2ND ANNUAL IRON MIKE 3K
The IRON MIKE 3K/5K was a staple in the Rhinelander community for many years, I'm grateful to have the opportunity to continue this tradition and keep the IRON MIKE alive.
For those who are unfamiliar with this workout it is dedicated to Mike Webster who our football stadium is named after and is the best football player to come out of Rhinelander. During his off-season Mike used to run with a 45lb plate all alone out at the washburn trails in Rhinelander. For those looking to learn more about IRON MIKE here is a link.
Champions Club first started this last year with a team of 3 running a 3k together with a 45lb plate where each athlete was required to hold the plate for a minimum of 600M total, athletes must carry the weight with their hands and by themselves, if the plate touched the ground during the workout the whole team had to do 10 burpees before continuing.
The only change from last year to this year in the rules was we made it teams of 4 instead of 3, the best change was we INCREASED the number of participants from last year and even had an all girls team! (who did extremely well!)
This workout is a great test of mental grit and grind. With each teammate having to carry the plate for 600M that leaves 600M to be split among the 4 runners, which means at minimum one runner will not have to run with the plate again (runners have to carry it a minimum of 200M before switching off) How will the teammate or teammates respond if they don't have to carry the weight anymore?
Strategies are a huge part of this workout to try and finish as fast as possible, but more importantly so is making sure your teammates are getting the encouragement they need! This year we had a small storm the night before the race, making the trail wet, muddy, and buggy. It would have been easy to wake up and hit snooze, it would have been easy to come in but have a reason to not do this workout. After all, its a Friday during the summer, how many high school athletes are willing to get up and put themselves through a 3k?
Many of the competitors competing are not cross country athletes, in fact we only had TWO cross country runners out of the 25 high school athletes. Running this 3k for a lot of these athletes had nothing to do with improving their sport skills. A football player will never run that far in a game. A swimmer doesn't even run in their sport. Even the cross country runner doesn't race with a 45lb plate on their back. So why do this?
The mental toughness and comradery is why these athletes do this. In today's day and age we NEED young men and women to form bonds with one another even when they have very little to gain from each other. The community that is being built will transfer to every single aspect of these athletes lives. It is about suffering for each other, cheering for each other, learning from each other, helping each other.
June is done, we have 3 more champions workouts until high school sports start again!
Let's go over the results & have a great 4th of July!
1st (S.Denis, J.O'Malley, D.O'Malley, M.Fugle) 17:32
2nd (L.Roberts, C.Lund, G.Denis, M.Laggis) 19:02
3rd (M.Gruett, V.Biolo, L.Bishop, A.Bergman)** the only ladies team, great work!!! 19:22
4th (T.Biolo, J.Biolo, R.Hanson, J.Bergman) 20:09
5th (P.Campbell, M.Eagleson, K.Tessman, B.Olson) 20:55
6th (D.Biolo, J.Biolo, D.Rakers, J.Gruett) 22:30
7th (E.Shoeder, D.Feck, C.Sieker, T.Trickey) 24:20
8th (B.Stott, L.Webster, C.Lesiure, T.Lamers) 26:05
9th (J.Haselton, P.Mata, B.Stemitzky, B.Lesiure) 30:50
Before IRON MIKE
P.S. Thank you to Owen Kurtz for being our official timer, Liz Biolo for pic, and Sunny Biolo for treats after the workout!
