DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — On Saturday morning, the Door County Half Marathon took place, and for some runners, it was all about having fun and maybe breaking their own records.
- Runners on the course at Peninsula State Park at the different mile marks
- Family members cheering their runners on throughout the course
- Runners crossing the finish line after completing the scenic race.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Eric Shinabarger came all the way from the Chicago suburbs for a second chance at the Door County Marathon.
Last year, he had plans to be here, until life intervened.
"The night before the race all my kids got sick, so we had to bail," Eric Shinabarger said.
But this year, he joined more than 2,500 other participants running through the scenic Peninsula State Park in Fish Creek.
And he had his personal cheer squad on the sidelines his wife and kids showing their support.
"I had to tell them to cheer louder at one point, but it was fun seeing them and keeping an eye out for them was fun," Shinabarger said.
His motivation? Just having fun.
"I wasn't stressed out about trying to finish with a certain time or anything, so just having fun, getting some exercise, seeing the park," Shinabarger said.
Eliza Lofberg who drove from North Dakota had a different motivation.
She says this is her second time running the marathon, after a friend from her cross-country days convinced her to give it a shot.
"She's like, you have to come do this race, it'll be so fun, and I fell in love with it two years ago and decided I had to come back this year to run it again," Eliza Lofberg said.
And this time, she was trying to beat a time goal.
"I kinda wanted to break like 1:45, and I was right around that time, so I'll be interested to see what my finishing time was," Lofberg said.
There were also some runners from here in Northeast Wisconsin.
Donna Wochinski, from New London, was encouraged by her friends to run this year's marathon.
Even though it was her first time, by the end, she realized she could push through more than she expected.
"I surprised myself because I did run some, then I walked, then I ran and I walked, and I was like, oh, I could do this, yeah," Wochinski said.
When asked if they would run the half marathon again, the runners say, you'll see them on the track again next year at Peninsula State Park.
