Travelled to Morton for the annual Logger's Jubilee and did my usual triathlon, lawnmower races on Friday night, the Jubilee 10k Saturday morning and dancing at the Moose Club in the evening. 

 

Another standing room only crowd for the mower races and there was a ton of racers too.  Enough for eight heats and five mains.  Checking in, I was handed a trophy that I evidently won in the C Main from the previous year.  I joked that I should have just took it and left while I was ahead.

 

 I timed into the 5th heat, with heat 8 being the fastest guys.  Brothers Andy and Ted timed in slightly slower after trials but both won their heats.  So the pressure was really on me.  I started in lane three and somehow got the lead into corner one.  I was increasing my lead when on lap two the mower started stalling for a couple seconds each lap in the south corner. (nearest the beer garden.)  I managed to hold off the competition with some tricky driving but with one lap to go I stalled again and two guys plowed me good into a hay bale dropping me into third.  I bounced right off it and finished strong but couldn't solve the stalling issue.  I qualified for the B Main and immediately took the lead again.  This was key since only the winner of that main advances to the A Main.  For three laps I was cruising but then the stalling thing started again and I was passed by one mower.  Despite the issues, I held my position until two laps left when two more guys came around my sluggish machine.  Oh it was so damn frustrating.  There's no question I would have been in the final had the machine been running smoother.  I would have been slaughtered by the NASCAR wanna-be's in the final but just getting into that race would have been victory for me. 

 

I was frustrated by my engine troubles so after the B, I loaded my mower up and headed home before the Finals so I could beat traffic.  Keep in mind, this is a rural town of 1100 people that are spread out all over the place but during the lawnmower races, there are about 3500 people crammed into Jubilee Arena.

 

Saturday I was up early for the 10k.  It was raining that morning but it stopped just before the run and the cool, cloudy weather was great.  I ran a decent race, right around 46:00 which means I am not getting faster, but not getting slower either.  I ran with a group of four for a couple miles and then ran from mile two to mile five with a girl that has been running the race for years with her father.  Normally I beat her by a couple of minutes but each year she gets faster and this year she was really fast.  We were kind of pacing off each other, when one would slow a little, the other would drop back a little to pick them up again.  I slowed a couple times so she could catch up but at mile five there is a killer hill and when we reached the top I was toast.  She started to slow for me but I told her not to wait for me.  She took off, caught one more guy ahead of us and set a new PR in the process.  She was really happy and I felt old.....Kind of how I felt the first time I beat the race organizer, only in reverse.   I ran with my iPod for once and by total accident I had a great music mix.

 

Did the parade with neice Annika and we got lots of candy.  The rest of the day was spent relaxing and playing with Annika and the nephews.  Of course in the evening I had to make my token appearance at the Moose Club but I hardly recognized anyone there.  Just a bunch of young 20-somethings that I didn't know.  I did stay long enough to participate in an Electric Slide line dance.  I was the only male in the joint who knew the dance.  The group I was with was even more bored than I was so we left kind of early. 

 

Sunday was a typical wind down day.  We took Annika and Benny to the flea market, which they loved.  The town was swamped with tourists, it's often estimated that 10,000 people will pass through town during the Jubilee and this year I almost believe it.  I think gas prices are keeping people closer to home and that might have benefited Morton this year.