Bob and Trish Evans garnered a good deal of well-deserved attention at the Capuchin Run/Walk for the Hungry last night, for running fast and running fast while juggling balls.

Both hold world records for the fastest joggling 5k: a 16:42 for Bob and 19:42 for Trish, and they came close to matching those times on the flat course along the Milwaukee Lakefront. Bob finished third in 16:53 and Trish was sixth among the women in 20:20.

As this story details, the Wisconsin natives and former Michigan Tech athletes picked up juggling after their collegiate careers ended. They melded their athletic talents and entertaining skills a couple years ago, and started racing.

I caught and passed Trish about the half-way point of the 5k race last night and was struck by the efficiency of her stride and the precision of her juggling. She kept her elbows close to her body. Her hands moved quickly, efficiently, inches from her midsection, and the balls flew in an unwavering pattern.

Trish Evans joggles past the Milwaukee Art Museum. Photo by Bill Flaws – RunningInTheUSA.com

There might be more benefits to joggling than standing out in the crowd at local races.

“It helps your cadence when you’re running and your form and posture,” Bob Evans said. “I can see some trends into the mind-body fitness, brain-based exercise movement.”

Juggling while running forces the brain to a new intensity of focus, and the Evans are taking that even further by swimming and riding unicycles as they train for their first juggling triathlon.

To learn more about joggling, check out this blog by Michal Kapral, a Canadian who juggled his way to a 2:50 marathon finish.