Longtime volunteer Cook County High School track and cross country coach Chris Hegg is one of the top age group long distance runners in Minnesota. At age 65, Hegg, who still works in the business section at Hedstrom Lumber, should end up third in his age group this year when all of the results of his races are tallied. File photo
Chris Hegg, age 65, ended his racing for the year with a win for his age group in the Drumstick Dash held at Lake Harriet in Minneapolis.
Although he had a great run, Hegg, a longtime volunteer high school cross country and track coach at Cook County High School, wished his time could have been faster.
Hegg is competing in the Minnesota Runner of the Year series in the 65- to 69-year-old age bracket. The top placers have to race in at least five different sanctioned distances from one mile through 30k, with the best times used to see where one ranks in that distance.
Although the Thanksgiving race went well, Hegg noted it was cold and windy, which slowed down the times of the runners.
“I placed well at the Drumstick Dash, winning my age group by a lot. Unfortunately it was 25 degrees with a 20 mph wind, so times were slow. I ran 46:53, for the 10k.
“Unfortunately, the Runner of the Year is all time based. I only got three points for the eighth best 10K of the year. If I would have run 15 seconds faster I would have received five points and moved up to fourth in the Runner of the Year series.”
With his last race, Hegg sits in fifth place in the very competitive 65-70 Minnesota age group. However, he might move up in the standings.
“I’m done racing this season. We (Mike Setter, official scorer for ROY and I) are still working on the Monster Dash to get their results in. The race director agreed, but the new timer hasn’t done it yet. Will push one more time. That would give me another 7 points and a clear third place, better than my fourth place in 2012 and ‘13, and my fifth place in 2014.
“Overall, it has been a great season, with a full set of scoring (top 10) times in the mile, 5K, 5 mile, 10K and 10 mile.”
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