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Wickham Park 50 Mile Fun Run 1996 Results
Wickham Park Marathon and 50 Mile Fun Run Melbourne FL, May 25 1996 50 Miles No finishers Marathon Matt Mahoney, 40, Melbourne 7:33 (33 mi. in 9:40) Roy Ramsey, Vero Beach 8:03 (30 mi. in 9:01) 11.25 miles Bob Callaway 2:20* Vicky Hoover, 54F, Barefoot Bay 3:51 Gary Hoover, 58, Barefoot Bay 3:51 7.5 miles Mark Vukovich, 35, Lake Worth 2:07 Gary Howell 2:10 3.75 miles Christy Sweeney, F, Melbourne 1:09 Donna Banta, F, Melbourne 1:09 9 Starters Yes, this was a race and these are actual times. No, there were not any hills. Yes, the distances were accurate. Well OK, it WAS a trail race. I hiked the 3.75 mile loop the day before, carefully marking every turn with arrows drawn with flour, until my 5 pound bag ran out, at which point I resorted to scratching arrows in the dirt. Most of these arrows were still visible on race day if you looked carefully. Just in case, I also handed out detailed maps wrapped in plastic bags so they wouldn't fall apart from sweat as the temperatures rose from 80 F, 100% humidity into the 90's. For those without orienteering experience, I offered to stay with anyone who still wasn't sure of the course for the first loop. This turned out to be the entire field, and nobody complained about the walking pace as I pointed out Wickham Park's beautiful stubby pines, palmetto scrub, open fields of marsh and grass, and the blacksnakes sunning themselves on the narrow trails of pine needles and soft sugar sand. I had hoped the $10,000 prize for a marathon world record would attract an elite field, but I guess they're training for Atlanta. I had also hoped to get rid of the garish weather station I was offering for first place in the 50 miler, but I may have to make the course easier first. In order to make the distance come out right, I used 7 3.75 mile loops of "beginner" trail for the marathon, followed by 7 3.4 mile loops using a shortcut of "advanced" trails to complete the 50 miler. As I started my eighth loop, I realized I must have suffered temporary insanity when I designed the course. There was no way any sane person could call this trail. More like impenetrable jungle, walls of shrubs that you had to plow through on faith that it would be passable on the other side. One part had a 100 foot section where you had to crawl under a 3 foot canopy. I am covered with cuts from the saw palmetto, including one that looks like a red bar code. Thank goodness nobody else got that far. I'd of been in real trouble, for sure. I'm still not sure why everyone dropped out so soon, even before an early afternoon thunderstorm brought relief from the intense heat. Mark Vukovich did just fine at the Bull Run Run 50 miler, but left saying he would rather do a training run than orienteer. Gary Hoover seemed recovered from his 100 mile run across Florida last week, but he and his wife Vicky (both training for Badwater) left after exploring a lot of the park that I didn't really intend. Bob Callaway, who ran a 100K last fall, quit after 3 loops (two of them barefoot). Donna Banta and Christy Sweeney intended to do 2 loops, but my guided tour was quite enough, thank you. I had prepared for up to 20 people. Runners filled their own water bottles and recorded their own times and wrote them on a score sheet after each lap. You could bring your own supplies and run right by your car after each loop. Many brought food to share. All in all, I think the race was a success. Even with no sponsors, no volunteers, no entry fee, and $5 total expenses, I still got to run my own race. It would be nice to have more competition though. I don't think I would have finished 50 miles before the park closed at dark, but I could have run further than I did. I just didn't see the point after everyone else went home. *Bob Callaway said to be sure I gave him credit for the 5K race he ran that morning (arriving late to my race, should have DQ'ed him) plus his warmup run, totaling 44 minutes. Allright, Bob, your time is now 3:04. Gee, some people.Home