Race
Day Information:
The race is on Saturday, October
30, 2010. The temperatures for race day can range from 40 degrees
to the mid-70s.
Start and Finish: The races start and finish at the Paul Bunyan Logging Camp in Carson Park, Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Registration:
Online registration will be available in September
Mail-in registration
forms can be downloaded when available.
Day-of-Race Registration begins at 6:00 a.m. on race day morning.
$5 discount to all ITC members.
Course Description:
The 5K course and 10 mile courses are being redesigned this year. Stay tuned for more information.
Course Maps (click to enlarge)
Half Moon 5K Carson 10
Trick or Treat Kid's Run: A free fun run for children, ages 2 through 10, with the ITC Tortoise and Hare, Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. Participants with receive a “Healthy Halloween” goodie bag filled with with special treats from sponsors and area businesses.
Pancake
Breakfast:
From 8:30
a.m. to noon at the Logging Camp/Museum with kid’s activities
including milk mustache photos, scavenger hunt
and more. Take a free tour of the Chippewa Valley Museum .
Shirts:
Post Race Ceremonies: The awards ceremony will begin at approximately 10:30 a.m. Plenty of food, hot beverages and cold beverages are available after the race.
Awards: Awards are given to the first place overall male and female finishers and to the first 3 finishers in each age group . The Earl Mathes award is given to the top male and female Masters finishers in the 10 mile race. Awards will also be presented for the kid’s costume and adult Paul Bunyan costume contests.
Aid Stations: Bathroom facilities are available at the starting and finish lines.
Parking: Parking is available in Carson Park.
Race Director: Wade Zwiener
Free Training Clinics: For 10 consecutive Saturdays starting at 7 a.m. on August 21, 2010 at the Owen Park tennis courts, the ITC will host a training clinic by an area fitness expert followed by your choice of a 5, 10, or 15 mile group training run.
History: The Carson 10 is the oldest of the ITC races, having its maiden run in the spring of 1969. Except for 2 years in the 70s, its home has remained at Carson Park, Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The original 10 mile course required runners to complete 5 loops plus another 4,338 feet, all within the confines of Carson Park. Joan and David Angell measured the original course with a one hundred foot steel tape because the club had no measuring wheel at that time.
The club wanted the best possible field of runners for the first race so Dave Angell called Ron Dawes, from the Twin Cities Track Club, explained the situation, and asked him if he would compete. At the time, Ron Dawes was the top American finisher in the 1969 Boston Marathon, finishing in 4th place that year. He won the first Twin Cities Marathon (then known as the Land of Lakes Marathon) in 1963 beating out a total field of 5 other runners, and represented the US in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics marathon. He graciously accepted Dave Angell's invitation in 1969 and brought several other runners with him. Thirty-five runners finished the first Carson 10. Ron Dawes led the entire race and finished in 52:34. There were no women runners in this first race and wouldn’t be until 1974.
Starting line photograph from 1971. Bob Fitts is wearing Bib No. 56. Also recognizable in the photograph are Bruce Mortenson, Bob Hoffman, Paul Dale, Bill "the Grey Ghost" Andberg and Reuben Zettler.
Bob Fitts, the 1970 National Marathon Champion, won the 3rd annual Carson 10 in 1971. His time of 49:54 was one of two sub-50 minute times ever recorded in the history of the race. It is the only official sub-50 minute time because road construction necessitated a slightly altered course in the later race. There were 32 runners who ran the 10 mile race that year. The 1971 event also included the first running of the Joggers 2-Mile race and the Ladies 1-Mile race. Dan Conway of Owen, Wisconsin, won the 2-Mile that year in 11:53; and Toni St. Pierre of Hopkins, Minnesota, was first to finish the Ladies 1-mile race with a time of 5:46. Toni St. Pierre was an outstanding runner in track and cross country, setting the national record in the half-mile. She fought a legal battle with Minnesota State High School League for equal opportunities for female athletes, and won. She was a pioneer in the era of emerging girls programs.
Also new in 1971, the Earl Matthes Award was given to the top male (and in later years, female) Masters (40+) finishers of the 10 mile race. Earl Matthes was one the of the founding members of the ITC. An outstanding athlete, Earl died of cancer in 1971 while in his mid-40's. His wife, Harriet, established the Earl Matthes Award in his honor. The trophy originally was a traveling one. These days, the Earl Matthes Award winners are given a smaller trophy to keep. Bill Andberg, "The Gray Ghost" of Anoka, Minnesota, was the first recipient with a time of 62:03.
The year of 1974 was notable because Jan Arenz was the first woman to run the 10 mile race. Her time was 67:35. Steve Hoag, who would finish 2nd in the Boston marathon in 1975, was the 1st place finisher with 49:47. However, the course had been slightly altered because of road construction. There were 8 runners over 40. Alex Ratelle won the Earl Matthes award in a time of 57:49. Alex Ratelle still holds the Grandma's Marathon 55-59 age group record of 2:30:40, set in 1981, and the Grandma's Marathon 60-64 age group record of 2:48:20, set in 1985.
In 1977, Jerry Foote added a twist and held a Jogger's Predicted Time 2 mile run. The winner was the racer whose actual time was closest to his of her predicted time.
Two Olympic runners participated in the 1979 race. Ron Dawes returned and placed 3rd overall, winning the 40-50 age group. He brought along his friend, Lorraine Moller, a National Champion and future four-time Olympian marathon runner from New Zealand. Finishing 6th overall in 58:13, she set a race record for women which still stands although Karen Schoenrock would come within 3 seconds of it in 1986.
The notes from one of the race directors in 1981, either Jerry Foote or Roger Hubbard, indicated that "Barney Klecker, world record holder for the 50 mile run, ran away from the field to win the 10 mile in 51:45. Barney is an Indianhead Track Club member from Hopkins, Minnesota."
The 1993 race was supposed to include the new Chippewa River Trail, but this change was postponed a year because of flood damage. Since then the course has incorporated the Chippewa River State Recreational Trail south of Eau Claire which provides the 10 mile runners with a scenic view of the broad meanders of the Chippewa River.
Harvest Fest 10 Miler replaced the Carson Park 10 Miler in 1995. Race Director Judy Gehrman hoped the new course and new format would increase participation. The new course began west of town and finished in Owen Park. Then in 1996, the race name was changed again to Norwest Leaf Peeper 10 Mile Run. Finally, the name returned to Carson Park 10 Road Run in 1997. Starting ten miles out of town, runners finished once again in Carson Park.
Race Records
| Carson 2 | Carson 10 | |
| Male | Scott Jansky (2001) 9:49 | Bob Fitts (1971) 49:54 |
| Female | DeAnna Pasch (2001) 13:03 | Lorraine Moller (1979), 58:13 |
Course Records
| Carson 2 | Carson 10 | |
| Male | Scott Jansky (2001) 9:49 | Vince Temu (2005) 52:40 |
| Female | DeAnna Pasch (2001) 13:03 | Karen Schoenrock (2005), 63:44 |
Results: 2009 • 2008 • 2007 • 2006 • 2005 • 2004 • 2003 • 2002 • 2001 • 2000
Last Updated 07/29/2010