Race Report: Cheese Curd Festival 10K

This weekend, Deb and I went to the Cheese Curd Festival in Ellsworth, WI.  I had never heard of the Cheese Curd festival until Deb mentioned it a few weeks ago.  My first impression was, “I like cheese curds, but it is worth driving all the way to Wisconsin?  You can only eat so many cheese curds and then you’re full.”  Then Deb told me they had other things like craft beer from several Wisconsin breweries and ice cream from local dairies.

As it turns out, Ellsworth is only a 50 minute drive from where we live.  I thought the city sounded familiar and wondered aloud if they had a race there.  Deb said, “They have a 5K and a 10K.”  Cheese curds, craft beer, ice cream, and a 10K race sounded like a good enough reason to travel.  I decided to see how fast I could race-walk the 10K race.

Some of the events we were interested in were Friday afternoon, and others were Saturday morning.  We could have made two trips, but decided to save time by staying in a motel that was just a few miles outside Ellsworth.  We drove to Ellsworth Friday afternoon.  The Cheese Curd Festival started at 4:00, but we got to Ellsworth early, so we could check into our motel room first.  Then we went into town to find parking before it got crowded.

As soon as the festival started, we bought tickets for a tasting event called Craft and Curd.  Five Wisconsin breweries each paired one of their beers with a different flavor of cheese curd.  Each pairing cost two dollars.  Afterward, you could go online to vote for your favorite pairing.  I tried all five.

Rush River Brewing Co. in River Falls paired their Unforgiven Amber Ale with a tomato/basil cheese curd.  This was probably the most conventional cheese curd flavor, so it was a good place to start.

Barley John’s Brewing Co. in New Richmond paired their Mango Double Pale Ale with a habanero/pineapple cheese curd.  The mango flavor in the beer paired will with the pineapple.  The beer was strong and hoppy enough to hold its own with the bite of the habanero.

Pitchfork Brewing Co. in Hudson paired their Third Stall Pale Ale with a Sriracha cheese curd.  I thought the Sriracha flavor overpowered the beer.

Swinging Bridge Brewing Co. in River Falls paired their Peanut Butter Porter with a raspberry cheese curd.  They called it a peanut butter & jelly pairing.  I like porters, and I also like raspberries, so I was excited about this pairing.  The beer was good, but I thought the raspberry glaze on the cheese curds needed to be stronger.

Finally, Hop & Barrel Brewing Co. in Hudson paired their Crooked Grin west coast style IPA with a jalapeno cheese curd.  The IPA had enough hop flavor to pair well with the jalapeno.

I voted for Swinging Bridge Brewing Co, but my opinion was in the minority.  The last time I checked, Barley John’s Brewing Co. was leading the voting.

After the Craft & Curd tasting, we browsed the arts & crafts booths in the marketplace.  Then we hit the food trucks.  Deb had a taco baked potato.  I had a brick oven pizza with chicken, bacon & cheese curds.

After dinner, we looked at the classic cars and went back to one of the booths in the marketplace.  Deb fell in love with this cowboy themed decoration.

Later, we made one more visit to the food trucks.  I had to try a smoked bacon-wrapped jalapeno stuffed with cheese curds & BBQ.  We each had maple ice cream shakes.  Finally, we left with maple cotton candy, maple root beer, and maple candies.

I sometimes have trouble sleeping, but this was one of my worst nights ever.  The air conditioner in our motel room was too loud.  Even with ear plugs, I just couldn’t tune out the noise.  Without the AC, I would have been too hot to sleep, but with it, it was too noisy to sleep.  I managed to nod off two or three times, but each time I woke up after only about 20 minutes.  I eventually got up and started getting ready for the race, but I briefly considered skipping it.

Packet pickup for the 10K race started Saturday morning at 7:00 at Snap Fitness, which was only a few blocks away from the park where the festival was going on.  We got there a few minutes early, but had to wait a long time before I could get my race packet.  Apparently, all the race bibs got delivered to the wrong city.  They eventually got them, but it delayed packet pickup by 45 minutes.  After I had my race packet, Deb moved the car and went to a pancake breakfast that started at 8:00.

The 10K race was supposed to start at 8:00, but it was delayed until 8:30 because of the mix-up with the race bibs.  We needed to check out of our room by 11:00.  With the 30 minute delay, I was worried about having enough time after the race to drive back to the motel, shower, and pack.  Again, I briefly considered skipping the race.

