Running 81 miles on Arboretum trail, in a day

The final results are in from last months’s big Green Bay Running Club Summer Solstice Challenge, held on the longest day of the year a couple of Saturdays ago.  Participants ran the 4.75-mile course for a set period of time — in this case, 6 hours or 8 hours — or for as long as they wanted, to see how much distance they could cover.

The 2015 winners were Ryan Norton with an amazing 81.67 miles over 14 hours and 38 minutes (and 17 loops over the trail course!), and Cassie Kottke with 73.85 miles over 15 and a quarter hours. The top 8-hour runners were Brady Sturm (53.15 miles) and Paula Walker (40.6), and the best 6-hour finishers were Curt Brey (38.9) and Lori Folk (31.1). Among the UW-Green Bay employees taking part was Bob Blihar of CIT, who did a very impressive 34 miles (seven laps) during the eight-hour event. (Our informant says it happened to be Bob’s 28th wedding anniversary on race day, and since his wife was an event volunteer she got to see him at least seven times during the day.)

Phoenix cross-country coach Mike Kline and vice chancellor Kelly Franz were among the University running enthusiasts who chipped in — not by competing, but by helping to organize the event and assisting with course layout, logistics, food and water stations and more. Lee Reinke and the Shorewood crew also helped with arrangements. About 75 runners took part in the various categories.

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