ABOVE: Joel Hokanson, who worked as a starter from 2000 to 2022 before having it cut short due to spinal issues, will be serving as the honorary starter for this year’s Sentinel Relays.

FAIRMONT – After giving up being a starter in 2022 due to spinal health issues, Joel Hokanson will be back out on the track Friday for the 70th annual Sentinel Relays to serve as honorary starter.

Growing up in central Minnesota, Hokanson spent his high school and collegiate years, at Gustavus Adolphus College, as a track athlete.

“I grew up on a dairy farm, so my dad didn’t allow me to participate until my high school years,” he said. “I started in track in 10th grade, then ran my freshman year in college. I was in an accident, which eliminated my ability to participate, so then I got into coaching and officiating.”

In those earlier days, Hokanson said he bounced around a few different types of events.

“My first meet, the coach had me run the mile, and I had competitively not run that,” he said. “The first two laps, I didn’t work very hard. Then I thought, ‘Geez, I got a lot left.’ I sprinted the last two laps and won the race. I realized then that I did not want to run the mile anymore, so I concentrated on the 400 and ran some 800s. I did some hurdles, I tried pole vault. I wasn’t very good at that. I putted the shot. In college, I ran 400s and 800s.”

From that time period, he said he remembers the competition and striving for victory the most.

His first work in Fairmont came after his competing days, teaching for six years as a gym teacher before budget cuts eliminated his position.

“I love being around the kids,” Hokanson said. “I like that physical activity. I figured if I can’t teach anymore, next best thing would be to be an official so I could still enjoy the competition from that perspective.”

That is what he ended up doing, starting in 2000 with encouragement from then Head Coach Bob Bonk. After getting certified, Hokanson would serve as a starter for Fairmont until his aforementioned health issues in 2022.

“To run a track meet, you have to be on your feet for five hours straight,” he said. “That took its toll. At the end of a meet, my feet were numb. My legs hurt. I came home and I said to my wife, ‘This is the last year, I can’t do this anymore.'”

Hokanson said walking away was a time of reckoning for him.

“I missed it because I used to start track meets in Albert Lea, Fairmont, Blue Earth, Worthington, Jackson, St James, Lake Crystal, St Peter,” he said. “I even went up to Edina and started a meet over to Cannon Falls.”

When he found out he was this year’s honorary starter, it was something unexpected for Hokanson.

“I was a starter doing something I really enjoyed,” Hokanson said. “I didn’t know that there was an award at the end of the tunnel. I was honored. I thought it was something nice they asked me to be a part of.”

Heading into Friday, Hokanson said he is looking forward to seeing the whole track meet, both when he’s on the field as an honorary starter and in the stands watching everything unfold.

The relays start Friday, May 1, at 4 p.m. at the Bob Bonk Track in Fairmont.