All in the family: Morleys compete in Whitefish Lake Run
<p>Contestants take off as the Whitefish Lake Run begins Saturday morning.</p>
<p>Steve Morley congratulates his daughter Makena, 14, after both finished the Whitefish Lake Run Saturday morning.</p>
<p>Logan Morely, 12, checks his time after completing the Whitefish Lake Run Saturday morning.</p>
<p>Steve Morley with his son Logan and daughter Makena after the Whitefish Lake Run Saturday morning.</p>
<p>Steve Morley finishes the Whitefish Lake Run Saturday morning.</p>
It was Morley, Morley and even more Morleys crossing the finish line Saturday morning during the 34th annual Whitefish Lake Run at City Beach.
The Bigfork family had five entrants in the 5k race and all finished well under 25 minutes.
They were competing in this event for the first time as a family.
"I took care of the kids, she (wife Jill) ran the race (Bloomsday in Spokane six years ago)," Steve, 43, the father and a renowned wooden canoe builder, said.
"I thought ‘Gee, this looks like fun.'
"I ran the Whitefish Lake Run the same year with Jill. Then I got hooked. This is pretty neat."
But his first 5k, although neat, was ... painful.
"Oh no," he said of it being a pleasant experience.
"I had the worse side aches ever. I thought I was dying."
But that's long forgotten. Many miles have passed since then.
The former Bigfork High School dashman, who held three school records when he graduated in 1986 (100, 200 and 400), was all smiles after this one and hardly sweating. He had the top time overall for males, 16:37.2. His margin of victory was 13 seconds over runner-up Zach Perrin, 16, of Lakeside, 16:50.9.
Steve still holds the school record in the 400, 50-seconds flat.
"I can't believe it's still standing," he said.
"It's been 25 years."
Steve's daughter Makena, 14, a freshman at Bigfork High School, checked in quickly with a time of 18:01.6. She was the top female finisher and was an impressive fifth overall.
Logan, 12, an eighth grader at Bigfork Middle School, was soon to follow, placing eighth in the male division, ninth overall, with a time of 18:35.6.
Bryn, 11, a sixth grader at Bigfork Middle School and competing in this run for the first time, was clocked in 20:01.1. That broke the run's 9-12 female age group record by two seconds. The old mark was held by - you guessed it - her sister Makena.
Bryn was the second female finisher.
And Jill, 43, a Bigfork teacher, completed the Morley parade across the finish line with a time of 24:39.1. She placed a very respectable 21st in the female division.
All the Morleys, except for Jill, posted personal best times. Makena was hoping to break 18 minutes for the first time.
Bryn achieved her goal of beating her sister's record.
"About what I normally do," Jill said of her performance.
"I kind of waver in the 24 (minute range). No better, no worse. I kind of hang around there.
"Now they train, race and leave me in the dust," said Jill, who graduated from C.M. Russell.
Jill was the one who started the running craze in the family. She did it mainly for "exercise."
She runs twice a week while Steve and the kids workout about five times on average.
"If they are interested, we'll go," he said.
"I never say we have to go today and do this. At this age there is no pressure on them to make them run."
He said it should be a "fun" experience rather than a grueling one.
"They make me go out and run," he said.
"I'll say can we take a day off and they will say ‘No! No! Let's go dad. Let's do this. Then it turns into a race."
The Lake run had 158 female finishers to 124 for males.
In the 10k, Anne Cote, 23, of Winchester, Va., was the top female with a time of 41:05.8. Cassie Cowan, 30, of Kalispell was second, 41:28.4.
For males, Carl Nystuen, 22, of Lakeside had the fastest time, 32:56.5. Aaron Benson, 15, of Kalispell was second, 37:59.8.
There were 85 finishers on the female side and 60 males.
Results can be found at www.competitivetiming.com. Click on results in the left column and then click on Whitefish Lake Run under 2011. Results are available by gender, overall, age group and award winners for both the 5k and 10k.
Whitefish Lake Run
Top 10
5k
Female Time
Makena Morley, Bigfork 18:01.6
Bryn Morley, Bigfork 20:01.1
Jessica Sagen, Whitefish 20:07.4
Rachael Hart, Kalispell 20:19.5
Nichole Bathe, Madison, Wi. 21:09.2
Marcella Sandry, Kalispell 21:24.9
Kelly Hamilton, Columbia Falls 21:32.1
Jinise Osborne, Columbia Falls 22:00.9
Hannah Sullivan, Kalispell 22:11.7.
Lisa Perrin, Lakeside 22:19.1
Male
Steve Morley, Bigfork 16:37.2
Zach Perrin, Lakeside 16:50.9
Leif Castren, Kalispell 17:15.0
Hunter Schutt, Kalispell 17:47.4
Austin Zapata, Bigfork 18:13.8
Benjamin Moon, Kalispell 18:14.3
Connor Gray, Whitefish 18:31.1
Logan Morley, Bigfork 18:35.6
Brent Hartley, Columbia Falls 18:59.3
Patrick Gulick, Kalispell 19:07.0
10k
Female
Anna Cole, Winchester, Va. 41:05.8
Cassi Cowan, Kalispell 41:28.4
Emily Tillinghast, Kalispell 41:44.6
Gretchen Peterson, SFalls, S.D. 43:59.5
Janelle McCracken, C Falls 44:11.6
Erika Johnson, Kalispell 45:25.8
Katy Krezowski, Salt Lake City 45:55.7
Jennifer Hawes, Kalispell 46:12.5
Susan Matler, Lakeside 46:14.6
Amanda Caldwell, C Falls 46:27.4
Male
Carl Nystuen, Lakeside 32:56.5
Aaron Benson, Kalispell 37:59.8
Preston Hopkins, Comstock, Wi. 39:06.2
Bryce Kiker, Lake Mills, Wi. 39:06.2
Sam Zook, Decorah, Iowa 39:06.4
Shawn Callan, Kalispell 39:08.4
Ruben Castren, Kalispell 39:11.1
Sylas Schutt, Kalispell 39:24.9
Seth Carbonari, Columbia Falls 39:44.3
Marcello Pierrottet, Kalispell 39:51.5