HIT THE TRAILS

HIT THE TRAILS
CHESTER WOODS RACES

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Chester Woods Trail Run Goes International

Espen and Ann-Kristen






Our good friend Ann-Kristen Gjertsen is back visiting from her home in Kolboth Norway and she is going to run the 10 mile race. Ann-Kristen and Espen have always been a part of the Chester Woods run with their pictures on the home page on the race web site. Unfortunately the picture were taken by another runner and you can only see them from behind :0 The pictures were taken in 2007 at the first Chester Woods Trail Run.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Meet The Runners

Rochester's Sandy Dalquist


This year Sandy's going to do something no other female has ever done at the Chester Woods 10 mile race. Sandy will be our first girl to compete in the 70 and older age group. Sandy set a new single age record at the Fetzer race this year and just continues to look fantastic. YOU GO GIRL !


Meet The Runners

Woodbury's Jim Mc Donell



Besides running the 10 mile, Jim volunteered to help out before after and the race. How great is that!
While Jim is a mild mannered but very good trail runner in the summer. Look out when the snow flies. Jim's true passion is snow shoe racing. Jim is easy to spot being the only person sporting the "Brave Heart" face paint and wearing shorts( or a kilt) and a singlet in 20 something temperatures.
Thanks for coming down and joining us again this year.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

This N That

A bunch of us ran most of the 10 mile course last night. It was another great night for a run on the CW trails. The grass is getting long on the trails but, park staff always takes special care to mow the race course before our event.
Registrations are still pouring in. We are truly becoming a national event we currently have runners registered from six different states and every corner of Minnesota. Years ago I actually counted and we have enough parking for about 500 vehicles. This is one of the great things about our location, you don't have to hike very far to get to your car.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Our Co-Starters for 2011




Picture by Renee Saxman

(Dennis and JoAnne are on the left)
Anybody that has been around the Rochester running scene has come across some very special people. Dennis and JoAnne Johnson have been involved in the Rochester Track Club since its inception. Dennis was one of the first RTC members to recieve an Outstanding Service Award in 1980. I couldn't be more proud to have these two outstanding people starting our races

Monday, May 23, 2011

Holy Cow !!!

Registrations are coming in for the various race distances like crazy. I'm keeping hopping transfering all the information to our spreadsheet. And soon I will assign bib numbers to all pre-registered runners. It looks like we will smash all attendence records this year.
I will be helping out at Med City as much as possible this weekend as well as manning the Rochester Track Club booth at the fittness festival at times. I will have info and registrations for Chester Woods.
Join Jim Parry as he runs 7 marathons in seven days, starting tonight. He will be running laps around Stewartville so you can hop in and run whatever distance you want. I will definately be running with him later this week. Here is a link to his blog with more info.
http://mrparrysendurancechallenge.blogspot.com/

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Female Record holder

No girl has ever run faster than Cindy Blenderman in the 10 mile race at Chester Woods. In 2009 Cindy ran a 1:11:38 beating her own record from 2008. There are many guys that wish they could be as fast as Cindy!
I am very pleased to say that Cindy plans to come back and challenge her record in 2011 !!!

Record Holder Returns





Nobody has run a faster 10 mile time at Chester Woods than Ben Marvin. in 2009 Ben blazed a new course record running a 58:08, averaging 5:49 miles over a hilly 10 mile trail run. There have only been two people to run the 10 mile course under an hour Ben and Kelly Mortenson (59:22).
I'm thrilled to say that Ben plans on coming back this year and challenging his record.


























