Local Runner Wins Back In Shape 5k by a Hair

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Two runners were neck-and-neck as they crossed the finish line in Northwestern Health Sciences University’s Back in Shape 5k race. Josh Moen, age 27, of St. Louis Park, Minn., won the race, and Sammy Malakwen, age 31, of Two Harbors, Minn., came in second. Both men recorded chip times of 14:09.

Moen was running the Back in Shape for the first time. “I thought I had a good shot at winning,” he said. “It’s a tough course, but I enjoyed the whole event.” Moen won $1,000 for winning and $500 for being the top U.S. male finisher. Malakwen received $400 for the second-place finish. The winning time was a mere 5 seconds off from the course record of 14:04 set in 2007 by Matt Chesang.

The top-finishing female was Frashiah Waithaka, age 31, of Edina, Minn., finishing in 16:51. “I am very happy!” she said with a smile at the awards presentation. She received $1,000 for being the top female finisher. Last year’s winner, Amy Lyons of Mounds View, Minn., finished second this year with a time of 17:23. Lyons won $400 for being the second-place female and an additional $500 for being the top American female finisher. “Northwestern puts on a really nice race,” she said.

The Back in Shape event logged a total of 270 5k finishers; and 60 people participated in the Patrick Holmes Memorial Walk. The event also included a kids’ 1/4-mile and 1/2-mile race, with 45 children taking part.

The Back in Shape boasts one of the largest prize purses in the state of Minnesota, with $6,500 in prizes for the top five finishers in each age category. The event also offers participants race-day perks such as a post-race buffet, free health screenings and sports massages; indoor restrooms; open swimming in the University’s pool before and after the event; and access to locker rooms and showers.

Runners and walkers could also raise pledges and make donations to Volunteers Enlisted to Assist People, an organization dedicated to providing assistance to low-income people in Bloomington, Richfield and South Minneapolis; Cornerstone, an organization working to prevent domestic abuse, and the Patrick Holmes Memorial Scholarship Fund, which was created to honor former Northwestern employee Patrick Holmes, who died in the I-35W bridge collapse in 2007.

Northwestern Health Sciences University offers a wide array of choices in natural health care education including chiropractic, Oriental medicine, acupuncture, therapeutic massage and human biology. The University has nearly 900 students on a 25-acre campus in Bloomington, Minnesota.