Runners of the Year: McGregor, Erichsen Lead

With the Minnesota road racing season all but over, Team USA Minnesota's Katie McGregor and former St. John's University star Chris Erichsen are poised to win Minnesota Runner of the Year Awards for 2011.

The Minnesota Runner of the Year Awards recognize the exploits of Minnesota runners racing in Minnesota races over a variety of road distances ranging from the mile to the marathon. Athletes earn points based on their rank order in up to five separate race distances.

McGregor leads 2007 women's Runner of the Year (and 2009 and 2010 ROY runner-up) Jenna Boren 79 points to 75 points. Kim Robinson, who was the ROY runner-up in 2008, is third with 68 points.

Full open women's standings can be found HERE.

Erichsen leads 2010 Runner of the Year Dan Greeno 90 to 87 in the open men's division. Team USA Minnesota's Matt Gabrielson stands third with 76 points.

Full open men's standings can be found HERE.

Minnesota Runner of the Year awards are conferred for age-group runners as well. Find all the Runner of the Year details, HERE, on the official web-site managed by Mike Setter.

Frey, Greeno Poised for Runner of Year Awards

With the Minnesota road racing season all but over, Team USA Minnesota's Michelle Frey and recent Bethel University graduate Dan Greeno are poised to win their first Minnesota Runner of the Year Awards.

The Minnesota Runner of the Year Award recognizes the exploits of Minnesota runners racing in Minnesota races over a variety of road distances ranging from the mile to the marathon. Athletes earn points based on their rank order in up to five separate race distances.

Frey (pictured, above) leads 2007 women's Runner of the Year (and 2009 ROY runner-up) Jenna Boren 89 points to 78 points. Kim Magee, who was the ROY runner-up in 2008, is third with 65 points.

Full open women's standings can be found HERE.

Greeno (pictured, right) leads University of Minnesota alum Justin Grunewald 91 to 89 in the open men's division. Eric Hartmark, who was fourth in the competition last year, stands third with 83 points.

Full open men's standings can be found HERE.

Minnesota Runner of the Year awards are conferred for age-group runners as well. Find all the Runner of the Year details, HERE, on the official web-site ably managed by Mike Setter.

Photos by Victor Sailer/Photo Run (Frey) and courtesy of Bethel University (Greeno).

Runner of the Year Leaders Win in Duluth

The winners of Friday night's Park Point 5 Miler, Duluth's Jeremy Polson and Jennifer Houck, offered ample evidence of why each currently leads the Minnesota Runner of the Year standings.

Polson, who led the men's open division of the 2009 Runner of the Year standings by 21 points over Chris Erichsen going into the race, won his fifth Park Point title. He clocked 24:42 on the flat, out-and-back route on the other side of the lift-bridge from Canal Park in Duluth.

Duluth’s Eric Hartmark the 2007 race champion, finished second in 25:00; Chris Lundstrom of Minneapolis, the 2008 Minnesota Runner of the Year, placed third in 25:06.

Houck (pictured), who held a pre-race 5-point lead of Kim Magee on the open women's ROY table, won her second-straight Park Point title. Her time of 28:36 eclipsed Kari Beasley’s course record of 29:11 from 1997.

Hibbing’s Serena Sullivan placed second in 30:20 followed by Melissa Gacek of White Bear Lake in 30:59.

Kevin Pates of the Duluth News-Tribune wrote THIS in-depth story about the race.

Full results will be posted HERE later today.

Earlier this season, the Polson and Houck swept the men's and women's titles at the Brian Kraft Memorial 5K, the USATF-Minnesota championship for the distance.

Runner of the Year Standings ... are based on road race performances across a range of distances. Minnesota's top road racers earn points based on how their performances rank against others in events ranging from the mile to the marathon.

Polson topped the ROY performance list in the 8K before his Park Point victory. He has the #2 marks in the state this year in the 5K, 10K, and half marathon.

Houck's lead in the ROY standings is built on an event-leading mark in the 5K and strong performances at 8K, 10K, and the half marathon.

Complete Runner of the Year standings, including those in age-group competition, are available HERE.

Photo by Gene Niemi.

2008 Runner of the Year Standings:Kim Magee, Jeremy Polson Sport Leads

As the Minnesota road racing season prepares for its autumn schedule of events, Kim Magee of Mounds View and Jeremy Polson of Duluth lead the 2008 USATF-Minnesota Runner of the Year standings compiled by the Minnesota Running Date Center.

