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Eagle
Harbor hosts annual Popeye Run
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Eagle Harbor's annual Popeye Run is named for
this Popeye Rock near the intersection of U.S. 41 and the cutoff
road to Eagle Harbor. The 10 K Run and Walk begin at this
point.
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EAGLE HARBOR ’Äì Nearly 100
people and a few dogs participated in the 22nd
Popeye Run on Saturday, July 7, in Eagle Harbor.
Those running or walking 10 K started at the Popeye
Rock, near the intersection of the Eagle Harbor
cutoff road and U.S. 41 and ended up at the Eagle
Harbor Township Hall. The 5 K runners and walkers
started halfway up the cutoff road. Just for fun,
three runners did the 10 K in reverse direction,
starting in the village. The event was a family
affair with children joining parents and
grandparents, running or walking.
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Ken Wikgren, right, of Mohawk, placed first
in the 10 K Run, followed by second-place winner Ray Tiberg,
left, of Calumet, and Casey Meehan, center, third-place
winner.
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The running events began at
about 8:30 a.m., just after some rain had cooled the
pavement, making good running conditions. However,
the walkers could start any time; and some began
walking quite early, keeping up a steady pace to
ward off the black flies.
’ÄúI think everybody
appreciates this (cooler) weather,’Äù said Ken
Wikgren of Mohawk, who came in first in the Men’Äôs
10 K run, with a time of 37:23. ’ÄúI mostly run
trails,’Äù he added. ’ÄúI think it’Äôs easier to run
on pavement, but it’Äôs more physically
demanding.’Äù
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Keweenaw County Sheriff Ron Lahti, right, and
Bruce Olson of Eagle Harbor approach the finish of the 10 K Run
near the Harbor beach.
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Keweenaw County Sheriff Ron Lahti was one of 12
men who ran the 10 K. While he is used to running
the Torch Run, a law enforcement relay to benefit
Special Olympics, he noted the relay is only 5 K and
much easier.
’ÄúI’Äôm just glad I made
it,’Äù Lahti said about the Popeye 10 K. ’ÄúI never
ran six miles in my life.’Äù
The second-place trophy for the
Men’Äôs 10 K went to Ray Tiberg, Calumet-Laurium-Keweenaw
School District superintendent, whose time was
37:59. His daughter Kristen Tiberg of Manhattan
Beach, Calif., took first place in the Women’Äôs 10
K run, with a time of 42:17.
Besides that father-daughter
combination of speed, a mother and son carried away
trophies for the 5 K run. Cassie Wilson and her
10-year-old son Aaron, both of Agate Harbor and
Lansing. Cassie was second in the Women’Äôs 5 K,
with a time of 24:01, while Aaron took third place
in the Men’Äôs 5 K, still beating his mom with a
time of 22:41. His dad, Bob Wilson, was fourth in
the 10-K race.
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Running along the Eagle Harbor beach, Brent
Welch of La Crosse, Wis., nears the finish of the 10 K Popeye Run
with his dog Wiley.
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Brent Welch of La Crosse, Wis.,
ran the 10 K with his dog Wiley. Welch said he might
have won if Wiley hadn’Äôt stopped three times
’Äúdead in his tracks’Äù during the run. Welch noted
he and his wife, Marianne Welch, daughter of Eagle
Harbor resident Mary Beyers, spend a few weeks every
year in Eagle Harbor.
One of the youngest
participants, Sarah Proffitt of North Webster,
Indiana, did the 5 K walk with her grandfather,
Clint Thomas of Copper Harbor.
Bill Smith of Marquette
directed the runners to trucks and cars of
volunteers, who drove them to the Popeye Rock and
the half-way point for the start of the 10 K and 5 K
races. Smith and his fellow runner and friend,
Walter (Buck) Houston of Waukesha, Wis., organized
the first Popeye Run in 1980.
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On Saturday, July 7, in Eagle Harbor, Popeye
Run founder and organizer Bill Smith, standing in truck, displays
the new T-Shirts available for participants and fans. Eagle Harbor
Township Supervisor Jim Boggio, center in blue shirt, prepares to
drive some of the runners and walkers to the start of the
race.
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Said Smith, ’ÄúOne day
(Houston) said it would make a good 10 K to run from
the highway to the harbor. We ran it, and we set the
course.’Äù
The first Popeye Run drew 6
participants for the 10 K and 14 for the 5 K. Eagle
Harbor resident Pat Ryan said he came in second in
that first 5 K race.
’ÄúThat was before they were
handing out prizes,’Äù Ryan noted.
Smith handed out T-Shirts and
trophies to winners at the awards ceremony and
breakfast held at Eagle Harbor’Äôs Shoreline
Restaurant after the race.
Winners, their times and the
record times include the following:
Men’Äôs 10 K Run: first,
Ken Wikgren, 37:23; second, Ray Tiberg, 37:59;
third, Casey Meehan, 40:16. Record time of 32:54
held by Andy Meehan (Casey’Äôs brother), 1994.
Women’Äôs 10 K Run:
first, Kristen Tiberg, 42:17; second, Katie Hall,
46:06; third, Jan Lampe, 55:18. Record time of 38:10
held by Kristine Clark, 1998.
Men’Äôs 5 K Run: first,
Tim Dombrowski, 22:08; second, Brad King, 22:09;
third, Aaron Wilson, 22:41. Record time of 16:04
held by Rodney Westlake, 1990.
Women’Äôs 5 K Run: first,
Mabel Harri, 23:31; second, Cassie Wilson, 24:01;
third, Melissa Van Slembrook, 25:14. Record time of
19:13 held by Jennifer Smith, 1986 (daughter of
founder Bill Smith).
The total participants in each
event were as follows:
- Men’Äôs
10 K Run: 12 men and 1 dog
- Women’Äôs
10 K Run: 3 women (Each won a prize.)
- Men’Äôs
5 K Run: 20 men
- Women’Äôs
5 K Run: 18 women
- 10
K Walk: 9 people
- 5
K Walk: 30 people
Three participants walked
backwards, from the Harbor to Popeye Rock: Wayne
Sickler and his niece and nephew, Andy and Sam
Morrow.
Smith said he would still like
to see more participation, especially in the 10 K
Run.
’ÄúWe still haven’Äôt got that
10 K group up to 20, which is my goal,’Äù he said.
Anyone is eligible to
participate, according to Eagle Harbor Township
Supervisor Jim Boggio, who was on hand to drive the
runners to their starting points.
As he said to young Sarah
Proffitt, riding along to join her grandfather for
the 5 K Walk, ’ÄúUsually we have roller bladers,
dogs, cats and mice.’Äù
Jim forgot to mention the black
flies, perhaps noticed only by slow-moving
photographers.
Click
here for more Popeye Run photos ...
’Äì Michele Anderson
July 9, 2001
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