BAM!
Pre race favorite Luka Thor (4th, 1:11:40) didn’t have the day (or night before) that was hoped for. A very noisy Day’s Inn cost our trio several precious hours of sleep, is what it is. He can typically run a 1:07 in his sleep. You won’t hear Luka complaining to be sure.
Enter Eric Rasmussen. No one was more surprised than last year’s winner Benson Chesang of the Kansas City Smoke. The pair ran together through 8.5 miles when Eric threw in a surge to gap the diminutive speedster by 7 seconds at mile 9. He slowly extended the lead to take the win in 1:09:07 to Chesang’s 1:09:43. Eric is looking fit for the upcoming Corporate Cup 10K. Luka, he will be back.
A couple of other surprises on the men’s side. Greg Billington of Colorado Springs finished 3rd overall in 1:09:50. He’s got a Strong Connection to Team Nebraska. Our newest mate Brandon Wissing was 5th overall in 1:17:39. 52 year old Brian Bergt proved he really is the Amherst Flash finishing 2nd overall master (and first by a ton in the 50+) in a quick 1:25:44, missing the overall title by a scant 3 seconds to a relative youngster. David Ead’s transition from 800 meter ace to half marathoner was a bit more painful as he finished the longest run of his life in 1:32:30.
The women’s race was all about PRs today. Overall winner Kaci Lickteig (Ndorfnz Racing, 1:21:14) used an :11 personal best to hold off rapidly improving Team Nebraska mate Natalie Como (1:23:41). Nat’s time was a 4:00 pr, wow! 3rd place male Greg is Nat’s coach, get it? Carolyn Meyer bettered that. She completed her first Real Race as a mate scoring a 7:00 pr to finish 4th overall in 1:30:07, double wow!!. Once she figures out how fast she really is she is going to be tough, tough.
And how tough was 46 year old Stacy Shaw? She missed 3 weeks after her amazing 100K from last month. 10 miles this week, 10 miles last week, she hops into her “hometown” half and still musters a gutsy 1:32:41 for 2nd overall masters female.
Joy Shulz won the 35-39 age group in 1:34:44. Ashley Shurman made her debut a top 5 25-29 age group finish in 1:37:47. Linda was 2nd 45-49 behind Stacy in 1:38:53. Carole Swanson took 2nd in the 40-44 in 1:41:10.
Darned proud of all the mates today. Today was a great early fall test and boy oh boy I just can’t wait for the Omaha Corporate Cup in a couple of weeks!
The Good Mates leading the way in Nebraska Distance Running for the last decade! Dylan Wilson finished 2nd overall in the accompanying 5K. Jen Viehrig (#949)bit her tongue and paced her boyfriend to a 2:46 half, their goal time was 3:00!
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