The first annual Door County Half-Marathon and Nicolet Bay fun run/walk was held this past weekend.

The course was in Peninsula State Park, a large state park in northern Wisconsin formed back in 1909, located on the Green Bay side of the Door County peninsula.

This park has the best hiking and biking trails, as well as popular camping grounds, and a beautiful sandy beach to swim, fish and picnic.

Now, I personally did not participate in this run/walk, but I made a great cheering section, photographer and support crew for my brother who completed his first half-marathon and my niece, who completed the 5k.

My mom and husband were also along for the ride to help cheer for our competitors. Go Team Wilhelm!

As I mentioned, this was the first ever half-marathon, but the organizers of the race were fantastic. The registration went smoothly, the competitors were given transponder timing chips to wear so their results were clocked accurately, the courses were marked very well (from what I heard), and there were six aid and water stations set up throughout the course. Six hundred people were registered for this combined event, so I would say the first one was quite a success.

Taylor (my niece) completed her 5k in fifty-seven minutes. Pretty darn good for an eleven-year-old!

Mike (my brother) completed his half-marathon in two hours and fourteen minutes. Quite impressive for his first race!

While I wished I could have participated in this event (my arthritis doesn’t mix well with running), it was still very exciting to be a part of it, cheering for the competitors.

At the end of the weekend, we celebrated with breakfast at the famous Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant in Sister Bay. This restaurant has been drawing people in for over fifty years. Besides being popular for a great place to get authentic Swedish food (especially the pancakes with lingonberries and Swedish meatballs), the restaurant is well-known for it’s sod-covered rooftop which serves as grazing ground for goats. Yes, goats grazing on the roof in nice weather. It’s very cool to see!