Check out the video and photos which capture the unique spirit of the loop.
Jackson McGuire emerging muddy & wet but smiling from Splashdown in 2019. The final 200 meters just ahead. (photo by Ted Erkkila)
Mike Paletta after 1999 Loop
Ran through their shoes
Business on top, ready for mud on the bottom
Danny Martin & Jere Hochman in 2011
Pre-dawn misty meadow
Joe Cloidt and Alan Wegener during the 2017 Loop at the first water crossing.
Mets great Craig Swan delivers the opening pitch for the 2000 Leatherman’s Loop start. Craig returned in 2012 to reprise his starting pitch.
Got Mud?
Tommy Nohilly finishes strong in 2010 going for one of his nine overall Loop wins.
Ray Viscome, a runner from Silver Lake, NY, ran the 2012 course in 1:00:32. He had run it once before (1999) and did it with help from running support buddies Rich Izzo and Thomas Bookless. His amazing time is even more amazing since he runs with an artificial leg and has to be carried across the stream crossings since the joint can’t get wet.
Craig Swan after the “First Pitch” start in 2012 running for his life away from the running crowd.
Finish line heart flag
Tiokasin Ghosthorse was the official race starter for the 25th Loop in 2011. He is a member of the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation and hosts the nationally syndicated radio show First Voices Indigenous Radio
Micah True a.k.a. Caballo Blanco before the 2011 Loop. Micah ran in 2010 and 2011 and was the official starter for 2010. He was set to start the 2012 Loop when he died on a run in March 2012. We have retired bib #4 in his honor.
Kelsey Crawford, youngest female winner ever, smiles as she is cheered on by her mom Doreen, her sister Cameron, and her friend Amelia as she exits Splashdown in 2019.
Tony: “While cutting back buckthorn at about the three mile mark of the course I found this matched pair of Nike trail shoes. They had been pushed to the surface of the mud flats by the spring thaw. I stopped to consider all of the possibilities. None of them good. Those of you who are running the Loop for the first time may want to do the same.” –Founder’s Newsletter – Issue 2 “The 25th Loop” 11 April 2011
The 2017 Loop video trailer above features some highlights from Loop videos made in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2011, and 2015 (2). Thanks to Dean Leggiero, Rob Cummings, John Cummings, Jr., Mitch Stein, Wilderness Bob, Christy Cuomo, Tom Anckner, and a few others for taking the videos. The short 3 minute video features Griffin “Buck” Farro, Danny Martin, Madison Haller, the Albertus Magnus girls track team, Kate Paletta, Hernando Munoz, Joe Stanley, Tom Nohilly, Kerry Arsenault, Stan “Leatherman” Telega, Bob Goldblatt, Tony Godino, and many of the runners of the Loop in those years.
More stories, race reports, photos, and videos can be found here:
