Top-O-Michigan pictures and updates.

[25xs]

Could someone onsite please keep us informed on the race this weekend?

Please post any pictures and updates/information you have on this thread.

Thanks!!! (Watching for 1st timer Jerry Oberlin ASR of Warner Robins, GA and also 2nd year driver Brent Johnson 25SSR of Atlanta, GA)

Tom Brockmeyer
Buford, GA

[25xs]

Here's a preliminary list of racers this year.

http://www.marathonnationals.com/Welcome.html

Listed by class below are the racers on the rollcall so far.

[KevJohn]

Saturday Leaders

Both the number of participants and the wind were up at this years Top O' Michigan Marathon Nationals in Indian River, Michigan. Top O' rookies had beautiful weather to get their first lesson in rough water racing while some Top O' veterans managed to write new chapters in the "unbelivable" section of this great races history.

Almost every driver reported typical Top O' rough riding conditions on Mullet Lake. As seems to be the custom the lake claimed its fair share of victims sending more than one into the drink. BSR driver Amanda Hagerl got a leisurly ride back to the DeVoe Park pits in the counties newest rescue boat while others had to make their own transpotation arrangements.

While I saw the tattered remains of Bryan Lauer and Ken Honeysette SLT I cannot yet confirm that its condition was indeed caused by being forced 8' high into a tree after an equipment failure. We will be following up on that one though.

Several classes had thier share of great racing but the closest finish of the day went in the ASR class as Stephen McCourtie and Ann Blomberg battled neck and neck through the final section of the Indian River.

25SSR driver Jamie Park was the first non JSR boat back through the river and even though after covering and photographing this race for years not much catches me by surprise he got a quiet "holy crap" when he came by my position. He was flying! The only other boat that seemed to be moving as fast as he was were Tracey Phillips and Matt Cupps in the SLT #88 the "Meathead Express".

Top Saturday Finishers

ASR - Stephen McCourtie

BSR - Chris Hagerl

CSR - Kim Park

25SSR - Jamie Park

DSR - Josh Pearson

JSR - Mitchell Dotson

Bandit - Charlie Brockway

Outlaw - Phillips/M. Cupps

X-Class - S. Lauer/Bek

Many of the long time class favorites will have to battle hard tomorrow and hope for the bad weather to lend them a hand with their competition before they can claim this years championships.

It will be great to watch!

Kevin Johnston

[Skoontz]

A couple Q's/. First, where is Louis Schwab from? He may be a shirt tale relative we have yet to meet.

Second, I saw the same person entered in C, and D classes. Unless it's two guys with the same name, how does that work?

[racer121M]

Louis "Pete" Schwab hails from Cincinatti, OH. I don't know the answer to your other question.

[Skoontz]

Since we originally came across the ice on sleighs from Pitt, I bet he may be a shirt tale....

[RichardKCMo]

Tom Tall!!!

Results will Probably be posted By Tom i f some Egos can handle it, so shut up and listen, or read ,whatever it takes.
I'll be back after the station break.
Savage said so.

RichardKCMo.

[Tomtall]

Results

Now Richard,be nice. Results will be posted soon over on the Top'O web site. Thanks to all that made the race this year. 87 entries total. Great weather,food and people. Oh and the racing was awesome also.

Congrats to Cooper Jess making the marathon and finishing 2nd overall in "B" class behind Chris Hagrel. SEE COOPER, YOUR STILL YOUNG!

[42M]

Stock Winners

JSR - Kyle Roskowski

ASR - Stephen McCourtie

BSR - Chris Hagerl

25SSR - Charlie Smith

CSR - Kim Park

DSR - Josh Pearson

[AMod20HRacer]

Thank you all!!

Thank you to the Top O' Michigan Outboard Racing Club and all of the volunteers that work so hard to put this race on. I heard there was something like 60 patrol boats scheduled for each day. That's simply remarkable in its own right.

I ran the Top O' Michigan Marathon for the first time this year. I don't really know the best way to describe this race. The number of people that line the shores to watch this race blew me away. I've never seen sponsor displays at a kneel down race before, but I saw a few of them while touring the Indian River on Friday. The race itself was simply unbelievable. It was so fun but yet so physically and mentally demanding. I have a new respect for everyone that runs this race as it proved to be much harder then I was expecting. I've never seen water as rough as Mullet was on Saturday. The craziest part of it all is I was told that was relatively calm compared to years past. Crooked River was a blast! Sunday being relatively calm made things much nicer. Although I has engine troubles coming back through Crooked River I still found myself having a great time. I got dropped off at a house just before Devil's elbow. Not knowing what to expect I quickly found myself joining the party. I was given food, water and was told to hang out and relax while I waited for my crew to come pick me up. It was a terrific experience!