I’ve only walked one other 10K race.  That was the Bermuda 10K in January, which I walked in 1:05:28.  Before that race, I did several fast-paced workouts on the treadmill.  Before this race, I wasn’t doing any training at a fast pace.  In recent months, I was doing lots of mileage, but it was all at a more conservative pace.  While I had no objective reason to think I could walk faster now, I keep surprising myself with strong race results.  It’s amazing what a good mileage base can do.

While I was waiting in line to use the bathroom, two runners who have done this race before told me it’s really hilly.  In pre-race announcements, the race director said this was a hilly course that would challenge us.  I had doubts about setting a PR, but reminded myself that the Bermuda 10K was also a hilly race.

The race started in the parking lot in front of Snap Fitness.  We had to follow highway 10 for a few blocks before turning and heading south.  The highway was open to traffic, so we had to stay on the sidewalk.  That made the first few blocks a little bit congested.  I worked hard to set a fast pace.  I was trying to keep up with the runners who lined up in front of me.

Those first few blocks were slightly uphill.  When we turned, we started up a more noticeable hill.  Some of the runners were already walking.  I worked to maintain as fast a pace as I could.

None of the early hills were unusually long or steep, but the early miles were peppered with them.  I tried to walk as fast as I could, but I wondered if my effort was sustainable.  In the early miles, I didn’t feel like my stride was that smooth.  I tried to keep my cadence as rapid as possible.

When we reached the southernmost point on the route, I began to wonder if I missed the one mile sign.  We turned west for a few blocks and then turned north to head back into town.  We eventually got to a bigger hill that challenged me.  At the top of the hill, I could see the two mile sign.  I was anxious to know what my pace was.  That gave me the motivation I needed to power up the hill.

When I set my 10K PR, my average pace was 10:32.  I was working so hard that I fully expected to be doing 10 minute miles or faster.  I was disappointed when I saw my time.  My two mile split was 21:05.  I was actually one second slower than my PR pace.

I wondered if I just didn’t have the speed to challenge my PR.  I have good endurance, but lack of speed training might have caused my mechanics to become less efficient.  Yes, there were hills, but they really didn’t seem that bad.  My impression at this point was that Bermuda was hillier.

Just past two miles, we merged with the 5K race.  They started later than we did, but they were just getting to the one mile mark of their course.  The mixture of 5K and 10K runners (and walkers) made it harder for me to know if I was maintaining a consistent pace.  I pushed myself to go as fast as possible and hoped for the best.

I passed a father and son who were walking together.  He said, “There’s a speed-walker.  That’s cool.  He’ll beat some of the runners.”  Hearing that helped keep me motivated.

We detoured a few blocks off the main road to minimize conflicts with traffic.  When I saw the three mile sign, I checked my watch again.  My time was 31:32.  My effort was paying off.  Now I was a few seconds ahead of my PR pace.

Just around the next corner, I saw an aid station.  It had been at least two hours since I last had anything to drink.  It was a sunny day, and I was getting hot and thirsty.  Still, I knew if I took any time to drink, I’d have trouble making it up.  I skipped the water station.  I told myself 10K was short enough that I could press on to the finish and drink afterwards.

The 5K and 10K routes diverged again.  With only 10K runners in front of me, it was easier to see if I was keeping up with the pack.  I picked up my effort.

A few blocks alter, we returned to the major north-south highway that runs through town.  We had to stay between the white line and the shoulder, so there wasn’t much room to pass.  To maintain my pace, I needed to pass one of the runners.  I moved around her as quickly as I could.

In the distance, I could see where the runners ahead of me were turning to head east.  Before the race, I studied the course map.  I didn’t know the streets, but I was familiar with the general outline of the course.  Each time we reached a major turn, I had a sense of where I was on the route.  I estimated we were getting close to four miles.

As soon as I reached the turn, I saw the four mile sign.  I got there in 41:42.  That was encouraging.  I sped up significantly in that mile.  If I could maintain that pace, I would easily set a PR.  I was tired, but I only had 2.2 miles to go.  It all depended on how many more big hills there were.

We started down a big hill.  I could see ahead of us that the road would eventually turn uphill again, but not for a long time.  I walked downhill as quickly as I could, and I enjoyed the rest break.  Two runners passed me.  One said to the other, “We really needed this.”

