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Wanderers’ Trail Enthusiasts Display
Their Grit at the Half-Wit
Half-Marathon
Race report by Irene Nagle
The only thing that can make running 13 miles in Pennsylvania during
August more grueling is when the course is that of the 12th annual
Half-wit Half-marathon, a race forged from the diabolical mind of
the designer of the most vicious race courses in all the land, the
notorious Ron Horn.
Thus on the fateful morning of August 12th,
2007, ten lowly humble Wanderers set out to face the brutal bashing
to be had from this dumbfoundingly long length of rugged terrain,
only to emerge as its triumphant conquers. Perhaps even more
impressive than the fact that these brave, bold warriors were able
to tame a trail whose topography was intentionally made to be intimidating
and treacherous, the Wanderers also made a display of courage and
strength that far outshined that of their competition.
Indeed,
the other groups and individuals who took on the challenge of the
Half-wit had the extra disadvantage of being weak in the knees of
their already bruised legs when the mighty Wanderers took them by
storm and ended up with Wanderers across all age groups taking home
plaques and trophies. Out of the 471 total participants in
the race, six wanderers were acknowledged at the awards ceremony,
with Helen Cheung placing 3rd female overall with a time of 2:00:26
and Irene Nagle placing 4th female (therefore 1st place in her age
group, female 18-29 age group) close behind her with a time of 2:00:51. Both
excellent times, indeed, however it is speculated that both would
have broken the two hour threshold if not for the short amount of
time running off course that they both did by taking a wrong turn
just after mile ten.
Finishing close behind them with a time
of 2:12:28 was Polly Jansen to place 3rd in the female 30-39 age
group. Our group also had the pleasure in this race of being
rejoined by our beloved Barbara Gorka, who placed 2nd female 40-49
with a time of 2:13:24. As for the male showing, Bob
Reynolds placed 2nd in the 50-59 age group with an impressive time
of 1:47:56 and Matt Joose came in 5th place 18-29 and 11th finisher
overall with a stunningly swift time of 1:43:11. Two other
wanderers, Chris Verry and Noah Shusterman, were among the 50 finishers
who managed to finish under the two-hour threshold.
An additional
nine members succeeded in conquering the monster of a course, including
Doug Dubrosky, Susan Hurrey, Brian
McKenna, Maureen Mignogna, Dennis
Crowne, Ken Evans, Anita Zalewski, Erik
Johnson and Joshua Dennis. Chris
Moore also came to support and successfully bolstered the
spiritedness of his fellow wandering compatriots during the race,
and also charitably distributed free cliff bars to all participants
afterwards.
All and
all, an excellent showing that we are a group that collaborates together
under the athletic virtues of stamina, endurance, strength, courage,
backbone and most of all, utter craziness for the thrill of venturing
forth into the wilderness in the heat of August to challenge ourselves
to see how fast we can overcome 13 miles of rough trails that left
many of us bruised, scraped and bleeding in the name of those same
virtues.
Half Wit Half Pictures
Helen, Noah & Irene turned in great performances at their Half-Wit
Half debuts
Babs, Chris V. and Matt J. took care of business on the trails
Susan & Polly say, "Who you callin' a 'Half-Wit'?!"
Doug brought his very own cheering section! Family says, "You
owe us ice cream!"
Babs is happy to be back amongst the Wanderers
Chris V., Maureen, Ken and "The Great One" were there to
cheer the remaining Wanderers to the finish line
Dennis flies to the finish line!
Anita is looking forward to the pain being over!
Chris V. has a thought, "Mmmmmm . . . pizza!"
"Mad Doc" Irene happily receives some post-race "medical" attention
Chris M. & Bob are all smiles after the race
Brian says, "Did I really miss that beer stop twice?!"
Helen blew away the competition finishing 3rd female overall!
Irene kicked it into high gear finishing 1st in her age group
Speedy Matt J. finished 11th overall & 5th in his age group
Polly bagged 3rd in her age group
Wanderers sport their "horse's ass" hardware - Irene, Helen,
Polly, Barb & Matt
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