Hairy Gorilla Half

A small contingent of Gunkers and FOGs made their way north for the wild and wooly Hairy Gorilla Half Marathon, a trail race/cookout/costume party. The race is the brainchild of Josh Merlis of the Albany Running Exchange, which basically guarantees it will be more fun than should be allowed in civilized society. Robert Muller and Charlie Gadol led the locals, placing 24th and 25th, respectively, in a field of over 200 runners. Charlie was able to nab first place in the 50-59 age group with his 1:38:25, just 9 seconds behind Robert.

FOGs:
44. John Holt 1:49:06
92. Doug Freese 2:06:46 (second, 60-69)
94. Jimmy Buff 2:07:21

Full results are available here.

Hall of Fame 5K

The Mid Hudson Road Runners hosted the Dutchess Sports Museum Hall of Fame 5K (now that's a long race name!) at Bowdoin Park last weekend. The race offered the chance to compete on the same course used for some of the area's biggest high school cross-country meets. That was a nice change from previous years. (Wait a minute...did I think that or type that?)

Shawangunk Running Company employee/superstar Justin Harris tore through the challenging, classic grass-and-dirt layout in 16:26, bettering his high school PR by 12 seconds and finishing a strong second overall. Not sure if we can count him as a Gunker yet, though he did work out with the group last Friday. I'll still categorize him as an FOG for now, I guess, but we'll give him a battlefield promotion very soon. John McGovern led the Gunk contingent with a 10th place showing in 19:34 (third for the masters). Pat Lopiano (25th, 21:10) and Steve Schallenkamp (27th, 21:18) rounded out the scoring for the Gunks Masters' team, but MHRRC was too much for us this year, and we did not field any open or womens' teams. With New York and After the Leaves looming next weekend, most of the Gunkers took a quiet weekend off.

Full results are available here.

Annie Second Overall at Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon!

Gunk marathon ace Anne Gullickson turned in a bravura performance at the Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon, running a brilliant 3:02:33 for second overall, and first master. It was Anne's second strong marathon performance this year, following her 3:05 in Boston. Anne ran with eventual winner Mariah Titlow until the 22-mile mark, until the younger runner pulled away for a 2-minute victory. Brilliant run for Annie!

That same day, Mendy Taylor traveled to Boston for the Tufts 10K for Women. Competing against a world-class field that included several former Olympians, Mendy placed a credible 43rd out of over 5200 finishers in 37:30.