Freedom 5K draws larger-than-expected crowd for inaugural race

Bob Hayes has always been the adventurous

type.

In 1944, at the age of 16, Hayes lied about

his age to enlist in the United States Army during World War

II.

“I just wanted the adventure,” said Hayes, who

lives just outside of Missoula in Evaro. “When you’re young, you

want to do adventurous things.”

Sixty-eight years later, Hayes’s thirst for

excitement is stronger than ever.

Since he began running competitively about 25

years ago, Hayes, now 84 years old, has finished somewhere in the

neighborhood of 500 races. On July 4, Hayes and his son Tom were

among the approximately 300 runners who lined up for Bigfork’s

first Freedom 5K.

The race was organized by Grateful Nation

Montana, a first-of-its-kind program that offers tutoring and

mentoring—along with four-year, full-ride college scholarships—to

the children of fallen U.S. soldiers.

The father-son pair travel all over the state

for different running events. Last year, they ran close to 40

races, including three marathons and three ultra-marathons.

“Running with an 84-year-old, you feel like a

movie star because everyone is clapping for you,” said Tom, who

lives in Bozeman.

Although they usually run part of each race

together, neither man hesitates to pull ahead if he is feeling

fast.

“I’m real competitive, and so is he,” Tom

said. “I beat him today, but not by much. He’s not getting any

slower.”

The elder Hayes finished in about 32 minutes,

a decent time “considering that hill climb right at the beginning,”

he said.

Hayes used the 5K—which was run along the Swan

River Nature Trail—as a tune-up for next weekend’s Missoula

Marathon.

“It was a great course. It was nice looking at

the river and the falls,” Hayes said. “It was a lot better than a

road race.”

First-place finisher Kory Mauritsen, who was

visiting Bigfork from Artesia, N.M., also enjoyed the scenic

course.

“It was fun,” said Mauritsen, a recent

high-school graduate and track-and-field athlete. “Since I got

here, all those hills have been killing me, but it (the race) went

better than I thought.”

Julie Ackerlund of Helena placed first in the

women’s category. Ackerlund, who has a vacation home on Swan Lake,

trains with a running group in her home city.

A lifelong runner, Ackerlund said she has run

several races in the past, but his was her first overall win.

“I liked the trail portion in particular, and

I liked that it was an out-and-back course,” she said. “People were

cheering you both directions. It was neat. There was a very

friendly group of runners out there today.”