Lt. JC Stone 50k

Lt. JC Stone 50k
North Park, PA
March 21, 2009
 1^st time UltraRunner wins Lt. JC Stone 50K

Doug Basinki didn’t know what to expect from his first ultra-marathon, especially considering the excellent competition that showed up. The race is held at North Park in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County, a setting he had run many times before. On Saturday, that familiarity was enough to make him feel comfortable and give him an edge. “I’ve run this loop so many times that it’s like a friend,” the district court attorney said. “So I figured if I was ever going to do an ultra marathon I was going to do it here.”  Good call by Doug. In his first ultra, Basinski, 38, edged out the 2008 winner, Joe Patrick (50) by less than two minutes for a first place finish. Basinksi was pleased with his finish, and has established a new course record.

With only a few minutes separating the top men runners, the spectators were treated to a good race. The lead changed a couple of times but by the halfway point the top ten were looking strong and in command of those spots. The 2008 top three lead men finished #2, #3 and #10 this year. Connie Gardner repeated her 2008 performance with a win, and bettered her course record by a couple of minutes.

Andrea Moore, 33, finished second in the women’s category behind Connie Gardner, making this the third ultra of Moore’s running career. Andrea was pleased with her performance, and viewed the event as a challenging stepping-stone toward other events this year. “I think it’s just a mental thing, being able to go out there and run for hours,” Moore said. “Obviously you need to be in good physical shape.” And she is.

Also on hand was Norman Stone, brother of JC Stone for whom the race is name. Norm, age 66, ran a ceremonial 1^st lap (6 miles) of the ultra. When asked about running the entire 50K distance, Norm said, “Maybe one day, it takes so many hours to get up to those distances.” Stone laughed, “But I do have that dream, maybe a fantasy. I would like to try that.”

45 runners from eight states completed the second annual Lt. JC Stone 50K. 17 were repeat runners and 10 were 1^st time Ultra-Runners. Race-day temperature at the start was 19 degrees and warmed to a very comfortable 51 degrees. This is a charitable fundraising event hosted by the Rotary Club of Hampton Township and sponsored by 15 local businesses. The race is named to honor a fallen Vietnam Special Forces soldier. Mark your calendar for Saturday March 20, 2010. Come on out and run with us!

Here are some to the things that our runners said about the event:

Kelli Kleeb (2 time finisher) Just wanted to thank you again for an awesome, well organized race! You can’t beat the volunteers at this race, and its always nice when there’s still beer left for those of us near the back of the pack!

Theresa Lyon - Thank you so much for a great day!  The runners, organizers, and volunteers were, by far, some of the nicest and supportive I’ve ever had the good fortune of sharing so many miles with. I look forward to returning next year…and bringing a few more friends with me, too.

Wyatt Hornsby - Amazingly well-run race. Perfectly executed. Incredibly “professional,” friendly, and supportive volunteers. Awesome course. Awesome post-race food and beverages. Lots of history on this course. Beautiful medals. The remarks by JC Stone’s brother really set a great tone and made me proud. I loved the patriotic aspect of the race. The Lt. JC Stone 50K was a first-class race run by first-class people. I plan to be back next year.

Ron Ross (2 time finisher) - Great job again and I will be back next year. All the volunteers were awesome once again. Thank you for another great race. My wife was amazed at the size of the medal.