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‘Keep up your effort and keep pushing’

Chris Gordon takes first in Hermann 5K

NEW ULM – The race was off with a boom and a bang as New Ulm Battery members fired off their cannon to start the 2026 Hermann 5K.

The 5K began a little after 9 a.m. Saturday in Harman Park. At roughly 9:25 a.m., Chris Gordon became the first person to cross the finish line at 2nd N. Street, becoming this year's winner of the 2026 Hermann 5K.

New Ulm’s Park and Recreation helped bring together this run as part of the  HermannFest celebration. Following the Hermann 5K, a special kids obstacle course was held in Harman Park.

The 5K run started at 2nd North Street next to Harman Park. The route took runners north on Garden Street, west up Oak Street Hill, south on Highland Avenue and east down Center Street past Hermann Monument where runners finished back at 2nd North Street.

Gordon is an avid runner competing in 5Ks and marathons. He recently completed in the Citizens Bank 5K in May and Run for Beer 5K in July. Gordon also made sure to cheer on each and every runner as they finished their race.

"It feels great to have this course and I really appreciate this," Gordon said. "It reminds me a lot of any kind of challenge you take like a business venture where you start off feeling strong, and then you get tested on Oak Street hill. But if you keep up your effort and keep pushing, you'll crush that hill and things will smooth out a little more on the other side of it. Then, you come down Center and things are just flying and all you can do is keep up your momentum to the finish." 

Medals were given to the top three finishers for men and women. In the mens category, Chris Gordon finished in 19 minutes and three second, not far behind in second Isaiah Schroeder at 20 minutes, 30 seconds, and right on his tail in third Adam Herzog at 21 minutes, 12 seconds.

Women's first place went to Bailey Gault at 21 minutes and 28 seconds. In second was Emma Askeland with 25 minutes and eight seconds, followed closely by Abby Evers with 25 minutes, 25 seconds.

The kids' obstacle course was set up on the practice field in Harman Park. The course featured several different types of challenges including different types of hoops for the kids to jump through, tunnels to crawl through, multiple bounce houses and more as they were able. The end of the course involved an inflatable bounce house with several additional obstacles in between. 

Several of the little runners would go through the course multiple times throughout the day, chasing each other and challenging each other to see who could do each part faster.