The NMTC Chester Bowl Run took place today in Duluth's Chester Park. The course was a little wet and muddy, much to the enjoyment of some of the runners and all of the dogs who participated. About 50 people took part in the prelude to the final race of the Spring Series: the Magney-Snively Run.

The Brat Trot & Walk took place Saturday, May 26th, in downtown Mahtowa. An estimated fifty runners and walkers participated in the event amidst scattered rain showers. The event was put on by TJ's Country Store and included a polka band and pony rides for kids. The day's festivities concluded with the main event: a brat eating contest in the afternoon.

Jason Richardson ran the four-miler for the third year in a row and won the men's division in 29:39. Jason likes the course because it is flat and said the rain showers around the halfway point helped cool him off. Jason is training for the Brewhouse Triathlon in Pike Lake in August.

Lindsay Leno won the women's division in 30:09. Running with her husband Dustin Lundt, Lindsay pulled away at the end to capture the women's title, and more importantly, her first victory over Dustin. In a display of multi-faceted athleticism, Dustin also placed well in the brat eating contest later that day.

Scott Parrott and Casey Parrott, father and son, ran the race for the first time. Casey used the race as part of his training program for the Twin Cities Marathon. Casey recently graduated from Lake Superior College and will attend UMD this fall and major in biology and chemistry. Scott competed in many road races when in the Navy several years ago, including the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach. Scott also enjoys participating in the Northshore Inline Marathon.

The brat eating contest took place an hour after the four-mile run and the two-mile walk. About twenty-five contestants of all ages took part, each attempting to down as many brats (buns included) in five minutes as he or she could. Ben Nynas, the defending champion, retained his title, finishing off eight brats within in the time limit.

Northland Runner is pleased to announce the addition of a new blogger to the website, Samantha Frey. Sam is a lifelong runner and is currently training for Grandma's Marathon. Sam is also an accomplished blogger and is facilitator of the Minnesota Running Group on Live Journal.

Sam grew up in Grand Rapids and started participating in cross-country practice way back in sixth grade. She still remembers her very first run with the team. As a rookie who had never run before, she was only supposed to run a mile or two, but she accidentally ended up running four miles with the older cross-country runners. Having a first run of four miles would probably traumatize most sixth-graders, but Sam was back for more the next day.

After running cross-country and track all through high school, Sam was feeling a little burned out when she attended college at Macalester. She almost didn't run in college but decided to join the team at the last minute. Running in the Twin Cities was much different than running in Grand Rapids. While the traffic was more difficult to deal with, the Twin Cities did offer a good variety of places to run.

After graduating from Macalester, Sam moved to Duluth with her boyfriend Kyle in 2005. Sam and Kyle love the outdoors and enjoy exploring all the outdoor opportunities that Duluth offers. Their most recent acquisition is a pair of kayaks and they are looking forward to using them a lot this summer.

Since Sam and Kyle's house is in the middle of Duluth's hillside, the hill is an integral and non-voluntary part of all of Sam's running routes. Another aspect of running in Duluth that Sam has noticed is that no matter what the weather forecast says, there always seems to be about a 20mph headwind, no matter where you run, something other Duluth runners can probably relate to.

Last year Sam ran Grandma's, her first full marathon. Sam is registered again this year and has been training seriously since January. Sam's ultimate goal for this year would be to run a 3:40 and qualify for the Boston Marathon, but she would be satisfied just to beat her time from last year.

After Grandma's, Sam plans on running the resurrected Minnesota Mile in Duluth and possibly a longer relay race in the fall. After running on pavement for the past five months, Sam is looking forward to doing a lot of trail training after the marathon.

Please join us in welcoming Sam to the Northland Runner website. Check out her blog to read about all her running exploits. Also, please join us in congratulating Sam and Kyle on their wedding that will take place in a couple weeks.

We here at Northland Runner have been busy the past couple weeks making some changes to the site. First, we now have a News page. We've moved all of Kris' previous blog entries here, thus freeing Kris to write about more personal experiences on his blog. We hope he uses his new-found freedom for good and not for evil.

Second, you'll notice a new blogger around these parts. Please welcome Sam, an accomplished blogger who will be writing about her training for this year's Grandma's Marathon and beyond. We will post some more information about Sam and her running background in the next couple days.

Third, you now have the ability to comment on anything you see fit. All news items and all of Kris' and Sam's blog entries now have a comment option. Feel free to pipe up with anything you have to say, topic-related or not.

On Wednesday night I participated in the second race in the Northern Minnesota Track Club Spring Trail Series, the Bull Run. I had never run the Bull Run before, but I've done other races in the series. The rule I've learned when running an NMTC race is that if you see a large hill anywhere in the area, you can bet you're going up it at least once.

The Bull Run started along a power line clearing off Highway 23 near Fond du Lac. The course was 4.5 miles of trails, mostly through the south-eastern section of Jay Cooke State Park.

The first third of the race consisted of several steep downhill drops. Like lemmings running off a cliff, we runners gleefully galloped down them, enjoying the nice Spring weather and the beginnings of another running season. The second third of the race wound through a low swampy area in Jay Cooke's Lost Lake region. The view was quite astounding: a valley panorama, a picturesque lake, a babbling brook. I might have enjoyed it more if I didn't have a sense of what was to come.

The last third of the race was pretty much brutal. Every single one of the steep hills we ran down in the beginning of the race rose up as a barrier between us and the finish line. We runners adapted to them differently. Some runners were able to keep some sort of semblance of a pace up the inclines, others gave up all pretense of running and simply walked. I gamely tried to keep a pace at first but was quickly defeated and forced to walk after the first couple inclines. Of course the runners who were smart enough to start walking at the beginning of the hills had enough energy left to leave me in the dust and manage a respectable finish. That fact is something I will have to remember for the next race.

The post-race celebration was jubilant as always. The NMTC races are more about camaraderie and less about winning. They are also a good chance to make new running friends. Even if you've never met someone before, just the fact that you spent the last half hour with him or her over a grueling strectch of hills gives you something in common to talk about.

The next NMTC race is this Sunday at Spirit Mountain at 10am. Come out and join us!