PEMBERTON TRAIL 50k Saturday, February 10, 2001 McDowell Mountain Park, Arizona The Pemberton Trail is a gently rolling 15.5 mile loop through the desert in McDowell Mountain Park northeast of Phoenix. It has the best footing of any trail around Phoenix. In the past, a group of locals would get together, run around the loop twice and call it a 50k. It was a no aid, no fee, racing training run. After running the course, Brian Wieck, a top 50k runner, recognized its potential as a fast, competitive trail run and turned the Pemberton Trail 50k into an organized event this year. He brought in aid stations (don't ask me how--the trail seems inaccessible to vehicles), offered beautiful glass cacti as age group awards and provided a delicious finish line feast of hot soup, fresh baked breads and deli fixings for sandwiches. Andy Jones-Wilkins of Phoenix (soon to be of Oakland, CA), won the inaugeral event in 3:55:52. Immediately after finishing, he hopped in his car to coach a Lacrosse team and returned afterwards for the awards. Talk about time management. Honey Albrecht swept the women's awards in 4:21:39. And that was coming off of a bad cold. Imagine how fast she would've run it healthy. Everyone I talked to really enjoyed the race. It says a lot for an event when almost all of the runners stick around to cheer the last person across the finish line. If you're looking for a beautiful, fast, fun 50k to do in February, put this one on your calendar for 2002. PS. Watch for RD Brian Wieck's name at the top of the Way Too Cool 50k results in a couple weeks. Not only can he put on a great event, this guy can RUN! 2001 PEMBERTON 50K RESULTS 1. Andy Jones-Wilkins 3:55:52 AZ 2. Michael Flynn 4:01:51 AZ 3. Alex Manessis 4:05:34 AZ 4. Scott Modzelewski 4:11:49 AZ 5. Honey Albrecht 4:21:39 AZ 6. Steve Olson 4:37:32 AZ 7. James Bonnett-Castelle 4:38:07 AZ 8. Ron Harding 4:40:10 AZ 9. Leslie Mudgett 4:42:28 MA 10. Robert Fujita 4:49:40 AZ 11. Debbie Leftwich 4:58:08 AZ 12. Kirk McCorville 4:59:43 AZ 13. Christopher Reed 5:02:54 AZ 14. Jody Chase 5:09:36 AZ 15. Robert DeHaan 5:13:36 AZ 16. Geri Kilgiariff 5:35:53 AZ 17. John Malick 5:41:46 AZ 18. Cindy Schramm 5:43:30 WI 19. Karsten Solheim 5:47:22 AZ 20. Jerry Wright 6:32:41 AZ Submitted by Geri K gkilgariff@yahoo.com 2/25/01