A Rough Stretch

August 25, 2018 - The Central Section

In 2016, the trail was moved off dusty German Road into the woods above the Mahoning Reservoir. That reroute was opened just before the race and took a toll on the runners. This year, it was extended just before the race, which made that stretch (mile 23-29) even more technical, and that took out most of the those who dropped this time.

It was overcast all morning, with a starting temperature in the upper 50s. Later the sun arrived, bringing a beautiful day with temperatures in the upper 70s.

James Mayuric led for the first third of the race, with Mark Frey and Kevin Tucker close behind. Mark pulled ahead after mile 20 and stayed there til the end, winning in 8:36:40. James finished about 15 minutes later, followed by Steven Neugebauer, who was in fifth place at mile 34 but moved ahead two places over the next eight miles.

Megan Parke led the female runners and finished in 10:27:24. She was followed by Amy Nelson, who pulled ahead by seconds at mile 23 to keep it exciting for the first half of the race, then fell back and finished in 10:46:15.

We had 57 solo runners start, with 48 finishing within the 14 hour time limit.

In the relay race, RR-4 Hicks & A Slick led through the first leg, then Skanks & Geezers took the lead at the second leg and held on to win in 7:51:07.

Congratulations to these seven solo runners who earned the the final piece of the medal and the accompanying rolling pin display:

  • Jason Bricker
  • Ben Brucker
  • John Fairchild
  • Miriam Fein
  • Linda Reilly
  • Anthony Rosario-Adams
  • Ivar von Waldenburg

Many thanks to our excellent volunteers who make the UltraChallenge happen: Zach Bare, Lisa Beers, Stephen Beers, Charles Brethauer, Paula Brethauer, Lloyd Clarke, Jim Crist, Eric Deutsch, Sue Dodds, Sue English, Steve Fazekas, Tim Flaherty, Matthew Fleeger, Dwight Fox, Janet Fox, Larry Fuksa, Lincoln Griffin, Mike Griffin, Tirzah Griffin, Doris Hicks, Paul Hicks, Jerry Hoffman, William Huber, Andrew Karnavas, Ryan Knecht, Alynn Kramer, Joseph Kulbacki, Rhett Landry, John Lewis, David Lindahl, Stef McVeigh, Karen Muirhead, Bob Mulshine, Chris Osman, Bob Reiland, Tom Rekowski, Cindy Rogers, Joe Shupienis, Bryan Simanic, Heather Slater, Kevin Snyder, Anastasia Stolz, Donna Stolz, Ezra Stolz, John Stolz, Dave Syiek, Bill Thompson, Ashley Williams, Carol Zellars, Ken Zellars, Rebecca Slak and Hisham Youssef.

And many thanks to our generous sponsors this year: Peoples Gas, Marburger Farm Dairy, and Rae Lyn Enterprises.

— Steve Mentzer