Tussey Teaser #3 - 6th Annual Beidleheimer Sidewinder 10K
May 9, 2009 - Whipple Dam State Park and Rothrock State Forest
by Marty Mazur

The morning of the 6th Annual Beidleheimer Sidewinder 10K dawned with some fog, a bit of drizzle, and the threat of worse. But by race time, the sun was peaking out on the lovely environs of Whipple Dam State Park. The weather for the race was mild, but a bit humid for most runners, who really started feeling the effects after the halfway point. This year's Sidewinder promised something special. Not since the glory days of the Old Fartleks running team nearly a decade ago has a non-relay team running competition garnered so much interest. Since the Sidewinder is an age/gender graded race, which seeks to even out the competition between sexes and ages, Cheryl Capone decided to issue a Guy/Girl team challenge: she'd recruit a hot team of fast females and pit them against the best the guys could get together. Race Sponsor Tom Cali took up the challege for the guys.

Cheryl showed up with a team (barely - Meira and Ann had to run to catch the bus to the start) of pink-topped, skirt clad speedsters that included Cheryl (who until recently led the 2009 NVRC Race Series); women's course record holder Meira Minard; recent Penn State track star Beth Herndon; current NVRC Race Series leader Ann Skulas-Ray, Tussey Hill Queen Tara Murray, Anna Kobb, and Christine Rodgers. The talent level of the Tussey Teases was high, and the team would rely mostly on that (with a little help from the adjustment for chromosomal differences). These gals were "spring chicks", with an average age of not quite 31. Tom's team, the WAVA RIders (WAVA is the standard time adjustment formula used to score the race), was talent laden, and would try to make up the gender handicap with that and their considerable decrepitude. The team was Tom (age 54), last year's NVRC Race Series Winner and the winner of the first Sidewinder in both raw and adjusted time (a rare feat); Pat Singletary (43), current  king of the area's Master's level runners;  Terry Reid, last year's Sidewinder winner (50), Dave Mengle (52), ultramarathoner Jeff Smucker (43), Geezer-in-training Bob Radzwich (39), and "Diaper" Dave Moore (24). Average age - nearly 44. There were two more teams: PG-13, Mark Fedkin's team of younger speedsters, including his two kids Nikita (15) and Natasha (10); and Marty Mazur's late-recruited team, the Mop Up Crew, which Marty promised would surprise everyone.

And surprises there were. The three top teams dominated the competition, taking all the top individual spots. The overall adjusted time winner was Katie Davis of the Mop Up Crew, Marty's surprise number one. Katie smashed the women's course record by three-and-a-half minutes, finished 4th overall, and turned in the second best WAVA adjusted time in the race's history. Tom Cali and his team took the next five individual spots and dominated the team competition. The WAVA Riders beat the Tussey Teases by over 13 minutes and set a new team adjusted time record of 2:53:46. And age really was served: the team's young ace Dave Moore was sixth in his team's adjusted time, so did not help their score, which is based on the 5 fastest team members. The Tussey Teases were second in 3:07:05, a time in the top three of adjusted team times for this race. Third among the teams was the Mop Up Crew. This was not a surprise (the name said it all), but the surprise was how close they came to the Teases. Their time, largely due to Katie, the solid running of some old guys on the team, and Marty's recruiting talent (not his running talent), was only 18 seconds behind the gals' team. Mark Fedkin's PG-13 team was fourth in 3:52:59. The kids had fun learning how to deal with one of the longest races many of them had ever run.

The Club is hoping that all the team trash-talking and good-natured competition will help build more interest in this fun, well-run, race in a beautiful setting.
Photos by Mchael Goldfine and Dean Capone

Six of the seven Tussey Teases. From left: Meira Minard, Cheryl Capone, Tara Murray, Beth Herndon, Ann Skulas-Ray, Christine Rodgers. Missing: Anna Kobb
Tom Cali leads a pack with a couple of miles to go, including Beth Herndon, Shawn Kelly of the Mop Up Crew (orange shirt) and Terry Reid (orange shorts) of the WAVA Riders.

Jim Myers of the Mop Up Crew inches ahead of Tara Murray of the Tussey Teases.
Mark Fedkin runs with a rising star of local running, his daughter Natasha.

Trevor Bryden is the one.
Katie Davis of the Mop Up Crew finishes a record smashing run.

Age and Gender Graded Results:

