They endured blistering wind and scorching desert, high mountains and deep ravines, far, far away… Oops, did I start another Shrek story :) ?

Well, it was almost true for another wonderland adventure – our First Boise Metrogain that took place November 20! Courses for the Metrogain stretched across four parks along the Boise River. At noon hopefuls on the Long, Short, and Beginner courses lined for the short pre-race instructions and soon headed for the first control in the Willow Lane Park. A number of competitors chose to use bikes, however, that proved to be not the fastest option of the day. Jeff Black in good style won the Long 13.8K 40 controls course with more than 10 minutes margin in 1:19:50, followed by second Tony Gonzalez (1:32:02), and third Ole Bergset (1:34:45). Unfortunately Doug LaMott, who had same time as Tony, didn’t provide enough evidence of control punching and had to be disqualified. Fortunately everyone liked the course so much that I saw nothing but smiles and happy faces (sure, it was so nice to finish and get those refreshments :). Karin Didisse was specially awarded for being best female athlete leaving some males behind in dust in spite of the disadvantage of starting five minutes behind the pack.

On the Short 5.3K 25 controls course the Cullum family on bikes proved to be unsurpassable and finished first in astonishing 45:40. Dondi with Sage and Elijah found all controls in 87:50 and earned second place. Masha on beginner 15 controls course showed her master level and finished in 35:30.

Since everyone liked the Boise Metrogain format so much we plan to make it our annual event. Be prepared to run long during next year 2nd Boise Metrogain!

Many thanks go to Andy Hill for organizing and manning the start and putting first controls on the course, Dasha Velichko for welcoming finishers on the Long course and making sure that their times are accurate, Jeff and Ole for collecting controls in Julia Davis/BSU, and to Karin for being patient while I drew maps for her.

See you all at our next meet! Enjoy results, photos, and maps below!

Sergey Velichko

2004 Boise Metrogain Results
Beginner: 2.5K, 15 controls
Masha Velichko       35:30

Short: 5.3K, 25 controls
Jim & Dan Cullum     45:40 (bike)
Dondi Dawley & Sage 
& Elijah Hill (bike) 87:50

Long: 13.8K, 40 controls, 40m
Jeff Black         1:19:50
Tony Gonzalez      1:32:02
Ole Bergset        1:34:45
Ken Beckner        1:38:54
Bill Leachy        1:40:25
Jeff Decker        1:40:38
Ray Hanovich       1:40:38
Karin Didisse      1:41:59 (bike)
Bob Didisse        1:46:50 (bike)
Dan Herring        1:47:50 (bike)
Lee Scott          1:49:55
Bill Pilcher       2:20:01
Doug LaMott        DSQ (1:32:02)


2004 Boise Metrogain Courses and Routes
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LEG LENGTH CONTROLS BEST ROUTES (click)
Long/Short 1 1.7K 10 []
Long 2 2.3K 10 []
Short 2 2.6K 10 []
Long 4 3.7K 10 []
Short 3 1.0K 5 []
Long 6 3.6K 10 []


2004 Boise Metrogain Photos
(click to get bigger image, some images are big >500K wait for download)
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