Friends dominate Al’s Run in their first try
A couple of college rivals battled it out for the women's title, while running friends finished in the tightest race possible on the men's side and the overall winner was a running club in Madison.
It was a great way to commemorate the 42nd annual Briggs & Al's Run & Walk on a perfect Saturday morning.
Sprinting to the finish, Erik Duethman just barely edged out Michael Quesnell for the gold medal of the 8K race that began on the campus of Marquette University. Duethman's winning time was 25 minutes 33.8 seconds – just a tenth of a second ahead Quesnell's.
Right behind them was the women's champion, Shaelyn Sorenson, who also took third overall at a scorching 26:43.
Here's where it gets fun. The men's third place finisher was Jered SweeneyDemeza at 27:00. All of these runners belong to Movin' Shoes, a Madisonbased running club, and running specialty store.
And, then Andie Shine took second in the women's race. Shine ran at the University of Iowa, and she was a Big Ten
rival of Sorenson, who ran at the University of Wisconsin. They both just graduated earlier this year.
Got all that? If not, that's OK. All you need to know is that all of these 20something runners now all live in Madison, and all ran very fast in their first Al's Run.
“I really like the 8K,” said Duethman, who ran at Luther College in Iowa. The unit coordinator at Meriter Hospital is also the recent winner of the Syttende Mai 10-miler in Stoughton. “It was really fun. The finish was really cool. It was a little chaotic – we didn't really know where to go because the motorcycle went the wrong way. It's all good! We just had to navigate around.”
The finish line was moved from the streets outside of the Italian Community Center to the Summerfest grounds, right by the Harley-Davidson stage, a huge improvement. The setting is much better for a photo finish, and runners were close to the after-race party that featured food vendors and a band.
Duethman signed up for the race to join his Movin' Shoes club mates, so it was even more rewarding to finish with his friends all around him.
“I can't do this by myself, otherwise I take it too seriously, and I get injured,” said Duethman.
Quesnell fought off serious stomach, cold and flu symptoms all week to claim his silver.
“This run is absolutely beautiful,” he said. “I was so impressed that the roads were completely blocked off for runners. That's not normal. It was really neat to see a lot of people spectating and cheering on.”
Al's Run is one of the great things we have going in September in Wisconsin. Participants, who could also choose a 3K or 5K walk, and sponsors raised nearly $1 million for Children's Hospital of Wisconsin this year and more than $22 million in the event's history, said Peggy Troy, president and CEO of CHW.
Organizers said 100% of the event's proceeds support Children's Hospital's research, advocacy, care and education efforts throughout the state.
For Sorenson and Shine, Al's Run was just a continuation of their standout collegiate careers. They once endured an 80 degree 10K in Austin, Texas, that took place at 10 p.m. It was so hot, water was supplied every 200 meters.
Sorenson ran at nationals all four years for cross country and was an NCAA regional qualifier in track. She's transitioning in to road racing now.
“I really liked breaking the tape,” said Sorenson, a forecast analyst at Fiskars. “And I really liked running down Wisconsin Avenue.”