The Griak Invitational, which was held for the 23rd time last Saturday, is a marathon for spectators. It has 10 races, which start at 9 a.m. and keeps going.

I came only for the two Division I college races and four high school races but, even though I was only there for six of the 10, my feet ached at the end of the day.

When Gophers sophomore Hassan Mead started jogging away — and I wanted to ask him one more question — there was zero chance I could catch him.

Here are bits and pieces from my 4-1/2 hours at the U of M Les Bolstad Golf Course.

First thing, you notice is there are tents everywhere. The Gophers women’s team has one set up in a prime location. They need one, with 46 runners running. The U men — and I never saw theirs — I think were set up on the other side of the starting line. That’s the direction Mead was jogging to, at any rate.

The men’s Gold race is the first one I watch. It’s an 8K race. Unless you are in the golf cart leading the lead runners, the best way to cover the race is probably watching it on a big screen and I mean big, 10 x 20 maybe. It’s like a screen at the Dome.

Junior Elkanah Kibet of Auburn makes a break at the 4K mark. The eventual winner goes so fast, Mead decided not to follow, reasoning if he can maintain that pace, he deserves to win.

“I was going to stay behind and hope to close up slowly,” said Mead, who finished second.

There was a raised announcing stand near the finish line and all the winners were asked to go up there. Each was asked a few questions, so the large crowd could hear their voices. A nice touch, although the sound reverberated a bit.

“We really, really want to be ready in November this year,” Gophers men’s cross-country coach Steve Plasencia said, putting his team’s fourth-place finish in perspective.

“We’ll take this one. It would have been nice to beat Iowa State, to beat BYU because you get some NCAA points out of it. But we’ll be ready to race them again, I can guarantee you that.”

What about Mead’s runner-up finish? “Hassan is a very talented young man,” Plasencia said. “Coming off of no races [this fall], very little interval work at all until now. Just to go out and run well like he did. He got out a little bit slow. Probably because he does not have the speed under his legs yet. But as his race went on, he got up there. It’s a tribute to his talent.”

Iowa State took second, Brigham Young third, just ahead of the Gophers. Division II power Adams State of Alamosa, Colorado won the men’s Gold race and asking permission of Plasencia to run in it.

“It was the first year we let them run in the D-I race, they are a D-II school,” Plasencia said, “but they have a great tradition with years and years — the altitude at Adams State is an attraction. It’s in southwestern Colorado. They came in and did a great job.”

Will the Grizzlies be allowed to run in the Division I race next year? “I’ll have to think about that,” Plasencia said. “It would look pretty bad if I put them out now wouldn’t it?”

Later, I bumped into Mead again. Another reporter was asking him about the race. Winners seem to get asked the same questions over and over again. I wonder if they mind?

“The weather was great,” Mead said. “We didn’t know how hot it was going to be. I didn’t go out as fast as I want. I kind of got backed up until the middle of the race.

“We wanted to finish in the top two or three as a team, but that will come. For me and Chris [Rombough] this was our first meet and we had a lot of young guys.”

Mead and Rombough were both All-Americans last year, based on their high finishes in the NCAA meet.   

“I’m very happy with my performance,” Mead said. “I beat my time from last year that shows I’m improving.”

Mead placed sixth as a freshman in the Griak.

Then it was time for the Grizzlies coach Damon Martin to be interviewed by the awards stand after his team received the first place trophy.

“The kids garnered a lot of confidence from today,” Martin said. “Some kids had really great races, some not but as a team they came out feeling that if they put things together great things can happen in November.”

November is the month for regional and national meets in all college divisions.

ACCORDING TO WILSON

“They are a good team, they are a great team,” Gophers coach Gary Wilson said, referring to Arizona State which came into the Griak rated No. 5 in the nation but finished second behind the U.

“Our kids took it to them early and then we all faded a little bit in the middle, and then we all took it to them hard at the end.”

Wilson was pleased with Megan Duwell finishing second for the Gophers. “That was awesome,” he said.

A few minutes after the race, Wilson was asking for a pen so he could write down what places his runners took when the big-screen TV showed the race results. He was still unsure whether his team won or not.

