Four runners from International Falls and two others who graduated from Falls High School and are now living in Chisholm participated Saturday in the Walker North Country running events, which included a 10-kilometer race, half marathon and marathon.
In the half marathon, Jen Erickson, 39, who is Falls’ girls track and field head coach, finished in 1 hour, 52 minutes and 59 seconds to place 20th overall out of 110 finishers, fifth out of 58 females and second in her division.
“It was a very challenging course with mostly trail running and lots of hills,” she said. “The last half mile to the finish line for everyone is uphill.”
Another Falls-area runner, Linda Belanger, 44, finished in 1:55:40 for 23rd place overall, seventh among females and second in her division.
A Falls High School graduate and former track athlete who now lives in Chisholm, Molly (Westom) Skifstad, 29, finished in 2:14:02 for 61st place overall, 30th among females and fifth in her division.
This year’s winning half marathon time of 1:33:35 was recorded by Eric Opheim, 42, of Walker.
In the 10K race, Lexi Erickson, 13, of the Falls had a time of 46:32 to place 13th overall out of 223 finishers, third out of 128 females and first in her division.
The husbands of Belanger and Skifstad also participated in the 10K race. Chad Belanger, 39, finished in 55:08 to place 38th overall, 26th out of 95 males and sixth in his division. Mike Skifstad, 28, had a time of 57:50 to place 68th overall, 41st among males and fifth in his division.
This year’s overall top 10K time of 34:16 was recorded by Kenny Miller, 35, of Wadena.
The Walker North Country Marathon, which observed the 30th year the event took place, had 65 finishers with the winning time of 3:25:08 being recorded by Shannon Webster, 30, of Forest Lake.
