Mohican 2007 — Banner Year
By Colleen J. Theusch
Thanks to all CWRRC members and all others who made the eighteenth Mohican 100 mile race a record setting year. Weather, though on the hot side, was more favorable than the sweltering muggy conditions of some recent years. Fortunately the 94 temperatures with high humidity waited until Monday to arrive. The Mohican Trails Club recently completed a new shaded trail parallel to highway 3 to the Grist Mill aid station. This trail provided a double whammy by making that stretch both cooler during the day and safer at night. Of the 155 who started the race, 94 were able to complete the full 100 miles, compared to only about 30% of the starters who were able to finish last year.
Many of the runners and volunteers knew Regis Shivers and followed his struggle with cancer the last few years. Dedicated wife Diana brought picture boards of Regis for display at the pavilion. Roy Heger gave a moving tribute after the pasta dinner to this great man. Son Regis Jr. ran the race in honor of his father. Friend Rich Babcock provided tee shirts for family and friends to wear throughout the weekend in honor of Regis. The favorable weather may have been in part to Regis Sr. smiling down on this event that he had completed eleven times and at which he had been present many other times.
Fifty–two of the 155 starters were attempting to complete their first 100–mile trail race. Of those, 31 reached their goal.Compare this to 1991 in which the total starters numbered only 51 with just 24 total finishers. Mohican has grown! For the first time in Mohican history both the winner and the Last of the Mohicans completed their first 100–mile trail race. While Mohican does not distinguish a sub–24 hour finish in any way, some runners consider that as a magical time. This year 25 runners had sub–24 hour times — more runners than the total finishers in 1991.
Winner Harland Peelle ran a smart race covering the distance with a several minute negative split. He was even able to run up Big Hill near the end of the race to finish in 18:03:08. Sean Andrish, 2005 winner, had intended to pace Steve Core but switched to Peelle when the latter was aiming for first place. Jack Andrish took his son’s place as Core’s pacer. At the other end of the spectrum, Marissa Toland looking fresh as a daisy crossed the finish line over 11 hours later in 29:41:14. Toland was the first woman in Mohican history to receive the Last of the Mohicans award. This year’s Last of the Mohicans award was also the best in Mohican history. Jerry Brandt volunteered to carve a beautiful cup from rosewood, with silver Indian head and engraved plates. Brandt himself came in second at 19:29:31 with a negative split of over half an hour. He had been in 19th place at the halfway mark after which he increased his pace passing the others on the trail.
Elite Ultra runner, Connie Gardner, had taken second place at Laurel Highlands the preceding week. She ran a strong Mohican becoming first woman, overall fifth place, but more importantly she toppled the decade old 40+ women’s record at 19:57:14. This was also her second time as first Mohican woman.
Never before have we needed a parent’s signature for a Mohican runner. Michael Hayden, 17, came from California and matched his age by finishing in 17Th place. In the process he set a new 19 and under record at 21:59:52. This youth bears watching! Gabe Rainwater, 19, the other teenager in the race, completed the event with a theatrical flair in 27:51:36. Half way through the finish chute Gabe dropped to his knees. Then he put his hands on the ground and slowly crawled towards the finish line. With knees just before that destination, he reached over the line and lay prone across it. After savoring his accomplishment he popped back up rapidly.Such energy and flexibility after covering 100 miles — Ah youth!
Terry Hawk, Roy Heger, and Mike Jacolenne earned their 1000 miles, ten time finisher big buckle this year. They increased the number of those who have earned that buckle by 50% for a grand total of nine such awards. Immediately after crossing the finish line Mike kicked off his shoes and exclaimed: “Someone else can fill those now.” Other runners intend to do so. Many could be heard to say: “Only NN more to go for the big one!” Freddie Davis III is in line to earn his in 2008. Richard Szekeresh tied Robin Fry for the most Mohican finishes when he completed his 13th Mohican. Rita Barnes surpassed Irene Weston’s 5 finishes with her 6th Mohican 100 mile completion becoming the woman with the most finishes.
Those first timers who fell short of their goal can take heart. While tempted to drop in various places, Paul Lefelhocz completed his first 100–mile race on his 4th Mohican try. While Rosemary Evans had finished other 100 milers, she conquered the Mohican hills on her third attempt there. Josh Dillingham completed his first marathon in May 2006. Just over a year later he finished his first 100 miler at Mohican. Steve Sutton doubled his age as he crossed his first 100–mile finish line on his 50th birthday. Mary Kitzig reached her goal of 50 miles as an early celebration of her 50th birthday the following week. Several others planned on only doing the first half of the race. Terese Grondin stopped after reaching that goal more than a 50% increase over her previous 31K distance. Cheryl Splain decided she was strong enough to continue to the 61 mile mark. She has set her 2008 goal at 100 miles but will be happy with 75 for a PR.
