Door County Half Marathon “A Total Success”

Ryf crosses the finish line of the first ever Door County Half Marathon.

Jason Ryf entered the first Door County Half Marathon at the last second. He finished it second to none.

The 37 year-old Oshkosh West art teacher and assistant cross country coach dominated the May 3rd race in Peninsula State Park from start to finish, crossing the line more than ten minutes ahead of second place Ryan Miller. Ryf finished in 1:08:57, a blistering pace of 5:16 per mile.

“I was pretty happy with my time,” he said. “This winter was pretty tough to train in so the speed’s not quite there. I’d like to take off another minute or so as the season progresses.”

Miller, 21, came in at 1:19:25 in the race for which he designed the logo. Laura Ankrum took first in the women’s division with a time of 1:29:22, putting her eighth overall, just behind noted 59 year-old ultra-marathoner Roy Pirrung of Sheboygan who finished with a time of 1:28:44.

The top Door County male finisher was Mike Bruno of Sturgeon Bay, who placed 9th, while Krista Lawell paced the county’s women by finishing 29th.

Ryf qualified for the United States Olympic Trials in the marathon in both 2004 and 2008, finishing 27th in 2004. His best half marathon time is 1:07:30.

A scene from the start line in Peninsula State Park.

Race organizers had hoped to draw 500 registered runners in year one and surpassed the goal easily with 581. If post-race comments are any indication, they should expect a big jump in year two.

Ryf, a veteran of over 200 competitive races and 15 marathons, said he would definitely do it again and predicted the number of runners would double next year. Post-race surveys showed 100 percent of participants would recommend the run to a friend.

Much of the praise is owed to the unique nature of the race, staged on a closed course in one of the most popular parks in the region. Securing park approval for the event wasn’t easy but the effort paid off in the end.

“I was initially a little hesitant from a park management standpoint and had concerns about closing the roads,” Park Manager Tom Blackwood said, “but that turned out not to be a problem.”

He was also concerned the event could create maintenance issues and costs incurred to the park, but post-race evaluations revealed few problems.

Ryf praised the organization of the event and the friendliness of the volunteers. He was approached about running the race by co-organizer Brian Fitzgerald after Ryf won the Oshkosh Half Marathon in April. Ryf said he doesn’t normally travel north of Green Bay to run, but Door County “was well worth the trip.”

Two days after the event Blackwood deemed it a “total success.” In fact, his biggest concern came in looking to next year’s race.

“Parking will be something to consider as this race grows, and it will,” he said. “Car-pooling and transit will have to be utilized and I know the race organizers are already planning for that.”

The event was a boon to an otherwise slow weekend for visitors in the county as well. Mary Knutson said 88 percent of those registered for the half marathon live outside Door County, and 31 percent of those who participated in either the half marathon or the 5k race, or about 180 people, said they stayed in a hotel in the area.

Knutson said the post-race buzz was extremely positive.

“Overall people felt it was well-organized and they really enjoyed the course, the scenery – even the hills,” she said. “Everywhere I went people were smiling, really a feel-good kind of day.”

“I could see everybody was having a great time,” Blackwood said. “As I was walking around I got the impression a lot of people hadn’t come to the park before and had come specifically for the run, but would come back to see the park.”

With significant growth expected, notes for next year are already being taken.

“We’ll have to be even more prepared,” Knutson said. “Parking will be something to consider, and we’ll have to round up some more volunteers. The ones we had this year were incredible.”