Magee leads the women's standings with 50 points, ahead of Lithuanian Olympian Rasa Troup who has 40 and Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier Melissa Gacek who has 31. Magee has the fastest times for a Minnesotan at the 10K and 10 mile distances. She ran 36:50 for 10K at Get in Gear in April and 59:37 at the Lumderjack Days 10 Mile in July.

Runner of the Year standings are based on an athlete's annual rank against fellow Minnesotan in up to five standard road racing distances.

Polson, who tied with Team USA Minnesota's Chris Lundstrom for Runner of the Year honors in 2007, has 66 points to his credit. He leads Richard Kandie who has 51 and fellow Duluth native Eric Hartmark who has 50. Polson sports Minnesota's fastest road 5K and 8K of 2008, running 14:47 at the Brian Kraft Memorial 5K in May and 24:06 at the Human Race 8K in March.

Complete Runner of the Year standings -- including those in eleven separate age-groups for men and women -- can be found, HERE, on the new Runner of the Year web-site maintained by Mike Setter.

Boren, Lundstrom, Polson Named Runners of the Year

Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier Jenna Boren, Pan American Games marathon 6th place finisher Chris Lundstrom, and former Golden Gopher Jeremy Polson were named 2007 USATF-Minnesota Runners of the Year based on standings compiled by the Minnesota Running Data Center.

Awards were confered at the Minnesota Distance Running Association annual party last Saturday.

Boren won the open women's division with 82 points accumulated throughout 2007 in races ranging from 5K to the marathon. Nicole Cueno was second with 77 points. Erin Ward was third with 71.

Lundstrom and Polson tied for the men's title with 85 points. Pat Russell was third with 83 points.

Full Runner of the Year standings, including those in age-group competition, can be found HERE.

Also ... Receiving awards last Saturday along with the Runner's of the Year and MDRA's Grand Prix winners -- HERE -- were contributors to the sport Tim Zbikowski and John Cramer and his family.

Zbikowski was awarded the Pat Lanin Distinguished Service Award for decades of contributions to the running community. Zbikowski might be best known as the organizing force behind the Minnesota Track and Field Hall of Fame. The former MDRA president is also the co-director of the Meet of Miles and a former Twin Cities Marathon board member.

Cramer and family were named Volunteers of the Year for their work organizing the Como Relays, the popular, weekly, late-summer event-series in St. Paul. The family faced extra challenges in 2007 after a storm blew down dozens of trees on the course.

Wednesday Catch-All: On the Roads

As we did yesterday with cross country news, here's the latest from the Minnesota roads ...

Boren, Polson lead Runner of the Year Standings ... With the bulk of the season in the books, Jenna Boren and Jeremy Polson lead the open divisions of the 2007 Minnesota Running Data Center Runner of the Year standings. Boren, who competes for the TC Running Company, made up a 68-71 point gap on Nicole Cueno of GEAR since rankings were updated in September to now lead 82-77. Boren was the 2006 Minnesota Runner of the Year.

Polson of Run N Fun leads 2006 men's Runner of the Year Chris Lundstrom of Team USA Minnesota by a single point, 85-84. Patrick Russell of GEAR, who Polson has traded the Runner of the Year lead with all season, is third with 83 points.

Full Runner of the Year details, including the leaders for each of the age-groups, can be found HERE.

Help Plan the 2008 Team Circuit & Championships ... USATF-Minnesota will select its road championship events and Team Circuit races on Monday, November 19th at Majors Sports Cafe in Golden Valley at 7:30 p.m, new Men's LDR chair Ed Whetham tells DtB.

"We encourage everyone to attend the selection meeting to voice your suggestions and concerns, and to be involved in the voting process for the 2008 USATF MNTeam Circuit, " he said.

Majors is located on the frontage road north of 394, just east of Louisiana Avenue.

Jason Lehmkuhle -- in Podcast Form ... The running and fitness web-site The Final Sprint recently featured a podcast interview with Team USA Minnesota's Jason Lehmkuhle. Lehmkuhle finished 5th at the Men's Olympic Marathon Trials earlier this month, setting a new PR of 2:12:54.

Polson, Cueno Open Gaps for Runner of the Year

With the year's results adding up and 2007 races beginning to run out, Jeremy Polson and Nicole Cueno have opened narrow leads in the latest tabulation of the Running Data Center's Runner of the Year standings.

The new standings include races up to and including last weekend's City of Lakes 25K.

Polson now leads the open men's division with 83 points over Pat Russell with 78 and Chris Lundstrom with 68.

