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Wanderers Endure the Good, the Bad and the
Ugly at the Ugly Mudder!
On Sunday, February 17th a hearty group of Wanderers once again
made the trek to Reading to tackle the Ugly Mudder "7.2" mile
Trail Race. For the first 400 or so runners, however
it wasn’t so much a 7.2 mile race, as a 6 mile race! Unfortunately
(or fortunately, depending on your point-of-view), the front runners
bi-passed a turn & cut about a mile off the course! Runners
were amazed at their super-speedy times as this was apparently the
year to PR!
The Wanderers field included Chris Verry, finishing
41st at 50:29. Chris spotted Sharon Schmidt-Mongrain hot
on his heels at the bottom of a hill & figured he’d better
get the lead out!
Sharon finished an impressive 49th place
at 49:51 earning 2nd place female honors in only her 3rd trail race!
Confirming that the warnings about these races were right, Sharon
found running through non-trail sections & across the "moguls" field
to be particularly challenging.
Laura Fanelli also
strode to greatness finishing 83rd in 54:35 and earning a 2nd place
finish in the Female 18-29 category. Laura found "Mt.
Mudd" at the end to be a pain in the eye, literally. After
sliding backwards a few times, some mud got kicked in her eye & she
could barely find her way to the finish line! Maybe safety
goggles are in order for next time!
Beth Auman,
a Pagoda Pacer by trade but a Wissahickon Wanderer at heart made
it look like these trails were old hat. She finished strong
in 93rd place at 55:36 earning 5th place Female 18-29.
Polly
Jansen managed to dust herself off after falling twice
and finished 147th at 58:54. She earned a nice war wound on her
knee for her efforts.
Matt Mauren, back for
more carnage after his strong Chilly Cheeks performance finished
164th in 59:40. Matt was tempted to make up that lost mile,
but decided that the beer at the Liederkrantz was calling his name
a little louder.
Susan Hurrey had her post-race
cocktail "tini" on her mind & scurried up Mt. Mudd
to a 288th place finish at 1:07:30. After partaking, she decided
it would be unwise to pilot the technovan on the way home!
Rich
Greifer graced the team with his presence at his first
Reading trail race. He made a valiant debut finishing in 479th
at 1:37:10. Rich made everyone else look like slackers by finishing
the whole 7.2!
Jeff
Hayes, a graduate to the prestigious PAC team also participated & blew
away the competition finishing 13th at 45:12.
Special thanks
to Dan Gordon who was up bright & early to give
several of the Wanderers an enthusiastic send-off in the technovan. Also
to Gabe Mauren who lent cheering support and also
put up with the antics and potential post-race "funk" in
the back of the van!
This was the first race in the USATF
Off-Road Series and the Wanderers
team certainly made an impressive showing. Results are pending
and should be available soon at mausatf.org.
Next up in the
series will be the Tyler Arboretum
10k trail race on April 5th.
Hope to see you then!
Event Photos
The Great One, disguising her Vodka as Robitussin prepares for her
post-race celebration.
Wanderers are ready to tackle the trails! L-R: Gabe Mauren,
Matt
Mauren, Chris Verry, Polly Jansen, Rich Greifer, Susan Hurrey
Rich puts his game face on as he prepares for his first Reading trail
race
Dramamine + trail race + beer = coma!
Never fall asleep in the presence of the Wanderers!
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