Six from the Falls finish Grandma’s Marathon

The fastest from the Falls — Marco Griffith, 18, a 2013 Falls High School graduate who competed in both cross country and track and field — participated in his first marathon ever.

Griffith’s “chip time,” the time from when he crossed the starting line to the time he reached the finish, was 3:31:33 — 1,090th out of 5,617 finishers, 869th out of 3,274 males and 26th out of 65 males in the 12-18 age group.

Starting at the back of the pack with his longtime friend — Elizabeth Arehart, 19, Mendota Heights, who encouraged him to enter the race — it took Griffith more than 6 minutes to cross the starting line after the race began.

“It was pretty crazy” being among thousands of runners at the start, Griffith said.

Griffith, who described the environmental conditions when the marathon started as “pretty close to perfect running weather,” said he did a lot of passing of other runners as the race progressed when rain reached the Duluth area.

Though the rain was not the best for speed, he said it helped cool off the runners.

Griffith, who is working this summer as a lifeguard at the Bluewater Bible Camp near Grand Rapids, said hadn’t been “overly prepared” to run a marathon after resting a pulled hamstring and training for only about 20 days after the track and field season ended.

“All glory goes to God for this,” he said.

Griffith, who will be attending the Moody Bible Institute this fall for Pastoral Ministry, said he hopes to run in the Twin Cities Marathon this fall.

FHS girls track coach in first marathon

The first female runner from the Falls to finish Grandma’s Marathon — Falls girls track and field head coach Jen Erickson, 40 — also ran in her first marathon ever, finishing in 3:55:39, 2,199th overall, 646th out of 2,343 females and 87th out of 297 females ages 40-44.

“It might be my first and my last,” quipped Erickson, who noted she felt sore the day after running the marathon.

She said the weather at the start was “perfect” for running a marathon with temperatures in the 50s, before it started to rain when she had about seven miles to go.

Erickson, who ran with two other people to start the race, said she experienced the “hit the wall” feeling upon reaching mile 20, but kept going to the finish.

Oveson oldest finisher from the Falls

The oldest runner from the Falls to finish the marathon — Tony Oveson, 66 — recorded a chip time of 4:24:36, 3,561st overall, 2,309th among all males and 24th out of 55 males ages 65-69.

Oveson said he experienced cramping toward at the end of the race and was disappointed with his time, for which he was hoping to finish under 4:10:00 to be able qualify in his age group for next year’s Boston Marathon.

“I’m going to run this marathon,” said Oveson, noting he wants to enter a USATF-certified marathon in the next few months that would provide him an opportunity to qualify for the 2014 Boston Marathon.

With the Grandma’s Marathon being the first major marathon since the bombings that took place at the Boston Marathon in April, Oveson said additional security measures were put in place in the Duluth Area.

“They were ready for anything there,” he said.

Oveson said the runners were only allowed to use “drop bags” that were clear and advised to report anything suspicious.

Running for fun

Two runners from the Falls who were in last year’s Grandma’s Marathon — Tyler Wickstrom, 19, and his cousin, Robby Lucca, 27 — had a light-hearted approach to this year’s marathon by wearing super hero costumes while running.

“We just kind of made it fun this year,” Wickstrom said.

They once again ran together for much of the race with this year Wickstrom ending up with the faster time of the two at 4:37.50, 4,091st overall, and Lucca finishing in 4:41:13, 4,211th overall.

Wickstrom, who ran in Grandma’s Marathon for the second year in a row as his second marathon ever, said he didn’t do a lot of training before this year’s race.

He said it was a “lot cooler” this year as the rain “kept you cool throughout the race,” while the limited visibility in the fog helped keep his mind off of how far he had left to run.

When asked whether he plans to run in next year’s Grandma’s Marathon, he said, “I said, ‘No,’ but that could change.”

Lucca, who ran in Grandma’s Marathon for the third year in a row, said this year he had to stop to stretch out when he was about a mile away from the finish line before completing the race.

The other Falls runner to finish the marathon — Eden Jackson, 28 — crossed the finish line in 5:15:34.

Six from the Falls finish half marathon

Another six runners from the Falls in the Duluth area on Saturday finished the 13.1-mile Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon.

However, their times were well behind the overall winner — John Klecker, 19, of Minnetonka, who finished in 1:09:19 — and top female — Mary Davies, 30, of Houston, Texas, who finished in 1:11:07.

Two runners from the Falls had chip times under 2 hours.

Brady Fougner, 31, finished in 1:55:16, 1,976th overall out of 6,627 finishers, 1,229th out of 2,723 males and 550th out of 1,139 males ages 19-34.

Richard Peterson, 66, finished in 1:57:27, 2,251st overall, 1,360th among all males and 10th out 37 males ages 65-69.

The fastest female from the Falls, Danni Aili, 31 — finished in 2:06:45, 3,390th overall, 1,593rd out of 3,904 females and 839th out of 2,005 females ages 19-34.

The other three females to finish from the Falls included: Stacy Harris, 33, 2:13:10; Essa Eide, 31, 2:13:13; and Therese Gates, 26, 2:19:24.