After being held at the Big Tupper Ski Area for the past five years, the event was held on a new course this time around. Although the race didn’t include the steeper elevation climbs it did in the past, it still featured similar obstacles and, of course, plenty of mud and water along the way.

An avid trail runner, Schofield redeemed herself from a second-place finish on the mountain a year ago to win with a blistering time of 26 minutes, 21.2 seconds on the 4-plus mile course. The race included eight waves starts, and the Tupper Lake resident crossed the finish line even before runnners in final waves departed from the start line.

“I started in the first wave, and my plan was just go,” Schofield said. “The same thing happened last year. I went off first, I was the first to finish, but somebody in the second or third wave had a faster time.”

As it turned out, Schofield ended up in quite a battle with Lake Placid’s Rosanne VanDorn, who started in the eighth and final wave and wound up a close runner-up, completing the 11-obstacle course in 26.38.4.

From the left, Northeast Taekwondo team members Melody Blackmore, Amanda Lavigne and Danielle Brown are all smiles after reaching the finish line in Saturday’s Warrior Run in Tupper Lake. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

Schofield said she enjoyed the course.

“I think it was a lot more user friendly for more competitors, for more average people who just want to have fun and do it,” she said. “The mountain was pretty strenuous, a lot more challenging because you have the vertical up and down. This is a lot more gradual terrain, but still with some ups and downs. I kind of like this because you can go faster.

“A lot of mud and pretty wet. It was tough,” Schofield added. “I had to swim across a beaver swamp. That was the trickiest part I think. You can’t really run. It’s deep enough where you had to swim. You think you can walk but then you fall into a hole three-feet deep. It was mucky.”

Another Lake Placid resident, Melissa Granell, finished third for the women in 32:51.9.

In addition to finishing one-two in the women’s field, Schofield and VanDorn were the top two finishers overall.

Racers begin their 4-plus mile trek through the wetness and mud during Satrurday’s Warrior Run in Tupper Lake. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

Saranac Lake’s Myckael Colon was the men’s champion. A first-time competitor, Colon throught he’d give it a try and grabbed a surprise victory. Colon started in the final wave and said he kept pace with VanDorn throughout the race. He topped the men’s field with a finish time of 26:40.9.

“I’ve never done anything like this,” Colon said. ” I was following that girl who came in second. She had a nice pace, and it really feels nice to be able to do this and keep up with people like that. I was just looking to do my best and have fun.

“The obstacles weren’t the big part for me. The challenge was just keep running,” Colon added. “Im not the biggest runner. The biggest key was to just keep going. I didn’t know I did that well. I came in third overall and first for the guys. It was definitely shocking, I didn’t expect it. I’m really happy and proud of myself, that’s for sure.”

Perhaps the biggest surprise for Colon was the fact that he won with minimal training.

“I’ve only been training for about two weeks, running up Ampersand, running up Baker, whenever I had free time,” he said. “Other than that it was just heart and determination that kept me going. I’m definitely going to come back next year and train a bit harder and see what happens. I’m a little impressed with how little training I put in and how well I did.”

Susan Schofield distances herself from the rest of the pack just after leaving the starting line in Saturday’s Warrior Run in Tupper Lake. After settling for a runner-up result a year ago, Schofield broke through with a victory as the race’s fastest finisher overall. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

Not only did Colon take home an individual title, he was also a member of the winning team, joining fellow Saranac Lakers Randy Beckwith and Dylan Kilner to claim a victory for their sponsor Fusion Market. Beckwith finished seventh overall and Kilner took 35th place.

Alexander Dakette and Rex Sheldon took second and third, respectively, to round out the men’s top three.

After turning 70 last month, Saranac Lake’s Dave Staszak decided he wanted to cross Saturday’s Warrior Run off his bucket list, which was the second challenge he took on during July. The first was a repeat appearance in Utica’s famed Boilermaker race.

Staszak finished the Warrior Run with in 30th place overall with a time of 37:01.3.

“I’m 70 and having a good time,” Staszak said. “I’ve been kind of motivated being 70, I have to get some things in here, and this was one of them. It was very exciting. I was in the army so this is like a miniature version of an army obstacle course. You have the rope ladders, you have the walls, and you have the low crawl, culverts to crawl through full of water. There was a lot of mud. They didn’t have to plan for any mud. The mud is naturally made this year.”

