The Mesabi Range Community & Technical College 5k took place Saturday, September 22nd, at MRCTC's Virginia campus.  The course started at the school's West parking lot, ran down Chestnut Street and Ninth Avenue, looped through Olcott Park, and returned to the school.  The sunny sixty-degree day made for good racing weather.

Edwin Koepp won the men's division in 18:24 despite having a cold.  Edwin ran in a pack with two other runners before taking the lead for good after the first mile.  This was Edwin's first 5k, having trained for longer races earlier in the year.  Edwin ran 1:35 at the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon in June.  This year Edwin started a running club at Vermilion Community College, where he is pursuing an Associate's Degree.  The VCC running club finished second in the team division.  They have one race remaining on their schedule, the Black Cat 5k in Virginia.

Stacey Peterson, last year's women's champ, defended her title by winning the women's division in 20:54.  Last year stiff competition from other women pushed her to a 19:30 winning time.  Stacey graduated from MRCTC last year and is currently in her first year at the College of Saint Scholastica.  Stacey has always thought of herself as more of a sprinter and plans on running the 200m and 400m on CSS's track team this spring.  Stacey ran the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon and the Richfield Half Marathon earlier this year.  She plans on running one more race this fall - the 2k Swanny race this Wednesday at CSS.

The event had a strong showing from the MRCTC basketball team, whose coach required all players to run or walk the course.  Deo Tucker (Shooting Guard), Lerea Bounds (Forward), and Domo Jordon (Point Guard) were among the top basketball finishers.  The team is currently in the middle of preseason conditioning drills and is looking forward to the season opener in November.

Harry Shears finished the course in 21:02.  Harry and two co-workers comprised the Coates Plaza Hotel team, which took top honors in the team division.  Harry used to run quite a bit in high school as a member of Mesabi East's cross-country team.  Harry is getting back into shape this year and would like to work up to a 10k race, and someday, a marathon.  Harry is a first-year student at MRCTC.

Race directors JoJo Scott, Travis Vake, and Lindsay Grott had a large array of refreshments available for the runners after the race.  They also provided a vast amount of door prizes, ensuring that almost everyone went home with something.  All proceeds from the race benefitted MRCTC and the Quad Cities Food Shelf.