June 16, 2019
Rothrock State Forest

With its length and serious hill challenge, the Eager Seeger Half Marathon is the pinnacle and final run of the Tussey Teasers Series. The entire route is unpaved forest roads. Runners take on a 3.5+ mile hill near the beginning, with streams, vistas and more hills along the way.

Cooler than usual temperatures welcomed the day and early rain abated and held off as runners headed up the long climb on Seeger Road that starts the race.

Diane Iacchetti, Leah Logue and Julie Daffern traveled up from near Pittsburgh to take in the race. For each this was their first time to do the Seeger. For Leah and Julie this was their first time running in Rothrock, and this was Julie’s longest run so far this year.

Brian Thiede finished first, followed by Shundai Li and Austin Boyle in second and third. The women’s race was led by Lisa Gentile, with Kendra Claypool in second and Leah Logue in third.

Three runners completed all 5 of the “official” Tussey Teasers, earning a complimentary treat from Coldstone Creamery: Eliza Gabel, Jacob Gordon and David Lloyd (Eliza also ran the optional February 3 race, a snowy Tussey Teaser #0). Eliza won the grand prize, an ice cream cake.

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/.

A huge thank you to Elsa Hansen for delivering the mighty Subway party subs to Alan Seeger for the post-race, to Rob Loesch for valiant finish line duty, and to Julie Daffern for the race day photos.

Special thanks to Subway Restaurants for their enthusiastic support of this series.

Check your calendars! The 2019 Discovery Training Series, beginning August 31, will meet on Saturday mornings this year. This free series will cover the entire 50 miles of the Tussey mOUnTaiNBACK course via an 8-week series of low-key group runs. Visit this schedule to get the run distances, start locations and driving directions: http://tusseymountainback.com/events/mountainback-discovery-series.

                                                                          Runners gathered on Stone Creek Road


                                            Diane Iacchetti, Leah Logue and Julie Daffern arrived ready for the rain


                                          Once you reach the top of the first hill, you’re rewarded by some nice views

                                                 Low ferns create a surreal forest floor along much of the route


                                   Orange salamanders abound in Rothrock – but you need good timing to spot them!


Overall Order of Finish

Place First Name    Last Name    Age  Sex Town            State   Time
----- ----------    ---------    ---  --- ----            -----   ----
  1   Brian         Thiede       31    M  State College     PA   1:28:33
  2   Shundai       Li           46    M  State College     PA   1:28:55
  3   Austin        Boyle        35    M  Lemont            PA   1:35:11
  4   Alan          Effrig       40    M  State College     PA   1:45:27
  5   Robert        Shaver       58    M  Loganton          PA   1:46:55
  6   Ken           Farnsworth   29    M  Boalsburg         PA   1:51:38
  7   Christopher   Loesch       15    M  Bellefonte        PA   2:10:11
  8   Tod           Kehrli       57    M  Glenmoore         PA   2:11:22
  9   Lisa          Gentile      54    F  Huntingdon        PA   2:12:25
  10  Kendra        Claypool     31    F  State College     PA   2:15:10
  11  Jeff          Schiesler    63    M  Port Matilda      PA   2:17:11
  12  Leah          Logue        50    F  Moon Twp          PA   2:18:15
  13  Mike          Casper       60    M  State College     PA   2:19:56
  14  Diane         Iacchetti    48    F  McKees Rocks      PA   2:20:13
  15  Jacob         Gordon       31    M  Huntingdon        PA   2:29:56
  16  David         Lloyd        49    M  State College     PA   2:41:13
  17  Julie         Daffern      50    F  Moon Twp          PA   2:50:15
  18  Eliza         Gabel        27    F  State College     PA   2:54:22
  19  Laura         Egan         28    F  Boalsburg         PA   3:06:05
  20  Scott         Lemon        49    M  Mt Holly Springs  PA   3:06:05