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April 17, 2005

The 25th anniversary of ultrarunning in Buffalo was celebrated in beautiful weather in Buffalo’s Olmstead-designed Delaware Park. Although the temperature crept up into the low sixties, there was a cooling breeze on about two-thirds of the 1.77 mile road loop around the golf course. It was a day enjoyed by both runners and volunteers.

The ultimate winner, Ryne Melcher of Waterloo, Ontario, took the lead and completed each of the first three loops in 11 minutes, leaving the competition far behind. Ed Housel of Rochester, NY, was running in second place and after one hour only five minutes behind the leader. However, in the second hour Melcher extended the gap between him and Housel to about 14 minutes. After three hours the gap had grown to 17 minutes. After four hours Housel began to falter and Mark Bomhower of Kitchener, Ontario moved into second place behind Melcher. Housel decided to stop with 16 minutes remaining, and his pursuer Gary Hilliard of Sierra Madre, California, moved into third place behind Bomhower.

The women’s winner, Patricia Sommers, of Kitchener, Ontario, started strongly and quickly established a commanding lead of 16 minutes at the end of the first hour over the second woman, Lori Bauza, of Fredonia, NY. Sommers widened the lead to about 30 minutes at the end of thee hours and ended up winning with a 4.5 mile lead over the second place finisher.

The overall field displayed strong staying power. Twenty seven runners out of 33 starters completed distances in excess of the marathon, and the top three finishers completed over 40 miles, with the winner completing 46 miles.

Next year’s edition of the BPAC 6-Hour Distance Classic will again be in April but under a new race director. Yours truly is turning the duties over to his replacement after directing this race and its 50 mile predecessor for about 15 years.

Carl Pegels, RD

BPAC 6-HOUR DISTANCE CLASSIC

First Race in Western New York Ultra Series [www.wny-ultra.org]

Buffalo, New York -- April 17, 2005

Road Loop
Final Results

 Miles

Marathon

Time

1    Melcher, Ryne                      26, ON

46.03

2:57

2    Bomhower, Mark                  47, ON

42.49

3:35

3    Hilliard, Gary                         45, CA

40.10

3:52

4    Gehl, Ronald                        57, ON

38.95

3:46

      Housel, Edward                   46

38.95

3:14

6    Ferrari, Scott                        47, PA

37.18

4:05

      Rusin, Robert                       47

37.18

4:06

      Heij, Andrew                         24, ON

37.18

3:47

9    Malinin, Mike                         37, CA

36.29

4:04

10  Sommers, Patricia               51, ON

35.40

4:06

      Perry, Tom                           59

35.40

4:23

      Hooker, Brian                       25

35.40

4:06

13  Rogers, Cliff                         46, ME

34.31

4:21

14  Sitter, Richard                      66, PA

33.63

4:45

15  Bauza, Lori                           47

31.86

4:27

16  Carlin, Hubert                       65

31.27

4:58

17  Cheng, Paula                       25, ON

30.09

4:43

      Hillery, Peggy                       44

30.09

5:08

19  Erickson, Barry                    62

29.93

5:08

20  Tyson, Emily                        26, ON

28.32

5:08

      Packard, Joseph                  41

28.32

5:05

      Burns, Tom                          38

28.32

5:08

      Geer, Willis                          57

28.32

4:48

24  Brooks, Linda                       44

28.00

5:37

25  Quirk, John                           54

27.30

5:39

26  Wolniewicz, Michelle           47

26.55

5:44

      Rice, Andrew                       39

26.55

4:01

28  Frank, Norm                         73

22.24

-

29  Walker, Gordon                    70

21.24

-

30  Kamela, Ed                          45

15.93

-

31  Baker, Roxanne                   41

14.16

-

      Burns, Fat                            52

14.16

-

33  Hassell, Paul                        58

12.39

-