Lake Forest Days Race Winners Display A Diversity Of Success

The high standard of success Lake Foresters set for themselves came across the finish line first in the annual 5-kilometer Lake Forest Day Race Wednesday morning at  

The men’s winner — of Lake Forest with a time of 17 minutes, 35 seconds — is a budding economist. The women’s champion — Lauren Sykora also of Lake Forest who traveled the course in 20:58 — is a rocket scientist.

• See more photos from the run on our Facebook page.

Briskman and his identical twin brother, Jonathan Briskman, who placed third in 17:55 behind Ryan Crilly (17:45), are studying economics at Claremont-McKenna College in California. The 2010 graduates are heading into their sophomore year where they are members of the track and cross country teams.

Sykora just graduated from Princeton University with a degree in engineering where she studied nuclear, mechanical and aerospace engineering.

“I guess that makes me a rocket scientist,” said Sykora, who also rowed for the Tigers crew for four years. 

Later this month, Sykora will go to work as a nuclear engineer at Exelon’s Dresden (Ill.) atomic energy plant. 

Whether they are in the classroom or competing in athletics, Sykora and the Briskman twins are people who know what it means to finish near the top. , the curator of Lake Forest’s who helped with the timing of the race, understands this well. 

“In this community, the bar is set very high for everything,” Carmichael said. “When kids are raised in this environment, they are going to reach their goals as long as reaching them is attainable.” 

Carmichael knows first hand. A scientist himself when he was at he was also a standout baseball player. His picture adorns the Scouts’ Wall of Fame. His daughters, , have become track stars. 

Sykora acquired a social conscience along the way. She wants to use her education and scientific training to have an impact on people’s lives and the environment. 

“I want to have a positive effect on a lot of people and energy does that. Fossil doesn’t make it,” Sykora said referring to oil and gas fueled energy. “I want to do things like solar and nuclear energy.” 

After rowing in college, competitive running was an easy transition for Sykora. She is currently living in Lake Forest and plans to move to Plainfield to be closer to work. The only rowing facilities in the area are in Chicago. 

“I’ve been running since I could walk. I enjoy running,” Sykora said. “I’ve been training with the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Running Club. That’s helped me a lot. It feels good." 

The Briskman twins began competitive running as fifth graders. They have participated in Illinois state meets both for the Braves and later for the Lake Forest High School cross country team. 

Now that they are in college, Colin and Jonathan have taken their skills to a new level. After a year of running for the Stags, they are adjusting to more strenuous training and stiffer competition. 

“Everything is faster. I’m not used to being at the back of the pack,” Colin said. “There are a lot more hills. That makes it a lot harder. Even the base runs we run are pretty hard.” 

On the track team, the Briskmans both run the same event — 5,000 meters — but sibling rivalry is not an issue even though their personal best times for the event are only 13 seconds apart. Jonathan is faster. 

“I’m used to him passing me,” Colin said.

They independently explored colleges and ultimately chose the same one, according to Jonathan. They like the same sports and cheer for the Cubs together. They train with an eye to helping each other. 

“It’s hard to be competitive because there are so many runners (in a race),” Jonathan said.

For the complete race results, visit the Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Department Special Events website.