Cueno leads Jenna Boren 71-68 in open women's competition. Erin Ward is currently third in the standings with 66.

Full standings in the open division and in all 10 men's and women's age-group divisions can be found HERE, on Mike Setter's Runner of the Year page.

Gacek, Russell Lead Updated Runner of the Year Standings

Grandma's Marathon 8th place finisher Melissa Gacek of Run N Fun and Human Race champ Pat Russell of GEAR currently lead the Minnesota Running Data Center's Runner of the Year standings after new tabulations were posted on August 18.

Gacek, who has accumulated 62 points based on the rank of her top times in her five best events, leads the Open Women's standings over GEAR's Nicole Cueno who scored 61 points. RNF's Angie Voight has 50 points for third.

In Open Men's standings, Russell leads 81-75 over RNF's Jeremy Polson. GEAR's Josh Metcalf is third with 62 points.

Full Runner of the Year standings can be found HERE, thanks to the diligent work of Mike Setter.

Photo: Russell edges past Polson at the Human Race 8K.

Catching Up With Melissa Gacek

We asked Melissa Gacek a few questions about her fast Grandma's Marathon last month. Gacek currently leads the Minnesota Runner-of-the-Year standings.

You had the bittersweet luck to run a great race at Grandma's on a"slow" day. Were you more happy with the placing or bummed by just missing the Trials standard?

In light of the way the race went for the very talented competition, I was totally thrilled to a) take 8th overall, b) to help my team score the win, c) to win the money, and d) to get another sub 2:48 effort on the books, especially on a home course on what was said to be a hot day.

I had a lot of fun out there and enjoyed myself at the end, knowing I was probably going to be 1 minute off. I ran the last two miles in celebrationof good health. I knew at the half I was going to need to really nail it toget there, but knew I was feeling good enough to go for it. Towards the20-23 mark, I figured I’d either be the last to hit it or the first to miss.I had some trouble finding my water bottles… took the wrong one early, worried I might ruin someone’s chance to get their fluids…I actually stopped and ran it back, then still couldn’t find mine. (“Hello, this is a race, you don’t just stop.”)

I had to stop at about 4 other stations trying to find mine…I thought someone else took them or knocked them over…That might have attributed to some of my time problems. Guess I need windmills [on the bottles for identification] next time. Ona hot day you need your stuff.

What's next for you? Will you take a shot at the Trials standard again?

Absolutely. I have already applied to several fall races and will confirm adecision once housing arrangements are together. I’m designing a plan for additional leg strength work I want to add to prepare me as much as possible since I don’t do a ton of mileage or doubles. Kelly Mortenson, my coach, is putting together my running program.

You're tied for the lead in the Runner-of-the-Year standings. Is that something you'd like to win?

That would be outstanding.

You're a busy person with a career, a daughter, and a competitive running career. How do you make that all work?

I have a lot of help, and although I like to cook, we eat out a lot. Baby joggers, baby sitters, my husband and his family is awesome and nearby to help. My parents like to come up for big races if we ask. Training partners are a big help. I rely on Gloria Jansen, Kelly & Jim Ramacier and Staci Bennett to get me out the door by 5/5:30/6 am.

Catching Up With Jeremy Polson

As promised, we tracked down men's Runner-of-the-Year leader Jeremy Polson (at right in photo) to talk about his race at Grandma's marathon and his season so far ...

How disappointing was Grandma's for you? You were clearly fit and ready to go, but it was a really tough day for people.

I knew once that sun came out that it wasn't going to be a great day so that was disappointing. I knew I was ready to run fast based on my previous performances but the weather is something you cannot control. I am happy with how things have gone so far this year so it wasn't as disappointing as some people may think it was. It was a team race and I wanted to help my team members out. I am not the type to drop out.

How did the race play out for you?

I went out at 5:24 for the first mile and it felt okay but each mile down the road until around mile 8 I knew it was going to be difficult to maintain a pace to qualify. After mile 8 I started to make some decisions in my head. I either had to keep going and see what happened or back off and save my legs. I decided I was going to finish to help out the Run N Fun race team and that is what I did. I felt okay after the race and my legs recovered quickly.

Will you try to run another marathon soon?

I took three days off after Grandma's and I am planning on going to Chicago to take another shot at the standard. I am back to 90 miles this week and I plan to slowly bring it up to the 150 mile range and be ready to race October 7th.

What are you planning for the rest of 2007? You're leading the Runner-of-the-Year standings, is that something you'd like to win?

