Andrew Cook Wins Sawdust 5K

Wes Vork-NSO

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July 4, 2012

Wes Vork-NSO

In just its second year of existence, the Sawdust 5k race is establishing itself as one of the premier 5k races in the Northland. The race, which kicked off Fourth of July activities in Cloquet, saw Cloquet native Andrew Cook take top honors from a field of nearly 200 runners with a time of 17:11

One of the biggest differences in the Sawdust 5k and other races is the hilly design. “We came in and by design wanted to create a challenging course so it got a name for itself.” Race organizer Jeff Leno stated to Northland Sports Online. “There are millions of flat courses, but people want to be challenged. The runners tired when they cross the finish line, but they will come up to me a week later and say thanks, everybody loves it.”

Cook, a three sport athlete in high school, who is about a year removed from the military and continues to train for bicycle racing didn’t think the hills were a big deal. “It is a hilly course, but I have been training a lot on the bike and I am in good cardio shape. I mostly race bikes so this is a bit of a change of pace, but I guess I had the right combination of training and rest.” Cook agreed that the challenging aspect of the course was a good thing. “It a good challenge and it’s nice that (the race) is in my hometown. I live just down the street so it is fun to run on the streets I grew up on my whole life.”

Second place finisher Aaron Peterson of Cloquet shared the opinion of the majority who thought the hills really were a bit of a big deal. “It was rough, the hills were a real killer but it is a nice day and it is all good in the end.” Although Peterson’s runner up pace of 18:14 was over a minute behind the winner, he was very satisfied with his efforts. “Last year I ran an 18:50 so I improved a lot and that’s a plus. This race is harder than the others because of the hills, but it is a really fun race.”

Aaron’s older sister and former Cloquet Cross Country star Haylee took the top spot in the Woman’s division with a 20:45 effort. For Haylee Peterson, who just finished up her freshman season at Mankato State by qualifying for and running in the conference meet in Colorado it was also a homecoming race. “Running in college is much tougher than high school, but I survived and the training helped out on a course like this. It was nice to come back and run in Cloquet and run around town. It was nice seeing everyone and running with my former teammates.”

Rounding out the top five finishers were Dan Blascyk of Cloquet in third place with an 18:55 performance followed by Steve English of St. Paul with a19:06. 16 year old Matt Rengo of Esko rounded out the top five, clocking in at 19:22.

A total of 290 runners signed up for the race, which was about 100 more participants than the 199 who finished in the inaugural running of the race. “We had 221 sign up last year and 199 finishers, so the 290 this year is a nice bump. If we can do somewhere around there for the next couple of years we will have one of the most popular races in the area and that’s our goal,” explained Leno.

Even though the race provides a substantial challenge and attracts a large group of elite runners, there was plenty of average folks signed up also. One such person was Carlton County Commissioner Tom Proulx. After working tirelessly to provide help and leadership to flood victims of the county, Proulx predicted running a 5k race wouldn’t pose near the challenge of the marathon like efforts required in dealing with the flood related issues.

“After the last two weeks of dealing with the flood in the County and helping the communities, this is going to be a piece of cake. This is helping me unwind a little bit after a plethora of water.” Proulx added “I am really looking forward to it and I just want to thank Jeff Leno and his family for putting on such a great event on the fourth of July, which I think is going to get bigger and bigger.

One of the perks of the race, which helps support Cloquet’s Fourth of July activities is the ability to jump into Pinehurst Pool after the race and cool off. After dealing with water for the past two weeks, one would think Proulx would have seen enough of the wet stuff, but he
vowed to take a dip after the race. “I’m going in the water; although I have seen enough water in the last two weeks to last a lifetime…I’m going in the water.”

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