There is a contagious aspect of ultra running to which several families can attest. For several years Perry Johnson has joined his father William enjoying their bond on Father’s Day. They run and finish or DNF together. This year they crossed the finish line in 29:21. Brothers Jay and Joe Barry arrived at Mohican from PA & TX to run together for over 29 hours and celebrate as they crossed the line. Ultra running infected the wives of two veteran runners. These two couples decided to have each person run his/her own race. Bob Pokorny made a bid for first place but settled for third in 19:33:46. Meanwhile Suzanne ran well frequently but also often struggled through low points. Her crew convinced her that it was better to be miserable during the race than to feel badly about dropping after the race. Emotionally exuberant she completed her first 100–mile race almost ten hours after Bob finished. Matthew Bedford completed his third Mohican in 21:24:57 lopping over two hours from his previous Mohican time. Wife Julie ran a strong race for her second woman finisher in 25:13:26. Crystal Miller also finishing her first 100–mile race crossed the finish line less than two minutes behind Julie.
Frequently runners use a race as a fundraiser for their favorite cause. Tom Jennings raised thousands of dollars that equates to over a hundred thousand dollars worth of food for the hunger center in his area. The crew of Mohican’s first ever runner from Singapore, Michael Denoma, were easy to spot by their “Team Denoma” tee shirts. Denoma also raised funds from sponsors in his fight to put an end to child pornography on the web. He’s already achieved some success in this endeavor through both fund raising and other activities such as the “lightamillioncandles.com” web site.
In 2006 Ben Barhorst was the voice “Welcome to the Rock!” just prior to his entering the army. He and his wife who are both Ohio EMTs returned to the Rock this year and also as medical help. Now stationed in Kansas, Ben’s unit made comments such as: “Your MOTHER is going to run 100 miles!?” “She’s doing it for the SECOND time!?” Yes, Linda Barhorst did finish again in less than 28 hours.
Dana Beyeler hit upon a great WIN–WIN situation. He and his pacer had forgotten their flashlights at the preceding aid station. Dana was not feeling well so lay along the trail for a while. When he was ready to continue it was quite dark so he tried to follow his pacer’s shirt that had some white areas. A short time later they saw some flashlights on the trail and heard desperate female voices: “Help! Can anyone help us? Please!” The two men met the young ladies coming towards them. They were at other activities in the area, went out on the trails and were going in the wrong direction, completely lost. They hoped that someone would be looking for them. The men were willing to share their knowledge of the trails. The women were willing to share their lights. Hours later they reached the Handler station. Almost immediately a police car that had been searching for the girls drove up to claim them.The men picked up their own lights and finished the course.
First timer Brian Nash’s wife was the envy of many other crewmembers. Brian had prepared a binder filled with plastic sleeves containing detailed information including his projected time at each aid station, detailed maps of the area including small dirt roads not found on standard maps, directions to get from one station to another, etc. Though Brian suffered a gash on his hand from a fall early in the race, he would not consider abandoning his quest and finished the event with hours to spare.
South Carolina vacation beckoned family of Robin Meagher. She was somewhat chagrined that her twin brother had left without even wishing her “Good Luck” on her race. Of course that chagrin turned to delight when twin, Gordon Narburgh, surprised her at an aid station. Some runners suffered injuries such as twisted knees, extremely painful toes, etc. that forced them out of the race. Others hit very low spots. Fortunately for many of them such as Bob Engel after “Dying” at one place and slowly moving forward, “Reincarnation” occurred. Chuck Jackson and Dave Konkey train at the same YMCA in Valparaiso. There’s friendly rivalry between them when they register for the same race. Konkey dropped at 75 miles giving Jackson glory of this race. Jackson was delighted to have his very young granddaughters join him near the end of the race and accompany him across the finish line.
Beware of campground thieves! Janet Cassidy, Doug’s wife, heard many plastic containers being opened and closed around 3:30 AM and thought the runners could be more considerate of those who weren’t rising until after the race was well underway. When she finally decided she had enough sleep, she realized that the early racket had been caused by raccoons who were now enjoying much of her food supply.
An event the magnitude of the Mohican 100 mile trail race could not exist without many volunteers. CWRRC members, too numerous to mention all by name, helped bring the event to fruition by their commitment before, during and after the race. Other runners, friends, and families contributed much time and effort. Despite several glitches including some key volunteers who could not be at the race, RD Ryan O’Dell provided the runners, whether they finished the full 100 miles or dropped along the course, with a grand trail experience. This race could not exist without people like Stan Kinney and his radio operators, Leo Lightner and the trail marking crew, Edina and Arthur Moore as volunteer coordinators, Ron Dukes as facilities manager, Jim Gordon as supply coordinator, the Greer Church group that provided the pasta dinner, Kathy Siesel and her podiatry students, Tom Hayes the pancake breakfast chef, etc. We all know that Debbie Lemmer enjoys feeding people at any time for any occasion. This year she convinced CWRRC VP Marcella Meister to experience her first Mohican event by coming along to feed the runners when they completed their 100–mile sojourn during the night. It was great having Joe Eisenberg and Ida Greiner back at Mohican after their absence for several years while Joe was fighting cancer.
You, too, are welcome at the nineteenth Mohican race next year in whatever capacity you choose. Mark your calendars now — pasta dinner, Friday June 20, 2008; race Saturday–Sunday, June 21–22, 2008.
This article is written for the CWRRC newsletter and will be posted on the website. This article will be cannibalized for the basis of another article with a somewhat different flavor for UltraRunning. I expect that article to appear in the September issue after being cut by their editorial staff — hopefully they will also print some race pictures. Watch for it!