<f didn’t know what hit them until it was too late. Two grizzly runners in matching denim ran like they had just snuck into a Bruce Springsteen concert. Connor Jackson ‘15 conducted the pace in his train engineer’s uniform and fended off vicious Oles with his bike horn.
Ben Levy ‘15 stayed under the radar disguised as a former circus ringmaster who now registered with the witness protection program in his sparkly top hat and dark goggles, which complemented his exceptional hamstrings.
This is Karhu, the annual one-on-one showdown between Carleton’s dashing Fellahs and the St. Olaf Oles. Winner takes home a historic pair of Karhu shoes, manufactured in Finland and signed by more than a generation of heroic Knights.
The shoes haven’t spent a second on this side of the canon since 2006, but then again, who’s counting.
Since Karhu is the last race of the season for all the runners who won’t be competing in the NCAA regional meet tomorrow, it’s a festive atmosphere. Unfortunately for the St. Olaf men’s team, they hadn’t gotten the memo.
While the dazzling Carleton ladies and even the Olaf women stepped up decked out in costumes, the curmudgeonly men from across the river insisted on sporting team issued black and gold gear. In a break of composure they deigned to safety pin gummy worms to the back of their singlets or shorts.
Bill Grimm ‘15, whose face was a frightening shade of fuchsia, was tempted by one of the juicy worms around the 3-kilometer mark. When he reached down to snatch it from his unsuspecting competitors shorts, a scuffle ensued. Luckily, Grimm came out better than his foe and stormed away to the finish.
Ryan Lawrence ‘14 refrained from eating any non-arthropod invertebrate animals composed of congealed high fructose corn syrup, but didn’t hold back as he blazed through the second half of the race to finish in fifth place.
This spot was ever so important because it prevented Olaf from getting a perfect team score of 15. Instead they totaled 16 points and your favorite harriers received 47—an improvement over last year’s score of 15-50.
Lawrence’s classmate Michael Tolan confused spectators and region meet competitors alike as he traveled incognito in a St. Olaf Intramurals t-shirt. The disguise worked well for the St. Louis Cardinal’s fan as he ran a great race to finish better than his former teammate turned enemy Nick Evens.