This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

Geezers Gallop in St. Louis Park

The eighth-annual Geezer Chase, a fundraising race for the St. Louis Park High cross-country teams, pitted high schoolers against adults—with a twist.

This time, it was the kids’ turn to chase the adults at the park. And as payback for all the time they were the chasers, the adults got a head start.

But it was all in good fun and part of the Geezer Chase, a fundraiser for the cross-country teams. The two-mile race pitted “geezers”—anyone over 18—against the boys and girls of the Orioles’ cross-country teams, with the geezers afforded a two-minute head start.

This year’s event—the eighth annual—took place on Sept. 1 at . Adults paid $15 and students $10 to run the two-mile course around the park. This year there were about 210 participants, the race’s highest total ever, said Orioles’ cross-country coach Rachel Hoffman.

Find out what's happening in St. Louis Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“And it just keeps growing every year,” she said.

Hoffman has an idea about why the popularity keeps going up.         

Find out what's happening in St. Louis Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“It’s a community thing,” she said. “It’s good for you. It’s healthy. We don’t have to sell pizza or cookie dough or anything like that."

Local businesses lent a hand, too. provided water for the runners, while gave race organizers a deal on the T-shirts that each participant received.

The race started with all of the geezers lined up under a tree on the park’s south side. There were men and women, those just out of high school and senior citizens, some who were running with their dogs and others who were pushing running strollers with their babies inside.

Hoffman shouted “Go!” and the racers took off in a counter-clockwise loop around the park, culminating in a turn around the pond on the park’s west edge and a finish just north of where they started.

They were followed two minutes later by the cross-country runners, who Hoffman reminded to “be nice” if they passed a geezer.

“Some of those guys out there are fast,” Hoffman said when asked if a geezer could hold off the high schoolers.

Indeed, a geezer won, but this is the only situation in which he would be called a geezer. Andrew Tilman, a 2007 St. Louis Park High graduate and former Orioles’ runner, crossed the finish line in 10:49. Earlier this year he graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN, where he competed on the Nordic ski team.

Sophomore Andrew Jewell was the top boys’ finisher among the team’s current runners, while eighth-grader Grace Williams was the top girls’ finisher.

Freshman Caleb Hill ran the race for the second year in a row. Last year, he beat his dad, Burke. This year however, Burke, 42, beat Caleb by seven seconds, factoring in the time adjustment for the head start.

Burke Hill, who said he’s not a runner, trained for two weeks for the Geezer Chase.

While winning isn’t the point of the race, both father and son enjoyed the friendly competition.

“At the end, there were some cross-country runners really … trying to pass people,” Burke said.

“It’s fun if you catch (the geezers),” Caleb said with a laugh. “It’s not if you don’t.”

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?