Canoe portage records smashed

ELY— Two world records fell here on Saturday during the ninth annual running of the Ely Marathon and Highland Bank Half Marathon— and it was thanks to the unique canoe country twist on the event.
Many communities host marathons, but only Ely hosts the canoe portage marathon and half marathon and the iconic event has regularly attracted a handful of the hardcore to the end of the road to take part in one of the most grueling events ever imagined.
Just six individuals took part in the full canoe portage marathon and they set new men’s and women’s records in the process.
Drew Boysen, of Iowa City, had never heard of a canoe portage marathon until a week before this year’s event. He was planning to be in the area last weekend to visit friends near Isabella, when they jokingly suggested he could run a marathon with a canoe on his back. “It was just a joke when I told him,” said his friend Jeff Ford.
Boysen, 30-years-old, was no stranger to extreme physical exertion. He has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail twice, completed the Pacific Crest and Continental Divide trails and rode his bike across the United States. He ran his first marathon last year and competed in an Ironman competition earlier this month. So, a week before the Ely event, he signed up— and trained by running a mile with a canoe the evening before the race. He showed up the next morning and crushed the previous men’s world record of 4:23.20 in the event, hitting the finish line in 4:11.04, earning the $5,000 prize put up by Piragis Northwoods Company for new world records. Last October, he had finished his first marathon in three hours and fifty minutes, which means the canoe added just 21 minutes to his time.
It was a much different story for 44-year-old Victoria Ranua, of Shakopee, formerly of Tower, who destroyed the previous women’s record in the portage marathon by nearly an hour and a half. Ranua, enticed by the $5,000 cash prize for setting a new world record, had begun training nearly a year ago in preparation. She bought an ultra-light canoe from Piragis Northwoods Company in the spring and could be regularly spotted on the streets of her southwestern Twin Cities suburb as she ran with her canoe, building her endurance and strength, expecting that she’d have to beat the men’s record in order to collect the cash prize.
Through mile 16, she was on pace for the men’s record but fell back in the later miles as her legs began to ache intensely. After an allowed pit stop at an aid station in Winton, however, she resolved to power through the pain and finished in 5:25.34, third place overall and an hour and 24 minutes ahead of the previous record set by Auralee Strege, the only other woman to ever finish the brutal competition.
Ranua’s run was inspiring to many of those along the route, and she was greeted with celebration and cowbells from fans and many of the volunteers as they saw a woman outcompeting some of the men in the event.
Ranua’s story and sheer determination prompted a special second $5,000 prize, split by Piragis and race organizers from their proceeds. It also prompted consideration of changing how the prize is awarded in the future, to give women equal opportunity.
Both Boysen and Ranua will also receive free Boundary Waters canoe trips sponsored by Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters.
Among the other marathon portage finishers were 30-year-old Cam Regan, of Portland, the husband of Ely’s Amy Bianco, who took second overall with a time of 4:35.13, and Ben (Sunshine) Gardner, of Ely, who finished fourth in 5:30.04. Thirty-one-year-old Dana Gilbertson, of Duluth, was only the third woman to ever complete the portage marathon and bested the previous record by 50 minutes with a finish time of 5:59.36, good for fifth place out of the six racers who completed the event. Thirty-five-year-old Travis Meier, of Minneapolis, finished sixth with a time of 6:16.43.
Other portage events
In the marathon portage relay, the Ely Outfitting Company took first among the four teams competing with a time of 4:25.17, followed by the We’ve Got the Runs team, with a time of 4:55.53. Catching Greenlights took third with a time of 5:01.53, while the Lumber Jills finished fourth in 5:21.27.
In the half marathon portage contest, 61-year-old Tom Klos, of Belle Plaine, took first in a field of 13 in a time of 2:43.52. while 28-year-old Trenton Flegel, of Ely, finished second in 2:44.16. Twenty-four-year-old Blaine Carter, of Minneapolis finished third in 2:53.12, Justin Domogalla finished fourth in 2:59.36, and Nick Dunnom, of Ely took fifth in 3:04.30.