A number of runners from International Falls were among the thousands running in the Duluth area last Saturday for Grandma’s Marathon and the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon.
According to unofficial results, four with addresses from the Falls completed the 26.2-mile journey on foot from Two Harbors to Duluth.
Tyler Wickstrom, 18, who graduated this year from Falls High School and competed in cross country and hockey for the Broncos, ran in his first marathon ever and was among the 5,788 finishers.
When asked what it was like to be in the mass of runners traveling along the north shore of Lake Superior, Wickstrom said, “It was probably the most weird experience I’ve ever had in my life.”
Given the thousands of people lined up at the start, it took Wickstrom 4 minutes and 30 seconds before he would reach the starting line after the marathon officially began with the fastest runners in front taking off first.
Based on his “chip time,” the time from when he crossed the starting line until he reached the finish, Wickstrom completed the marathon in 4:36:43 for 3,809th place overall, 2,478th out of 3,425 males and 48th out of 56 males in the 12-18 age group.
“The greatest experience (is) finishing that race,” he said.
Wickstrom said he decided to run in Grandma’s Marathon this year when his cousin from the Falls, Robby Lucca, 26, who ran in the marathon last year, looked for someone to run with in the 2012 race.
Wickstrom said the two ran together until about the 20-mile mark when his legs starting “giving out,” which led to him stopping at water stops to stretch out and Lucca continuing on to finish the race in front of him.
“It took a while for me to recover after the race,” Wickstrom said.
Lucca ended up finishing with a chip time of 4:22:30 for 3,139th place, 2,105th among all males and 872nd out of 1,342 males in the 19-34 age group.
He finished the 2011 Grandma’s Marathon in 4:09:02. Lucca attributed the slower time this year to him not training as much leading up to the 2012 race, for which his longest of 10 training runs was 13 miles.
“Last year I trained quite a bit,” he said.
While he found the temperatures along the lake to be “a little bit cold” for last year’s marathon, Lucca said, “This year the weather was really nice again.”
As a 2004 Falls High School graduate who is currently working in Duluth and frequently returns to the Falls, Lucca competed in cross country for the Broncos and has also participated in the Freeze Yer Gizzard Blizzard Run in the Falls.
While both Lucca and Wickstrom aren’t planning on being in next year’s Grandma’s Marathon, running the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon remains a possibility for them in the future.
“I’m proud of my cousin for running (Grandma’s Marathon) with me,” Lucca said.
The best time for a marathon runner with an address from the Falls came from Danni Aili, 30, who clocked a chip time of 4:05:28 for 2,292nd place overall and 652nd out of 2,363 females, 370th out of 1,237 females in the 19-34 age group.
Another runner from the Falls, Brian Tolley, 41, finished the marathon in 5:40:16.
Ethiopian Berhanu Girma, 25, won the overall men’s championship in 2:12:25, while Kenyan Everlyn Lagat, 31, had the top women’s time in 2:33:14.
Half Marathon finishers
A record number of 7,628 people registered for the 2012 Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon with 6,523 runners starting the race and 6,483 finishing, including 14 with addresses from the Falls crossing the finish line.
Kevin Gordon, 53, who is Falls’ girls softball coach and runs a hockey camp in the summer, ran the half marathon along his son, Ben, 27, and daughter, Jena, 24, the latter thinking up the idea.
“For a family event, it was great,” said Kevin Gordon, who previously ran in the Twin Cities 10 Mile and had been cross-training in preparation for the half marathon.
With all three starting and finishing together, their chip time came in at 2:14:10 to finish in 3,981-3,983rd place.
Kevin Gordon said “blocks and blocks of people” had been at the start as it took 4:50 for the three to cross the starting line.
Given the amount of people involved, Kevin Gordon said the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon is well-organized.
“It’s a top-shelf event,” he said.
The top chip time from someone with an address from the Falls came from Jeff Naglosky, 33, who finished in 1:43:12 for 708th place overall, 545th out of 2,725 males and 258th out of 1,133 males in the 19-34 age group.
The other finishers from the Falls, by name, sex/age and chip time, include:
• Ross Johnson, M28, 1:54:57.
• Seth Johnson, M32, 1:59:35.
• Tony Oveson, M65, 2:03:08.
• John Winkel, M25, 2:11:51.
• Calissa Treat, F19, 2:20:12.
• Stephanie Christianson, F20, 2:20:12.
• Essa Eide, F32, 2:25:20.
• Stacy Harris, F32, 2:25:20
• Barb Owen-Boerger, F43, 2:32:52.
• Shelby Dowty, F55, 2:34:38.
Jack Delehanty, 25, of Minneapolis, won the men’s title in 1:10:57. Bloomington’s Kelly Brinkman, 31, won the women’s race in 1:18:11.
