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|  On your mark... Get set... GO! Hundreds of racers leave the starting line along Daggett Pine Road for the 11th annual Grandpa’s Run for the Walleye - photo by Paul Boblett  Top male and female finishers in the 2008 Grandpa’s Run for the Walleye 5K road race: (l-r) Joe Hjerpe, Christian Markey, Sarah Merhar and Jen Lang – photo by Paul Boblett  All the Sunfish Dash participants received prizes donated by local businesses – photo by Paul Boblett  The Peterson Pirates, a four-generation family of forty from Nisswa, including 19 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren all took part in the races in Crosslake on Saturday. – photo by Paul Boblett | 11th Grandpa’s Run for the Walleye Draws Record TurnoutBy Paul Boblett, Editor An estimated 350 runners took part in the 11th annual Grandpa’s Run for the Walleye 5K race and Sunfish Dash in Crosslake Saturday morning. The Whitefish Area Property Owners Association (WAPOA) sponsors the annual run held at the Crosslake Community Center. The overall and male open winner was Christian Markey of Phoenix, AZ with a time of 19:02. Markey was followed by Joe Hjerpe (second in male open) with a time of 19:24 and third overall was Calvin Mehshog at 19:48. Mehshog took first place in the Youth Male division. The top female finisher was Jen Lang with a time of 22:33 followed by Sarah Merhar at 23:05. In third was Jennifer Mader with a time of 23:28. 57 kids took part in the opening event of the day, racing across the Community Center baseball field in the Sunfish Dash. Each of the young racers received a small prize, courtesy of local business donations. Run for the Walleye coordinator Enga Wodziak said, “The expectations that we had were so far surpassed, we had upwards of 350 runners, compared to around 200 last year.” “We want to thank all the runners who participated and to the many business that graciously donated prizes - we ran out of T-shirts and registration forms; we did not expect the crowd. But everyone was very understanding and nice about the shortage.” Other winners included: Youth female: Kylie Beltz, 23:40; Masters male: Jeff Dykstra, 20:00; Masters female: Leah Haggerston, 23:33; Masters Plus male: Tom Losinski, 22:46; and Masters Plus female: Shelly Wolff, 28:13. The annual race is held every year on the Saturday closest to the Fourth of July, which in 2009, is a Saturday. Youth male: Calvin Mehshog - 19:48, Eric Engen - 21:27, Samuel Headlee - 21:39. Youth female: Kylie Beltz -23:40, Kaia Carlson - 24:40, Niki Wells - 24:52. Open male: Christian Markey - 19:02, Joe Hjerpe - 19:24, Jacob Headlee - 20:21. Open female: Jen Lang - 23:33, Sarah Merhar - 23:05, Jennifer Mader - 23:28. Masters male: Jeff Dykstra - 20:00, Tom Prew - 20:13, Keith Peterson - 21:00. Masters female: Leah Haggerston - 23:33, Difr Beck, (n/a), Bonnie Barrer - (n/a). Masters Plus male: TomLosinski - 22:46, Roland Anderson - 23:16, Dave Nelson - 24:44. Masters Plus female: Shelly Wolff - 28:13, Diane Wright - 29:14, Bobbie Nelson - 32:30. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northland Press | P.O. Box 145 | Outing, MN 56662 | (218) 692-5842 Email: news@northlandpress.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
