Bright, sunny skies accentuated the bright green costumes worn by many of the runners and walkers as the annual “Chase a Leprechaun 5K” kicked off the St. Patrick’s Day celebration season at the Becker Community Center last Saturday morning.  

 

 

The weather was ideal as temperatures hovered around 40º with little or no wind. The walkers for the event lined up at around 10 a.m. to get a half-hour head start on the runners. A couple dozen of the non-runners “shot” out of the gate precisely on time as Otto blasted an air horn to kick things off.

 

As the runners took to the starting line at 10:30 a.m., many of the contestants were seen stretching and jogging in place to keep their muscles loose. Suleiman Abdullahi of St. Cloud had a black t-shirt on and a United States flag for shorts. He blasted onto the course and competed with Becker’s own Olsen Pancoast for much of the way.

 

 Abdullahi out-dashed Pancoast in the final few meters to capture the first place title in 18:14.33. Pancoast was a close second at 18:15.65.

 

Three “walkers” crossed the finish line ahead of the runners and they included Connie Robinson (41:12.44) and two 11-year-olds, Kate Mehlich (47:51.67) and  Courtney Halvorson (47:51.95).

 

Becker’s Justin Kringler (17-years-old) finished third  (18:48.62) amongst the top runners and the top female was 15-year-old Julia Karls (20:57.14) of St. Cloud. Other notable Becker runners were 14-year-old Tucker Rhodes (23:54.97), 13-year-old Ashley Reed (24:33.58), 28-year-old Jen Johnson (24:44.69), 46-year-old Cary Rauch (24:49.38), 46-year-old Tammy Boros (25:09.32), 14-year-old Krista Paulson (25:11.80), 40-year-old Eric Hanson (27:47.54), 34-year-old Anna Babler (28:17.39), 17-year-old Andrew Reed (28:51.88), 34-year-old Candice Hanson (30:56.62),  8-year-old Zachariah Halvorson (31:04.28), 43-year-old Dan Paulson (32:01.58), 32-year-old Denise Fowler (32:47.67), 28-year-old Ashley Adelman (33:33.77), 11-year-old Daelyn Brannan (35:14.27), 37-year-old Anita Brannan (35:20.40) and 31-year-old Derek Rhodes (38:54.70).

 

Big Lake had a few representatives and they included: 51-year-old Jim Abfalter (20:54.60), 42-year-old Bonnie Knutson (28:54.27), 48-year-old Phil Knutson (30:17.46), 47-year-old Christopher Nalty (31:14.65), 23-year-old Maddy Anderson (31:50.25), 47-year-old Melissa Scherber (32:48.52) and 54-year-old Bev Knutson (38:53.35).

 

Clear Lake saw  50-year-old Al Lahr finish 19th (25:49.03), 47-year-old Denise Kritzeck (28:06.60), 33-year-old Trista Paulson (32:01.79) and 21-year-old Samantha Kritzeck (33:33.96).

 

Other racers were from  Foley, Cold Spring, Sommerset, WI, Sauk Rapids, Litchfield, Pierz, Morris, Wahpeton, ND, Zimmerman, Coon Rapids, St. Michael, Annandale, Crystal, Frederic, WI, Wayzata, Maple Grove, Watkins, Darwin, Monticello, Blaine, Maple Lake, Upsala, Apple Valley and Brainerd.

 

Medals were awarded to the top three male and female individuals based on the age categories.

 

After the last runners crossed the finish line, an awards ceremony was held outside the BCC, and hot chocolate was served to the chilly runners and spectators.

 

Official timing of the race was provided by Gopher State Events.

 

In addition, the BCC had the Kids Shamrock Challenge Obstacle course (ages 3-12)  going on in the gym from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Thirty-eight kids participated in this event. Kids had the option of going through two different challenge level courses.  They could go through the course as many times as they want.

 

The course included things such as jumping to-and-from balance boards, jumping over and crawling under benches, bottle flipping, walking an elevated 3-to-8-foot, 4" board, crawling through a tunnel, hitting a target with a Frisbee, climbing a high wall and walking on unstable surfaces.  

 

The guest for the event was Wallly Wonka the Dreamcycle Leprechaun.