Despite threatening weather on Wednesday night, the Fourth of July weather conditions were nearly perfect Thursday morning for the annual running of the Sawdust 5K road race in Cloquet. Runners began filtering in to Pinehurst Park at 6:30 a.m. Close to 430 runners toed the starting line by 9 a.m. under partly cloudy skies and a light breeze.

"The conditions turned out to be absolutely beautiful with partly cloudy skies and about 75-degree temps by the time the race started," race director Jeff Leno said. "It was a little too humid as the sweat-soaked shirts on many of the runners were hangi...