The Friends of Wild River State Park held its annual fun run, the Otter Trotter 5K, on Saturday morning, October 14, 2023, at Wild River State Park in Almelund. The course for the run follows a trail along the St. Croix River.

This year’s Otter Trotter was extra special: the nearly 75 runners in the race were crossing the finish line just as an annular eclipse was taking place. As described by NASA, “An annular solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, but when it is at or near its farthest point from Earth. Because the Moon is farther away from Earth, it appears smaller than the Sun and does not completely cover the Sun. As a result, the Moon appears as a dark disk on top of a larger, bright disk, creating what looks like a ring around the Moon.”

Wild River State Park Naturalist Sean Hoppes had protective glasses for visitors to safely view the sun when the clouds would part. He also had a new telescope, which was purchased by the Friends of Wild River State Park, for folks to take a closer look at the sun and actually be able to see some of its sunspots. The Friends’ fundraisers, such as the Otter Trotter 5K, help support learning opportunities at Wild River State Park through tools such as the new telescope or by supporting various naturalist programs. 

The Otter Trotter’s top finishers were as follows:

• The top female finishers in the age group of 12 to 30 were Mykaela Korn in first place, Amelie Younger in second place, and Natonya Sharp in third place. The top male finishers in the same age group were Cody Anderon in first place, Landon Peterson in second place, and Wyatt Roodell in third place.
• In the age group of 31 to 45, the top female finishers were Samantha Albrecht in first place, Sara Welle in second place, and Emily Crumley in third place. The top male finishers in the same age group were Matthew Shireman in first place, Dane Pedersen in second place, and Eric Younger in third place.
• In the age group of 46 to 60, the top female finishers were Nareen Haukkard in first place, Jody Boyd in second place, and there was no third-place finisher. The top male finishers in the same age group were Beau Roodell in first place, Abraham Welle in second place, and Darin Anderson in third place.
• Finally, in the 61+ age group, the top female finishers were Kathy Scharfeaberg in first place, Marva Sahs in second place, and Keri Wold in third place. The top male finishers in the same age group were Rob Thompson in first place, Peter Osterberg in second place, and Doug Syring in third place. 

The Otter Trotter 5K takes place annually on the second Saturday of October. For more information about the Friends of Wild River State Park and its upcoming events, please visit friendsofwildriver.org.