Tussey Teaser #5: 8th Annual Eager Seeger Half-Marathon
- Details
- Last Updated: 30 June 2021 30 June 2021
June 27, 2021
Rothrock State Forest
by Mike Casper
A slight breeze kept the shaded starting area comfortable at the 9th Eager Seeger Half Marathon, the longest and final run of the 2021 Tussey Teasers Series. The entire route is unpaved forest roads. Runners take on a 3.5+ mile hill near the beginning, with streams, ridgetop vistas and more hills along the way. Humidity gave its two cents but there was no rain and much of this course is in shade.
A small pack set a perky pace up the long hill on Seeger Road. There are shorter ascents on the back half and some long, gentle descents that pay back the early effort. The finish line saw two runners sail under the course record set by Patrick Singletary in 2014. Loc O vied with Joseph Clark in the final miles, but Clark edged him out by 30 seconds.
In the women’s race, Baylee Robey was 6th overall and the women’s winner, with Sherry Tirko and Diane Swauger taking second and third.
Bob Kennedy traveled furthest, from New Hampshire, with runners from New Jersey and Ohio also taking part in this fortifier of a run. Bob and Rob Crowe were the oldest participants at 73, and Tyler Rader the youngest at 15454.
Four runners completed all 5 of the “official” Tussey Teasers, earning a complimentary treat from Coldstone Creamery: Matt Balogh, David Lloyd, and Natasha and Sherry Tirko (both Tirkos also ran the optional February 6 ’Sno Big Deal race, a snowy Tussey Teaser #0). Today Natasha won the grand prize, an ice cream cake from Coldstone Creamery.
Thanks to Doan’s Bones and Webster’s Café for donated prizes that were given away.
Race Director Mike Casper ran this race to raise funds for Centre Volunteers in Medicine. For details on CVIM’s work, visit http://www.cvim.net/. If you’d like to support Mike’s effort, you can visit his page at https://cvim.ejoinme.org/791855.
A huge thank you to Nicole Pote and Ken Farnsworth’s fiancée Megan for finish line duty, to Lisa Kracaw, Bernie Ryan, Jordan and Seann Reed, and William Peck for valiant service at the course’s 3 water stations, and to Nicole for race day photos.
These festive forest frolics are not over! The 2021 Discovery Training Series, beginning Sept. 2, will meet on eight Saturday mornings. This free series of low-key group runs will cover the entire 50 miles of the Tussey mOUnTaiNBACK course. Visit this schedule to get the run distances, start locations and driving directions: http://tusseymountainback.com/events/mountainback-discovery-series.
We hope to see you there. Just for the hill of it!
Runners get instructions at the starting line
Stephanie Rader and son Tyler celebrate the finish line
Nathan and dad Keith Goldner made this a family event
Diane Swauger was third woman but first in style
Sherry Tirko shows the grit that gets it done
Winner Baylee Robey enjoyed the challenge today - "BayleeR-topW.jpg
Three top men, Matt Balogh (3rd), Jigar Gosalia (4th) and Joseph Clark (1st), celebrate at the finish
Overall Order of Finish
Place First Last Sex Age Town State Time
----- ----- ---- --- --- ---- ----- ----
1 Joseph Clark M 27 State College PA 1:20:51
2 Loc O M 44 State College PA 1:21:21
3 Matt Balogh M 22 State College PA 1:22:02
4 Jigar Gosalia M 26 State College PA 1:23:26
5 Sean Devlin M 42 State College PA 1:38:01
6 Baylee Robey F 23 State College PA 1:39:11
7 Patrick Singletary M 55 State College PA 1:46:50
8 Tyler Rader M 15 Huntingdon PA 1:49:20
9 Ken Knappenberger M 45 State College PA 1:51:08
10 John Iceland M 50 State College PA 1:51:09
11 Ken Farnsworth M 31 Boalsburg PA 1:51:37
12 Garrison Famiglio M 18 State College PA 1:54:08
13 Sherry Tirko F 47 Warriors Mark PA 1:55:21
14 Jim Maras M 59 State College PA 2:07:51
15 Diane Swauger F 45 Port Matilda PA 2:08:47
16 Barb Kelsey F 53 Huntingdon PA 2:09:10
17 Jim Sellmer M 60 Port Matilda PA 2:09:22
18 Alan Effrig M 42 State College PA 2:17:35
19 Mike Casper M 62 State College PA 2:18:10
20 Brent Kelsey M 53 Huntingdon PA 2:19:04
21 Mary Wike F 26 Brookfield OH 2:20:37
22 David Hunter M 51 State College PA 2:21:00
23 Nathan Goldner M 23 Boalsburg PA 2:21:37
24 Keith Goldner M 58 Kittaning PA 2:21:37
25 Daniel Foster M 42 State College PA 2:21:58
26 Mitchell Taylor M 20 Syracuse NY 2:23:00
27 Jeff Davidson M 60 Boalsburg PA 2:23:47
28 Jeff Schiesler M 65 Port Matilda PA 2:27:30
29 Natasha Tirko F 36 State College PA 2:28:30
30 Jared Ali M 39 Port Matilda PA 2:29:26
31 Bob Kennedy M 73 Durham NH 2:30:06
32 Victoria Maras F 23 State College PA 2:30:42
33 Todd Kehrli M 59 Glenmoore PA 2:32:34
34 Jeff Williamson M 53 Woodbridge NJ 2:34:28
35 Abby Lanager F 29 Pleasant Gap PA 2:34:30
36 Rob Crowe M 73 PA Furnace PA 2:35:17
37 Stephanie Rader F 33 Huntingdon PA 2:44:23
38 Allison Holmes F 39 Huntingdon PA 2:48:44
39 David Lloyd M 51 State College PA 2:54:42
40 Zachary Kilmer M 37 Bellefonte PA 2:56:20
