Last Saturday 1,800 fat tire bicyclists participated in one of four races at the Lutsen 99er. The day was hot, but the riders who stayed hydrated came away happy with their times on the difficult, hilly, largely gravel race routes. Staff photo/Brian Larsen
It was 72F at the 7:30 a.m. start of the Lutsen 99er on June 29, and it got much hotter as the riders pushed their mountain bikes up hill, many miles inland on gravel roads over the course of the 99 mile, 69 mile, 49 mile or 25 mile race. All told 1,800 people competed in one of the four races, with 1,601 finishing and 199 who didn’t finish.
John Titus, public relations specialist for Life Time Fitness, said overall the race went great.
The participants started and finished at Lutsen Mountains. When done many headed to get their muddy bikes sprayed down and then more than a few riders paid a visit to the massage tent to get the cramps worked out of their legs.
99er
Corey Stelljes, 38, of Madison, Wisconsin took top honors at the 2019 Lutsen 99er with a time of 5 hours, 30 minutes and 42 seconds (5:30:42) to beat Brad Auen, 32, of Logan, Iowa by 1:52 and Joseph Schmalz, 29, of Lawrence, Kansas who was third in 5:33:28.
Robin Williams, Minneapolis, was the women’s winner finishing in 6:40:49. Casey Richter of Avon, Colorado was second in 6:41:28 and Jill Cederholm of Saint Pail was third in 6:42:02.
The top local finisher was Brian Laiho, 42, Boulder, Colorado and Grand Marais, who placed 15th in 6:19:28.
Jim Joynes, 54, Grand Marais, placed 35th in 6:35:53.
Thomas Wahlstrom, 38, Grand Marais placed 12th in 7:15:53. Mark Barrett, 50, Lutsen was 156th in 7:26:58. Barry Buhr, 41, Tofte finished 168th in 7:31:01. Shanie Joynes, Grand Marais, 48, was the 18th woman finisher, crossing the line 8:02:46. Lucian Apetrei, 25, Grand Marais, placed 368th in 8:49:51.
Molly O’Neill, 35, was the 28th woman finisher, crossing the line in 9:09:59.
Mike Larson, 61, Lutsen, took 432nd place with a time of 9:35:52.
Adam Harju, 44, and Anton Moody, 40, of Grand Marais crossed the line in 10:31:02 and 10:31:03 to finish 453rd and 454th.
All told 556 riders finished the 99er, which was really 102 miles long.
Cory Pederson, 37, Hovland, had to withdraw at 53 miles because of leg cramps.
69er
Quentin Loxtercamp, 16, of Minneapolis won the 69er race in 4:28:58. Justin Folger, 40, Saint Paul was second crossing the line in 4:29:09 and Brandon Voltzke, 41, of Maple Grove, MN was third in 4:30:10.
Madeline Arpin, 24, of Saint Paul placed first in the women’s division with a time of 4:50:54. Ronnie LaJoie, 40, Iron River, Wis. was second in 5:06:29 and Renee Hoffmann, 26, was third in 5:17:50.
Local finishers
John Alt, 64, was the top local finisher. John finished 35th overall and second in his age group with a time of 5:08:20.
Henry DeArruda-Weaver, 16, Grand Marais, placed 62nd in 5:29:47.
April Wahlstrom, 36, Grand Marais was the sixth woman across the line in 5:34:58.
Max Wahlers, 57, Grand Marais, finished 122nd in 5:58:45.
Mary Manning, 52, Hovland, was the 24th woman across the line in 6:37:50.
Sam Hedstrom, 36, Grand Marais, placed 178th overall in 6:38:21.
Dan Schuller, 42, Grand Marais, placed 250 in 7:59:07. Joey Pederson, 37, Grand Marais, was 251st in 7:59:14.
49er
Grand Marais Mayor Jay Arrowsmith Decoux, 36, caught and rode with Jake Campbell, 25, Saint Paul, for much of the last half of the race but faded to fifth place as the Saint Paul rider hung on to win in 2:46:28, just holding off Will Surbaugh by 14 seconds.
Surbaugh, 17, Grand Marais, just graduated from high school and is taking a gap year off from college. Will was one of the top milers in the Class A section track meet this year and is an excellent all-around athlete.
Steve Stocker, River Falls, took third in 2:46:51. Jay crossed the line in 2:48:48.
Rebecca Stauber, 42, Farmington, Minn. won the women’s division in 3:01:53. Anna Luckow, 26, Minneapolis, placed second in 3:12:00. Emily Nordahl, 28, Neenah, Wisconsin, was third in 3:14:13.
Dellia Barrett, 15, Lutsen, placed third in her age group in 3:46:15. Tom Rider, 58, Lutsen, placed 127th overall in 3:49:28.9. Paul Wanous, 54, Lutsen, took 163rd in 3:59:10. Bill Lane, 64, Tofte, 4:07:03. Stephen Surbaugh, 47, Grand Marais, placed 210 in 4:08:11. Lynn Wiitala, 58, Tofte, placed 42nd in the women’s division in 4:20:16. Leif Anderson, 19, Lutsen, placed 297th in 4:30:23. John Klemme, 44, Grand Marais, took 316th in 4:37:06.
Claire LaVigne, 18, Grand Marais, placed 51st in the women’s field with a time of 4:37:49. Jerry Wilkes, 76, Grand Marais, took first in his age group with a time of 4:48:55. Jonathan Hedstrom, 41, Grand Marais, finished 378 in 4:57:19. Chuck Corliss, 58, Lutsen, was the 431st finisher in 5:52:30. David Eckel, 60, Grand Marais, placed 446 in 5:47:52 and Jeff Denniston, 64, Lutsen, placed 461 in 6:03:15. Amanda Denniston, 37, Minneapolis, finished 97th in the women’s field in 6:05:00 and Tyler Denniston, 38, Minneapolis, placed 462nd in 6:05:01. Sarena Nelson, 34, Tofte, was the 100th woman finisher in 6:08:14.
All told there were 487 finishers in the race.
25er
Hayward, Wisconsin rider Kade Carlson won the 25er in 1:33:05, besting 336 finishers. Drake Marks of Hayward was second in 1:35:36, and taking third was Marlon Haverdink of Orange City, Iowa in 1:39:02.
Samantha Klepperich, 16, Chaska, Minn. placed fifth overall and was the top woman across the line in 1:41:21.
Local finishers
Tristan Surbaugh, 14, Grand Marais, placed 34th in 1:56:52. Malin Anderson, 16, Lutsen, was the eighth woman across the line in 1:58:14. Mike McCann, 65, Schroeder, placed 212 in 2:49:52. Kim Corliss, 56, Lutsen, placed 100th in the women’s field, crossing the line in 3:15:06. Randy Wiitala, Tofte, took 307th in 3:41:38.
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