I couldn’t believe how long we kept going downhill.  I feared what might be coming later.  When the road eventually turned uphill again, it didn’t seem like the climb in front of us was nearly as big as what we just descended.

The hill was still somewhat tiring.  I reminded myself that I only had about a mile and a half to go.  I didn’t need to conserve energy.  I was taking long powerful strides, but my cadence was slowing down.  I forced myself to pick it up again.

As I neared the top, I saw a sign saying there was an aid station ahead.  I realized I would need to skip this one too.  Somewhere in the previous mile, I found my rhythm.  I didn’t want to risk interrupting it to drink, even if I had the time.

I saw the next major turn on the course.  Now we were going to head south almost all the way to the park, where we would finish.  The aid station was right after the turn.  The five mile sign was right after the aid station.  That mile wasn’t as fast as the previous one, but it was fast enough.  I gained a few more seconds.

The road turned downhill.  It was gradual at first.  I saw a group of four runners ahead of me, and I tried to catch them.  I passed one when he took a walking break.  I couldn’t catch the other three.  The road turned more sharply downhill.  I worked to go as fast as I could, but there was no way I could catch a runner going down this hill.

I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.  I kept looking ahead to see when we would begin climbing again.  I couldn’t see any hills yet.  The descent kept going and going.  Then the road leveled off.  A runner who had already finished was going the other way.  She said we only had 400 meters to go.  It soon became apparent that there wasn’t going to be another big bad hill.

The last two miles seemed to be mostly downhill.  Thinking back, I realized the first two miles were mostly uphill.  It was never that steep, but the road would go up, level off, and then go up again.  That’s why my first two miles were so tiring, yet weren’t that fast.  It was an uphill trend in the early miles.

Finally, as I was nearing the last turn, the road turned ever so slightly uphill.  Right at the turn, I saw the six mile sign.  My time was 1:02:57.  I was on pace for a PR, but not by as much as I expected.  I suspect that mile marker was misplaced, but at the time I had to trust it.  I worked hard to maintain a fast pace over the last two tenths of a mile.

I could see the traffic barriers at the northwest corner of the park, but I couldn’t see the finish line yet.  There wasn’t any big balloon arch or anything – just a chip mat in the middle of the street.  You had to get close before you could see it.  A runner flew by me as he sprinted to the finish.  There’s no way I could match that pace; I just kept up my effort.

As I got close enough to see the clock, I realized I would break 1:04.  I finished in 1:03:45.  That’s a new PR by a fairly wide margin.  Early in the race, I had doubts, but I never let up in my effort.

For post-race snacks, I got a water bottle, a banana, and a bag of cheese curds.  That more than made up for skipping breakfast.  The curds were filling.

For doing this race, I also got a T-shirt and a bag full of swag.  For a $35 dollar entry fee, it was a good value.

Deb and I walked to the car as quickly as we could and drove back to the motel.  I ate about half of the cheese curds in the car.  The rest had to wait until after I showered.  We had no trouble checking out on time.  Then we went back into town for the next tasting event.

At 11:00, there was a Milk and Cookies tasting.  There were seven flavors of milk and eight kinds of cookie.  You could pair them in any combination.

While I was in line to buy milk and cookies tickets, Deb got in line for the big tent where you could buy baskets of deep fried cheese curds.  We didn’t get any on Friday because the line was too long.  Deb didn’t have room for both and decided the cheese curds were more important.  I decided to try just two milk and cookie pairings and then join Deb in the cheese curds line.

For my first pairing, I had a chocolate chip cookie with whole milk.  That was the favorite pairing from the previous year.  Then I got exotic and had an “Elvis” pairing of a peanut butter cookie with banana milk.

After eating our deep fried cheese curds, we were both full.  We took one last look at all the craft booths and then we left.  We were originally planning to go to an ice cream tasting at 1:00, but we were both full.  We were also tired.  It was time to drive home.

We went to Wisconsin mostly for food and fun.  The 10K race was an afterthought, and I almost skipped it.  I’m glad I didn’t.  I not only improved my 10K walking PR, but I got some training that will help me improve my marathon times.

Race Statistics

Distance:  10 kilometers (6.2 miles)

Time:  1:03:45

Average Pace:  10:17 per mile