JMC 2001 Winners

The 2001 edition of the John Marino Competition (JMC), a series of ultramarathon races and long timed rides, evolved from its somewhat tentative start last year to blossom into a deeper and more interesting competition. Thirty-five riders took part, including seven women and 14 masters riders, compared to only 16 riders in 2000. In the JMC riders compete for points based on average speed and ride difficulty in events scattered across the country, including double centuries, 24-hour races, and classics such as Boston-Montreal-Boston.

The two overall leaders in the 2001 JMC, Mark Patten of San Jose and Jim Trout of Seattle, battled to the end, with both competing at the final event, the Furnace Creek 508. Just when it appeared that Patten had overcome his 5-point deficit with a 10-point margin on Trout at Furnace Creek (their average speed difference times three difficulty points), along came the official confirmation of Trout's new north-to-south cross-state record ride in Washington completed September 30, enabling him to claim the top prize.

Trout had planned his season to finish with the maximum allowable 15 difficulty points. However, the Adirondack 540 (3 d.p.) was canceled due to travel problems after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Trout was forced to substitute the 2 d.p. UMCA 24-hour championship ride and he quickly hatched the plan of picking up his final difficulty point with a cross-state attempt, to try to head off Patten. Trout set a new Washington N-S record covering 259 miles in 13h 59m. Trout rode eight events to earn the allowable complement of 15 d.p. Patten also earned 15 d.p., but had 10 of them on the slower-average-speed RAAM. Trout won the senior men's division by a final tally of 213.03 to 198.89. Trout becomes the first non-RAAM male or female overall winner and his point total of 213.03 sets a new JMC record, topping Tom Buckley's 2000 season mark of 207.73.

After taking fourth in RAAM, Patten set a mixed tandem record at the Iowa 24-hour, where he rode 449 miles stoked by Melanie Ashby of Miami, FL. He also took second at the Mississippi Valley 24 and third at the Furnace Creek 508. Since he was competing in the solo division of the JMC, his tandem ride with Ashby did not count for JMC points. Male-male, male-female, and female-female tandem divisions will be opened when entries are received.

Kevin Zelenka of Truth or Consequences, NM claimed the final spot on the podium, as he criss-crossed the country in search of points and also took advantage of the cross-state maneuver, setting a new Colorado south-to-north record (completed 10/1, worth 2 d.p.) and thereby inching ahead of 2000 defending champion Tom Buckley of Keokuk, IA, 133.45 to 131.21.

Buckley skipped RAAM this year, but certainly acquitted himself well in the rides he undertook, winning them all — BMB, the Michigan 24-hour, and the solo division of the UMCA 24-hour Time Trial Championship in Iowa. Buckley was fourth Senior Male in the JMC with 131.21 points.

Cassie Lowe of Sydney, Australia used her fantastic RAAM ride to defend her top spot in the Senior Female competition, with 154.39 JMC points on 12 d.p, versus an almost-identical 153.88 on 12 d.p. in 2000. Besides finishing first woman and fourth overall at RAAM, Lowe was first overall finisher, male or female, at the Central Coast Double. Trout and Lowe, as overall Men's and Women's winners, receive free entry into the UMCA 24-Hour Championship in Iowa next September.

Anne Schneider of Davis, CA added Furnace Creek to her long list of JMC rides this year to take second place overall for females and first in the 50-59 division with 82.79 JMC points. Schneider led all women in most rides competed in, with five. Mary Lynn Monge of Columbus, OH finished second in the women's senior division with 69.33 points, and Christi Hall of Boise, ID was yet another to do a cross-state record ride (Idaho, west-to-east, completed 8/19, worth 2 d.p.) which pushed her into third place, with 57.28 JMC points.

Bill Schwarz of Kinderhook, NY repeated as Men's 50-59 winner with 100.63 points on 8 d.p. (down slightly from his sterling 178.54 on 13 d.p. in 2000), while Jim Cartwright of Muncie, IN and Richard Lawrence of Lexington, NC also repeated as winners in the 60-69 and 70+ age divisions, respectively.

In all, five riders did cross-state records, including Ed Mulheren of Charlotte, NC who rode New York north-to-south. Mulheren gets special credit for perseverance, as he also rode the Adirondack 540 route, despite the event being canceled!

To generate more interest and more possibilities for riders to earn points, the JMC, whose rules are still evolving and are expected to change again slightly next year, added cross-state record rides to the contest this year. Successful record attempts of 125-299 miles are worth one difficulty point while rides of 300-474 miles are awarded 2 d.p.. For full complete rules as well as other information on the JMC, refer to http://www.ultracycling.com/standings/jmc.html.

While RAAM was less of a factor in the standings than in 2000, riders seem to be participating in more events, with 23 riders achieving at least 5 d.p. (vs. only 8 last year). Riders who earned at least 5 d.p. receive a UMCA plaque and are eligible for prizes (see sidebar). The most popular events were the Michigan National 24 (18 JMCers), Calvin's Challenge (13), BMB (11) and the UMCA 24 Hour Championship (10)

After the lukewarm start in 2000 I remarked to John Hughes that I thought we should considering canceling the competition if we didn't double the number of entries in 2001. We did that, and now I'm looking forward to an even bigger and better JMC in 2002. John Marino Competition, 2001

Final 2001 Standings
(Event abbreviations and difficulty points in parentheses)
EVENTS: Devil Mountain Double (DD,1); Calvin's Challenge (CC,1); Central Coast Double (CD,1); Race Across Oregon (RO,3); Davis 12/24 (DA,1/2); National 24-Hour Challenge (MI,2); RAAM (RA,10); Terrible Two Double (TD,1); Boston 600km brevet (BB,2);Denver-Aspen Double Century (DE,1); Mississippi Valley 24-Hour (MV,1/2);Boston-Montreal-Boston (BM,4); World 24-Hour Championship (UM,1/2); Cochise County Cycling Classic (CO,1);Furnace Creek 508 (FC,3)

DPC: Difficulty Points Completed. Maximum allowed is 15, after which a competitor's best 15 are used, pro-rated if necessary