Wirtz on Sports: Loons Pennant Race

Today, the Great Lakes Loons, in conjunction with Dow and their Dow Live Earth Run for Water, held the 4th Annual Loons 6K Pennant Run & Walk that started, & finished just outside of Dow Diamond in Midland. The weather was cool and overcast with some peaks of the sun during the race. Nine time Olympic Gold Medalist, Carl Lewis was at the race. He said a few words before the start (thankfully he didn't sing the National Anthem) and walked with a group of young girls from the group, "Girls on the Run".

I haven't watched too many races, but I'm always amazed at the diversity of the people that run. There were kids that looked like they were as young as 5 or 6, and adults that looked like they were in their 70s. A lot of them had strong, sprints to the finish. It was truly amazing. My brother, Justin, as well as another friend of mine, Chris Gilstad, both ran in the race. Justin's time was 27:58, good for 107th out of over a thousand participants. He was also 10th in his age group (Male 25-29; 25 participants in age group ). Chris finished with a time of 25:52, good for 50th place. He finished 5th in his age group (Male 35-39; 25 participants in age group). I'm not sure what their personal bests are, but those are pretty respectable times. In the 6K walk, Jeannette Gilstad, and her daughter Paige, both had solid finishes, as well. In addition to those four, there were several other recognizable faces that I saw cross the finish line, including Great Lakes Loons President & General Manager, Paul Barbeau.

It was a great event, that was only one, of hundreds held around the world, to make aware of the problems with drinking water. I hope the other events were as successful as the one held in Midland today.

Here are the final results from the races:

Men 6K Run Results

1. Adam Terwillegar 21:13
2. Benjamin Reed 21:38
3. John Billette 21:52
4. Mitch Hartnagle 22:01
5. Jeff Van Dusen 22:07

Women 6K Run Results

1. Adriana Young 21:47
2. Stephanie Mendyk 25:40
3. Lynn Sauve 25:59
4. Amy Smith 26:13
5. Suzanne Billette 26:18

Men 6K Walk Results

1. Johnny Olsey 33:29
2. Rick Huber 33:32
3. Paul Hugo 37:29
4. Jude Kole 40:20
5. Scott Luce 44:27

Women 6k Walk Results

1. Lori Lynn Short 39:42
2. Shelly Huber 41:13
3. Jennifer Wiesenauer 41:26
4. Jaime Gardiner 42:07
5. Connie Zvara 43:28