Thanks to all the runners that came out for the Monster Marathon and Half this past weekend! This year’s race was a lot cooler than the past few years when it was run in mid-August. 85 runners finished the half marathon. Another 20 gutted it out for a second lap, where the hills get steeper and the miles stretch out longer. We had at least one runner complete her first trail race and her first half marathon.
Hats off to Yvette De Boer who demolished the marathon distance course record. Her winning time of 3:06:50 was almost 24 minutes faster than the previous overall record. (What’s more, the 2018 course was about 0.4 miles longer than the last few years. She also owns the half marathon CR on the old course in Virgil.) Yvette shocked everyone by finishing her first out and back before all of the men had started the half marathon, and looked just as smooth cruising along on her second loop. Nancy Kleinrock was second overall in 3:36:38, after marking part of the course the night before. Ed Housel was third overall and the first man in 3:47:06. Hot on Ed’s tail was Paul Jensen, who ran the fastest non-handicapped marathon with a gun time of 3:51:45. (Paul also finished fifth overall in the Ithaca 5&10 10k only a week earlier!) Rounding out the top five and the awards was Shawn Spriggs in 4:10:40.
In the single out-and-back half marathon, Daniel Seigers held on for the win in 1:33:04, with Amelia Kaufman close behind in 1:36:47. Anna Gannett, James King, and Gerrit Van Loon finished close together in third through fifth. After finishing mere seconds ahead of perennial Stonehead contender Bill King, Gerrit then went out for another full loop to sweep the course, thus completing a marathon for the day.
Elsewhere, the mysterious and menacing forest monster is said to have migrated down from Virgil and was spotted somewhere near the Rock Pile aid station, motivating many to hightail it down the steep and rocky Red Pine Trail.
First time Race Director Daniel Longaker did an outstanding job taking the race over from Karen and Tim Ingall, who decided to step down after many years at the helm. We appreciate all the support from the running community and the amazing volunteer crew. Daniel thanks the following for their volunteer efforts:
Gary McCheyne was instrumental in helping to navigate the ins-outs of obtaining and transporting all the equipment required to put on the race. Pete Kresock and Nancy Kleinrock marked the course Friday night and then ran the marathon on Saturday morning. Bob Talda set up the timing clock at 6:30 AM and the timing crew of Adam Engst, Tonya Engst, Melissa Kuo, and Dave Kania all assisted with timing for the remainder of the day. Previous long-time race directors Karen and Tim Ingall, along with their young son Eamon, set up the start/finish aid station, just in time for Yvette’s arrival at the marathon halfway point. Gerrit Van Loon swept the course after finishing fifth in the half marathon. Thanks to Steve Vanek for an early morning coffee pickup and to Brenda Michaud and Rich Heffron, who joined Steve at the bib pickup table. Special thanks to Dean Russo (Rock Pile) and Makoto Endo (Lean-To) who each single-handedly managed an aid station for the duration of the race! And finally, thank you to the Forest Monster, who did not maul or eat any runners.
Congrats to everyone who finished! We hope many of you register for the Danby Down and Dirty 10K/20K Trail Race coming up on October 6. The Down and Dirty is FLRC’s final trail race of the year and the last in the 2018 Trail Circuit.