Whitefish run celebrates milestone

Saturday's Lake Run will be the 30th running

Call it luck or call it perfect timing, but regardless of the circumstances, the 30th annual Whitefish Lake Run will take place on the … yes, the 30th of June, which is Saturday.

"Isn't that something how that worked out," event organizer Bill Brist said. "That's pretty cool. The theme we use: 30th on the 30th.

"The luck of the calendar - kind of nice. Actually, it gave us an extra week to set this up."

The run is always held on the final Saturday of June. This year there are five weekends on the June calendar.

The race will again start and finish for the 5-kilometer participants at Whitefish City Beach.

Those in the 10K will be bussed to the starting line, which is on East Lake Shore Drive, starting at 6:45 a.m. from City Beach. The 10K finish line is also City Beach.

Both races begin at 8 a.m.

"The main thing, we want this to be a great community event for the Flathead Valley," Brist said. "We don't need a Bloomsday (type event). We want it to be a great experience for everybody."

Last year there were 380 finishers in the two races - 259 in the 5K and 121 in the 10K. Brist expects 400 to 500 for this year's run, which he says is perfect size.

The one new change this year is Perfect Timing of Bozeman will handle all the timing.

"That will help us get results out real fast," Brist said. "We'll be able to get the age group results out a lot quicker. Maybe a good hour before we did last year. That was the one thing we felt we could improve on and we took a step in that direction."

The awards ceremony following the race should take place around 10:30 a.m. at the beach.

"Everything else is pretty much the same," Brist said.

"The weather should be great."

Runners can register for both races until 6 p.m. today at the Sportsman and Ski Haus in

Whitefish and Kalispell. Those who have pre-registered can pick up their race packets starting today after 3 p.m. at the Sportsman and Ski Haus in Whitefish.

The entry fee, which includes a T-shirt and a water bottle, is $15 for adults and $10 for those under 12.

The top five finishers, male and female, overall and masters (over age 40) will receive awards. Awards will be also given to the top three finishers, male and female, in all age groups.

The top five overall, as well as masters, are not eligible for the age group awards.

One lucky participant will win a $1,000 shopping spree for Asics products at the Sportsman Ski Haus. That will be determined through a drawing.

Brist said the 10K run will again be the USATF Montana State Road Race Championship.

"That brings in some quality runners who want that award," he said. "It's been here for the last two years. It's a pretty good deal for us, an honor to have that."

Winning the 10K a year ago were Logan Torgison of Polson (34 minutes, 17 seconds) and Elizabeth (Roodell) Moore of Fort Collins, Colo. (38:52).

Moore is a former standout runner from Eureka. She competed at several NCAA national cross country championships with Colorado State.

Winning the 5K titles were Caleb Ambrose of Santa Barbara, Calif., (16:46) and Mairead Kelly of Forest City, Iowa (18:58).

Ambrose enjoyed a brilliant running career at Flathead High School and on the next level at Westmont College.