When the results were shown, Wilson just kept talking … “That was all I could have hoped for today,” he said. “They were warriors today. I think they are on a mission. I talked to the Pioneer Press guy today and he said, ‘What do you think of your team?’

“And I said, ‘You know what, with this meet me and my assistants run around like chickens with our heads cut off.’ And so they really handled it all week. Our [seven] captains, they all did a phenomenal job. It was awesome.

“We put six in the top 13. That’s great.”

Duwell was thrilled, too, with a repeat Griak title. “It’s pretty amazing,” she said. “This has always been a goal for us to come out here and win the Griak [on] our home course and showcase everything we have to offer.

“We did it today. We all ran well, ran together. … This is a good stepping stone for me and the team. But I know we all can improve.”

Duwell was a little hard to hear because her coach was being interviewed at the same time. And his voice was coming over huge speakers set up at several places so fans could him.

“We have some interchangeable parts, obviously,” Wilson said, “and it’s going to be a fight to see who makes that final top seven. Obviously, there is a lot of good talent there.”

BOYS’ GOLD RACE

Wayzata scored 80 points fewer than a year ago, coach Bill Miles, but his team could not repeat. The Trojans finished third behind a team one from North Dakota and another from Missouri.

“We want to run against the best competition we can, wherever,” Miles said. “We love competing against the best Minnesota teams. Edina was here. We got to Marshfield, Wis., trying to pick up the best from Wisconsin. And we went to Indianola [Iowa] last week to try to get some of those. Our kids just love, they want to race the best they can.

“We feel it toughens us up. We got to get ready. Eden Prairie is a very talented program and we better be ready for them.”

Wayzata is No. 1, EP No. 2 in the most recent state Class 2A rankings.

He said the Trojans had a solid effort Saturday. “We’re still in the part of the season where we are training very hard,” Miles said, “but so is everybody else

“Our kids are not pleased with not winning, but they understand that sometimes you can do your best and it is not going to be good enough.”

Buffalo senior Zach Mellon was the highest in-state finisher in the Gold race. He placed fifth after running another race on Thursday.

“This was a great day,” Mellon said. “I just had a race last Thursday and to come back here and perform as well as I did.

“The competition is the best I have seen all year. Even the weather, it’s kind of gloomy out, but it’s great racing conditions so — a major blessing.”

Mellon is undecided where he will run in college but he know the scenario he wants for the state meet at St. Olaf in Northfield.

“I just hope come November, come the state meet, that with 800 meters left I’m right there with the lead pack,” he said. “That’s my goal.”

BOYS’ MAROON RACE

Sophomore Adam Zutz of St. Francis won the boys’ Maroon at the Griak. This is his fourth year running cross-country.

“I did pretty well as a freshman,” he said. “My highlight was going to state and taking 58th [place]. … This meet I had a lot of competition to really push me along, so it helped me get a fast time here.”

He took the lead after about 2-1/2 miles.

After Zutz got his first-place award, he climbed off the awards stand and stuck around to shake the hand of the next 19 runners behind him who were also recognized.  A classy act.

Minnehaha Academy won the boys’ team title in the Maroon race. It’s a young team. Only Sam Wagner, who finished 17th to lead the Red Hawks, is a senior. 

GIRLS’ MAROON RACE

The first three high school races all had restarts. What are the odds of that? Not good.

But the girls’ Maroon race, the 10th of the day, went off without a problem. Rosemount won the team title, led by freshman Tori Gund who placed 21st.

“We ran an intelligent race,” Irish coach Chris Harder said.

One thing I didn’t get was a final count on teams and runners. This is one of the biggest meets in the nation. And it feels like it. Its part celebration, part picnic (I’d recommend the hot dogs, but the line was long), part reunion of friends.

I had to wait at least five minutes to talk to Zach Mellon because he was talking with buddies from other teams. That’s not a complaint, just an observation.

Oh, I almost forgot. Some distinguished folks got awards: Roy Griak, soon to be 85, the former U cross-country coach, and meet official Lefty Wright, and Larry Zirgibel’s widow, Donna. The boys’  Gold race was named after Larry, a master official for 25 years.

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