Speaking of Contests

Bet you're wondering who won "The Last Millennium of Running" contest. You remember: that exciting contest that offered free entry to the FLRC race of your choice merely by telling us your most-missed New York race of the past three decades? The contest flyer that appeared multiple times in the newsletter AND on the website? The contest that actually had its deadline extended a whole month? Did you enter? No… you didn't!!! How do we know? Because the contest organizers almost won it themselves due to lack of entries! And, no, the Finger Lakes Marathon did NOT win-- because YOU didn't enter it! (Hey, electoral finger-pointing doesn't work only on the national level!)

So… in order of comic relief, we'll announce the results:

Losers: Betsy Martens and Diane Sherrer

Nevertheless, these contest organizers and judges almost won by default. Martens nominated the long-gone Q-Run up in the Radisson Community outside Baldwinsville with a poignant essay on how it folded years before she ever actually got up enough mileage to try the whole 25K. Sherrer managed to poll almost the entire field of the New Year's Day 5K in Big Flats and nominated their top pick: the Athens 10K, a much-missed Twin Tiers favorite that people claimed "had everything." As complete losers, Martens and Sherrer receive the opportunity to run the contest again next year, hopefully with more entries.

Also-Rans: Bob Congdon and Jim Miner.

Congdon was disqualified for entering under a pseudonym (so you thought we don't know who "Dr. Fun" is, hm?) and Miner was disqualified for entering a Pennsylvania race (so you thought that we don't know that the notorious Montrose Snow Run never crossed the state-line into New York, hm?) As also-rans, Congdon and Miner receive the opportunity to serve again as race-directors in 2001 and also get big hugs from the judges for being such good sports.

Winners:

Roy Bowell, for nominating Ed's Ultra 27 Mile Fun Run.

Charlie Wojcik, for nominating the Skylon Marathon.

As winners, Bowell and Wojcik receive a free entry to the 2001 FLRC race of their choice and will also be unceasingly nagged by the editors to write something in future about their chosen event. (Hm, maybe now we realize why there were so few entries…)

-- Betsy Martens