2008 Tombstone Trail

Brad Odegard added himself to the elite list of multiple-time winners of the Tombstone Trail by taking first overall with Nina Noe on the 2008 event. The pair crushed all but one challenger, including every team with extra passengers. Having finished third overall last year with an extra rider while being beaten by two two-person teams, they either decided that only two members was an advantage, or to ditch the extra weight in the back seat. In either case, they proved that last year's great finish was no fluke.

Second in Class A and second overall were Brent Hall and Suzanne Jackson, longtime competitors who have finished well in the past, but struggled last year. They tied Odegard/Noe in points, but were 12 minutes late to the finish, dropping them to second place. Third in Class A and an impressive 4th overall were Jerome Porter and Rian Radtke, Jerome running for his first time, and Rian running only his second, I believe.

The weather was great for registration in Cannon Falls, MN. We started 30 minutes early to allow time for the additional paperwork required by SCCA's new membership rules. Cars started at 7:00 to tackle this year's new format, designed to keep them in the cemeteries longer while spending less time on the road. Contestants were provided with pictures to match up at cemeteries. Once they determined which picture was taken at which cemetery, they were able to answer up to 4 more questions of increasing difficulty. The winning strategy required visiting enough cemeteries to pick up the easy points, while working hard to answer all the questions in the tough cemeteries, all while arriving at Godfather's Pizza in Red Wing within 3 hours. 50 cars started and all 50 finished.

Jeff Adams and Tadd Bauman took home the Class AA trophy in 3rd place overall. They tied with Porter/Radtke on the road, but took 3rd place due to the former being a few minutes late. These two have been climbing toward the top of the standings the last couple years, and show the potential to be overall winners. Second in AA and 5th overall were Doug Atwill and John Wiersma, also usually found near the top, lately. Third in AA went to Steve Gingras and Tricia Gingras, though how they kept their heads with a back seat full of screaming girls is unknown.

Class B honors went to Jason Beck and Ashleigh Pust in an impressive 7th overall, one place behind Jason's dad and sister Harry and Megan. Kathy Grady and Jackie Bjerke finished 2nd, with Eric Dille and Guy Reithmeyer in 3rd, winning a tie-breaker with Jim Anderson and Clarck Pansch.

One of the best performances of the night went to Brian Malarski and Jennifer Malarski, running for the first time and taking Class D while finishing 8th overall. They just beat out fellow first-timers Nate Austin and Lori Austin, 2nd in D and 12th overall. Aaron Lomker and Kelley Boyens came in 3rd.

Class C was taken by John Bjerke and Melissa Norgord with 14th overall, and the only team not to score a wrong answer all night. Jamie Gau and Luke Shaw finished 2nd, with Quincie Butts and Cheryl Martin 3rd.

Class G had the most surprisingly weak performances with Todd Jarvey and Rita Jarvey taking the win, but only in 19th overall. Apparently, GPS helps you find the cemeteries, but does not help you find the answers. Dan Meyer and Dawn Holmberg took 2nd, and Paul Rosholt and Al Taylor took 3rd.

The Best Costomb award went to Stu Tanquist and Charlie Moen and company, with their Campaigning Clowns, a tribute to politicians in this election year. Be sure to get out and vote for your favorite clown.

A special award went to Joe Diercks and Dave Diercks for their awesome haunting of a cemetery near Goodhue. They did a great job of giving our contestants a few cheap thrills to break the tension of competition.

Finally, the coveted Dead Last award went to Kaleigh Hinkley and Suzie Parker. Too many wrong answers moved them into contention for the award, while being 20 minutes late secured the win.

Thanks to Vicki Larson for helping me set up the course, and to Mark and Mary Utecht, Jay and Carolyn Leuhmann and Cory Anderson for a great precheck. Thanks to Cory Anderson and Breon Nagy for help with registration and scoring.

Congratulations to all who participated. We hope to see you again next year.

Mark Larson
Rallymaster

You can see the event results here.

2007 report