       Raw Time  Adjusted  Finish  Age  Last Name  First Name  Sex  Town          State     Team     
Place              Time     Order
-----  --------  --------  ------  ---  ---------  ----------  ---  ----          -----     ----
  1     36:52     33:14       4     21  Davis      Katie        F   State College  PA    Mop Up Crew 
  2     38:35     33:31       6     54  Cali       Tom          M   State College  PA    WAVA Riders 
  3     35:24     33:32       1     43  Singletary Patrick      M   State College  PA    WAVA Riders 
  4     39:55     35:15       10    52  Mengle     Dave         M   PA Furnace     PA    WAVA Riders 
  5     39:45     35:40       9     50  Reid       Terry        M   Bellefonte     PA    WAVA Riders 
  6     36:42     35:48       3     39  Radzwich   Bob          M   State College  PA    WAVA Riders 
  7     40:52     36:11       13    37  Capone     Cheryl       F   State College  PA    Tussey Teases
  8     40:18     36:20       12    23  Herndon    Elizabeth    F   State College  PA    Tussey Teases
  9     36:21     36:21       2     24  Dave       Moore        M   State College  PA    WAVA Riders 
 10     41:12     36:46       14    36  Minard     Meira        F   State College  PA    Tussey Teases
 11     36:58     36:58       5     30  Effrig     Alan         M   State College  PA                
 12     39:32     37:27       8     43  Luna       Greg         M   State College  PA    Mop Up Crew 
 13     40:01     37:54       11    43  Smucker    Jeff         M   State College  PA    WAVA Riders 
 14     44:19     38:30       20    54  Myers      Jim          M   Boalsburg      PA    Mop Up Crew 
 15     42:52     38:39       17    21  Kobb       Anna         F   State College  PA    Tussey Teases
 16     42:24     38:57       16    47  Lee        Mark         M   State College  PA    Mop Up Crew 
 17     43:26     39:10       18    26  Skulas-Ray Anna         F   State College  PA    Tussey Teases
 18     39:15     39:15       7     31  Kelly      Shawn        M   State College  PA    Mop Up Crew 
 19     46:24     40:19       24    54  Boozer     Robert       M   Centre Hall    PA                
 20     46:01     40:58       23    51  DeGroote   Dave         M   State College  PA                
 21     54:09     41:10       38    10  Fedkin     Natasha      F   State College  PA    PG-13       
 22     45:40     41:10       21    32  Murray     Tara         F   Bellefonte     PA    Tussey Teases
 23     47:16     41:12       25    39  Rodgers    Christine    F   State College  PA    Tussey Teases
 24     44:03     41:34       19    14  Pavlov     Ivan         M   State College  PA    PG-13       
 25     41:39     41:39       15    29  Zerbe      Jeremy       M   Huntingdon     PA                
 26     47:30     42:23       26    36  Farrant    Sarah        F   Boalsburg      PA                
 27     49:22     43:36       29    52  Mazur      Marty        M   State College  PA    Mop Up Crew 
 28   1:02:59     43:37       54    75  Wright     Glenn        M   Cassville      PA                
 29     54:37     43:39       43    49  Holsinger  Sharon       F   Bellefonte     PA                
 30     51:10     44:27       34    54  Taylor     Alan         M   Warriors Mark  PA                
 31     50:43     44:47       32    52  Ruby       Paul         M   State College  PA                
 32     52:35     45:18       35    55  Johnson    John         M   State College  PA                
 33     50:30     45:32       31    28  Nelson     Wendy        F   State College  PA                
 34     45:53     45:53       22    32  Fegyveresi John         M   State College  PA                
 35     54:42     45:55       45    58  Johnson    Doug         M   Bellefonte     PA                
 36     50:57     45:56       33    29  Valerie    Mebane       F   State College  PA                
 37     48:28     46:23       27    15  Fedkin     Nikita       M   State College  PA    PG-13       
 38     48:33     47:41       28    38  Wilcock    John         M   State College  PA                
 39     54:41     48:18       44    52  Ast        Stephen      M   State College  PA                
 40     56:22     48:34       48    55  DiBlase    David        M   State College  PA                
 41     54:23     49:02       39    32  Charles    Jessica      F   Belleville     PA                
 42   1:02:57     49:24       52    51  Taylor     Kristin      F   Warriors Mark  PA                
 43     49:51     49:51       30    35  Klettke    Scott        M   Bellefonte     PA                
 44     54:35     50:37       41    13  Pelikan    Stefan       M   State College  PA    PG-13       
 45     53:28     51:24       36    41  Farahani   Ben          M   Port Matilda   PA                
 46     54:37     53:16       42    39  Fedkin     Mark         M   State College  PA    PG-13       
 47     53:41     53:41       37    31  Myers      Jason        M   State College  PA                
 48     54:34     54:16       40    36  Will       Thaddeus     M   Warriors Mark  PA                
 49   1:00:17     54:21       50    31  Peters     Jeanette     F   State College  PA                
 50   1:05:33     54:46       58    44  Weaver     Denise       F   Pleasant Gap   PA                
 51     58:56     54:59       49    45  Wherley    Mark         M   Spruce Creek   PA                
 52   1:04:46     55:09       57    14  Goldfine   Jael         F   Lemont         PA                
 53     55:31     55:31       46    33  Elton      Nathan       M   Oberlin        OH                
 54   1:04:46     56:01       56    15  Kaufman    Sonia        F   State College  PA                
 55     56:10     56:10       47    30  Bryden     Trevor       M   State College  PA                
 56   1:02:59     56:47       53    25  Cruz-Vribe Alicia       F   State College  PA                
 57   1:04:35     57:12       55    37  Greenland  Janel        F   Bellefonte     PA                
 58   1:02:10     58:53       51    43  Loss       Randy        M   Millmont       PA                
 59   1:05:45     59:17       59    28  Van Noy    Betsy        F   State College  PA 

  Team Results:
 
            Team Name (Runners)                                                       Top 5 Adjusted Times
            -------------------                                                       --------------------
         1. WAVA Riders                                                                   2:53:46
              (Tom Cali, Jim Moore, Dave Mengle, Terry Reid,
               Pat Singletary, Jeff Smucker, Bob Radzwich)              

         2. Tussey Teases                                                                 3:07:05
              (Cheryl Capone, Meira Minard, Ann Skulas-Ray, Tara Murray,
               Christine Rodgers, Elizabeth Herndon, Anna Kobb)

         3. Mop Up Crew                                                                   3:07:23
              (Marty Mazur, Greg Luna, Katie Davis,
               Shawn Kelly, Jim Myers, Mark Lee)

         4. PG-13                                                                         3:52:59
              (Mark Fedkin, Nikita Fedkin, Natasha Fedkin,
               Stefan Pelikan, Ivan Pavlov)                       
        

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