Wyatt Doop - Runner/Student/Part-Time ModelThis year the annual Lumberjack Days 5K was host to the USATF Minnesota state 5K championship and one of the USATF Minnesota Team Circuit races. The Gear West Racing Team made its debut in the race and performed quite well in its first event. On a cool cloudy morning, times were very fast for everyone in the race.
For Gear West, all 4 runners in the 5K ran new personal best times. Kyle Donovan of River Falls, WI led the team by finishing in 15:38.5 to place 19th overall. Close behind was Matt Liebsch of Orono, MN in a time of 15:40.8 in 21st place. Matt and Kyle went back and forth leading the team throughout the race and both ran their best times by over 40 seconds. Third on the team was Wyatt Doop of Wayzata, MN in a new best time of 15:48.8, good enough for 27th place and the final finisher for the team was Brandon Heebink of Plymouth, MN in a time of 16:43.1 to place 61st overall. In the race there were 1,370 finishers total. The winning time overall was 14:41.4.
Gear West also had one representative in the Lumberjack Days 10 Mile race. Jason Quarford of Rosemount, MN came in with a strong performance of 55:55 to place 6th overall in a race of 1,077 finishers.
The team will be performing next as a full team on Sunday, August 15th at the MDRA 15K in Edina, MN, which is the next race in the USATF Minnesota Team Circuit presented by Twin Cities in Motion. Be on the lookout for the Gear West Racing Team members at this race and at other races throughout the Twin Cities area this summer and fall!
