Despite disqualification, three local runners showed solidarity
Published 9:53 pm Friday, June 3, 2016
- Three area runners have forged a friendship that goes beyond competion and they met at the Hormel Nature Center for a run together on Friday. From left: Blooming Prairie sophomore Alec Ille, Southland junior Peter Torkelson and Josiah Eide of Rochester. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
When three area runners decided to show how distance running can create friendship recently, they found their message was misinterpreted and it cost them a chance to run in the 3200-meter run at the Section 1A meet.
But they’re not letting it damper their friendship or their love for distance running.

Peter Torkelson competes at the Class A boys’ cross country meet at St. Olaf College in Northfield this past fall. Herald File Photo
Southland junior Peter Torkelson and Blooming Prairie sophomore Alec Ille say they had the best intentions when they chose to run alongside their friend Josiah Eide, who is a sophomore from Rochester and runs for the RACE Jaguars. All three runners ran in the Class A state cross country meet this past fall and they’ve all grown to form a friendship after seeing each other at several different meets this year. Knowing they all had a great chance of advancing at the Subsection meet, Torkelson and Ille decided to run with Eide and pace him, since he was recovering from an achilles injury.
“We didn’t want him to get hurt,” Torkelson said. “If his ankle got hurt, he wouldn’t be able to run anymore and we wouldn’t be able to compete against each other anymore.”
The three runners ran as a pack that represented three different teamsn and as they headed down the final 200-meters of the race, Torkelson, Ille and Eide ran side-by side with their arms in the air. They crossed the finish line together and when they finished the race, they all turned back to the crowd and gestured a sign of appreciation.
Unfortunately for the trio of runners, there were a couple of complaints from coaches at the meet and five minutes after the race had ended, Torkelson, Ille and Eide were all disqualified for taunting and unable to advance to the Section 1A meet in the 3200-meter run.
It was a tough pill to swallow for three athletes who were looking to promote the sport.
“We didn’t even know there was a rule about that,” Ille said. “Our intent was for the purity of the sport to show that we’re competitors, but we can still be friends. It was disappointing that we didn’t go on, but it was still fun.”
All three runners were bummed out about being disqualified, but they felt even worse when they found out some other competitors may have felt like their goal was to taunt. Torkelson, Ille and Eide went out of their way to apologize after the race and tell the other competitors why they did what they did.
Eide said it felt good for him to run side by side with two of his friends.

Blooming Prairie’s Alec Ille runs at the Class A boys’ cross country meet at St. Olaf College in Northfield this past fall. Herald File Photo
“I was really touched,” Eide said. “They told me they were going to hold back for me if nobody else was around so they could run with me. It was really nice of them.”
On Thursday, Torkelson qualified for the Class A state track and field meet in the 1600-meter run and its likely that Eide and Ille will be in the stands cheering him on. Torkelson, who runs for GMLOKS, already owns the Southland record in the 3200-meter run and the 300-meter hurdles and he was one second from breaking the school record at the Section 1A meet.
“I’m excited and I want to do the best I can,” Torkelson said. “I always finish a race and it’s like I could’ve gone faster at this point or that point. Then I kind of want to do it again.”
On Friday, Torkelson, Ille and Eide were at the Hormel Nature Center to get a run in and look back on the season. They plan on keeping in touch over the summer and they’d like to run some races together. Torkelson and Eide have already ran a marathon together, where Torkelson finished one minute ahead of Eide, and they’re planning on doing it again.
“I believe endurance athletes respect their competitors more than any other athletes,” Ille said. “You’re never satisfied [as a runner].”
While they were bummed about getting disqualified, the trio has learned from the experience and they’re hoping to make better memories over the next year. Eide put things in perspective by saying there’s always something new to look forward to for runners.
“I try to never get to high or low about it because there’s always another race ahead,” he said.
Torkelson will run in the 1600-meter finals at the Class A state track and field meet in Hamline University in St. Paul Saturday.
Here is a link to the video of the final 200-meters of the 3200-meter run in the subsection meet last week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3RllQhPUrk