'A good way to start the year out'
LOREN BENOIT/PressParticipants in the 40th annual Hangover Handicap begin their 5 mile run along the North Idaho Centennial Trail on Sunday.
LOREN BENOIT/PressMike Lee, left, and Daniel Lee participate in the 40th annual Hangover Handicap Sunday morning in Coeur d'Alene.
LOREN BENOIT/PressJoey Gibbs, of Cataldo, runs without a T-shirt during the 40th annual Hangover Handicap on Sunday in Coeur d'Alene.
LOREN BENOIT/PressPaige Bullard runs with her dog during the 40th annual Hangover Handicap on Sunday in Coeur d'Alene.
LOREN BENOIT/PressPost Falls resident Samantha Lee jogs along the North Idaho Centennial Trail during the 40th annual Hangover Handicap on Sunday in Coeur d'Alene.
LOREN BENOIT/PressAndy Cleveland, of Dalton Gardens, crosses the Hangover Handicap finish line in first place.
| January 2, 2017 12:00 AM
COEUR d’ALENE — In name alone, the 40th annual Hangover Handicap suggests its participants were up hours after the New Year’s Eve ball had dropped.
Andy Cleveland and Paige Bullard — the first man and woman to cross the finish line of the five-mile run on Sunday morning — didn’t even make it to midnight.
“I went to bed at about 9 p.m.,” said the 38-year-old Dalton Gardens man. “I went snow-shoeing for about nine miles yesterday. It would have been cool if I was up until midnight partying, but I was just tired.”
Bullard, a 20-year-old Washington State University student and Rathdrum native, was in bed by 8 p.m.
“But I ended up waking up 1 a.m.,” she said. “I couldn’t sleep, but I am glad I was able to be up for this run. It was fun.”
The well-rested Cleveland pushed through the 25-degree temperatures and snowfall, logging a time of 32 minutes, 12 seconds, the best of the event’s 283 runners.
Crossing the finish line with her dog, Folly, Bullard had the top women’s time of 39 minutes flat.
This year’s group of runners was a wide-ranging demographic, from young to old, competitive high-school distance runners to those just wanting to ring in the new year with a brisk run. One man even pushed his two twin children in a jogging stroller.
Hangover Handicap — which started and ended at Micheal D’s restaurant and went along the Centennial Trail — is organized by Tesh Inc. All proceeds from the event benefit Tesh, a private nonprofit that offers choices and opportunities to children and adults with disabilities seeking greater independence, self-sufficiency, and participation in their community.
Joe Morris, a 69-year-old Coeur d’Alene man and former Kootenai Health CEO, wore a Hangover Handicap hat from 1989 as he pushed through the final stretch.
Morris has participated in more than 20 Hangover Handicap runs, even when the event briefly changed its name.
“It was the Hangover Handicap, but then they thought it was politically incorrect, and it was switched to the Resolution Run, or something, then they switched back to Hangover Handicap, which is better,” Morris said.
Nearly every year since he’s known about the run and good cause, Morris has been happy to participate
“It’s a good way to start the year out, and you know a lot of people, build friendships,” Morris said.