Like I said earlier I am not super disappointed about Grandma's because it is one race out of hundreds that I have done and I am certainly happy with how things have gone for me this year. I am leading the Runner of the Year standings and I have yet to run a 10K or a 25K. I plan on running the Hennepin Lake 10K and the City of the Lakes 25K. I ran both of those races in very hot weather the year I ran my first Chicago marathon and they were great fitness checks for me so I feel that they will be just as beneficial this time around.

Polson, Cueno, and Gacek Lead Runner-of-the-Year Standings

Run N Fun's Jeremy Polson extended his men's open division lead in the Minnesota Running Data Center's Runner-of-the-Year standings in recently updated tabulations which include all of June's events.

While Polson was pulling away, however, the women's open division standings tightened up as previous leader Nicole Cueno of GEAR found herself tied with Run N Fun's Melissa Gacek in the standings

Polson leads GEAR's Pat Russell 60-52. GEAR's Josh Metcalf and Pete Gilman are 3rd and 4th with 46 and 44 points, respectively. Full men's open standings can be found HERE.

Gacek and Cueno are tied at 47 points. Just behind them lurk RNF's Angie Voight and Erin Ward with 46 and 45 points, respectively. Full women's open standings can be found HERE.

Chad Austin recently featured Cueno, a former NCAA Division III 1500 meter champion for Grinnell College, in THIS interview on his Running Minnesota web-site. DtB will feature its own short interviews with Gacek and Polson next week.

The Runner-of-the-Year age-group division leader board features lots of familiar names in Minnesota road racing like ... Shelly Larson, Kelly Mortenson, Sonya Anderson-Decker, Pat Billig, Kelly Keeler Ramacier, Digger Carlson, Janet Rosen, Bobby Paxton, Gloria Jansen, Denny Jordan, Kathryn Benhardus, Jim Graupner, Judy Cronen, Lee Stauffacher, Lois DeGonda, Gene Kalscheuer, Barbara Burhans, Greg Prom, Jill Kieser, and Burt Carlson.

New Leaders Top Runner-of-the-Year Standings

When Jeremy Polson kicked to victory at the Brain Kraft 5K on Monday, he didn't just put himself at the front of that race. His finish -- along with the rest of his fast running this spring -- also put him at the front of the pack in the scoring for the Minnesota Running Data Center's Runner-of-the-Year.

In the latest standings, which include races through the Kraft 5K, Polson, who competes for Run N Fun, leads early-season leader Patrick Russell of GEAR 59-56 in the Open Men's division. Polson has the fastest times for a Minnesotan this year in the 5K and the half marathon.

Full Open Men's standings can be found HERE. You can read Chad Austin's recent interview with Polson HERE.

GEAR's Nicole Cueno currently leads the Open Women's standings by a point over RNF's Erin Ward. Ward beat Cueno head-to-head at the New Prague Half Marathon recently, but Cueno has scoring marks in more races than Ward.

Full Open Women's tables are found HERE.

Runner-of-the-Year scoring for all age groups, as well as Runner-of-the-Year rules and standards can be found HERE.

Russell, Gacek Top Runner-of-the-Year Standings Through April

Human Race 8K Champion Pat Russell and Securian Frozen Half Marathon Champ Melissa Gacek currently lead the Minnesota Running Data Center Runner-of-the-Year standings.

The standings are tallied from performances on certified courses in Minnesota across a full range of distances. The newly updated standings include events through April.

Russell, who competes for GEAR Running Store, leads Run N Fun's Jeremy Polson 29-27. GEAR teammates Pete Gilman and Josh Metcalf are currently tied for 3rd with 26 points. RNF's Ed Whetham is fifth with 22.

Gacek, who represents Run N Fun, leads with 21 points. She's ahead of a three-way tie for second between GEAR's Sonya Anderson-Decker and Nicole Cueno and RNF's Amy Lyons. Angie Voight of RNF is fifth with 12 points.

Runner-of-the-Year standings are compiled for masters runners by age group as well. Anderson-Decker is tied with RNF's Bonnie Sons for the lead in the women's 40-44 age-group. John Vandanaker of Lundgren Ford tops the men's 40-44 list.

Mike Setter, who compiles the ROY standings, tips his hat to long-time state record-keeper jack Moran (of RaceberryJam fame) for his assistance with the effort.

"It's all based on data that Jack has been graciously providing," Setter told DtB. "He's definitely the one making things work this year even though he is not the official state LDR record keeper."