June 21st will be my first race of the summer, the Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon in Duluth, MN. My friend, Chad Johnson, who runs for the Brooks Hansons Team won the race last year and will be back to make my life difficult. The organizers increased the prize money this year so the field should be solid.
It is very cool to see that they named the race after Garry Bjorklund. Bjorklund was an American badass back in the late 70s and early 80s. He ran fast on the track (27:46 for 10k) and the marathon (2:10:20), and also made the 76 Olympic team in the 10k. Sporting the de rigueur 80s moustache, and owning one he sport's classic nicknames, BJ won Grandma's Marathon twice.
Also of note, Bjorklund played himself in the often overlooked 1985 flim "On the Edge". The movie stars Bruce Dern as a blacklisted distance runner at the end of "amatuer" era. He makes his comeback to the sport at the Dipsea Race (called Cielo Sea in the movie) in Marin County, north of San Francisco. BJ comes to the race as the favorite and ends up duking it out with Bruce Dern's character on the slopes of Mt. Tam. Its always cringe worthy to see actors trying to play athletes during any on-screen sports scenes, but even more so when there's a real world class athlete in the scene with them. Think about how pedestrian Robert Redford's Rob Hobbs swing would look if A-Rod was in the scene with him. That's sort of how BJ's smooth stride makes Bruce Dern look on the trails of Marin. Nonetheless, "On the Edge" is well worth the price of a Netflix night.
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