LaSalle Insider

As promised I did attend and compete in last Saturday’s Oak Ridge 5K run.  Altogether there were 138 runners and I was not the winner (what a surprise…not).  The first place finisher in the men’s division was Mike Miroux from Spring Valley with a time of 17:08.  That’s averaging a mile every 5:31 minutes.  Thats “picken em up and puttin em down” quickly!  Kelly Dzierzynski from Cherry was the fastest woman at 22:04 or 7:07 per mile pace.  All the results are available at www.starvedrockrunners.org for those interested.

I was just a bit back of the winners and finished  in 66th place overall with a time of 27:24 or a pace of 8:49 per mile.

The course was quite demanding in that it was run entirely on the cart paths of  Oak Ridge golf course and the terrain was hilly to say the least.  The temps were in the 70′s but I didn’t notice much of a breeze as I toured the track.

I want to thank the Starved Rock Runners Association for putting together a unique 5K and the great (as always)accommodations they offer the runners of their races.  Thanks also to the Senica family for hosting the fun event.

I hope to see more city officials take  the challenge next year , after all what politician doesn’t like a good race!

This past Friday, Sharon Wagenknecht invited us over for lunch and a tour. If you aren’t familiar with Sharon you should change that. She is the executive director of the Hegeler Carus Mansion. Mayor Grove, Fire Chief Andy Bacidore,Aldermen Lavieri and Herndon,  Cindy Arbisi,Joanne Milby ,Ginny Kochanowski, Brian Maddox ,Mike Furlan and myself were treated to a wonderful lunch in the dining room of the mansion. Although the lunch was excellent what followed was even better.
Our tour guide, Tricia Kelly, doubles as the guide for our canal boat and she is totally into the subject matter, if you know what I mean. The mansion is not totally restored but that isn’t important. What is is the story of Edward Hegeler and Frederick Matthiessen. These gentlemen not only changed our little corner of the world they impacted history.
I am not going to tell the story but I am going to tell you if you haven’t been to the mansion and taken the tour you are missing out on a grand time and a story that will make you come away saying “I didn’t know that!”
Go to www.hegelercarus.org and get more info and make your plans for a visit…..
Who knows.. you might even get lunch!

DREAMWAVE Wrestling: The Barber Taking Appointments in LaSalle!

5/20/09

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jay Repsel Presents DREAMWAVE Wrestling: Immortality June 6th, 2009

LASALLE – Lightning can strike twice. Following their standing room only debut on April 4th, DREAMWAVE Wrestling silenced any naysayers by performing in front of another sellout standing room only crowd on May 2nd. DREAMWAVE will sell out the LaSalle Knights of Columbus again on June 6th for “immortality” featuring the finals of the DREAMWAVE Championship Cup and WWE Legend Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake. Doors open at 6:30 with a bell time of 7:00PM.

“This has been a dream come true,” said DREAMWAVE owner Jay Repsel. “People told me LaSalle was a dead town and it was impossible to draw people here. Well, I have to say the people and families of the area that make up the 1,000 plus who have attended our shows have proven them very wrong and we plan on doing our best to keep this going for a very long time.”

The card for “Immortality” is highlighted by the Finals of the Championship Cup between “Silent Intensity” Austin Roberts and Derek St. Holmes to decide the first DREAMWAVE Champion, the debut of Japanese Superstar Metal Master and “The Barber” Brutus Beefcake vs. “Legendary” Dan Lawrence.

DREAMWAVE is not resting on their success heading into the heat of the Midwest summer, according to Repsel. “We know level of interest in DREAMWAVE has continued to grow. Once we set the bar by bringing in a WWE Hall of Famer like Jimmy Snuka to LaSalle, we knew we need to continue to try and surpass it. The Championship Cup has also been a long journey over the last couple of months but the finals should be fantastic. Roberts’ popularity has risen to incredible levels in LaSalle and St. Holmes response has been quite the opposite. I think it is really clear who the fans want to see as the first champion but we will see. “The Barber” is also one of the most well known of all the WWE Legends and I think the fans are really excited to see some struttin’ and cuttin’ at the Knights of Columbus.”

With the excitement building, you don’t want to miss DREAMWAVE Wrestling: “Immortality” June 6th!

For additional information or tickets, please go to www.dreamwavewrestling.com . Any questions or comments can be sent by e-mail to dreamwavewrestling@gmail.com .

About DREAMWAVE Wrestling

DREAMWAVE Wrestling is the Midwest’s premier independent professional wrestling organization and offers the most economical entertainment value in the Illinois Valley. The company is owned and operated by DREAMWAVE Entertainment, LLC. and headquartered in Oglesby Illinois. For more information, please visit www.dreamwavewrestling.com or send questions or comments to dreamwavewrestling@gmail.com.

DREAMWAVE Wrestling is a trademark used exclusively by DREAMWAVE Entertainment, LLC. in the United States and other jurisdictions.

While many of my golfing friends were still in bed this past saturday, I was awake and standing outside gate 0 at Soldier Field.  Let me explain.  It all started back in January of this year when my 25 year old niece was pointing out how I had gained a “few pounds” lately.  A few was putting it nicely.  It was closer to 35-40 to be exact.  She was still talking up the fact that she had competed in a half marathon in Chicago  last September.  

