Sawdust runners dodge the raindrops

Despite threatening weather on Wednesday night, the Fourth of July weather conditions were nearly perfect Thursday morning for the annual running of the Sawdust 5K road race in Cloquet. Runners began filtering in to Pinehurst Park at 6:30 a.m. Close to 430 runners toed the starting line by 9 a.m. under partly cloudy skies and a light breeze.

"The conditions turned out to be absolutely beautiful with partly cloudy skies and about 75-degree temps by the time the race started," race director Jeff Leno said. "It was a little too humid as the sweat-soaked shirts on many of the runners were hanging a little lower at the finish as compared to the start."

Leno had good reason to be nervous about the weather forecast.

"It looked like some strong thunderstorms were going to roll in around 4 a.m. I was fielding numerous Facebook messages and emails about the status of the race," Leno said. He put out a statement regarding conditions under which they would cancel. "I think people were a little surprised when I said that we would cancel only if high winds and or lightning were present," he said. He was pleasantly surprised to see the forecast had changed to showing storms coming around 10 a.m.

The race was on and most of the rain held off for the last participant crossing the finish line.

Sturgeon Lake's Ethan Olson won the men's 5K race. Olson ran for the Moose Lake-Willow River in high school and is now at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Cloquet junior Josh Sanders was the runner-up. Olson finished in a time of 17:55 and the 16-year-old Sanders ran a 18:12.

Former Cloquet standout Halee Peterson won the women's race in a time of 19:51. She outpaced second-place finisher Kristi Nixon, who finished in 21:15.

"Halee was one of my track athletes when I coached at Cloquet," Leno said. "She is a fantastic young runner who went on to run Division II track at Minnesota State Mankato and she now resides in Minneapolis. A few weeks ago she ran a nice time in the Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon" in Duluth.

Leno won the men's 35-44 age group with a time of 21:04, which was 51 seconds faster than age group runner-up Kyle Kolquist and 52 seconds faster than Cloquet track coach Tim Prosen.

Ben Weiner was the men's 25-34 age group winner in a time of 19:37, finishing 10 seconds faster than Edward Martin.

The men's 45-54 age group winner was Bill Kelley in a time of 19:41, with Tom Anderson placing second with a time of 19:55.

Bill Helwig and Jarrow Wahman went 1-2 in the men's 55-64 age group and the winner of the men's 65-plus race was Tim Krohn.

The boys U-15 winner was 13-year-old Warren Hietala with a time of 19:40, just 27 seconds faster than 12-year-old Hudson Snesrud.

On the women's side the 15-24 age group champion was Kiley Hallgren in 22:13 with second place going to Rilie Clark, a 16-year-old finishing in 23:27. Peterson and Nixon, the overall winner and runner-up, went 1-2 in the 25-34 age division and Amber Despot captured the 35-44 age group by running a time of 22:39, 10 seconds faster than Katie Hughes. Yoshiko Wood finished first in the women's 45-54 age group followed by a second-place finish from Jennifer Shepherd. Kelly Hatfield ran a 29:58 to win the 55-64 age division as Shelly Donicht finished in second place. Amy Rogge ran an impressive time of 36:37 to win the 65-plus age group and Cindy Haglin was second.

The winner of the U-15 girls division was Emaleigh Olesiak with a time of 22:07, 35 seconds faster than Lizzy Harnell. Both Olesiak and Harnell are 12 years old.

For the second year in a row, runners could tackle the Jimmer Challenge in memory of avid runner Jim Hagerl.

"Right after finishing the Sawdust 5K runners have the option of turning around and running the course again, but this time in the opposite direction," Leno said.

In the fall of 2016 Jim was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. He died in the spring of 2018.

Leno and the local running community decided to honor him by offering runners a chance to re-run the Sawdust course each year.

"It's important to recognize all of the runners, sponsors and volunteers because without any of those groups, this race would not be possible and we wouldn't be writing that check to the Cloquet activities department," Len0 said.

His parents, Curt and Melanie Leno, have been on the organizing committee since the first race. "They've become an integral part in our planning," he said. They also help his wife Alyson with setting up for all the other July Fourth activities that she's in charge of in her role as coordinator.

"People end up seeing Alyson and I, but, in reality, there are so many people who make that day come together and I'd like to thank them all."