Hundreds from Italy to Ethiopia toed the line Sunday at Live Oak High School for the 28th annual Wildflower Run presented by the American Association of University Women
Hundreds from Italy to Ethiopia toed the line Sunday at Live Oak High School for the 28th annual Wildflower Run presented by the American Association of University Women.
Despite the chilly weather, 755 stalwarts ran or walked for the red tees, finisher medals and Jamba Juice smoothies and, of course, set personal records.
The children’s 2k winners were Cole Davis and Natalie Mazaud, although the race wasn’t timed officially.
Fifty Wolfpak members showed up in their sleek black uniforms among the 705 other contestants prepped and ready to blast out of the gates. From little kids to senior citizens, these guys always show up at every Wildflower event. They were also among the winners in Sunday.
Kyle Deisenroth blazed the trail in the 5K with 17 minutes, 26 seconds, followed by Ryan Corvese in 17:34. Cody Hulme snagged third place in 18:06.
Morgan Hill’s Michael Hulme also ran the 5K with his son, Cody. He finished in an impressive 20:23.
“This is a great race because there are lot of people we see at the start and finish. This is my second wildflower,” Hulme said.
In the ladies division, Erin Logan sprinted to the finish in 20:49 with Julie Wolfsmith on her heels in 21:02 and Akane Hashimoto rounding it up with 21:57.
These winners gave me a peek into how they prepared for the race.
“We cross-train, so we swam, bike and run to prepare for our runs,” said Wolfsmith, who leads the Wolfpak team with her husband, Dave. “We all had goal times that we went over yesterday. We all had our paces and went for it. I think everyone is happy with their race.”
Erin Logan said, “I felt great. I felt strong. We all trained together as a team. We encouraged and supported each other and ran together. We train seven days a week.”
Hashimoto is a Japanese exchange student at Sobrato High School; she is also part of the Wolfpakers.
“It was fun, I like running. Keeping the pace was hard,” she said.
“We all had aggressive goals. It was hard for all of us at all levels,” Wolfsmith added. “We do this to keep a healthy lifestyle.”
“We keep a fast pace consistently, the whole race you’re feeling it,” Logan added.
San Jose’s Jimmy Baraona came with his mom, Kathie. They enjoyed the 3.1-mile run.
“I could’ve run better had I practice running a lot more before the race,” Baraona said, regarding his finish time of 28:15.
I ran with them, seeing if I would be the first to make it to the Jamba Juice tent afterwards. Whoever lost had to pay for a delicious Strawberry smoothie for everyone. Baraona’s mom beat me by crossing the finish line at 33.14 and I trailed behind in 33.44. Good thing the smoothies were free.
Fred Deisenroth, who completed the 10K in 42:20, and his son, Derek, competed in the 10K. They are part of the Wolfpak triathlon team. Unfortunately, due to a goof up with the lead cyclist making a wrong turn on the 10K course, the leaders of the pack were disqualified, and their times weren’t recorded. This included the elite runner Tegenu Beru and the younger Deisenroth. They get a comp entry for next year’s run.
Derek Deisenroth said, “I probably PR’d today but went the wrong way because the front few people in the 10K went the wrong way. I followed my teammate who was in front of me. It was a shorter race.”
“I think he had a PR at the 5K point and he was excited to see if he was going to PR on his 10K time. So it’s kind of a bummer that the course changed,” Derek’s father said.
Marathoner Gar Chan from Gilroy ran the 10K (46:13) and he wasn’t affected by the mishap on the course.
“My strategy was to finish and not fall flat on my race,” he joked. “It was a good training goal to reach my time. This is a great run, the organization is fantastic, and people are very friendly. It’s a fantastic race as usual and I wish everyone can run it.”
