On a cool, overcast morning,
151 people participated in the St. Anthony Village
Fest 5K Run/Walk sponsored by Fitness Crossroad on
Aug. 4.
An air horn by a St. Anthony
Village Fire truck signaled the start of the race
at 8 a.m. The start and finish lines were both
located in the St. Anthony Shopping Center area
and the course went through the
residential
areas of St. Anthony
Village.
Anthony Peter, 27, of
Mounds View, was the first runner to cross through
the yellow caution tape at the finish line just as
a drizzling rain began to fall. He clocked in at a
speedy 16:54. Second-place finisher
Matt
Cavanaugh, 28, of Woodbury, trailed
close behind Peter with a time of
17:07.
Both were first-time runners in the
event and happy with their finishes.
"It
felt good," Peter said, of coming in first. "It
was a nice morning. I just wanted to have some
fun."
Peter said he liked that this race
came with a registration fee of only $15 before
Saturday and $18 on Saturday morning. It's a
different story when runs are for a cause, but a
lot of 5K events charge a lot of money,
Peter
said. Races can get pretty pricey
when you're "a pretty avid runner," Peter
said.
Cavanaugh is also no stranger to
running. He is a runner for the National Guard. He
even said that a 5K is much shorter than his
average run. He is running in San Diego in a
couple of weeks and wanted to find "a
nice,
smaller, fun event." He also enjoyed the turns
throughout the course.
"Lots of turns. Lots
of turns," Cavanaugh said. "I like the turns. It
makes it more enjoyable."
Blaine native
Rachel Hanzal, 18, was the first female finisher
with a time of 22:23 and coming in 15th place
overall. Hanzal came to the race because this was
the second race of the summer she could do with
her brother, Mike Hanzal, who finished in 22nd
place. She is also training for her freshman
cross-country season at the University of
Minnesota - Duluth this fall. Hanzal said she was
pleased with her performance and top female
finish, as well as with the course.
"It
felt really, really good, actually," Hanzal said.
"It was a good course. I like the
hills."
Thirteen-year-old Erin Matthews was
the second female finisher of the day. She
finished in 24th place overall with a time of
23:43.
Trailing just one second behind
Matthews was St. Anthony native
Melissa
Seibel, 26. Both finished first in
their respective age groups.
St. Anthony
had a total of 44 residents come out and run the
race. The first St. Anthony runner to finish was
36-year-old Dave
Matzoll. He ran at a pace
of 6:56 and turned in a 21:29 time to finish 12th
overall.
He also was third in his male
30-39 age group. Other St. Anthony residents David
Johnson, 31, and Taylor Matzoll, 14, came in
shortly
after Dave Matzoll. With a time of
22:12, Taylor Matzoll was second in his male 13-16
age group.
Participants were in high
spirits at the end of the race, even as the
drizzling rain seemed to pick up. They were happy
to gulp some water
and munch on bananas and
cereal after they crossed the finish line outside
of Fitness Crossroad.
Peter, Hanzal and
Cavanaugh all said they enjoyed the race and would
definitely come back next year.
"I like the
neighborhood around here," Cavanaugh said. "It's a
nice place to run. Plus, I get all this free
cereal."
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