Menard Run now a state championship

Sports editor

In just three years the Curtis Menard II Memorial Run has become one of the most recognized running events in the state of Alaska. Race organizers have now joined forces with USA Track and Field to make the Menard Run a premiere event in Alaska.

The race, which is scheduled for June 5 in Wasilla, is now the official state championship for the 5-kilometer and a $1,000 prize will be given to the top male and female in the race. The Menard Run will also act as Alaska's qualifier for national events sponsored by USA Track and Field.

Michael Janecek, co-organizer of the event, said he has long been looking for ways to provide cash prizes for runners. He said, not only the cash prize, but the collaboration with USA Track and Field is a great step forward for the event.

"We would like a quality event to represent a quality guy," Janecek said of the event which honors the memory of a valued member of not only the local running community, but the Mat-Su community. "Curtis would be proud of us, he would be behind us."

Co-organizer Steve Miller said the Menard Run evolved into the 5-k state championship after the excellent results of the runners who participated last year.

"It turned out that everyone had their best day," Miller said.

Miller said USA Track and Field is striving to sanction an official state championship in each state. Miller befriended Ole Jordan, the president of USA Track and Field, and the national organization teamed with organizers of the Menard Run.

"Ole could see we were really working hard to make this a quality event," Miller said. "To my knowledge, USA Track and Field has not held a state championship in Alaska."

According to Janecek, one of the most important parts of the process was obtaining a precise measurement of the course. Janecek said USA Track and Field officials use a device on a bicycle and with the circumference of the wheel and the number of clicks the device counts, a mathematical equation is used to find the results in the measurement of feet, yards or meters.

"It gives you an accurate measurement," Janecek said. "One is within four inches, and the other is right on the button."

Officials took two measurements of the course that runs along the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, to get the most accurate measurement possible.

Miller and Janecek each hope the improvements made to the race will increase the size of the 2004 field. More than 200 of the 450 participants of the 2003 Menard Run were runners, while the remainder walked in the charity event. The inaugural run attracted about 500 participants. Other prominent running events in the state include the Heart Run in Anchorage, which attracted about 800 runners and 5,000 walkers this year.

Miller said the money for the race purse was generated by sponsorships, and the proceeds from the race will go to a pair of charities. Half of the proceeds will benefit Children's Place -- an advocacy house for children who suffered abuse -- and the remainder will go to a scholarship given in Menard's name. Wasilla High School, Menard's alma matter, offers an annual scholarship to a Wasilla student that represents the characteristics, such as outstanding leadership, that Menard possessed.

Miller said there are several ways to register for the 2004 run. Registration can be completed online at menardrun.com and in person June 1 at the Skinny Raven in Anchorage and June 2 at Kalaadi Brothers Coffee in the Carrs Mall in Wasilla.