Northwoods Adventure: Lakewood Mini-Duathlon Gives Locals An Opportunity To Stay Active

On Saturday, Lakewood Health System in Staples hosted a mini-duathlon for a simple, but important cause.

“We know getting physically active and having something to train for is going to help reduce the risk of chronic illness in the future, and that’s what we want to make our communities healthier,” said Lakewood Health System Employee Wellness coordinator Katie Jo Poppler.

Times and place finishes were recorded, but that’s not what this event was really about.

“This is not really a race, this is an event, so you really race yourself if anything; we really aren’t racing each other,” said Lakewood Health System family physician Julie Benson.

“Anybody can walk or run a mile, anybody can run or ride a bike, for six or seven miles; let’s hope we can get more community members out,” said Lakewood Health System family physician Sarah Israelson.

Participants in this year’s event ranged from 8 to 61 years old. The race started with a 1.5-mile run, continued onto the bike for eight miles and concluded with a 1.3-mile sprint.

“Pretty fun starting out and then about halfway through the bike race, you feel like you don’t even want to finish,” said Lakewood mini-duathlon participant Amanda Turner.

There was quite a bit of dispute on whether or not the biking or running was tougher.

“The toughest part for me was biking and I don’t have a very good bike, so maybe that was the problem,” said Lakewood mini-duathlon participant Dan Bjerga.

“I think the hardest part is the second run because your legs are numb and tingly from the bike,” said Lakewood mini-duathlon participant Bonnie Johnson.

“Biking on the hills, I’ve never been good at hills,” said Lakewood mini-duathlon participant Gavin.

“Running will be harder because I’m not very fast,” said Lakewood mini-duathlon participant Alex.

But no matter if you’re fast or slow, young or old, what really matters is that you’re staying active and doing it together as a community.

“Just challenge yourself, get off the couch, let’s get moving and grooving, see what you can do,” said Benson.

This year’s Lakewood mini-duathlon was another success and they hope to have even more numbers for next year.