Friday, May 20, 2011

Race News

Registrations are now pouring in at record pace. Thank you very much!! I see a lot of familiar names and a bunch of new ones. I will do everything I can to make this a fun memorable event.
For those of you that are traveling here Chester woods has a great campground and you can make reservations by calling
507-287-2624
There is a lot of road construction on Hwy 14 from South Broadway to Marion Road and all of 37th St on the North end of town. It shouldn't be a problem early on a Saturday morning.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Matt and Mark's Woodland Adventure

Matt Schrader, Mark Mueller, Andy Becker, Katie Schneider, Dave Berg and I ventured out to Bill Barnacle to do a little off road running. What a perfect night for a run, thousands of bluebell flowers lighting up the valley floor, a couple shallow creek crossing, and and plenty of creatures chirping and singing their spring songs.
We did have one little problem to start off with, Matt forgot his shoes so... he had to adapt to becoming a barefoot runner rather quickly. Now Dave runs barefoot all the time and has no problem keeping up, if not leading the pack many times. Matt was a different story there was the constant screams of ouch!!! @#%#@ ACORNS @$%#@ ROCKS, @$%$#STICKS.
Well needless to say Matt fell behind and Mark took pity and stayed back with him.
Soon enough we looked back and couldn't see Matt or Mark. We stopped and yelled a couple times and figured they doubled back to the parking area.
Andy, Katie, Dave and I had a blast zigging and zagging on the gnarly bike trails and eventually worked our way back to the cars. Oh, Oh Matt and Mark weren't there. THEY WERE LOST IN BARNACLE LAND.Well Dave took the counter clockwise route, and Andy and I took the clockwise route, and Katie stayed at the base camp. After walking a couple miles back on the trail, with our shouts and whistles echoing through out the woods, we met Dave. STILL NO MATT AND MARK! As the sun was quickly setting down below the hills we were weighing our options and suddenly I hear the faint sound of , hello ??? I called back and sure enough there was Mark with a walking stick, looking like Moses leading his people out of the desert, with Matt leaning on his shoulder, Matt's never been shy of being over dramatic.
We had a good laugh and found our way back to the cars where Katie was patiently waiting for us . Andy and I cracked open a couple beers and toasted another interesting story to tell as the full moon rose in brilliant splendor.

Monday, May 16, 2011

The Woods Are Coming to Life

Jim Parry, Dave Berg and myself went for a very pleasant 12 mile run at Chester Woods last night. What a beautiful time of year to run the trails. The Plum Trees were in full blossom and the smells were intoxicating. Tuesday May 17th I am going to Bill Barnacle for a nice 4-5 mile run. Come join us, we are meeting at the Marion BP at 6:30 and proceeding to Bill Barnacle State Woodland . Last year we went about the same time and the Blue Bells were so thick and bright it would take your breath away.


Sunday, May 15, 2011

God's New Running Buddy

Paul Melby 8/2/75 - 5/14/2011


Although our hearts are heavy with sorrow, we take comfort knowing that in spirit you'll always be with us when our legs are tired. Cheering us on with that beautiful laughter that we all love so much.

Friday, May 13, 2011

A Sneak Peak

Here is a sneak peak of the 2011 tee shirts there will also be caps available for those who would prefer one of those.

Awards

I thought I'd give you an idea of what the Chester Woods Trail Races offer for awards. Because the 5k is a Youth Grand Prix race we've expanded the age group awards to 10 and younger 11-12, 13-14, 15-16 , 17-19, 20-29,30-39, 40-49, 50-59,60-69, 70 and older. There will be male and female awards
For the 10 mile its 19 and younger 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70 and older.
There will be 1st place over-all awards for male and female in all races
For the age groups that have a large number of people registered I have 2nd place plaques also.
All 1st place finishers will receive a hand turned, laser engraved pen with the Chester Woods Races logo engraved in it.
All 50k finishers will receive a finishers plaque with the logo engraved in it and they will also get a pen.
Larry and I put a lot of effort into trying to provide some unique awards that are just a little different than what you will see at most other races.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Roll and Stroll for JDRF

I'd like everybody that reads this blog to support a good cause for a friend of everybody that runs around here.Tom O'Leary has a daughter that has type 1 diabetes. The O'Leay family started an event called Roll and Stroll For Juvenile Diabetes and have raised thousands of dollors to research a cure for JDRF.
Here is a link to the Roll and Stroll blogsitehttp://rollandstroll.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2011-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2012-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=5