Tortoise and the Hare
Race Day Information
The event is held on a usually
warm, Thursday
evening in late July. Race day registration starts 5:00 p.m. at the Eau
Claire YMCA, at 700 Graham Avenue, not far from the finish line at Owen Park. The race begins at 7:30 p.m.
at Demler Park, a short warm up jog from the YMCA.
Children’s races of a quarter mile and half mile, and the awards ceremony
follows the conclusion of the 5K race. Pizza from Sammy's, loaves of bread from
Bohemian Ovens, and beverages are provided after
the race. The City of Eau Claire traditionally has an outdoor concert scheduled
at the same time in the band shell at Owen Park which the
runners are free to enjoy after the race. The race typically
draws about 100 runners.
Race Directors: Fred
Hable, 715.835.5897
Course
Description
The race starts at Demler Park and follows scenic Putnam
Drive into the woods and onto the gravel road. After going
through the tunnel under State Street, it snakes between the
university buildings and the bluff until the runners reach
Garfield Avenue. The runners cross the bridge over the Chippewa
River and circle on Water Street to reach the bike trail which
they follow into Owen Park, passing the tennis courts and band
shell to get to the finish line.
Course Maps (click to enlarge)
5K course
History 
The race was created as a revival of the grade school Shawtown 4 mile race. Organized by Judy Payne and Kim Deprenger in 1989, who invited "all area school children, several area clowns, chipmunks, police officers, track teams and assorted other attractions", it started as a children's race, grades 1 through 8. It remained a children's race until 1999, when Fred Hable realizing his inner child, threw it open to children of all ages.
The 1999 race was memorable.
Chad Johnson,
the 2001 USA 25k
champion, established the race record, but Fred Hable remembers
at least 5 other runners who finished under or around 16 minutes
that year. The next year, 2000,
Rachel Evjen, who would go on to set school records at
Northwestern University, set the women's race record. The
winners and their times are shown below:
| Year | Men | Women |
| 1999 | Chad Johnson (14:44) | Nicki Velleux (20:27) |
| 2000 | Cody See (16:14) | Rachel Evjen (18:17) |
| 2001 |
Corey Stelljes (16:31) |
DeAnna Pasch (20:06) |
| 2002 | Jim Parejko (16:40) | Wendy Bengtson (19:30) |
| 2003 | Adam Topper (16:04) | Wendy Bengtson (19:38) |
| 2004 |
Zach Vircks (16:02) |
Wendy Bengtson (19:40) |
| 2005 |
Cary Hayden (16:02) |
Ariella Gottfried (19:05) |
| 2006 | Jesse Merkel (15:51) | Karen Schoenrock (19:24) |
| 2007 | Wade Zweiner (17:36) | Kayla Dahl (20:26) |
Race Records
| Tortoise and the Hare 5k | ||
| Male | Chad Johnson (1999) 14:44 | |
| Female | Rachel Evjen (2000), 18:17 |
Results: 2007 • 2006 • 2005 • 2004 • 2003 • 2002 • 2001 • 2000