In This Issue - Michigan Runner

Keweenaw Trail Festival, Copper Harbor
Walczak Again Dominates
Keweenaw Trail Fest
By Ryan Towles
COPPER HARBOR (7/7-8/07) —- Trail running
may have a “home field” advantage. With the
greater variances in terrain —- especially with
extreme trails in extreme northern Michigan —
familiarity breeds success.This year’s Keweenaw
Trail Running Festival was an example. Local
runners were dominant ... again.The festival pits
runners against each other and the elements in
three trail races: a 10K, a 5.8K hill climb and
25K, contested within about 24 hours.
Karl Walczak, 27, of nearby Houghton,
again topped the men’s podium with a three-race
sweep. He now owns four-straight KTRF
crowns and has a nine-race winning streak still
alive.
Walczak, primarily a cross country skier,
rarely runs races outside of the western Upper
Peninsula, hence his relative anonymity on the
greater Michigan running scene. But with personal
records of 31:48 on the track for 10K and
52:10 for 10 miles on the road, the former
Michigan Tech Husky stacks up nicely with the
current crop of state racers despite lack of competition
and training partners.Copper Country
runners have won the last four women’s titles
too. This year’s queen was again Amy
Hauswirth, who also swept all three races.
Hauswirth, 37, of Hancock, made it three
out of the last four with her 2007 championship.
Joan Rundman, also of Hancock, won
the 2005 KTRF title with Hauswirth sidelined
by injury. Hauswirth also has a five-race win
streak since placing fifth in the 10K in 2006.
For the first time in its history, the KTRF
maintained all three courses for two straight years.
The 10K again started at Fort Wilkins State
Park Saturday morning, winding and climbing
to the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge finish in
warm, dry conditions. After signage issues last
year allowed the whole field to go off course,
this year’s first race went off without a hitch.
Walczak’s winning time of 38:11 outpaced
multiple-festival runner-up Rick Cahoon by 33
seconds. Hauswirth led the women with a
45:35, followed by Lindsay Dehlin of Marquette
in 45:55.
Saturday night brought fierce heat and
droves of biting flies for the typically-brutal hill
climb, starting on the Eagle Harbor beach. In
what is normally his strongest event, Walczak
buried the filed in 23:06, more than a minute in
front of Cahoon (24:15). Hauswirth and Dehlin
had a closer duel, with Hauswirth prevailing by
10 seconds in 28:39.
After hiking back down the hill for a dip in
the harbor — Lake Superior is the ultimate ice
bath, even in summer —- runners retired to the
Mountain Lodge for food and much-needed rest.
Early Sunday morning brought severe thunderstorms.
But instead of the clouds bursting midway
through the 25K as they had last year, they
came and went in the wee hours.
The overnight soaking had a big affect on
the course and 113 finishers. The rugged terrain
turned to mud with slick rocks and downed
wood to deal with.
Despite a fall on the trails that led to an
ankle injury, Walczak outdistanced the field in
1:40:32. Next came Dan Dehlin, 26, of
Marquette (1:42:07) and Cahoon (1:42:49).
In the women’s 25K, Hauswirth (2:04:14)
showed an ability to get stronger throughout the
weekend. Marta Fisher, 32 of Helena, Mont.,
toured the multi-loop path next in 2:07:16. MR
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