Grant Robison & Gayle Kuipers Win
El Nino and global warming didn't show up for Sunday's Super Bowl 5K, but 188 runners and walkers did. They braved temperatures and wind chills below 0 to complete the race that started and finished near Playmakers and looped through a neighborhood that surrounds the Indian Hills Golf Course.

"We got the windy part out of the way early," said Gerard Wilbrink of Williamston (31st place and fourth in 50-54 in 22 minutes, 36 seconds). "The wind was at our backs for the last half. That really helped."

"It was better than I thought it was going to be in some ways," said Chris Kennedy of Lansing (33rd in 22:53). "But I didn't quite expect the cold would result in ice forming on my eyelashes."

Kennedy (wearing the Eastern CC sweatshirt and bib number 174) wasn't the only one sporting the icy look. Icy beards (see Allan Richens who placed 29th and first in 60-64 in 22:34 and Bill Keller who placed 45th and first in 65-69 in 24:39) were also a common sight -- even among those who didn't actually have beards.

Kennedy was also among a small group of runners who somehow managed to improve their times from a year ago.

Icy Eyebrows
Eighty of the 269 who registered for Sunday's 5K didn't show up for the chance to experience icy eyebrows (see Randy Fielder, who placed 38th and first in 55-59 in 24:11).

"Because of the weather, I only had 20 people register today. And usually you count on about 100 on a race day," said race director Chuck Block. Until Sunday, the race had steadily grown from 193 in 2003 to 245 in 2004 to 338 in 2005 to 364 a year ago.

Second to First Again
The weather didn't keep Gayle Kuipers (14th in 20:53) from making the trek across the state from Holland to become the third woman in four years to move up from female overall runner-up to female overall champion.

"I don't think I have ever run in a race this cold. I couldn't even feel my legs with just these tights on," said Kuipers, who put in some more miles after the race by running east on Grand River Avenue to her mother's house near Williamston. "I was duking it out with some guy beside me. That kind of helped move me along."

A year ago, Kuipers finished second to former Waverly and Lansing Community College star Megan Swick. Swick had been runner-up to Julie Wagner of Chelsea in 2004, and Wagner was runner-up to Kim Dezarov of Farmington in 2003.

Women's Top 10
Forty seconds behind Kuipers (and possibly future Super Bowl 5K champions if the trend continues) were East Lansing cross country standouts Lael and Dana Bialek (18th and 19th and first and second in 15-19 in 21:33).

"We didn't know she was ahead of us," said Lael, who plans to attend Washington University of St. Louis, Mo., next fall. "We decided last night to do this for fun. So we really didn't care how we did."

"I was really nervous before the race that I was going to be too cold. But mostly it was just my toes that were cold. At the end, it was a little sloppy and some slush stuck to my shoe. But other than that, I didn't have a problem with the footing."

"Both of us had a foot go numb," said Dana, who is undecided about her collegiate choice. "But it was my left foot and her right foot. So that was a little strange. Still, it was fun. I might never have a chance to run in such cold weather again."

Just 10 seconds behind the Bialek twins was 14-year-old eighth grader Brianne Feldpausch of St. Johns (21st and first in 13-14 in 21:43), the Greater Lansing Junior Cross Country champion last October from Fowler.

The remainder of the top 10 female finishers were Rachel Wodyka of Livonia (23rd and first in 20-24 in 22:00), Claire Mull of Lansing (24th and first in 30-34 in 22:04), Erica Harrell of Potterville (32nd and first in 25-29 in 22:46), Lisa Truax of Lansing (36th and second in 25-29 in 23:45), Grand Ledge cross country standout Jennifer Snelgrove (37th and second in 13-14 in 24:09), and masters champion Jill Feldpausch of St. Johns (39th in 24:12).

"I started out racing and ended up just finishing," said Mull. "I thought I would go out and try to do a good time. But things were going too slow."

Slower Than Usual
Things were going slowly for overall champion Grant Robison of East Lansing as well. His winning time of 16:41 was more than two minutes slower than the 14:38 he ran to win the Charlotte Frontier Days back on Sept. 9.

The former NCAA 1,500-meter champion in 2003 for Stanford University was Sunday's only participant whose legs were partially uncovered. "The ground was so slippery," he said. "My feet were sliding the whole time trying to get some grip."

Thanks to a pair of Adidas AdiStar Trail 3 shoes, runner-up and masters champion Eric Stuber wasn't slipping. But his 18:08 wasn't quite the 16:20 he ran two weeks ago in Orlando, Fla.

"I did a 20-miler yesterday because I'm training for a marathon (in North Carolina in late March)," he said. "So it took awhile to get that out of my legs. About halfway, I started feeling OK."

Men's Top 10
MEN'S TOP 10 Just six seconds behind Stuber, who won the 2003 Super Bowl 5K, was Christian Heck of Monroe (first in 20-24 in 18:14).

"The footing wasn't all that great, but it was a fun race trying to chase Eric," said Heck, who is president of the Michigan State University running club (http://www.msu.edu/~running./). "I wasn't expecting anything because I took off the last week due to a dog bite on my leg."

Fourth through 10th overall were Clinton Lawhorne of Morrice (first in 30-34 in 18:29), Robert Cook of Lansing (first in 45-49 in 18:41), Tony Thomas of Lansing (first in 25-29 in 18:56), Jon Noll of Metamora (second in 20-24 in 19:03), Greg Boyd of Okemos (third in 20-24 in 19:14), Eric Tingwall of Novi (fourth in 20-24 in 19:24) and James Crossman (second in 25-29 in 19:26).

Miserable Fun
Thomas still broke 19 minutes even though he fell twice.

"I fell on the first turn in the second mile, and then again coming into the last mile," Thomas said. "The second time, I was going down a hill, slid sideways, got my footing back and then the foot that I planted, my left one, just went out from under me and I landed on my side, slid for a few feet and got back up. It slowed me up a little bit.

"The surface was terrible, but it was miserable fun if there is such a thing."

Some Actually Improved
Besides the previously-mentioned Chris Kennedy, who lopped off 80 places and 1:42 from his 24:35 and 113th place a year ago, Clinton Lawhorne improved 12 places and 42 seconds from his 16th place and 19:11 clocking from 2006.

Glen Feldpausch of St. Johns (11th and first in 40-44 in 19:33) knocked 23 seconds and 13 places off his effort from a year ago.

And Harrison Hensley (132nd and second in 70-74 in 31:21), the race director of the Run Thru Hell in mid-August near Pinckney, improved 41 seconds and 136 places from his 32:02 12 months ago.

"It said -9 on the bank sign at Okemos Road and Jolly on my way here," said Hensley, who competed in 108 races last year.