The Verde Valley is in the midst of spring, and that means that Saturday, April 21, was the time for the 10th annual Brian Mickelsen Memorial Run/Walk. More than 500 runners came not just from Cottonwood and the Verde Valley, but all the way from Phoenix and even outside of Arizona, running and walking along routes starting at Riverfront Park, winding into Dead Horse Ranch State Park, and for some, all the way into Tuzigoot National Monument.
The runners divided into several races, with the most ambitious running a full 26.2-mile marathon, and others running half marathons, 10 kilometers or two miles.
The runners varied in ages. Addison Bird, a 10-year-old from Peoria, finished the 10K in an hour and 56 seconds, winning her a first-place medal for her age group and a plaque reading: “It never gets easier, you just get stronger.” Bird was joined on the run by her mother and grandmother.
On the other end of the spectrum was 68-year-old Bill Hedglin, who walked the 10K at a more leisurely pace of 1:35:41.
“I ran for 20 years and I have the artificial hip to prove it,” Hedglin said.
Brian Mickelsen was the city manager of Cottonwood until his unexpected death while jogging in 2007. The city renamed its annual run after him in 2009, celebrating Mickelsen’s enthusiasm for athletics in the city. For the 10th anniversary of the run named after him, members of Mickelsen’s extended family joined together from parts of the country as far as Minnesota and Idaho to participate in the race together.
“Brian was big on recreation, so I like that there’s a rec event in his honor. It was his vision,” said Lynn Mickelsen-Dwyer, Mickelsen’s sister. She ran the race for the first time on Saturday, on the two-mile route.
Mickelsen’s widow Lin is still a Cottonwood resident and a fixture of the annual race in her husband’s honor. This year, she jogged the two-mile race while pushing a stroller containing her grandson, in what she described as an emotional experience.
“I think it’s amazing,” she said. “I’m glad that it brings awareness to Cottonwood. It’s good that people come to stay healthy.”
In addition to his family, Mickelsen is remembered by his successors in city government. Mayor Tim Elinski ran along with his family.
So did current city manager Doug Bartosh.
“It’s a great way to remember Brian and the contributions he made to the city,” Bartosh said. “And also to admire how beautiful the city is.”
The beauty of the course was a frequent compliment of the runners who came from other parts of the state for the run. “I love this race,” said David Wood, a Phoenix native who got first place in the marathon event at 3:19:46 — the third year in a row that he’s won. “To me it’s true Arizona. You don’t get this down in the cities.”
The beautiful landscape did not make it easy, though. Wood said that, having done both, he actually found this course more strenuous than the notoriously difficult Boston Marathon.
“I don’t know if I’ll be doing the marathon again any time soon but I’m glad I did it,” said Tyler Reber, a medical student from Phoenix who participated in his first-ever marathon on Saturday, pulling off third place at 3:24:51.
Winners of the race received bottles of wine as prizes, part of an effort to tie the race into Cottonwood’s branding as the heart of Arizona wine country by race coordinator Jak Teel, who took over management of the event this year from former Parks and Recreation Supervisor Ryan Bigelow.
“With the race scene getting so big, runners have a list of races to choose from on any given week,” Teel wrote in an email. “So creating and keeping that value and product that Ryan and the rest of the staff and volunteers worked so hard for, for so many years to achieve was a big emphasis for me, and I am happy to say that I think we did that.”
As in many races like this, most runners were running for themselves, not for the sense of competition.
“There’s always someone beating you,” said Orrin Mackey, who got second place in the marathon at 3:21:56. “But when you can see how much you’ve improved, it’s amazing.”
“The scenery was beautiful,” said Cyndi Jackson of Phoenix, who ran the half marathon in 1:54:32. She said she started running just a few months ago, feeling the need for an escape from job, family and other responsibilities. “I needed to go somewhere where it was just me.”
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551, or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
