Runners post record-setting day at Tussey ultramarathon

By Erin L. Nissley
enissley@centredaily.com
October 16, 2005

Boalsburg - All things considered, Saturday was a perfect day for a 50-mile run in the woods.

So said Nikki Kimball, a runner from Montana who broke the women's record for the Tussey Mountainback 50-Mile Relay and Ultramarathon by more than 20 minutes with a time of 6:44:15.

"I feel really good," she said just after crossing the finish line. "It was beautiful; it was perfect. The trees blocked most of the wind. It was the right temperature."

The sixth annual ultramarathon, which winds through several state parks in Centre County, is the sixth long race Kimball has run this year. To keep her spirits up during Saturday's race, she said, she thought of "all the great American runners I train with."

Kimball was one of 43 runners to participate in Saturday's race, which organizers say has garnered acclaim across the country for the beautiful views, soft course and stiff competition.

"It's a course people rave about," said one of the founders, Mike Casper.

"Most of it is gravel, and that's easier on the feet than asphalt. And it's beautiful out here. The leaves are turning...and this is the perfect weather."

Ultramarathon runners started the course about 7 a.m. with more than 50 relay teams starting the first leg of the course about an hour later. At the finish line near the go-kart track at Tussey Mountain, a big clock kept time for a handful of families and friends who turned out to cheer the runners.

Geraldine McDowell, of West Chester, and her daughter Kate Smith, of New York, were on hand to support Andrew McDowell, a runner from Downingtown. It's his second race, and his cheering section was happy to see him win.

"He did this last year and came in second," Geraldine McDowell said about her son. "He's been running marathons for several years."

Andrew McDowell didn't let them down, trotting to the finish line first with a time of 6:28:40. Shaking from exhaustion and covered in a sheen of sweat, he promptly sat on the pavement.

"Last year, the leader was so far out in front of me, I was pretty much running my own race," McDowell said. "This is the first time I've won at any long-distance (race). It's a great course. That's why I came back this year."

But his win didn't come without difficulties. His legs began cramping up around mile 41, he said.

"And that hill on mile 41, it wipes you out," he told Casper. But knowing his family was at the finish kept him going, he added.

"We're so proud of him," said sister Kate Smith.

"He has three kids and a full-time job but still finds time to train."

Happy Trails,

Constance Karras