Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
ZOEY PECK, right, is cheered on by Rachel Peck as she snowshoes toward the finish line of the YooperBeiner's kids race Saturday at Wolverine Nordic Ski Trails.
By RICHARD JENKINS
Ironwood Township - One week after competitors braved wind and freezing temperatures to compete in the annual Sisu cross-country ski race, the annual Aspirus YooperBeiner snowshoe race/tour offered participants much nicer conditions at Wolverine Nordic Ski Trails Saturday.
With temperatures in the mid-teens at race time and the sun out it was a good day to snowshoe, according to Deb Leonard, one of the event's organizers.
"We had a great turnout today. The weather was certainly helpful," Leonard said. "(There were) smiles all around. People were excited after seeing cold weather. It turned out to be a great event, great turnout."
The 100 adult competitors who registered to participate in the fourth annual YooperBeiner had the option of completing the 5K course once or going through twice for a 10K course.
While not everyone was competing for the best times, the top finishers of each race were as follows:
5K Men
1. Fran Strong, Ironwood, 44:10.
2. Scott Erickson, Ironwood, 45:20.
3. Todd Brittain, Ironwood, 46:39
5K Women
1. Abby Samardich, Bessemer, 38:26.
2. Jennifer Stanton, Ironwood, 41:23.
3. Ziggy Berger, Hurley, 42:04.
10K Men
1. Michael McPherson, Ironwood, 1:02.
2. Phil Strong, Ironwood,1:08.
3. John Wilke, Phillips Wis., 1:13.
10K Women
1. Anna Mooi, Ironwood, 1:09.
2. Laura Patterson, Madison, Wis., 1:27.
3. Meghan Wahlberg, Ironwood, 1:56.
There was also a team event, with Aspirus' Code White team winning both the large organization category and being the overall fastest team. The Easy Striders won the small-organization team category and the Luther L. Wright BeinerBombs winning the medium-organization team category.
Prior to the start of the adults' race, 15 kids competed in a kids event. Although it wasn't timed, Zoey Peck was the first to complete the shortened course.
Leonard is looking forward to next year's event, which she said should have a special celebration of the race's five-year anniversary.
She also thanked the numerous volunteers and donors for their support that makes the event possible each year.
