50K run to mark pair's 50 years of marriage

Lorraine Bunk has finished every race she's ever started, whether a 5K or 100-mile ultra.
Her husband, Tom, says he's lucky she applied the same determination to their marriage.
Because of that double doggedness, the high school sweethearts will reach a remarkable dual finish line on Saturday: celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary by running 50 kilometers on the trails in the Southern Kettle Moraine State Forest, near their home in North Prairie.
The achievements - 50 years of football jersey marriage and the ability to still run 50K - are equally impressive to the friends who respectfully call Tom and Lorraine "president and first lady" of trail running. Dozens, maybe 100 of them, will join the Bunks for portions of the run and the anniversary barbecue to follow.
"They're amazing people," said Kevin Grabowski, a fellow member of the Lapham Peak Trail Runners group. "Your typical impression of somebody doing their 50th wedding anniversary is that they're going to be way too old to be running a 5K, let alone a 50, but Tom and Lorraine aren't just anybody.
"They are very accomplished ultra runners and very competitive."
They're also gracious and humble, more likely to celebrate and boast of others' achievements than their own.
Thankfully, Mary Gorski pried loose enough of their story for a piece published this month in Ultrarunner Magazine.
It tells how they met in high school in Kendall, Wis., and married on Sept. 3, 1960.
Tom, 68, worked as a manager for Caterpillar and then Waukesha Engines, and took to running first. He notched his first marathon in 1980, and his first ultra, the Ice Age 50, three years later.
Lorraine, 69, followed his lead a few years later, catching up to both Tom and their children, Craig and Kim.
She ran her first Ice Age 50 in 1989, planning to do just one.
"Somewhere I got carried away," she nfl football jersey acknowledged, noting that she had lost track of the number of marathons and beyond marathons she has run.
One number that stands out is 19: her official finishes in the 50-mile run on the Ice Age Trail in the Southern Kettle. Lorraine started after number 20 in May but felt lousy from the beginning and failed to meet the time cut-off for an official finish.
She didn't quit, however.
"It was just one foot in front of the other," she said. "I just thought, 'Well, OK, I'll get to the finish."
Thinking about it for a bit, she noted the value of a similar approach to marriage.
"It's not just putting that ring on your finger," she said. "Fifty years is a long time and there are ups and downs, and there's a lot to deal with.
"When it gets tough, you don't throw in the towel, you just keep working at it."
Both Bunks said running had been a huge help over the years - for their health and marriage. It's something they have shared and has been a focal point of their travels.
With all his own achievements, Tom Bunk puts pacing Lorraine to the finish line of nfl Saints jersey the Western States 100 in 1997 near the top of his favorite running moments. It was one of the few times that the two of them have actually run together.