27 teams started a cold Tombstone Trail from Rochester, MN on October 26, 2002. Unfortunately, the cold weather caused a few no-shows, and some mechanical breakdowns cost us another team or two. 27 was the lowest turnout we've had in about 10 years.
However, we seemed to have a fun event, and the 25 finishers were generally in good spirits at the endpoint in Preston, MN. The cemeteries of Fillmore County are some of the most interesting in Minnesota, and we made efforts this year to keep people in the cemeteries longer and on the roads less, primarily by giving two clues at some cemeteries.
Unfortunately, when we decided to remove one of two clues from a cemetery to cut down the time people had to spend there, we removed it from the instructions but forgot to make the change in the generals, so some people wasted time looking for something that was not to be found. I'm really sorry about that, folks.
A new rule this year allowed people with extra passengers to compete in a higher class, but still only two people were allowed out of the car. The people remaining in the car were allowed to work on the map while the two runners searched for clues, which were pictures of tombstones to be located in the cemeteries.
Matt Baker and Joel Roggenkamp took top honors, winning class A cleanly and winning a 3-way tie for first overall. Holding the tie were Mary and Mark Utecht, 1st in class AA and 2nd in the tie, and John and Jenna Parizek, 1st in class C and 3rd overall. This was the first Tombstone Trail for the Parizeks, who put up a great finish and seemed to have a very good time, too!
Erik Lawson and Steve Bowen, also running for the first time, took class D with a very impressive 5th overall, only 1 point out of the tie for first. Experienced teams filled the next few spots overall, with Steve Gingras and Patrick Olson, Brad Johnson and Jon Helberg, Bill Baker and Julie Raymond, Dan Meyer and Dawn Holmberg, and Dennis and Kelly Doffing all taking home class trophies.
Class B was won by James and Heather Hovind in 12th overall, with Max and Tara Hinkley 2nd in B and 17th overall. Jennie Elbers and Royan Bartley took home the 2nd trophy in class D with 16th overall.
For the umpteenth time, Blythe Johnston took the best costomb award with Deann Plummer, for their dead hockey players. Rolf and Miriam Strand got the best story trophy by having car trouble, combining two teams into one giant "wolf pack" of seven people in a Taurus, and finishing the event. I'm happy to report that their night ended well, since I saw the broken car drive out of the Apache Mall parking lot as we went by. I know they made it home, too, because they passed me just before the Twin Cities.
Finally, the coveted dead last award was presented to Wyatt and Selena Neubauer, running for the first time, but hopefully not the last.
Thanks to Stu and Rachel Tanquist, who couldn't make the event, but pre-checked it for us, and to Brad Odegard and Kris Goehring for working the event. We hope to see you all again next year.
Mark Larson
Rallymaster
You can see the event results here.