John wins Spring Fever 10k

ALTOONA — Austin John and Braxton Haines made runaways of their events in the Indianhead Track Club’s 40th Spring Fever 10k and 5-k races Saturday morning on courses out and back from Hobbs Ice Arena.

John made it a repeat win from last year, finishing in 38-minutes, 9-seconds, more than four minutes ahead of runnerup Sean Schmidt, 42:34, while Ryan Wedl was third in 44:30 and won the 15-k challenge, combining the two events.

“This is not my favorite distance,” said John , a 28-year old Eau Claire CPA. “I prefer the marathon and am training for Chicago in the fall.”

Erin Hollman was the women’s leader in the 10k in 49:15, fifth overall. She finished ahead of Rebecca Wittrig, who posted a time of 49:40, and April Sablan, third in 52:33.

“I felt good coming back after the Eau Claire Marathon 10k,” said Hollman, the 32-year old stay-at-home-mother.

Her win came after Sablan made a wrong turn on the course or may have won. Sablan had won the 5k earlier and was the women’s winner in the 15k challenge.

“I’m fine with that (off course),” said Sablan, a 29-year old Nurse who did the 5k in 22:35 and finished fourth overall.

In the 5k, Haines finished with a time of20:09 on a course that was reported to be 2-3 tenths of a mile long. Wedl was second in 22:04 and Cody Buckli, Wausau, followed in 22:14.

“I mostly run to stay in shape,” said Haines, the La Crosse native who works for Excel Energy of Eau Claire.

Race Directors Dave Carrothers and Susan Rud reported a field of 100 runners.

10k Top Ten

1. Austin John, 38:09; 2. Sean Schmidt, 42:34; 3. Ryan Wedl, 44:30; 4. Justin Patchin, 48:34; 5. Erin Hollman, 49:15; 6. Rebecca Wittrig, 49:40; 7, Randy Auman, 50:05; 8. April Sablan, 52:33; 9. Mark Leduc, 53:32; 10.Heath Bielefeldt, 55:24.

5k top Ten

1. Braxton Haines, 20:09; 2. Ryan Wedl, 22:04; 3. Cody Buckli, 22:14; 4. April Sablan, 22:35; 5. Justin Patchin, 24:44; 6. Rebecca Wittrig, 25:18; 7. Randy Auman, 25:28; 8. Tyler Boddyspargo, 26:12; 9. Madelyn Patton, 26:13; 10. Jennifer Reeves, 26:29.