We cannot thank our fantastic runners, volunteers and sponsors enough for making this years race a success. Stay tuned for much more on the website, Facebook, local and national media and running publications – below is a quick recap and some highlights from this years race.
One of my close friends and a 100 mile competitor this year said it best in a message to me after the race (paraphrased) “I haven’t felt this alive in a long time, … Thank you, man, it’s like family down there, Zumbro has the energy of the Oracle and the Ibex, the blood, sweat , tears of you and the volunteers – thank you.”
100 Mile:
47 Registered, 44 Starters, 30 Finishers = 68% Finishers Rate
Mens / overall winner was Bob Gerenz, 44 of Coon Rapids, MN with a new course record of 21:16:04
Womens winner was 4 time Zumbro 100 winner Susan Donnelly, 49 of Oak Ridge, TN in a time of 30:10:06 – Susan has run and won every Zumbro 100 to date
The 100 ended in a sprint finish with Matt Aro finishing just 2 seconds behind Bob Gerenz – this may be one of the closest 100 mile finishes ever
Bob Gerenz (1st Place), Matt Aro (2nd Place) and Joe Boler (3rd Place) all broke the previous course record on the new, tougher / revised course.
Youngest 100 Mile Finisher was Logan Polfuss, 5th overall in 26:08:21
Oldest 100 Mile Finisher was Alan Holtz, 13th overall in 30:07:02
Rick Bothwell finished in 33:58:39 and Anjanette Arnold 33:59:33 both finished just under the 34 hour cutoff by a small margin making for an exciting end to the race
A good portion of the Sandor family started the 100 mile race together – an awesome trend we hope to see continue
50 Mile:
62 Registered, 55 Starters, 39 Finishers = 71% Finishers Rate
Womens and OVERALL winner was Becky George, 29 of Baxter, MN with a time of 9:30:32
Mens winner (2nd overall) was Joseph Altendahl, 30 of Minneapolis, MN with a time of 9:56:39
3rd overall in the 50 was Pam Nielsen – 2 women in the top 3 – awesome
The oldest 50 Mile Finisher was Tony Oveson, 65 of International Falls, MN – this was after volunteering the two days before and lifting thousands of pounds worth of water jugs.
About 80 volunteers made this years race possible.
Best of luck to all the 100 mile finishers who continue in the Gnarly Bandit Ultra Series.
