Blake Whalen (right) pulls away from the lead pack Saturday during the 18th annual Grandview Gallop, which followed a different route due to road construction in the area.
Blake Whalen (right) pulls away from the lead pack Saturday during the 18th annual Grandview Gallop, which followed a different route due to road construction in the area.
Erin Donovan prefers the original route for the Grandview Gallop, and most avid runners and walkers tend to agree with her.
But, considering the road blocks Saturday morning, the 18th annual event worked pretty well. The 18th annual race attracted 187 participants to the 4-mile run/walk, while 67 participated in the 1-mile kids run.
Due to construction on the South Grandview overpass, the race followed a different path on Saturday. The course again started and ended at Murphy Park, but the entire event took place on the Mississippi River side of U.S. 61/151. It will return to its original course next year.
“They did an awesome job and it was a great set-up for what they had to work with,” said Donovan, who won her first women’s overall title. “It could have been a lot worse with some of the hillier streets over there, like Shady Oaks.”
Donovan, who has won age-division titles in past Grandview Gallops, finished in 27 minutes flat, 19 seconds ahead of Valerie Herbst. Dubuque Senior runners Nevaeh Kessler and Emma Chesterman finished third and fourth in 28:04 and 28:15.
“The little inclines were tough, but I’ve been training on hills so it wasn’t that bad,” Donovan said. “I don’t really like repeating laps in a road race, but seeing different scenery was kind of cool.
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“I loved going around Mount Carmel and seeing all the residents and staff out there, cheering us on. That was motivating and a big plus.”
The temporary course followed a double loop starting at Murphy Park. The course began by heading east on South Grandview and looped around the new Mount Carmel Bluffs buildings. Participants then exited the loop and proceeded west on South Grandview past Murphy Park to Julien Dubuque Drive with a turnaround prior to the crest of the downhill section.
Participants then returned to the start line and repeated just the Mount Carmel loop to the Murphy Park finish line. The new course maintained the integrity of the 4-mile distance with minimum change in elevation.
“We were down about 100 or 150 runners from where we’d like to be, but we figured we would be because of the construction,” race organizer Darrell Zmolek said. “What can you do? But it still was a pretty cool event with the people in the Mount Carmel Bluffs area out supporting everybody when they ran by their condos. And it’s always neat to see the Ainsley’s Angels buggies.”
Blake Whalen, 28, won the men’s title for the fourth consecutive year and the sixth time overall after claiming crowns in 2015 and 2018. The Dubuque Senior grad, who now lives in Des Moines, has missed the Grandview Gallop only once. Whalen ran a 19:40 to defeat Michael Eyres by 14 seconds. Luke Guttormson took third in 19:57.
There was no change in the course for 1-mile youth run. Max Streets ran a 6:23 to edge Liam Weber by a second for the boys title. Liv Schwager won the girls race in 6:38, while Clara Fry took second in 6:54.