Men’s champion Myckael Colon, center, is flanked by teammates Randy Beckwith, left, and Dylan Kilner, who represented Saranac Lake’s Fusion Market. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

This was the second year that Krit LaMere was the Warrior Run’s race director, and she said attendance was up this year. When the event was held at the ski area in 2016, there were about 125 participants. This time around, the Warrior Run started and ended at the Raquette River Brewery and she said the field was just shy of 150 competitors. Obviously, after the race, many of the particpants were enjoying pints to celebrate their accomplishments.

“I think this is better. I’ve been getting good feedback from everybody about the switch,” LaMere said. “I’m happy. I was a little nervous because you don’t know what to expect with a new set up, but everybody went out, nobody got hurt and everybody came out muddy.

“It had its advantages and disadvantages but I think this is going to be better here in future races,” LaMere continued. “I think it will just keep growing. People like to get dirty apparently. They like to pay money to roll around in the mud for some reason.”

———————-

Tupper Lake Warrior Run

Todd Edwards flops over a short climbing wall in Saturday’s race. Edwards finished 13th overall in a field of 140 who completed the 4-plus mile course. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

Saturday’s Results

1 Susan Schofield (Tupper Lake) 26:21.2

2 Rosanne VanDorn (Lake Placid) 26:38.4

3 Myckael Colon 26:40.9

4 Alexander Dakette 27:34.8

5 Rex Sheldon (Parishville) 27:56.8

6 Andrew Laplante 28:00.2

7 Randy Beckwith 29:22.1

8 Curtis Kendrick 30:28.5

9 Henry Balch (North Salem) 31:27.0

10 Melissa Granell (Lake Placid) 32:51.9

11 Jayde Dukette 33:55.0

12 Doug Bencze (Tupper Lake) 33:55.3

13 Todd Edwards 34:00.7

14 Mark Yamrick (Tupper Lake) 34:11.2

15 Laura Cary (Schaghticoke) 34:27.4

16 Patrick Alberga (Saranac Lake) 34:34.7

17 Colin Bentley (Wilmington) 34:40.6

18 Cory Robideau (Massena) 34:54.0

19 John Smith (Massena) 35:02.6

20 May Fontana 35:13.3

21 Matt Robideau (Wilmington NC) 35:22.8

22 Madison Robideau (Wilmington NC) 35:23.5

23 Kayla Frenyea (Plattsburgh) 35:44.2

24 Joanne Court (Lake Placid) 35:48.1

25 Josh Facteau 36:00.4

26 Scott Patzwahl (Valatie) 36:21.5

27 Stephen Akiki (Lowell MA) 36:28.1

28 Hannah Zehr (Tupper Lake) 36:34.2

29 Alexis Lavmee 36:59.3

30 David J. Staszak (Saranac Lake) 37:01.3

31 Tammi DiFranco (Saint Albans VT) 37:04.7

32 Brian DiFranco (Saint Albans VT) 37:05.0

33 Julia Balch (North Salem) 37:19.3

34 Alex Gellert (Lake Placid) 37:57.9

35 Dylan Kilner 38:14.5

36 Samantha Jennette (Chazy) 38:59.5

37 Benjamin Landor (Cohoes) 39:26.2

38 Andrew Shaw (Waxhaw NC) 39:26.5

39 Benjamin Farkas (Cockeysville MD) 39:28.5

40 Cathy LaMare (Lake Placid) 40:19.2

41 Brenda Preston (Canton) 40:19.6

42 Maegan Duhaime (Tupper Lake) 40:44.8

43 Caitlyn Huntington (So. Glens Falls) 40:45.7

44 Caitlin Hockey (Tupper Lake) 40:45.7

45 Cecil Petterson (Queensbury) 40:54.3

46 Rose Petterson (Queensbury) 40:54.1

47 Kelly Monks (Queensbury) 40:54.4

48 Tom Monks (Queensbury) 40:54.5

49 Ryan Fetebee (Elizabethtown) 41:18.3

50 Stacy Hulbert (Elizabethtown) 41:20.3

51 Larden Pelkey 41:23.3

52 Jolene Hlavaty 41:16.0

53 David Nye (Keene) 41:30.9

