2005 Tombstone Trail

46 teams turned out for the 28th running of the Tombstone Trail rally in Cannon Falls, MN. The turnout was helped by the best weather in a decade, with temperatures near 60° all evening. This was the highest turnout we've had since 1999 when we ran in Carver County, MN, and the highest ever when starting outside the metro area.

A totally new format this year challenged the contestants right from the start. Strategy was the key, since winning would require finding the "mystery tombstone" whose location was unknown until certain clues were gathered at other cemeteries around Rice and Goodhue, MN counties. If the contestants began without a clear idea of how they were going to find the mystery tombstone, it would be very difficult to win on sheer effort. You can read an excerpt from this year's rules here.

The first four cars started the event before the rallymaster remembered to hand out scorecards. It was impossible for the teams to find the mystery tombstone without the information on the scorecard, but all four teams eventually figured that out and returned for a scorecard. They were given extra time to make up for their detours, and none incurred a time penalty.

This year also featured a new class, class "G" for GPS, geeks and anything Goes. Class G competitors were given GPS coordinates to every cemtery, and were allowed to prepare in advance. Unfortunately for at least one team, the rallymasters found a "Woodmas" in a cemetery full of Woodmans (the cemetery was even named "Woodman"), and, wouldn't you know it, a roster published on the Internet shows her name as Woodman. So, if the class G teams (or any other teams breaking the rules) used the information without verifying it, they suffered a deduction of one point. Similarly, the rallymasters tried to make sure that none of the mystery clues leading to the mystery tombstone could be answered on the Internet.

Longtime competitors David and Dan Meyer took top honors in class G and overall, finding the mystery tombstone and collecting 20 cemetery points. Todd Jarvey and JB Lewis were second in G, only 2 points behind, with Breon and Jessica Nagy third, one more point behind.

Second overall, and tied for first, were Derek Mooney and Meghan Kearney, running the event for the very first time. They scored exactly the same as Meyer/Meyer, but lost 1st overall in a tiebreaker. Second in D and an impressive 4th overall were Phil Britton and Veronica Bailye, also on their first Tombstone Trail, just 3 points back. Paul and Emily Pederson finished 3rd in D and 17th overall. A very impressive year for the first-timers.

Matt Baker and Joel Roggenkamp captured class AA and 3rd overall. Pat Olsen and Steve Gingras took second, and Alan Porter/Stu Tanquist were third. Porter and Tanquist also took home the trophies for the best costumes.

Dave and Rachel Fuss claimed class A, follwoed by Blythe Johnston/Collen Lesedi and Michael Wray/Erik Dahl. Only 4 points separated the first 3 A cars, 7th, 8th and 9th overall. Fuss's also scored the most cemetery points with 22, but came in a little too late to win.

Jeff Adams and Ben Adams took class C, winning a tiebreaker with Cristopher Spargo and Todd Johnson. The two teams finished an impressive 14th and 15th overall. Unfortunately, when we broke the tie we messed up and temporarily moved them out of 1st place, just in time for the awards ceremony. The mistake was eventually fixed, and both teams went home with trophies. Both teams were also running for the first time, along with Renee and Marcus Warrington, and Kevin Beck/Amanda Ingle, 3rd and 4th, respectively.

Class B went to Brent Hall and Suzanne Jackson in 18th overall. Kathy Bjorke and Deb Doffing were 2nd, with Chris Willems and Bruce Fossell in 3rd.

Thanks to all who competed, and a special thanks to Bill and Jule Baker, who prechecked the event, and to Rachel, Alex and Jaime, who worked registration and scoring.

Mark Larson
Rallymaster

You can see the event results here.

2004 report