Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Another record run for Fool's Five
 Over 1,800 runners and walkers registered for the 30th Anniversary Fools Five Road Race Sunday in Lewiston. Participants could either run the Minnesota certified 8k race or run or walk in the 1-mile race. (Photo by Andrew Link/Winona Daily News) |
LEWISTON, Minn. — Rachel Rich has been attending the Fool’s Five Road Race since her days in high school.
A lot of people can attest to that.
For 30 years this small town in Southeast Minnesota has come together to help raise money for cancer research.
Last year they came in record numbers with more than 1,800 registered racers and $100,500 raised.
This year, though the weather looked worse than it turned out to be, a record 1,997 people — from 12 states — registered for the 30th Annual Fool’s Five. The event raised $97,000, which goes to cancer research at the Eagles Cancer Telethon at Mayo Clinic and
Gudersen Lutheran Medical Foundation.
The first Fool’s Five was on April 1, 1979. Over the past 30 years, the event has raised over $1 million for cancer research.
Rich, 28, defended her women’s title, winning the 8-kilometer in 29:50. The mother of three is a Cochrane-Fountain City High School graduate (1997), and plans on running the Boston Marathon on April 21.
“This is a great race to start off the year,” said Rich, who qualified for the elite women’s start for the Boston Marathon. “I’ve been running this race on and off for the last 12 years.”
Rich was going for the women’s record, but the wind was just too much.
“I wanted to go after it,” Rich said of the 28:28 record set in 1986 by Jan Ettle, who is from the Twin Cities Area. “I’ve been training all winter and thought it was a realistic goal, but the wind was tough.”
On the men’s side, Rochester native Pete Gilman took the title. Gilman, 33, who went to high school in Byron, Minn., finished in 25:59. He too wasn’t a fan of the wind.
“It was so windy and wide open out there,” Gilman said. “It was not a fast day.”
Both Gilman and Rich share something in common — aside from having won the Fool’s Five on more than one occasion. Both were competing to qualify for the Olympic Trials.
Gilman qualified and competed in November 2007 for the trials. He finished 82nd (2:28.09) out of a field of 104 (that finished).
It was said to be the deepest top 10 in the trials since 1980 and also the most sub-2:20 performances (39) in the race since 1980.
Rich qualified for the Olympic Trials for the marathon back in April of 2004 and was trying to make it one last time.
She missed out a year ago in Chicago by a mere two minutes, and just missed again last January by four minutes at the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon in Phoenix, Ari.
Now, Rich is on to Boston, where she hopes to finish in the women’s top five.
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