Wolverine fundraiser well-attended

By IAN MINIELLY

iminielly@yourdailyglobe.com

Ironwood Township - The YooperBeiner Snowshoe Race Saturday at the Wolverine Nordic Trails complex is designed to raise funds and promote area health, while giving people an excuse to get off the couch on a Saturday and hit the wood line. The race has three components, a kids pre-race event with its own subdivided age divisions, a 5K race or walk, and a 10K competitive race with many competitors also attached to teams for an overall time.

Race organizer Sue Spaete said they had over 120 pre-register for the event this year and 17 kids for the Kids Race. All told 143 took part according to the Wolverine website. Spaete said the kids did not stop when they had completed their 5K, but wanted to keep chugging along. Deb Leonard, another organizer, said the kids race was excellent and there were a lot of happy faces.

Ironwood City Manager Tom Erickson said, "It's a great winter activity. It has lots of great volunteers and is a lot of winter fun." Erickson said this years YooperBeiner was his fourth or fifth in a row and that he tries to support local events.

It was about seven degrees and clear Saturday morning when Judge Joel Massie grabbed the bullhorn to explain the rules like he was explaining procedures to a jury. By the time Massie was done telling the racers to be nice on the course and let the person in front know about an attempted pass, the sky had opened up and snow began pouring onto the competitors. Justice was served ice cold by Massie as the racers waited for the shotgun blast to signal the start of the race.

The 10K racers lined up in the front of the crowd and were identified by their yellow bibs. The white bibbed 5K racers unfolded behind them like a tsunami. David Sims, representing Aspirus, one of the primary sponsors said, "the race is not for the faint of heart. It has plenty of hills and Aspirus is proud to support Wolverine with the event. The Wolverine Nordic Trails are a great outdoor venue for many of our employees and kids."

The 5K overall mens top three finishers were Jeremy Sullivan, 39 of Bessemer at 28:16 for the Aspirus Code White team, Kelden Witt, 32 of Bessemer at 32:45, and Philip Cox, 34 of Ironwood finishing just ahead of Christopher Fake 49, of Gleason, Wis. with a final time of 40:57.

The 5K overall womens top three finishers were Mackenzie Backman, 14 of Hurley at 35:22, with Signe Buerger, 16 of Hurley, at 35:40 breathing down her neck and Abby Samardich, 23 of Bessemer representing the LLW Beiner Bombs at 37:43.

The 10K overall mens top three finishers were Michael McPherson, 27 of Ironwood at 56:58 and representing the Aspirus Code White team, CJ Snowshoe, 57 of Wausau at 1:05:05, and Brian Bogaczyk, 53 of Ironwood at 1:32:29 representing Ottawa National Forest.

The 10K overall womens top three finishers were Stephanie Holloway, 39, of Ironwood at 1:09:15, Susan Raykovich, 52, of Rhinelander at 1:12:55 of the Easy Striders, and Joanne Snow, 44 of Madison, Wis at 2:16 even.

Coleman Engineering took first place in the team race, beating out the Aspirus Code White team while the Ottawa National Forest team placed third.

Wolverinenordic.com website has the complete 5K, 10K, and Kids and Team Race results broken down by age group, as well as the complete list of competitors and their times.