Dueling Race Reports: Todd, Robert, and the John Dick 50k

Todd Egnarski's Race Report...

I’m not going where Mary always has to. (She’s Catholic.)

I pack everything up the night before so I don’t have to wake my wife. Go over it again and again in my head, I don’t want to forget anything or have to think of something in the middle of the night and lay there awake thinking about it. You don’t have to forget anything to lay awake….. 4:00am and I’m wide awake. Grab a little breakfast, pass on the coffee and out of the house by 6:00. As many of you know I have had stomach issues in the past, so that is always a worry but I know when to call it a day. Being an early season race I have no expectations nor does anyone else. This is a great run to check how you have weathered the winter months.

The JD is a wonderful low budget race with everything except t-shirts and medals. (And who wants those.) Robert did a great job keeping it this way, right down to the toe tags that they use as race numbers. A log cabin with a warm fire burning is race central.  One well stocked aid station on the 10k loop manned by some of the most helpful, giving people you’ll ever meet. (Also a joke or smartass comment at no extra charge.)The weather was perfect and except for a couple icy spots the trails were pretty decent also. This is one of those races you can come and use it as a training run or you can race it.

Robert does the prerace meeting and chases everyone to the parking lot for the start. Down the pavement to the trails, see Dave Obrien taking pictures from a ladder and Gorski threatens to knock him off. Oh yea, she’s Catholic. 

Within the 1^st mile I settled in with a group of runners somewhere just inside the top ten. Over the next 4 hours, Angie, Mikey, Mark and I talked over many things. Angie has run with some high caliber runners, Scott Jurek, Hal Koerner to name a couple. It really just seemed to drift by. Seeing and cheering on fellow runners and friends. Seeing legends  like Tom Bunk, John Rodee, Jim Blanchard and Paul Gionfriddo added the final touches to the day. The last 10k wasn’t as easy as the first 40k but it never is. Had a great time and an awesome run. No stomach issues!!!!

The food was wonderful………… the volunteers were awesome.

Great event Robert!

All for $10.

And for a little more... Robert Wehner's Race Director Report...

LPTR was well represented at the 22^nd annual John Dick Memorial 50k, held on snowmobile trails in the Southern Kettle Moraine.  January’s thaw had left the trails with a thin cover of crusty snow and hard ice, and a storm earlier in the week covered that up with a few inches of snow.  This left us with a less than ideal running surface, as the snow tended to slip over the ice below.  Temps were good though, low 20’s at the start and a high of about 30.

Conditions allowed us to use our standard course, which consists of an out-and-back segment and a loop (kind of like a lollipop, only with a very twisted stem and a misshapen head).  My lack of sleep leading up to the race was evident as I described the course during the pre-race briefing as a “lollipoop”.  With each lap being 10k, runners had to complete this circuit 5 times.

I had a good run, fading on the 5^th lap but holding onto fourth place (4:39:33), with a hard-charging Todd Egnarski close behind in sixth (4:41:45).  In the Women’s race, ultra-running machine Julie Treder finished second (5:34:22), and Angela Barbera was fourth (5:55:24). Angela was also the masters champ.  Other finishers included Jeff Mallach (5:29:34), Brad Birkholz (6:00:23), Troy Malinowski (6:01:04), and Jim Blanchard (6:20:36).

There were also many other LPTRs running a portion of the race: Christine Crawford, Craig Swartwout, Jeff Crosby, Chaz Heckman, Sandee Lammers, Tony Cantrall, and Cassie Scallion.  LPTRs were also among the volunteers: Joel Lammers, Scott Crawford (and Christine too), Steve Barbera, Ryan Erisman, and Julie Paulson.

While having to repeat the course 5 times can be mentally tough (a challenge for some in our group), the layout allows everyone to see each other during the entire event.  I’ve come to think of this as the signature feature of the race, and the social aspect is big amongst the runners who came.  There will be other races to put your head down and grind it out, but for this day, it is perfect to be able to see all of your friends over and over.

Robert Wehner, RD