Evans Dominates Fifties; Lockett and Balander Down to Wire in 25K; Cavall Sets 25K Record and Marnell Wins Fifth-Straight 50K

Alan Evans proved he is the "man for all seasons" at the 12th annual Finger Lakes Trail Fifties July 1 in the Finger Lakes National Forest in Hector, N.Y.

Whether it's snow drifts and windchill, or 80 degrees and ankle-deep muck or cow pies, the Beaver Dams resident remains undefeated this season on the Finger Lakes Trail Runners Circuit

The 37-year-old Evans, a three-time winner of the Finger Lakes Snowshoe, and the defending FL Trail Fifties 50K champion and course record holder, moved up to the 50-miler and won by a margin of 46 minutes in a time of 7 hours, 54 minutes, 16 seconds.

Shawn Ramsdell, 28, of Syracuse, placed second in 8:40:24, and 30-year-old Will Varley of Wainscott, N.Y., was third in 8:41:21.

Beginning and ending at the Potomac campsite, with temperatures slowly rising throughout the day to low 80s, the 50-mile runners completed an initial 15.6-mile loop, plus two entire 15.5-mile loops and a final 3.4-mile "baby" loop. The 50K entrants circled the rugged route -- which passed through pastures, around ponds, through pine forests, up and down dirt roads and along winding trails -- twice; the 25K-ers just once around.

"A trail ultra is as easy as a marathon if you do it right. With these things, I try not to think too much until about halfway through," said Evans, who missed Campbell native's Greg Loomis' record by 6 minutes due to extremely muddy footing. "I had a little cramping during the last half hour. And a horse kind of nudged me into a ditch on one trail. I was going to give it a wide berth, so I said, 'OK, you keep the trail, and I'll just move over here'."

Usually a frontrunner, Evans had more company from horses than humans, although he wisely opted to run a conservative pace during the first loop and let others lead the way. He circled the first loop in 2:22; the second in a cumulative 4:42 -- a negative split.

"I knew it would get spread out, so in the beginning I purposely tried to run with as many people as possible," said the Corning Inc. research scientist, who plans to run a 100-miler called The Bear in southeastern Idaho this fall. "It was weird. The race starts, and I'm in about 30th place, and I said to myself, 'Oh, this is what the backs of people look like.'

"I think this is a perfect way to celebrate Independence Day -- independence from the couch, TV and all those sorts of things," he said. "Where else can you do an event, eat 50,000 calories and not gain any weight?"

Karen Shiley, 24, of Lancaster, Pa., was the sole female survivor in the 50-miler, winning in 10:04:19. "It was a beautiful trail, and I met a lot of cool people out there today. It made the run go very quickly," said the 50-mile rookie. "These trails were awesome. A couple of places, you'd come around a corner and see something unexpected. The pine forests were really nice, and the course was mixed up enough that you didn't get bored because you'd constantly see new stuff."

How does a young graduate student, studying for a degree in management, manage to choose ultra running as a hobby? "I hang out with a bunch of people who do these kinds of races, and their enthusiasm makes you want to try it yourself," she said.

Gary Reilly, 44, of Bel Air, Md., won the 50K race in 5:06:38, followed by 40-year-old Kevin Bligan of Wayne, Pa. (5:11:02), and Rich Craigen, 32, of Fitchburg, Mass. (5:19:57).

Two local wilderness seekers finished their first 50K (31 mile) distance race: Dave Weiss of Corning, and Pine Valley's Cory West. West, an ultra road cyclist who had never run beyond 13.1 miles, finished his run in 6:52:29.

Weiss, a Corning Inc. employee, participates every year in the FL Trail Runners Circuit. Pre-race, he had set his mind on paper to do the 50K, but a tough work week left him tired and in self-doubt. After officially stopping after the 25K loop, Weiss won the men's 50-59 age division in 2:46:44. But after a few seconds, it was off to the races after all. "I had a great time, and surprised myself," said Weiss, who finished the 50K in 6:12:44. "I had a couple of sections in the second loop where I was just floating; I felt wonderful. After a handful of sugar cookies, I was ready to rumble.

