Sprinting hard for the finish line, Cook County High School senior Sarissa Falk won the women’s division of the Ham Run 5K in 21:30.
Mark Maronese, 33, of Thunder Bay, Ontario and Kari Brown, 35, Garfield, Minnesota won the men’s and women’s divisions of the Ham Lake Half Marathon Sunday, May 5, 2013 on a course run on the very scenic last 13 miles of the Gunflint Trail.
This was the sixth running of the Ham Lake Half Marathon and runner numbers were down a bit this year, which was largely chalked up to the long, long winter that interfered with many people’s training.
Maronese ran 1:14:51.4 to set a new course record on a day that started off cool but ended up perfect for running.
Brown’s time was 1:34:12.4 earning the win by 4 minutes over Mirianne Stewart, 39, of Kekabeka Falls, Ont., who finished in 1:38:02.
Maronese averaged 5:42 per mile on the hilly course and was over 10 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor, Chris Brown, 38, of Garfield, Minnesota.
Jonathan Balabuck of Thunder Bay set the previous record of 1:20:39 in 2009.
Last year’s champion, Jay Arrowsmith-Decoux, 30, of Grand Marais placed 4th this year, and finished in 1:27:16.2, about 4 minutes slower then 2012.
Although he didn’t win this year, Jay Arrowsmith-Decoux ran a strong race and gave a thumbs up as he headed to a 4th-place finish.
“I didn’t have as much strength as I did last year. It was pretty chilly the first half but the sun peeked through and it turned out nice. I got passed in the last half mile and that disappointed me. I’m going to run a lot of miles in the next couple of weeks and do some speed work to get ready for Grandma’s half marathon. Because of the weather I didn’t get in as many miles for the Ham Lake run as I did last year. Overall, I guess I was satisfied with my race but I hope to do better at Grandma’s,” Arrowsmith- Decoux said.
Other top local finishers in the men’s half marathon were Cory Berg, 34, Grand Marais, 6th in 1:27:31.5; Derek Smith, 25, Grand Marais, 10th in 1:39:02; Rusty Day, 16, Grand Marais, 12th in 1:42:59.3; Jonathan Rova, 39, Grand Marais, 13th in 1:42:59.3; Baiers Heeren, 36, Grand Marais, 14th in 1:43:34; and Chad Goodale, 32, Grand Marais placed 17th in 1:46:28.3.
Thunder Bay’s Mark Maronese ran away from the field and set a new record in the Ham Run Half Marathon with a winning time of 1:14:51.
Having a great race was Mark Abrahamson, 58, Grand Marais, who placed 16th in 1:46:18.2. Abrahamson averaged 8:06 per mile, improving his 2011 time of about 20 minutes and easily winning his age group. Abrahamson didn’t run in the 2012 Ham Lake race.
Top local finisher in the women’s division was Lynn Wiitala, 52, Tofte, who placed 9th in 1:52:14 to average 8:33 per mile. Wiitala finished second in her age group with that great performance.
Rachel Andrus, 31, Grand Marais, placed 13th in 2:00:13.
One notable runner in the women’s field was Duluth’s Jill Anderson, 51, who placed 3rd in 1:42:36. Anderson has won (or placed very high) in many long distance races throughout the Midwest in her long, very distinguished running career. Locals sweep 5K
Cook County High School Senior Ben Seaton led a locals’ sweep of the first nine places in the men’s 5K (3.1 miles).
Although he looks like he’s signaling he finished second, Ben Seaton was the clear winner of the Ham Run men’s 5K race. Seaton, like Falk, is a senior at CCHS and runs Viking track and cross country.
Seaton’s winning time was 19:31.1. Finishing close behind was his track teammate Joey Chmelik in 19:38.6.
Proving old fogies still have some zip in their legs was third-place finisher John Twiest, 46, who ran 21:22.7. In fourth was Will Seaton, 21:29; 5th was August Carpenter, 21:29; 6th was Frankie Miller, 23:29; 7th was Joe Buttweiler, 24:20; 8th was Will Lamb, 24:49; and in 9th place was Garry Finn, 25:04.
High school senior Sarissa Falk won the women’s 5K in 21:30, finishing far ahead of the next three finishers, her younger track teammates. In second and third were Maya McHugh and Alyssa Martinson who finished in the same time of 24:06.3. Matea Acero was 4th in 24:14 and in 5th, Karen Jansen, 50, Oak Grove, ran 25:18.6. Molly Wickwire, 29, Lutsen, finished 6th in 26:06; Jennifer Gillum, 25, Lutsen, placed 9th in 27:09.6; 10th was Meadow Adams, 12, Hovland, finishing with a great time of 27:11; and in 13th and 14th places were Reilly Wahlers and Sela Backstrom in 28:47 and 28:49.
Sam Francis, 9, of Duluth won the boys’ half-mile race, in 3:26. The girls’ half-mile winner was Grace Chandler, Duluth, whose winning time was 4:01. See full results at www.HamRunhalfmarathon.com
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