2008 Year in Review

Local Racer Comes Home to the Hammer

Jason Schisler

This year local bike racer and professional trainer, Jason Schisler, returns to the Harvest Hammer race for his third time on September 20, 2008. Schisler teamed up with Chris Stevens for a second place Duathalon finish in 2003 and placed first with Angie Renkes as a Co-Ed duathlon team in 2004. Inspired by these early victories, Schisler now enjoys a well-established racing career and is currently employed by Vision Quest Coaching services, training serious racers.

Schisler, a 2002 Morrison High School graduate, graduated from Wheaton College in 2006 after interning with Vision Quest Coaching Services while in college. Vision Quest is lead by former professional bike racer Robbie Ventura, who was a member of the US Postal team with Lance Armstrong. Schisler now works closely with Ventura. Their service provides training and performance tests for bikers and triathletes around the nation.

Since his racing start in Morrison in 2003, Schisler has participated in about 70 races in Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Tennessee, and Illinois. He has moved up in a national ranking system from a Category 5 (beginner) to a Category 3 racer. Schisler expects to achieve a Category 2 rank by the end of the 2008 racing season, to be followed next by Category 1 and then professional status. His most notable finishes were his 2007 2nd Place Illinois State Championship at the Proctor Classic in Peoria, IL (Cat 4) and an 8th place finish in the Edgar Soto 4-day Stage Race (Cat 3) in 2007 in Nashville, Tennessee. In his fourteen race starts in 2008, he has captured two second places, two third places, and a 4th (Cat 3) place finish with stiff competition.

“The Hammer is an interesting and taxing race in that you are racing against yourself with no other bikers to draft off of” says Schisler. Adding, “My Dad is a Rotarian and they are this years organizers of the race, how could I say no.” “He even has leaned on our company to be a race sponsor.”

This year Schisler will team up with Morrison’s Jr. High principal Darryl Hogue. Hogue will run the 3.1 mile course and then tag off with Schisler who will race across the 21 mile bicycle course. This partnership came about when an athlete that Schisler coaches arrived at the Vision Quest training facility in suburban Chicago wearing a Morrison Harvest Hammer shirt. The athlete in training turned out to be a good friend of Principal Hogue’s and Jason became his substitute when Hogue’s partner’s race schedule would not allow him to be here for the weekend.

The 21st annual Harvest Hammer is a unique event that inspires young and older to achieve their personal best times. The race offers the customary 5K run and shorter fun races for the kids, combine with the additional excitement of a Duathlon that draws serious athletes from several states. The Duathalon combines the 5K run with a 21 mile bicycle race. One person can do both or find a partner for either segment.

Schisler stated, “I’m looking forward to a fun time to end the racing season and be home of a weekend before Cyclocross racing begins.

Whether you want to participate as an athlete or spectator, all are welcome to join the excitement that begins at 8:15 at the Morrison High School. Come watch, you never know which young runner or rider may be our next professional athlete.

by  Editor, theCity1.com
September 15, 2008