"The big thing is, when I got tired I didn't get into that marathon shuffle because I'd trip," he added. "I had to watch and lift my feet. I fell once, and was tightrope walking on the way back. You just can't go braindead, but that's good because you perk up and are more sensitive to seeing a lot of stuff, like frogs in the pond."

"It hurt! There's no coasting during a running race, and there's no mud and fields with potholes on a road bike either," said West, 24. "It was hard; like ultra cycling it's 90 percent mental. People said I would feel a burst of energy at the marathon mark, but I didn't. "The first loop went by pretty quickly, but towards the end, I had cows, a bull and frogs chasing me -- but only in my head!"

Lorrie Marnell, 39, of Locke won her fifth-straight 50K women's title in 5:22:32, breaking her own course record by 11 minutes. Philadelphia's Terri Handy, 35, placed second in 5:49:08, and 46-year-old Mary Lou Pezze of West Newton, Pa., won the masters division and third overall in 5:59:36.

"I tried to run a very conservative first loop -- at least I felt it was," said Marnell, a veteran trail runner. "I almost lost my shoe in that shoe-sucking mud, and once in an open cow field, I went into water up to my knees -- I didn't see that coming! Then I saw three women pass me, but I knew two were doing the 25K. I ran with one woman who was undecided and looked tough, and I thought she might just be my competition. But I lost her at 7 miles and never saw her again."

Jason Cavall, 30, of Rochester won the 25K race in a course record 2:01:44. The top seven men, including second-place finisher Frank Leiter, 27, of Harrisburg (2:05:24), and Moravia's Alan Lockett, 43, third in 2:08:43, were all under Elmira Heights native Rob Winkky's record of 2:15:23.

"I just wanted to run a hard 25K," said Cavall, a recent Cortland State graduate with a degree in physical education. "The course was nice, but a little bit wet in spots and a bit dug up where horses had been. But I took it easier there, and pushed some in other places. I took it out in the beginning, because I didn't know who was here. I recognized Alan (Evans), and when he said he was running the 50 miler, I was happy to hear that," Cavall said. "My strategy was to run hard for the first hour, and hold on. It worked pretty well."

Mike Girardi of Elmira was one of the guys dipping below the course record mark, and chasing Cavall. "Cross country was my thing in high school and college, so when I saw the (Outdoor/

Recreation) article in the paper last weekend, I said, 'I gotta do it,' said Girardi, who placed fifth in 2:12:16. "Hearing cows moo as you run by was a totally new experience for me."

The most exciting sprint-to-the-finish was in the women's 25K race between Moravia's Donna Lockett and Virgil's Audrey Balander. The duo tied for first, setting a new course record -- by 37 minutes -- of 2:18:33.

A new and rising star on the circuit, the 42-year-old Lockett knew the best course of action was to follow the 43-year-old Balander, a seasoned trail veteran.

"That was my strategy: stay behind Audrey," said Lockett, who took a flying header into a pool of horse manure. "She's the veteran; I had no idea how to pace myself."

"That's what she thinks, but I definitely ran too fast in the beginning," said Balander, also an accomplished cross country skier.

Their friend and pacesetter, Dave Jones, came up from behind them and pulled the women along during the final miles.

"Until then, Donna and I were just going to take a walk in the park," said Balander. "The last 3 miles, Donna decided she wanted to race, and I said, 'Stop it!' She decided to get ahead of me and take off."

"Dave told us we had 3 miles left, so I knew I had something left," said Lockett. "I moved ahead but she stuck with me. She's stronger on the hills than I am, but on the flats I caught back up, and we stayed together again."

There was no "touchy-feely, let's-hold-hands-and-tie-for-the-sisterhood" kind of agreement in the final seconds. As soon as the Potomac Campsite was in sight, it was time for a full throttle, neck-to-neck sprint to the finish -- may the best woman win.

"We were able to sprint at the end, although I don't know if we were doing a full sprint. But we were running faster than we had been running," Balander said.

-- Diane Sherrer