Dudgeon, Ciesielski win Heron Lake five-mile race

HERON LAKE — Wabasso’s Joel Dudgeon and Fulda’s Janet Ciesielski were the male and female winners, respectively, of the Paul Fest Memorial five-mile road race Saturday morning.

Running as part of Heron Lake’s Quasquicentennial (125 years) Celebration, the 41-year old Dudgeon blistered a fast pace from start to finish, clocking a winning time of 27 minutes, 21 seconds.

Ciesielski placed sixth overall among 21 total finishers in the five-mile event, covering the distance in 38:08 to win the women’s competition by 41 seconds.

Fulda’s Rachel Piper finished as the second female (eighth overall) with a time of 38:49.

The third female finisher was Jan Onsgard of Woodland Hills, Calif. Onsgard, the former Jan Seydel from Heron Lake, clocked a time of 46:07 and finished 12th overall.

Slayton’s Dominick Damm ran a fine time of 31:08 to finish second overall in the race, followed by Worthington’s Tim Meyer, who ran the course in 31:21.

The fourth and fifth place overall finishers were Eric Hogan of Evergreen, Colo., (36:41) and Eric Hullstrom of Jackson (37:55).

An impressive run of 38:40 was turned in by Byron 13-year-old Jake Bieber, who finished seventh overall.

There were 11 males and 10 females who completed the race.

Voit, Mathias win two-mile

Christopher Voit, of Heron Lake, won the two-mile race as he covered the distance in 12:17, besting a field of 15 male runners.

Sarah Mathias, of Fargo, N.D., and formerly from Heron Lake, was the first female to cross the finish line, clocking a time of 17:35 and finishing 12th overall.

The second- and third-place male finishers were Troy Mead (12:32), of Windom, and Chad Knutson (12:44), of Heron Lake.

Dundee’s Michelle Olsem was the second female finisher (18:01), while 12-year-old Sarah Schmid of rural Worthington finished third with her time of 18:56.

Knutson, Haberman win kid’s race

Nine-year-old Logan Knutson of Heron Lake claimed first place in the kids’ 650-meter race, running the course in 2:41.

Ten-year-old Megan Haberman, of Brewster, won the girls’ division, as she finished third overall in the event, clocking a time of 2:47.

Zach Schumacher, 12, of Heron Lake, was second overall (2:44), while Cera Langton, 13, of Buffalo, was fourth overall and the second girl finisher, covering the distance in 2:49.

Getting fifth overall and third among the boys was 6-year-old Nathaniel Post, of rural Lakefield, running a time of 2:50.

The third girl finisher (sixth overall) was 11-year-old Hailey Schumacher (2:54), of Heron Lake, while 7-year-old Alyssa Post (2:57), of rural Lakefield, and 9-year-old Gabi Stenzel (2:58), of Heron Lake, also ran the distance in less than three minutes.

There were a total of 16 finishers in the kids’ race.

88 walkers participate

While a total of 56 runners competed Saturday, there were an additional 88 participants who walked the two-mile course, bringing the total number of registered entrants for the Paul Fest Memorial road race / walk up to 144.

Tags: heron lake, sports, running