BARK RIVER – Mike Neeld of Gladstone and Jill Richard of Garden didn’t have to worry about doing a warm-up run prior to the Second Annual Off the Vine Strides Trail Race Saturday night.

Both had already gotten their share of exercise Saturday morning as Neeld completed a triathlon in Marquette and Richard did the Iron Mountain Half-Marathon.

They appeared no worse for wear as they grabbed the top two spots in a race which started at the Bark River off-road track and finished at Northern Sun Winery.

Neeld covered the hilly 2 3/4-mile course in 20 minutes, 33 seconds and Richard was clocked at 21:06.

“I felt pretty good tonight,” said Neeld. “I did great on the bike and in the swim, but was a little discouraged with my run in Marquette. My run here was a lot better. I really enjoyed coming here. There were a lot of great people and scenery. This is a great event.”

Richard was followed by women’s runner-up Lynette Potvin of Houghton (21:49). Nancy Krusic of Manistique was third among the women (22:26).

“It was a nice evening to run and there’s beautiful scenery on this course,” said Richard. “I don’t do that many trail races, but one good thing is you don’t take the pounding like you do on pavement. Only, the uneven terrain is hard on the hips. My legs were stiff at first. I really should have warmed up a little more. I was never so happy to see the finish line after doing the half this morning.”

Patrick Johnson of Gladstone was men’s runner-up (22:29) and Scott Brant of Escanaba placed third (23:21).

The event drew 53 runners and walkers, including five-year-old Tillie Lange of Schaffer, who finished in 41 minutes, and her seven-year-old brother Sisu was clocked at 38:39 on this partly sunny, breezy and cool evening.