54 Christine Hatter (Rhinebeck) 41:36.6

55 Alexander Slayton (Rhinebeck) 41:37.0

56 Trip Balch (North Salem) 41:38.2

57 Bobbi Levesque (Long Lake) 42:51.9

58 Clay Steit 43:27.0

59 Justin Mitchell (Canton) 43:47.6

60 Lawrence Baker (Tupper Lake) 44:04.0

61 Karyssa Luciano (Plattsburgh) 44:06.8

62 David Luciano (Plattsburgh) 44:06.7

63 Christie Lee Geiger (Tupper Lake) 44:11.8

64 Mary Beth Boyle (Rochester) 44:21.1

65 Jen Friend (Tupper Lake) 44:22.2

66 Heather Mason (Vermontville) 44:28.9

67 Laura Cerruti (Lake Placid) 44:32.9

68 Wyatt Foley 44:58.5

69 Daniel Foley 45:00.3

70 Sierra O’Mahony (Saranac Lake) 45:00.1

71 Brayson Cudmore (Schenectady) 45:11.2

72 Bryan Cudmore (Schenectady) 45:13.3

73 Ryan Hayes (Canton) 46:33.9

74 Lucia Samper (Rochester) 46:40.4

75 Nicole Hayes (Canton) 46:56.6

76 Cecilia Poulin (Saranac Lake) 47:28.4

77 Megan Stark (Malone) 47:28.9

78 Melanie Kring (Lisbon) 47:46.9

79 Alexis Staves (Tupper Lake) 47:59.0

80 Joe Benoit (Glenmont) 43:43.6

81 Jonathan Pease (So. Glens Falls) 49:39.8

82 Amanda Amell (Tupper Lake) 49:42.7

83 Krista LeBlanc (Tupper Lake) 49:43.6

84 Matthew Rogers (Malone) 50:07.7

85 Jessica Nason (Malone) 50:07.4

86 Cecilia Samper (Rochester) 50:23.7

87 Erinn Spack (Valatie) 50:24.3

88 Taylor Patzwahl (Valatie) 50:24.6

89 Robin Samper (Rochester) 50:30.1

90 Joseph Stein (Montgomery) 51:31.0

91 Christopher Stein (San Antonio TX) 51:33.4

92 Michael Stein (Montgomery) 51:33.9

93 Shea Kennedy 52:13.5

94 Michelle Kennedy 52:24.7

95 Robert Wells (Watertown) 52:52.8

96 Calli Wells (Watertown) 52:52.9

97 Tom Benoit (Schenectady) 53:45.1

98 Katje Benoit (Glenmont) 53:46.1

99 Barry Webb (Malone) 54:47.5

100 Sarah Kentile (Tupper Lake) 54:47.2

101 Jeanne Kavanagh (Tupper Lake) 54:52.0

102 Alexis Hoyt (Saint Albans VT) 54:58.4

103 Jessica Manning (AuSable Forks) 56:36.7

104 Paul Ford (AuSable Forks) 56:36.4

105 Rebecca Ford (AuSable Forks) 56:43.2

106 Katherine Poulin (Saranac Lake) 56:42.8

107 Sarah Ford (AuSable Forks) 56:42.8

108 Jessica Bower (Sackets Harbor) 57:05.8

109 Challiss Gaeta (Charleston SC) 57:06.3

110 Tyler Smay (Sackets Harbor) 57:05.3

111 Justin Gaeta (Charleston SC) 57:07.2

112 Shawn Vick (Alexandria Bay) 57:06.4

113 Amelie Cudmore (Schenectady) 58:44.1

114 Danielle Marquis (Schenectady) 58:47.9

115 Virginia Yamrick (Tupper Lake) 58:54.7

116 Sandra Martin (Malone) 1:00:20.6

117 Nicholas Debyah (Malone) 1:00:20.9

118 Kelsey Manchester (Brushton) 1:01:20.0

119 Shawn Allen 1:01:32.1

120 Baily Kellenberger 1:01:32.4

121 Taige Kellenberger 1:01:32.8

122 Jade Kellenberger 1:01:33.6

123 Janet Mitchell (Canton) 1:03:33.0

124 Katie Rafferty (Canton) 1:03:33.3

125 Jason Rafferty (Canton) 1:03:33.3

126 Danielle Brown 1:04:23.1

127 Melody Blackmore 1:04:23.8

128 Amanda Lavigne 1:04:25.2

129 Christopher Mueller (Black River) 1:05:00.0

130 Matthew Mueller (Black River) 1:04:59.9

131 Cassi Barden (Clearwater FL) 1:05:26.1

132 Kristina Hockenberger (Clearwater FL) 1:05:26.4

133 Stacie Hurwitch (Saranac Lake) 1:08:31.7

134 Steve Tyrell (Saranac Lake) 1:08:32.0

135 Maureen Shaheen (Tupper Lake) 1:08:49.0

136 Nicole Reandeau (Tupper Lake) 1:08:49.8

137 Lori Jessie (Tupper Lake) 1:08:48.9

138 Billie Gadway (Tupper Lake) 1:08:49.0

139 Dorrie-Rene Sapone (Tupper Lake) 1:08:49.4

140 Joan Skiff 1:08:49.9