Just 22 runners turned out for the inaugural 5 at 7 Trail Race at Seven Mile Creek County Park Saturday morning.

But for Mandy Sorenson, it didn’t matter of there were 22 or 2,200.

“This is my first race,” the 31-year-old Mankato woman said as she crossed the finish line.

Sorenson began running last November and made it through the 5.1-mile run through the park’s scenic woods and along its bluffs. She finished in 61 minutes, 46 seconds.

“I call myself a jogger, not a runner,” said Sorenson, who works with the race’s organizer, Scott Rassbach. “But I’m all right.”

Chaun Cox, 34, of North Mankato won the race, completing the course in 40:36. Mankato residents David Holland, 30, and Neil Paarmann, 43, were second and third at 41:15 and 41:45, respectively.

Heidi McCabe, 43, was the first female finisher, finishing in 51:07, good enough for seventh overall.

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