Morrison Rotary Club sponsored the 31st Annual Harvest Hammer event, on Saturday morning, September 15, 2018. Included were a Duathlon; foot races; Team Duathlon; a non-competitive Color Run for children and adults. The starting location was Morrison High School, 643 Genesee Avenue, Morrison, IL. Proceeds benefit local youth, education, and community and international projects of the Morrison Rotary Club.
Police Officer Mike Moon and part-time Police Officer Allie Deyo were on duty. Deyo is also a Patrol Deputy with the Whiteside County Sheriff’s Office. These two had use of the new, 2018, Dodge Charger squad car. Installation of special equipment was completed the day before, on Friday, September 14.
Statisticians from OnlineRaceResults.com have been part of the Harvest Hammer for six years. Madeline Jandt meets every race entrant. She prints a report of each persons’ finish time. Kevin Jandt enters the data online in real time. They are from Davenport, IA.
Click here to access all finishers in Duathlon, 5k, and Dualthlon Teams. There were 160 5k entrants and 62 finishers in the Duathlon. In the latter, the average time was 1:43:18 for the 17 women and 45 men. Bryce Mead completed the course 31:06 minutes ahead of the other 61 entrants. Watch this video of his approach to the finish line. The 22 Dualthlon Team finishers had an average time of 1:40:10.
Top 5 Duathlon Placers
Male Participants
| 1. | Bryce Mead | 1:12:12 |
| 2. | Nick Anderson | 1:20:22 |
| 3. | Matthias Kemmeren | 1:21:35 |
| 4. | Bob Thompson | 1:23:12 |
| 5. | John Thompson | 1:23:42 |
Female Participants
| 1. | Amy Nutial | 1:36:11 |
| 2. | Jane E. Simonsen | 1:36:13 |
| 3. | Erica Hunt | 1:37:51 |
| 4. | Lori Klatt | 1:43:19 |
| 5. | Natalie Haas | 1:44:42 |
Top 5k Placers
Male Participants
| 1. | Jason Schisler | 18:50 |
| 2. | Gabe Mahn | 20:11 |
| 3. | Randy Buikema | 22:19 |
| 4. | Jeff Brown | 22:20 |
| 5. | Mark Ottens | 22:31 |
Female Participants
| 1. | Kristy Schisler | 19:57 |
| 2. | Susie Savage | 20:59 |
| 3. | Kelly Brooks | 23:12 |
| 4. | Emily Ninotta | 23:59 |
| 5. | Lola Schuler | 24:09 |
Susie Savage is a Morrison native who lives in St. Charles, IL. Her second place time of 20:59 was a personal best, by a minute; she finished 4th overall for females. She will celebrate her 50th birthday soon. “I’m still coming back home. That was so exciting!” she exclaimed about her race. Lazaro Sifuentes, Sterling, IL, took second place in the men’s 55-59 age group, with a time of 23:59, placing him 15th overall.
Hilary McDearmon of Morrison enjoyed a first place win in her age group, 35-39, during her first Harvest Hammer 5k. She finished 28th overall for females, with a time of 25:48. Kristopher Schmidt of Morrison has entered “five [Harvest Hammer runs] that I can remember.” He competed in the 45-49 age group and finished 40th overall for males, with a time of 28:12. Since announcing his candidacy on Thursday, July 20, 2017, he continuously has been “running” for the Office of Whiteside County Sheriff.
John Gehrke, Sterling, ran the 5k with three grandchildren from Lisle, IL. He and wife Nancy–who was biking in the Duathlon when the photograph was taken–modeled dedication to their shared sports. Six and a half-year-old Charlie Mayer, left, had participated in the Fun Run just after 8:30 a.m., with children in grades three through five. At 9:00 he began a 5k race. Grandpa John pushed Charlie’s sisters, Julia, 3, (held bt her grandfather) and Kennedy, 1, in the stroller. Charlie took 45 minutes and 47 seconds to complete the 3.1 miles, finishing 124th overall. Gehrke completed the race at Charlie’s pace, but he has real racing credentials. He stated he and Nancy recently competed in the Chicago Triathlon. In June, he finished an Iron Man event, covering 70.3 miles in one day: swimming 1.2 miles; biking 56 miles; running 13.1 miles! Nancy Gehrke’s Duathlon times at the Harvest Hammer included running 3.1 miles in 22:24 minutes and then biking 21 miles, for 1:21:33. She finished 42nd overall.
Four generations of the Paulos, Jaco, and Crouch families gathered for the event; three male representatives competed in their first Harvest Hammer races. Their ages ranged from 8 to the 55-59 group. The youngest attendee was six-week-old Taylor Jaco. Bob and Lorrie Paulos traveled from California.
Left-to-right in the first row are his Great-grandmother, Lorrie Paulos; Grandmother, Amber Crouch; Great-grandfather, Bob Paulos, who was a runner in High School but entered his first 5k on this day, finishing in 24:30 and 20th overall; Taylor’s Father, Andrew Jaco, who also ran his first Harvest Hammer in 24:30, keeping pace with his grandfather, Bob, and finishing 19th overall; baby Taylor Jaco. Standing are eight-year-old Jacob Crouch who placed first in the Fun Run; Taylor’s Mother, Mackenzie Jaco; Grandfather Troy Crouch. In his young life, Jacob has undergone three open-heart surgeries: at 4 days, six months, and six years. On September 15, he became a first place winner in his first-ever race! Happy memories were created during these first Harvest Hammers.
