Lasses 2, Lads o.
I will do my best to write this with as little bias as possible. PREDICTION CONTEST WINNERS BELOW.
The 2011 Leprechaun Chase 10k moved to a new venue this year. After its debut year at the Wilderness Ridge Golf Course in Lincoln, NE, race director Ben Cohoon moved the event to SAC Museum/Mahoney State Park outside of Ashland, NE. Having a course between Lincoln and Omaha, the use of the hangar as a staging area, the park, the volunteers, and a new more “open” course created a huge upgrade from the year before. I think most participants would agree.
After watching the lasses start, the lads had 5:30 to wait before we could begin our pursuit. That is a long time, but we had the company of many of the museums decommissioned planes, which was pretty cool . On the gun, the hounds were released. We took off and blazed to a quick first mile. Leaders went through in 4:50, my group was 25 seconds back. The first mile included some pavement and cross country (my fave) sections. We caught the tail end of the main pack of women by mile 1. Over the next mile we wove through and around the packs of lasses decked out in their Irish gear. Quite a site and unique to be passing people in a race. This section of the course was on the main park road, so there was plenty of room for everyone to be rolling.
By mile 2, a large bulk of the ladies had been passed and we dove onto the park’s very smooth bike trail. After a short out and back with a hairpin turn around, we bombed downhill, over some wooden bridges, and back uphill past the halfway point. From there it was a long-tough slog to mile 4, uphill and into a headwind. The crowd had by now thinned out and I was mostly by myself as I tried to catch the sparse lasses in front of me and any lads that remained ahead. After getting by the pool we were back on the main road and hammering back towards the museum. Back over the cross country section and into the hanger. I managed to be fifth based on chip time, seventh as there were two lasses I could not catch. Managed to get myself a PR of 34:06 to boot, which I was pretty psyched about. Well done to Cohoon Race Management as they continue to bring quality events to Eastern Nebraska.
Female/Overall winner: Kaci Lickteig
Male Winner: Eric Rasmussen
RESULTS I was focused on a hard effort, but I simply forgot my camera. For photos check out DLENZ.
MORE IMPORTANTLY I AM HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNERS OF THE 2011 LC10K PREDICTION CHALLENGE. SEND ME AN EMAIL (bwandzilak@gmail.com) AND WE’LL GET YOU HOOKED UP WITH THE PRIZE PACKAGE.
WINNING TIME WAS 35:51, REBECCA PREDICTED THE LASSES IN A TIME OF 35:45!!!!! “JAYZ” PREDICTED THE LASSES(sell-out) IN 37:20. SO THERE ARE OUR WINNERS. WE HOPE TO MAKE THIS A TRADITION FOR EVERY RACE WE CAN.