What does it take to run for 6 hours? 12 hours? 24?? The same thing it takes to stage an event during the Covid-19 era of 2020: Perseverance; that and a great group of volunteers. The Badgerland Striders 24-12-6 Hour Runs returned for the 4th year to Lapham Peak State Park, and everything went rather well. A beautiful day turned a little warm in the afternoon, but it cooled off nicely as the sun went down. Light rain moved in during the early morning hours, but it was nowhere near the storms that blew through a few years ago.
The 24-hour division had a mix of veterans and 1st timers. Evan Wetzel started strong and stayed steady for the first 12 hours, building up a 9+ mile lead over Parker Rios (multiple past champion). Then the wheels fell off, and by hour 15 Evan had pulled the plug. Parker used his experience to stay out in front, winning again with 123.27 miles. Long-time participant Jason Krezinski also cracked the 100-mile mark for his first time.
For the women, the 1st timer was able to hang in there and finish ahead of the veteran. Anna Curtis established a new trail event record with 104.5 miles in her first try. My guess is that it had something to do with her smile, which flashed every time she crossed the timing mat, no matter how many hours we were into it. Bonnie Busch is also a past champion, and held the track event record from 1995-2009. At the 22-hour mark, Bonnie was about 8 miles behind Anna, but ran hard all the way to the end, finishing only 1.6 miles behind with 102.9, good for 3rd place overall.
In the 12-hour division, Craig Mason led from start to finish, establishing a new trail event record with 68.97 miles. Karen Murray joined us all the way from NY, and led the women with 37.62 miles (she had a marathon scheduled for the next day).
The 6-hour division saw a tightly packed bunch of men and women all near the front for the first few hours. By hour 4, Sam Hall had gained some separation and won with 40.06 miles. Marie Billen also moved into the women’s lead in hour 4, and set a new trail event record with 36.33 miles.
Chip timing was provided by Bill Thom of Run Race; complete results can be found here:
So, do you have what it takes? How far can you go? Join us next year on Labor Day weekend and we’ll find out!
Robert Wehner, RD