Christensen triumphant in five-mile return

COLUMBUS - One runner with familiar name and another with a familiar face captured victories in the five-mile run of the Downtown Runaround Saturday.

In the men's division, Anthony Oberle of Sioux City, Iowa, crossed the finish line first. Anthony's father, Don, won the men's race in 1990, the fifth year of the Runaround.

Molly (Engel) Christensen returned to the Runaround after a two-year absence and claimed her third championship in the 22nd year of the event.

Christensen missed the 2005 race because she was in Wisconsin and sat out last year when she was pregnant. After giving birth to her daughter, Isabelle, Feb. 12, the Scotus Central Catholic graduate returned to Columbus for another Runaround title.

“I ran up until about three days before she was born. It helped staying active during the pregnancy,” Christensen said. “It's been hard with all the changes going on. I've been trying just to get out and get back into shape. I'm really competitive, so I've been trying to get back down to a six-minute mile.”

Christensen, who also won the race in 2003 and 2004, crossed the finish line in 30 minutes, 28 seconds, which was the fastest of her three winning times.

On her doctor's orders, Christensen took six weeks off after Isabelle was born, but kept busy with power walking and biking. After beginning training again in early April, Christensen quickly regained form and finished fourth in the Lincoln Half Marathon May 6.

In addition to the Runaround, Christensen has also competed in various road races in Lincoln and Omaha this year.

“It was kind of weird at first because your stomach muscles aren't all there.” Christensen said. “Now I get some sleep here and there. My daughter is teething right now, so we have lots of late nights.”

Christensen ran track and cross country at Concordia University and earned 13 All-American honors in the two sports before she graduated in 2005. During the her two years away from the Runaround, Christensen's coach at Concordia, Suzanne Weeder Einspahr, continued the Bulldog dynasty with a pair of victories in the five-mile race.

Christensen said winning the Runaround race again was a great feeling. When she captured the first-place trophy in 2003, Christensen was the first Columbus women to win the five-mile run.

“It feels good to come back to my hometown,” said Christensen, who is going to the Nebraska Medical Center in the fall to finish her nursing degree. “I see a lot of people I don't get to see all the time. I grew up running in Pawnee Park. It's nice to be back on these roads again.”

Katie Lickteig finished second in 31:08, and Theresa Gosnell was third with a time of 31:42. Katie Swanson earned the distinction as the fastest women in Columbus as the Scotus graduate ran the course in 32:35 for fourth overall.

In the men's race, Oberle crossed the finish line in 26:00.4, and also has bragging rights over his father, who won his race in a time 26 seconds slower.

“It's exciting to see him run well and win,” Don Oberle said while holding the championship trophy for his son.

Anthony, whose uncle and aunt, Jeff and Mary Hall, live in Columbus, competed in the Runaround for the first time since he was 9, when he ran in the 2.1-mile and the kid's mile run on Friday night.

During the race, Oberle hung with eventual runner-up Paul Wilson of Omaha for the first part of the race. Oberle took the lead around the two-mile mark and began to pull away about a mile later for a 30-second victory.

“I usually work middle of race really hard because I'm not really good kicker,” said Oberle, who also won a 5,000-meter race in Sioux City this summer. “I have a decent kick, but I don't like to wait for it.”

Jon Ronhorde of Fremont placed third in 26:41. Trevor Urkoski won the fastest man in Columbus award as he finished seventh overall in 28:47.

As a senior at Sioux City Heelan, where his father was his coach, Oberle won the Class 3A boys 3,200-meter race in 9:26.44 at the Iowa state track and field meet. This fall, Oberle will walk-on at Nebraska to run track and cross country.

Oberle said even though he doesn't run many five-mile races, the Runaround fit into his summer training program. However he didn't back down from his workouts and put in 70 miles in the week leading up to Saturday's race.

“I had been running quite a bit, so I was thinking I could do pretty well, but I wasn't thinking about winning,” Oberle said. “(Winning) means my summer training is going good. It also means a lot because my dad also won this race.”