In Haubstadt, the Race Is German. The Awards are No Baloney. The Joy is All Indiana.
The Laufenfest 5K celebrated its 30th anniversary Saturday, drawing runners from across the Tri-State to a small Gibson County town that has turned a summer road race into a beloved community institution.
HAUBSTADT, Ind. — Blake Smith crossed the finish line on West Street in front of the Old Gym on Saturday morning, clocking a 16:19 to win the men’s division of the 30th annual Laufenfest 5K. He was fast. And he was first.
That’s just how they do things in Haubstadt.
The Laufenfest — German for “running festival,” naturally — is one of the Tri-State’s most distinctive road races, held each June as part of the Haubstadt Sommerfest weekend. This year’s edition, on a warm Saturday morning, marked three full decades of the event that founder Kent Scheller launched in 1996, and by every measure, the 30th anniversary was a success: competitive times up front, a full field of recreational runners and walkers behind them, a children’s Lil’ Dutch Run, accordion music, a Biergarten, and of course, the awards.
“This is a community event that brings people together,” race director Nathan Wilzbacher has said of the race in past years. “We have runners, walkers, kids — and everyone is welcome.”
Men’s Top 5 Finishers
- Blake Smith, Princeton, IN — 16:19
- Hunter Motz, Wadesville, IN — 16:40
- Phil Dzienciol, Evansville, IN — 17:03
- Ryan Frymire, Norris City, IL — 17:05
- Carson Brindle, Evansville, IN — 17:43
Women’s Top 5 Finishers
- Lucy Scherer, Haubstadt, IN — 20:59
- Blair Rexing, Fort Branch, IN — 21:03
- Kate Murray, Evansville, IN — 21:42
- Jemma Kempf, Haubstadt, IN — 21:59
- Sophie Wright, Haubstadt, IN — 22:05
Full results available at runsignup.com, provided by Trinity Timing & Consulting.
Smith’s winning time of 16:19 edged Hunter Motz of Wadesville by just 21 seconds in a tight men’s race, with Phil Dzienciol and Ryan Frymire — who has been a Laufenfest regular for years — finishing within two seconds of each other in third and fourth. On the women’s side, local favorite Lucy Scherer of Haubstadt claimed the top spot with a 20:59, followed closely by Blair Rexing of Fort Branch in 21:03. Notably, three of the top five women’s finishers — Scherer, Kempf, and Wright — call Haubstadt home, a testament to the race’s deep roots in the community.
The Laufenfest has been a fixture of the Haubstadt Sommerfest since Scheller founded it in 1996, making this year’s edition a genuine milestone. What began as a local running event has grown into what organizers and participants alike describe as one of the premier races in the Tri-State area. The Facebook page for the event calls it “one of the premiere running events in the Tri-State area,” and the entry list each year draws competitors from Evansville, across Gibson County, and well beyond Indiana’s borders.
The Laufenfest has also long served as a vehicle for community giving. Each year, runners and spectators are invited to donate gently used shoes, which a local mission team then delivers to families in need in Guatemala, Haiti, South Africa, and other countries. In past years, the drive has collected over 500 pounds of footwear. Donors receive a raffle ticket for each pair of shoes contributed, with the winner receiving a gift certificate to a local Haubstadt restaurant — yet another reason to show up, lace up, and clean out the closet.
The race weekend itself — part of the larger Haubstadt Sommerfest celebration running June 18–20 — features the Lil’ Dutch Run for young children, rock-and-roll accordion music by Helen Kiesel, a Biergarten (for those 21 and up, of course), a bounce house for the kids, food and drinks, and door prizes. It is, in the truest sense, a community festival that happens to include a timed 5K.
Over the years, the Laufenfest has produced stories that go well beyond finish times. In 2022, race director Wilzbacher took to the microphone as a heart transplant recipient approached the finish line of the 5K walk. “Brian Carrico, who is nearing the finish line, is the first heart transplant person to do the 5K Race-Walk,” Wilzbacher announced to the crowd. “Give Brian a hand. It’s a great accomplishment.” Moments like that have a way of defining an event — and explaining why the Laufenfest, after 30 years, shows no signs of slowing down.
The race starts and finishes on West Street in front of Haubstadt’s Old Gym, a setting that gives the event its small-town-main-street feel even as the competition at the front of the pack remains genuinely serious. This year’s winning time of 16:19 would hold up at most regional 5Ks.
For information on next year’s race, visit laufenfest.com or follow the event on Facebook. Registration is handled through RunSignUp.
Results provided by Trinity Timing & Consulting.