She proceeded to challenge me to run a race with her in the Spring which would require me to train and hence lose some weight.  Maybe it was the scotch I had consumed at this  family event or my pride but I decided to accept her offer.

Since that January day I have been monitoring my food and beverage intake as well as increasing my training. (from none to some).  We had originally decided on the Shamrock Shuffle which is run at the end of March. Its a 5 miler in Chicago with about 30,000 entrants.  When race day came we decided (along with the majority of the signed up runners) to not participate due to wind, blowing snow,slippery conditions, and COLD temps!

It was my niece Amy’s job to find another race later in the year for us to measure our running talents against one another.  She found  the Soldier Field event scheduled for this past Saturday.  The problem was that it was to be twice as long as the race I originally agreed to run with her.  Its officially called the SOLDIER FIELD 10 MILE.  It’s run on the Memorial Day weekend every year and starts and ends at Soldier Field.  You officially end the race on the 50 yard line in the stadium on the field.

We joined  7365 other runners along with some active service personnel in fatigues to step off at about 7:45 am.  The beginning of the race , as you can imagine, was slow due to a large crowd in a small space.  It did open up at about the 4 mile area and one could run at the pace of their choice.  I

I need an I.V.

thought my niece and her friend were being nice and running at my pace  to keep an eye on me in the event I “went down!”  After the halfway point I decided to pick up the pace and figured they would stay with me.  Well I guess the “old man showed em somthin!” because I finished about 7 1/2 minutes in front of them.  Don’t get to excited though…I finished 4504 out of 7365 at a pace of 9:48 per mile.  The overall winner ran it at a 5 minute mile pace and probably was eating breakfast while I was at the half way point!

Well those Ethiopians can run, I’ll give them that!

In all seriousness, it was a great time and great to know we were part of a race which honored active and veteran serviceman and women around the world.  We were told there were shadow races in Iraq and elsewhere where our people are serving.

I must take a moment to thank my niece Amy for pushing me to run with her and to help me realize that the toughest step is the first when it comes to

amy "The Motivator"

getting in shape!  And now , where did I put those flyers on the half marathons coming up this year…………

On Sat., June 6, 2009, the Better Fishing Association of Illinois will be hosting a Kid’s Fishing Tournament at Lock 14 on the Illinois Michigan Canal in LaSalle. Registration begins at 8 a.m. and fishing takes place from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. This is a free event, and snacks, soda, and bait will be provided. Although I am pretty sure the bait is for the fish!

For more information you can click here to access a copy of the flyer for the event.
Kid’s Fishing Tournament Flyer

This week the nation celebrates public works week and honors the accomplishments of those working in public works. The following video, produced by the American Public Works Association, helps explain what public works means to all of us. So as you drive our roads, or turn on the water, or put out your garbage for pickup, remember those folks taking care of these things so we don’t have to.

The Illinois Valley Center for Independent Living, IVCIL, is hosting a Wheel-a-thon on Sat., June 6, 2009, at 10 a.m. at Baker Lake in Peru. This fundraising event promotes community awareness and support for people with disabilities, while allowing people to try out their “wheeling skills” along an approximate one-mile route around Baker Lake in Peru.

Those interested in participating in the event can register by filling out the registration form here. Participants of any age with or without disabilities are welcome, and IVCIL will be providing wheel chairs and lunch to all participants. For more information, you can visit the IVCIL Wheel-a-thon Website.

I want to let everyone know that our very own “Oak Ridge Golf course” is sponsoring and hosting a 5K Race on June 13th. (Saturday).  Its the first race I have seen at Oak Ridge since I became a club member there in 1994.  It is scheduled to start at 6PM and is part of the Starved Rock Runners Road Race Circuit (Race #6) .  You can sign up on line at
www.runrace.net.    I am interested in this race because I have returned to jogging  recently in order to lose some weight and have found that I have  missed running the occasional race.  Plus I am running out of tee shirts and you always get good ones at these races.

I am challenging any of my fellow elected officials to join me in running this race!

I think it will be a great time and I am sure the post race buffet which is included will be delicious.

I don’t normally plug anything at this site but I have to tell you about Nike’s new (at least to me) venture with Apple’s iPod.  I run with my iPod and now I have an insert in my shoe which tracks my runs and records not only your time but distance and calories burned.  It talks to you as you run but doesn’t interrupt your music.  When you finish a run you can upload your info to a website which will track your progress and hook you up with runners around the world.  They also have training info which you can download to your iPod.  The attachment for your iPod is relatively cheap at about 30 bucks and I did have to buy a new pair of Nikes (only certain shoes have the cavity in the sole for the sensor) but I needed  a new pair anyway.  If this sounds like something you would like to check out go to nikeplus.com.

And by the way walkers would benefit from this item as well.

I look forward to seeing many of my fellow citizens on race day and hopefully a few elected officials as well. You can call Bob Rehn at (815) 882-2120 if you have any other questions about the race.