners had on their iPods to entertain and motivate themselves during the 6.2 mile route, I motivated myself by breathing in and out with my nose.
Alternating between walking and running (and downing cup after cup of water), things really began to pick up halfway through the race, as it made its way through Riverside Drive where there were cheering parties galore; there was even LIVE MUSIC at one tiny section!
There weren't any "GO, JONATHAN!" signs for me as expected, but I quickly spotted former car dealer Robby Giinther at his cheering squad. Across the street, a couple cups of Gatorade were standing by as we were nearing past Peger Road, and I took one.
When I saw the six mile marker at Pioneer Park, I knew this was the time to make my final push to the finish line just .2 away. It must be the Gatorade, because after 56 minutes, I finally finished my first Midnight Sun Run as a runner.
There was plenty of fruit and water available for us at the finish, sort of like you win the Indianapolis 500 and get that congratulatory bottle of milk at the winners' circle. But perhaps the biggest surprise was that my good friend Curtis Thomas crossed the finish line a half hour after me...AND I DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS RUNNING!!!
Unfortunately, I didn't stay around to see if that guy in the huge mythical bird costume finished; I'm sure he did after midnight.
But like I said...finshing at four minutes to the hour was pretty good the first time out; next year, I'll try to hopefully do a little better. I promise not to be like Mike Kramer and finish much faster, but improve myself at every mile...and every cup of water available to rehydrate myself...and every cheering section I see.
This, my friends, is what the Midnight Sun Run -- Fairbanks' Amazing Race -- is all about. So long!
No, it's not a new "60 Minutes" spinoff, that was my finish time from last night's Midnight Sun Run! I said my goal was to complete the race between 45 minutes to an hour, and I met it when I crossed the finish line at Pioneer Park in 56 minutes; don't know how many seconds. Great job for a first race.
But as to who really beat me to the finish? For the men, it was defending champion Mike Kramer at 32 minutes, 48.9 seconds, followed by Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (main sponsor of the race) sportswriter Matias Saari at 33:06 even. Kevin Brinegar (33:33.1), David Dyer (33:48.5), and Ben Nelson (35:30) rounded out the top five.
Crystal Pitney dominated the women's field once again, finishing at 39:28.4, with Laura Johnson (41:02.6) coming in second. Maggie Callahan and Maria Bray took third and fourth respectively; their finish times and all others -- including mine -- will be in next Sunday's News-Miner.
Of course, there was a slew of activity at the starting line. This year's cavalcade of costumes ranged from the "Three Blind Mice", to a runaway bride, three young ladies with tattered dresses attending the Worst Prom Ever, a couple Playboy Bunnies, Britney Spears (probably fresh off that horrible Matt Lauer interview), a lady dressed as a snowflake, the Couch Potatoes, a couple from "The Da Vinci Code"...and of course, that guy I was talking about last time who always go all out in those elaborate costumes year after year; this time, he was a mythical tattered bird.
The Sun Run is fast already becoming a national (with over 30 states represented) and now worldwide event. Making up the international contigent were a group of 29 elderly men from Piacenza, Italy, and ten Marines from Japan.
At 10:00pm, the cannon was fired and the race was underway. As usual, I had a smooth start weaving past the other runners, and I never even thought of turning my back. While many runners had on their iPods to entertain and motivate themselves during the 6.2 mile route, I motivated myself by breathing in and out with my nose.
Alternating between walking and running (and downing cup after cup of water), things really began to pick up halfway through the race, as it made its way through Riverside Drive where there were cheering parties galore; there was even LIVE MUSIC at one tiny section!
There weren't any "GO, JONATHAN!" signs for me as expected, but I quickly spotted former car dealer Robby Giinther at his cheering squad. Across the street, a couple cups of Gatorade were standing by as we were nearing past Peger Road, and I took one.
When I saw the six mile marker at Pioneer Park, I knew this was the time to make my final push to the finish line just .2 away. It must be the Gatorade, because after 56 minutes, I finally finished my first Midnight Sun Run as a runner.
There was plenty of fruit and water available for us at the finish, sort of like you win the Indianapolis 500 and get that congratulatory bottle of milk at the winners' circle. But perhaps the biggest surprise was that my good friend Curtis Thomas crossed the finish line a half hour after me...AND I DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS RUNNING!!!
Unfortunately, I didn't stay around to see if that guy in the huge mythical bird costume finished; I'm sure he did after midnight.
But like I said...finshing at four minutes to the hour was pretty good the first time out; next year, I'll try to hopefully do a little better. I promise not to be like Mike Kramer and finish much faster, but improve myself at every mile...and every cup of water available to rehydrate myself...and every cheering section I see.
This, my friends, is what the Midnight Sun Run -- Fairbanks' Amazing Race -- is all about. So long!
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