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There was plenty of fun again at the Oct. 22 5K Pumpkin Run and Walk on the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College campus last week. Nearly 200 participants were treated to wonderful fall weather for the oldest Halloween-themed race in northern Minnesota.
Race participants celebrated the theme of the Pumpkin Run by wearing creative costumes or orange and black clothing. Competition was tight for the coveted Best Costume awards, with the winners covering a range of characters including a pair of tooth fairies, a fish taco, Cruella de Vil and a dalmatian, and more!
Overall winner Scott Behling of Duluth finished with a time of 15:21.5. Tom Sederquist of Duluth finished second in 15:34.5 and David Hyöppönen of Duluth was third with a time of 17:24.6.
Kelly Leal of Duluth finished first in the women's overall division with a time of 22:16.4, placing her eighth overall. Second place went to Amber Kantonen of Mahtowa in 23:06.9, followed by Cassie Gaede of Duluth in 23:45.7 for third place.
The racecourse started on the FDLTCC campus and then followed 14th Street going south to the Valley View neighborhood and then turned around on Harner Lane and returned along 14th Street to the campus. The race was professionally timed by Gopher State Events using electronic chip timing attached to each participant's race number bib, and individual results and a finish line photo were sent to each finisher immediately upon crossing the finish line.
Upper Lakes Foods provided all the fantastic post-race refreshments, and several other local businesses sponsored the race including Tortoise & Hare Footwear, Duluth Running Company, Austin Jarrow, Mellin Promotional Advertising, Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa and Air National Guard 148th Fighter Wing.