Photo courtesy of Clayton Sayen Bernard Kluskens (left) and Kate Abbott (right) pose after earning the Copper Country Running Company’s Trail Series titles Saturday at the Maasto Hiihto and Churning Rapids Trails in Hancock.

By DAVER KARNOSKY

dkarnosky@mininggazette.com

HOUGHTON — With the completion of the Churning Rapids Championship 5K on Saturday, the Copper County Running Company’s Trail Series came to an exciting end.

Kate Abbott won the women’s race with a time of 72:00. She finished 13 seconds faster than Tessa Rautiola and 40 seconds faster than Kristen Monahan-Smith.

Lexton Rockwell won the men’s race with a time of 68:40. He was nearly eight minutes faster than Bernard Kluskens, who took second with a time of 76:38. Simon Carn and Ryan Melen finished just five seconds apart to take third and fourth, respectively.

Race organizer, and general manager of the Copper Country Running Company, Clayton Sayen was really happy with how well the five-race trail series came together in the end.

“There were no real hiccups,” he said. “There was a lot more planning this year, but it went smooth. I enjoyed it. I got a lot of great feedback. My staff had a good time. I considered it a success. It was good. Glad it’s done.”

One reason the trail series was such a success in Sayen’s estimation was that, with five races this season instead of three that made up the series last year, there was plenty of variety.

“I definitely got to see that the various types of terrain that we had this year, whether it be short, like short and super hilly, single-track long and flat, or single-track long and hilly, we kind of hit the whole spectrum of terrain this year,” he said. “I know that was really appreciated by the racers. Those that just did pick and choose what race they did, and those that did all five, they really appreciated the diverse terrain.”

Abbott finished as the overall winner in the women’s category with 118 points. She won four out of the five races in the series. Rautiola, who finished second with 79 points, won the other race.

Katrina Johnson finished third, Stephanie McKenzie fourth, and Monohan-Smith took fifth. All three needed the points they earned in the Churning Rapids Championship to earn their spots in the overall standings.

In the men’s competition, Kluskens earned the top spot with 61 points. Phil Rigling finished second with 55 points.

Ryne Hocking took third, Craig Hughes fourth, and Ben Wood earned fifth. All three were separated by just 11 points in the end.

Having several spots in the overall standings up for grabs when Saturday’s race started was part of what made the race so exciting.

“That was actually super cool,” Sayen said. “So, there was, up front on the women’s side, I think, Kate Abbott won four of them, but on the men’s side, there were different winners seemingly every time, which was awesome. What’s really cool is, I don’t think that we got to see this last year because it was only three races long, but with it being five races long, and we give points to the Top-10 finishers of each race, and obviously the Top-5 get the Grand Prize, it wasn’t literally until all of the women were through, and the men were through on this Saturday’s race to know who the grand prize recipients were.”

Sayen said that the runners who took part in the trail series were very excited to participate, and several had ideas to help keep things interesting in future versions of the series in coming years.

“The biggest feedback that I got from the winners was how grateful they were that I did it, which makes it worth it to do again,” he said. “But, from a competitive standpoint, I didn’t hear a whole lot of chatter, but I know it was there. I think part of the reason why it wasn’t super prominent was because it was so small, and people didn’t want to say, ‘Hey, I want to beat you, because there’s only 15 people in, 15 women in each race.’ But, (rather, I had) a sense that a competitive sense like that kind of lets everybody play in the way that you can show up to every race, and get points at every race. You’ll be much more likely to score in the Top-5 than if you just try and place pretty high at three of them. It leveled the playing field.

“There was a much greater competitive atmosphere this year.”

If he makes any major changes next year, Sayen said that he might look to spread the races out a bit more, trying to keep the series away from other major running events throughout the region.

TECH TRAILS TROT

The next race that Sayen is involved with is the Tech Trails Trot, which will take place on Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Tech Trails in Houghton. The race will feature a 10k, called Husky Gold, a 5k, called Husky Black, and a 2k for children, called Little Huskies.

“This is an interesting one that I’m doing,” he said. “It’s a fundraiser for Michigan Tech’s cross country (and) track and field teams.

“I want to do this one, because I’m thinking right now that I’m on the staff (as a graduate assistant), how can I utilize my resources from both ends to make something really cool? I think that’s what I’m aiming for here. So, the Tech Trails Trot on Oct. 5 on the Tech Trails, it’s a 10k, 5k, and a 2k. All of the proceeds from that event will be donated back. All the proceeds are going to go to Michigan Tech cross country.”

Sayen said that several Huskies will be involved with helping put on the event.

“That’ll be really cool,” he said. “The athletes will be there helping, and the Tech Trails is just cool. It’ll be in the heart of cross country season. Hopefully, we’ll have some color, and I’m expecting a big turnout. I’d like to see north of 60, 70 racers.”

Cost for the race will be $40 for the 10k, $25 for the 5k, and $15 for the 2k, with the proceeds going to helping the running teams at Michigan Tech.