Aside from everything else, I just wanted to Thank Amanda Hagerl for letting me take gas from her disabled boat allowing me to finish the race on Saturday. For those of you who were not there or did not hear this story I thought I would share. It really shows how generous boat racers are. On Saturday, I made it all the way through the rough waters of Mullet Lake and the Cheboygan River but coming back through Indian River I ran out of gas just before the I-75 Bridge about 2 miles from the finish line. I paddled over to the shore line to get out of the center of the river and then walked my boat over to the rescue boat which was anchored about 100 yards from where I ran out of gas. In the rescue boat was Amanda Hagerl who had engine troubles which forced her to the shores early in the race. She asked me what happened and I told her I ran out of gas. We talked for a little bit and then she said told me if I had a way to get gas from her boat to mine, I could take some and potentially finish the race. With only 20 minutes left before the rivers would be re-opened I reversed my primer bulb and transferred just enough fuel from her boat to mine to finish the race. With her help and the help of one of the firefighters in the rescue boat we were able to get my boat re-fired and I finished the race with only 12 seconds to spare before the race would have been called. Thanks to her I was able to finish the first day and I now have my own unique Top O' Michigan story to tell. For those of you who have ever thought about running this race, do it!! It was the most fun I've ever had at a boat race. I simply can't wait until next year to do it all over again!!

Austin Duggan, 78M

[Gootz 142M]

Thank you to the Top O' Michigan Outboard Racing Club and all of the volunteers that work so hard to put this race on. I heard there was something like 60 patrol boats scheduled for each day. That's simply remarkable in its own right.

I ran the Top O' Michigan Marathon for the first time this year. I don't really know the best way to describe this race. The number of people that line the shores to watch this race blew me away. I've never seen sponsor displays at a kneel down race before, but I saw a few of them while touring the Indian River on Friday. The race itself was simply unbelievable. It was so fun but yet so physically and mentally demanding. I have a new respect for everyone that runs this race as it proved to be much harder then I was expecting. I've never seen water as rough as Mullet was on Saturday. The craziest part of it all is I was told that was relatively calm compared to years past. Crooked River was a blast! Sunday being relatively calm made things much nicer. Although I has engine troubles coming back through Crooked River I still found myself having a great time. I got dropped off at a house just before Devil's elbow. Not knowing what to expect I quickly found myself joining the party. I was given food, water and was told to hang out and relax while I waited for my crew to come pick me up. It was a terrific experience!

Aside from everything else, I just wanted to Thank Amanda Hagerl for letting me take gas from her disabled boat allowing me to finish the race on Saturday. For those of you who were not there or did not hear this story I thought I would share. It really shows how generous boat racers are. On Saturday, I made it all the way through the rough waters of Mullet Lake and the Cheboygan River but coming back through Indian River I ran out of gas just before the I-75 Bridge about 2 miles from the finish line. I paddled over to the shore line to get out of the center of the river and then walked my boat over to the rescue boat which was anchored about 100 yards from where I ran out of gas. In the rescue boat was Amanda Hagerl who had engine troubles which forced her to the shores early in the race. She asked me what happened and I told her I ran out of gas. We talked for a little bit and then she said told me if I had a way to get gas from her boat to mine, I could take some and potentially finish the race. With only 20 minutes left before the rivers would be re-opened I reversed my primer bulb and transferred just enough fuel from her boat to mine to finish the race. With her help and the help of one of the firefighters in the rescue boat we were able to get my boat re-fired and I finished the race with only 12 seconds to spare before the race would have been called. Thanks to her I was able to finish the first day and I now have my own unique Top O' Michigan story to tell. For those of you who have ever thought about running this race, do it!! It was the most fun I've ever had at a boat race. I simply can't wait until next year to do it all over again!!

Austin Duggan, 78M

Austin,

Now remember no more rookie stripes next year.....get r done!

Gootz

[jeff55v]

60 years of the Top O' races!

This was my second Top O' Michigan race. Once again, I wasn't dissapointed.

This marathon race takes a driver through cheering crowds standing just feet away from your speeding boat, to isolated and lonesome waters. Racers travel through narrow twisting rivers, to the daunting waters of the big lakes. This race will test a driver's equipment, and his intestinal fortitude (guts).
What were my personal highlights? First, participating in the 60th running of the event was pretty cool. Seeing the gathering of winners from the past and hearing some of their stories was really neat. Following Cooper Jess and seeing him so skillfully guide his boat through the crooked river was awesome. But, my most cherished memory has to be crossing the finish line on Sunday. At that moment, I felt an indiscribable mix of excitment and relief. You gotta do the Top O' to understand.

A big thanks to the TOMORC for such a great event!

I included a panoramic photo taken about 30min before Sunday's start.

[Gootz 142M]

This was my second Top O' Michigan race. Once again, I wasn't dissapointed.

This marathon race takes a driver through cheering crowds standing just feet away from your speeding boat, to isolated and lonesome waters. Racers travel through narrow twisting rivers, to the daunting waters of the big lakes. This race will test a driver's equipment, and his intestinal fortitude (guts).
What were my personal highlights? First, participating in the 60th running of the event was pretty cool. Seeing the gathering of winners from the past and hearing some of their stories was really neat. Following Cooper Jess and seeing him so skillfully guide his boat through the crooked river was awesome. But, my most cherished memory has to be crossing the finish line on Sunday. At that moment, I felt an indiscribable mix of excitment and relief. You gotta do the Top O' to understand.

A big thanks to the TOMORC for such a great event!

I included a panoramic photo taken about 30min before Sunday's start.

Well said Jeff, Well said.

[jeff55v]

Park unseats 11-time champ...

I found this article about the Top O' races, an interesting read:

http://www.petoskeynews.com/articles...b849749826.txt

Also, McGinnis video dedicated a specially painted park bench to commemorate the 60th running of the Top O'. All of this year's drivers were asked to sign the back of the bench. I believe this bench will be placed on the boardwalk along Indian River.