Runners encountered beautiful sunny weather on Grand Island for the 6th Annual Trail Marathon, but steadily increasing humidity slowed runners considerably.  Post race you could see a minimum of 30 runners at a time swimming in the cool waters of Lake Superior near the finish line.  Seven women broke 4 hours, led by Minnesota’s Jan Guenther in 3:39:04.  Experienced ultra runner Christine Crawford of Whitewater, WI was six minutes back in 3:45:30.  She was followed by Kristin Childs of Elgin, IL (3:46:41), Donna Gering of Ironwood, MI (3:49:46) and Shawn Loy of Washington, Iowa (3:53.38) making the top five an even geographical representation of the midwest.

Self described marathon junkie Chuck Engle of Dublin, Ohio returned to seek a repeat of is extraordinary 2008 victory, where he set a course record.  Engle was successful in repeating his victory, but the warm conditions slowed him nearly 20 minutes off his record time, crossing the line in 3:02:04.  Engle was the only runner to hold a sub 7:00/mile pace on the challenging Grand Island course.  Tim Mocny of Mt. Pleasant, MI was not far behind, finishing in 3:03:44.  Matthew Cavanaugh of Arlington, Virginia was third (3:09:59) followed by Jesse Bell of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (3:27:31) and Andrew Novis of Newton, Massachusetts (3:28:17).  Similar to the women’s marathon, a single state failed to place more than one runner in the top five.  Overall 35 states were represented in the marathon.  In 2008, Runner’s World named Grand Island one of the top new marathons in North America.

Ann Arbor’s Jane Stieber found victory in the Women’s 10K, cruising the hilly course in 44:15.  Alisa Pennington of Charlotte, MI was the only other woman to break 50 minutes (48:48) while Christine Becker of Stevens Point, WI captured third in 50:10.

In what is becoming a developing tradition, a trio of tough high school cross country runners took the top honors in the Men’s 10K.  Caleb Rhynard, a runner on Coach Rick Cahoon’s top ranked Shepard High School XC team, crossed the line in 35:00 flat, more than three minutes ahead of the Scott brothers (actually twins) of Shelby Township, MI, Chris (38:29) and Glen (40:21).

A Kid’s 2K was added to the line up of Grand Island trail races this year.  The event was held at the Bay Furnace Campground, which overlooks Grand Island from the hamlet of Christmas, MI.  The race was held on the day before the marathon at 6:00 in the evening and featured a highly diverse course that included open field, beach, and winding single track through pine and birch forested bluffs above Lake Superior.  Kelsey Knuth of West Bend, WI ran a gutsy race winning the Girl’s division in 9:48, the only girl to break ten minutes.  She was followed by Carlee Olsen of Cascade, WI (10:53) and Sarah Hollingsworth of Sanford, MI (13:04).

Noah Usiak of Charlotte, MI and Brett Hannah of nearby Wetmore, MI challenged each other for nearly a mile before Usiak pulled ahead on final beach section to win in 8:33.  Hannah was only five seconds back (8:38).  Derk Schoeni of Omro, WI crossed the line in third (9:38).  A total of 15 kids ran the 2K event.

Complete results, courtesy of Superior Timing, are now available.