When Chris Hegg toed the line last Sunday, September 9 in Duluth to race in the Minnesota Mile, he wasn’t sure how well he would do.
Hegg, 60, wasn’t there to compete against the elite runners who came to race for pride and money. Instead, he was at the race to see how he would stack up against the guys in his age group.
And Hegg did well, placing first in the 60-65 age group with a mile time of 5:54, beating his nearest age group competitor by 30 seconds and finishing 15th place in the Citizen Race.
The overall winner was Craig Miller of Madison who edged Craig Huffer of Australia with a time of 4:01.4
“I’ve had hamstring issues and I didn’t know if I would be able to run the race. But my wife helped me ice my hamstrings and kept me healthy enough to get to the starting line. The time wasn’t as good as I had hoped to run, but it puts me fourth overall in the state in my age group,” said Hegg.
Hegg puts in a full day at Hedstrom Lumber as a business administrator, and then heads down the Gunflint Trail to Cook County High School where he assists April Wahlstrom with the cross-country team in the fall and the track team in the spring. As an assistant coach, Hegg logs many miles with the kids. It is one of the ways that keeps him young and keeps his legs turning over as fast as they do.
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