Droze Dethroned at 19th Annual Mountain Scramble!

Fran McLean, January 2012

Starting the new year off with beautiful weather and a bit of fun, The Wilde Mountain Scramble lured 46 participants, 6 of them of the canine variety to its 8:30 AM start at Heritage Park in Piney Z .

The first place prize went to second year participant Keith Gates , who came in 3rd in the run and started his year off right by pulling a zero thus giving him the top spot from which to pick his prize. Unfortunately for Mr. Gates, his luck departed him as he selected a nicely wrapped gift, which turned out to be the dreaded fruitcake.  And not just any fruitcake, but it is rumored that this particular prize has been returned to the table for the 3rd year in a row.  Look out for a 4th return of this present next year.

The 2nd place prize chooser was 1st time participant Jose Fernandez who finished 2nd in the run and similarly pulled a low number.

The first woman to cross the finish line was  1st time participant, Kate Chunka who finished 4th overall and also had a lucky draw allowing her to choose her  prize in 4th place.

Although Mr. Droze undeniably did his part to defend his title, running the approximately 4 mile trail run in a speedy 23:07 and besting the next runner by almost 3 minutes, the Race Committee was decidedly "Grinch-like" when they allowed him to pull the high number of 15, unassisted, thus giving him a final place of 16th and ending his winning streak.

Ah, well…if the Race Committee didn’t have the “final say in all matters” – we could have disqualified ourselves for being so uncharitable to our repeat champion.  But then- who would put on the 20th annual Wilde Mountain Scramble?

19 years ago 6 of us gathered up,
To celebrate friendship, beer…and stuff.

The 6 grew to 7, grew to 10, grew to 20.
Till some years, we’ve had something quite more than plenty.

They came near and far-
They came young and old.
One year, - an Olympic runner –
She was really quite bold.

She blazed thru the course,
And finished high up,
But when results were compiled
She was beaten by a pup.

And despite her credentials
And being as fleet as can be-
She then snarled with disgust’
“No dog beat me!”

Yes Leroy the dog managed to grab the top prize.
Did he cheat?...
Well... lets just say- we averted our eyes.

So we had to invent  the “no-whining” rule,
Cause the race directors think whining just isn’t cool.

It comes without tee shirts,
It comes without time splits,
No Whining, No Protests, No cell phones, No if’s.

Be Wholike, Be friendly,
Not Grinch-like or Mean.
Or don’t plan to join us in 2013!