April was a banner month for the Wanderers. First, there was the Wanderers’ team performance at the Boston Marathon. Matt Palombaro produced another sizzling run completing the course in 2:47:16. And what about Monica Ranly finishing in3:28:47? Then there was Sharon Schmidt winning gold for women in the Triple Crown Trail 10-k in Delaware and vaulting into first in the USATF off-road series standings for women. Bob Reynolds, now that he has hit 50, was also busy picking up all sorts of age division medals at various trail and road races. And don’t forget the super performance of Wendy Stevens at the prestigious St. Anthony’s triathlon in Florida, 19th out of 182 competing in her age group!!
All these performances made for some difficult choices for the panel of judges to make in deciding the Athlete of the Month for April. However, after sifting through all the evidence and reports, they realized there could only be one choice……..Ken Evans. After all, the criteria for selecting the Athlete of the Month are not solely speed and performance. The selection is also based on intangible factors such as character and ability to persevere through adversity and general defiance of the odds. And Ken’s cumulative record in 2007 is impressive. First there was the Chilly Cheeks Trail Race in January where Ken took a header and ended up with gashes in the head and legs. Then there was the Ugly Mudder Trail Race where Ken became the mystery runner who started but then was declared MIA after going off course. Finally, there was the courage of Ken to actually sign up for the Lenape Challenge canoe and run biathlon where the Wanderers past record had included several sinkings and collisions. When you also throw in a few cuts and scrapes and bruises and missed turns accumulated in the Wanderers trail race series in the Wissahickon, there could only be one choice for April Athlete of the Month, Ken Evans!
