Spooky Ghoul's Halloween Alley

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       Introducing the Bushwackers and One Thunder Chicken!!

    From left to right: Lance, Devon, Dave, Jake, Steve, Howie

Jake is the one and only Thunder Chicken!!!

 The American Birkebeiner Trail Run, Relay and Trek consisted of a 26.2 mile relay marathon, an individual 13.1 mile half marathon, a 5K fun run/walk, and new this year was a 21K Birkie Trek. The Birkie Trail is located between Cable and Hayward Wisconsin. It is a very hilly trail used all year long by runners, bikers, hikers, and skiers. To get more information about the trail and all the races and events hosted there, please visit their website at http://www.birkie.com/ 

Here is the course description for this race posted on the website:

The order our team raced in was:

Stage one: Jake

Stage two: Howie

Stage three: Devon

Stage four: Steve

Stage five: Dave

Stage six: Lance

I wasn't able to get in to each hand off point. The only way to reach some of them was by driving down an old loggers road. Each team had to have a designated driver to drop off runners at each hand off point. The drivers were given numbers to put on their dash to let the officials know they were the official driver. It was suggested that all designated driver vehcles be either a truck or an SUV with 4 wheel drive.

Here is Jake taking a warm up jog at the starting line...

And here I made him pose at the starting line...

I wasn't able to get in to see Jake hand off to his dad, Howie. After Howie, Devon ran, but again we didn't get to see the hand off.

We were able to see Devon hand off to Steve. I don't have pictures of the hand offs, I had video taped the hand offs and then taken pictures of the guys in between the races when I could.

Here is Steve getting to his starting point...

This is where Steve and Devon had to hand off the scrunchy. They gave the team a hair scrunchy to put on their wrists while running and to hand off to the next runner. There were orange cones set up at each hand off point and the runners had to hand off within the cones or they would be disqualified.

The finish line was an exciting place. There were alot of spectators gathered there. Any runner, walker or trekker that came down the finish line was announced over a loud speaker and the crowd clapped and cheered as they went past. The area was marked off with huge banner flags that said American Birkebeiner on them.

Though the Bushwackers and One Thunder Chicken had no idea what to expect and didn't train for running hills, they still got 3rd place for their division. Now that they know what to expect they'll be training hard for next year... you guys are doing this again next year, right?? 

Even though all I did was ride around going to drop off points and take pictures, I was exhausted after the race. The team went to get their free lunch provided to them and I found myself a nice shady area under a tree to sit and rest. My hubby found me after he got his sandwich and sat with me. He saw the camera sitting there and grabbed it and took my picture. It's not often he gets the chance to sneak in a pic of me, so I let him take it.

By the way, I'm wearing the 'Birkie Run' t-shirt given to Steve for running in the race. 

This was a dual purpose trip for Steve and me. We were also using this trip away to have an early celebration for our 20th wedding anniversary this year. Our anniversary is October 29th, but we already have alot going on at that time so we decided that this trip would be a good time for us to have a special weekend together.

                          I love you, Dodo Bird!

We didn't get to do much sightseeing up there, but they were having their Fall Festival. Saturday afternoon the guys went golfing and the girls went shopping. They had streets blocked off with booths set up in the middle. It was fun to walk through the booths. I went to a candy shop and got some fancy candy and melt in your mouth fudge (thanks Dee for telling me about the candy shop!). I've never bought candy like that so it was a real treat. I found a goofy metal sign for Steve to hang in his "Man Cave" (there's a funny story behind the man cave thing). 

We're planning on taking our kids back up there some day. There's alot of fun stuff to see in the small town of Hayward, Wisconsin. One of the places we'd like to go see is the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum.  The museum is a giant muskie that is one-half city block long and four and one-half stories high. A walk through the museum leads you up flights of stairs to the muskies mouth, which is an observation platform to enjoy the scenery.

Another attraction in the area that I would really like to see is

              The Hideout, AL Capone's Northwoods Retreat