A Day of Changes

As the runners took off from the start, the temperature hovered around 60 and warmed to around 80 in the afternoon. The temperature wasn't the only thing that changed. Josue Orellana held the lead for the first 13 miles, but would be passed by Mark Frey and William Huber within eleven miles. William edged ahead of Mark over the following ten miles, but right behind both was Allen Stoltzfus, Allen passed both and held on to win, with William finishing about 12 minutes later, followed by Mark in another eleven minutes.

The heat took its toll on veteran racer Rhonda Hampton, who put up a valiant struggle but missed the finish cutoff by just over two minutes this year. Yes, after working as hard as she could for 14 hours, she came up short by 129 seconds. Our hearts go out to her!

Relay team Skanks & Geezers, a Masters Coed team, again captured the First Place Overall relay title, leading the other relay team competitors from the start. It wasn't until around mile 32 that they finally overtook the lead solo runners Bill Huber and Mark Frey as the temperatures were increasing and the solos were tiring. The fourth and fifth leg runners increased the lead, bringing the team to a finish nearly 75 minutes ahead of overall solo winner Allen Stoltzfus, and over 90 minutes ahead of the second-place team DynaJoes who took home the First Place Coed relay trophy.

In addition to the attractive trophies, the top three finishers and the top masters finishers and the overall relay team all received prizes of some handy running equipment courtesy of REI, who donated great gear for the Rachel Carson Trail Challenge 20th Anniversary Celebration held in June.

These eight runners earned the final piece of the medal and the accompanying rolling pin display:

• Michael Anderson
• Katie Bordner
• Bill Bradley
• Catherine Cohen
• Josh Edmiston
• Garrett English
• James Gehenio
• Josue Orellana

Congratulations to all!

Many thanks to our volunteers, without whom the UltraChallenge would not happen: Alex Baker, Joanie Baker, Dewaine Beard, Lisa Beers, Steve Beers, Judy Bishop, Jerry Bosak, Jennifer Braun, Charlie Brethauer, Matt Brownlee, Patty Brunner, Karen Clarke, Lloyd Clarke, Jim Crist, Bill Dietrich, Tam Duff, Mark Egge, Sue English, Timothy Faulkner, Kate Fissell, Tim Flaherty, Mark Gibson, Melanie Halke, Betty Hovland, Andrew Karnavas, Keith Klos, Ryan Knecht, Rhett Landry, Doug Macphail, Tammy Mcgaughey, Shawn Mcnelis, Stef Mcveigh, Karen Muirhead, Bob Mulshine, Cindy Rogers, Ashley Stoetzel, Anastasia Stolz, Donna Stolz, Ezra Stolz, Mike Waldvogel, Jenn Watts, Emily Wood, and Linda Xenophontos.

A special thanks to our great friends Hisham Youssef and Rebecca Slak, who host the race at their farm.

And many thanks to our generous sponsor this year: Rae Lyn Enterprises.

— Steve Mentzer