Traverse City Record-Eagle

2012 National Cherry Festival

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  • Mike Tiberg, far left, running in the 2006 Cherry Festival 15K with his son Matthew and daughter Kyle. Special to the Record-Eagle

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July 12, 2012

Tiberg ready for 33rd Cherry Festival 15K

The 58-year-old pharmacist hasn't missed one since '79

By MIKE ECKERT meckert@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — To call Traverse City's Mike Tiberg a veteran runner at the Cherry Festival 15K might be a bit of an understatement.

On Saturday morning, Tiberg will participate in his 33rd straight 15K. He missed the first two years, but has been going strong ever since 1980.

"It's one of those things that one of these days will have to come to an end," Tiberg said. "This year was close. I fractured my ankle about 10 weeks ago. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do it this year, but I was able to recuperate fairly rapidly. So for about the last five weeks, I've been running again."

Tiberg, a 58-year-old pharmacist at Munson, said he's just going out on Saturday to have a good time. That was his approach last year, when he finished the 9.3-mile course in 1 hour, 16 minutes, 46 seconds.

"Last year was a good time," Tiberg said. "There were four of us that were somewhat injured. So we just went out and enjoyed it. We laughed and talked. It was a good time."

Never a winner, but never a missed race in his 33-year stretch.

"Not bad," Tiberg said of his times. "In the middle I got a little bit faster and did okay. I never did great or anything like that. In the last few years, I've been getting slower and just enjoying it. I'm doing it for longevity as opposed to speed."

The memorable races for Tiberg, though, have nothing to do with his finish.

"The ones that I ran with my kids probably were the most fun," Tiberg said. "Those were enjoyable times."

Over the 33 years, Tiberg has been tempted to opt out of the 15K for the 5K. But each year, he's gone ahead with the longer race.

"My wife has ran the 5K many times and my kids would do the 5K," Tiberg said. "There were times where I'd think, 'You know, it'd be fun to do it with them, but I might as well keep going.' I've done a number of 5K races and they're always fun, but they're much faster too. As I got older, the length (of the 15K) was enjoyable. I like it now. I do a number of marathons now, so 15K isn't that much."

And with the 15K, Tiberg has had plenty of chances to race the hill on McKinley Road, which comes around the midway point.

"I was told, many years ago, that if you can't run it any faster than you can walk it, then walk it," Tiberg said. "That was actually from George Kuhn, who told a friend of mine, who told me. So that came from the master of running in Traverse City. So going up, take it easy and enjoy it. By the time you get to the top, you're going to be tired, no matter what."

The hill can be a good indicator of how the rest of the 15K is going to go.

"Once you get to the other side, there's only about four miles to go," Tiberg said. "Depending on how you took the hill, if you took it fairly conservatively, the last four miles are enjoyable. If you've taken it too hard along the way, the last four miles can be pretty tough. Unfortunately I've done it both ways over the years."

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