Furnace Creek 508 concluded the fourth year of the John Marino Competition creating high drama to see who would be the men's overall champion. The overall female champion had already been settled at Paris-Brest-Paris when Nancy Guth picked up her required "3-point difficulty event" on the way to her record breaking final point total of 165.2. The conclusion of PBP presented complications and opportunities.

The Favorites Emerge
Throughout the season leading up to PBP, John Guth (50-59 Men), Nancy Guth (50-59 Women), James Cartwright (60-69 Men), Sam Baugh (Senior Men) and Reed Finfrock (50-59 Men) were the main focus of attention as contenders for the overall championship. After PBP, however, the rule requiring the overall men's and women's champion to complete an event of at least three difficulty points became a player. Baugh and Finfrock had not yet completed a "3" but both of the Guths had logged a finish at PBP to qualify as overall champion candidates.

A Dark Horse Prepares His Sprint
What didn't gain much notice was the 14 mph average reported at PBP by John Jurczynski. Throughout the season, he had spaced his events with prudence. He started the season slowly entering, primarily, double centuries (3) with one 24 hiour event. By the time of PBP, he was still 12 points behind his nearest competitor and 76 points behind Baugh, the leader. He didn't seem much of a threat.

Out of France into the Furnace
But the love-in over in France provided lots of complications for some and opportunities for others. The complications were for Baugh and Finfrock. Neither had yet done a "3" and were still left with amassing points against each other with the grueling Furnace Creek as the last available "3". Meanwhile, PBP results put Jurczynski in second place for overall points and the opportunity of first place for overall champion. The Guths were also positioned well. If Jurczynski chose not to travel to the next two events, they were poised to take both male and female overall championship crowns.

Showdown in the Cornfield
Baugh and Finfrock had ridden strongly throughout the season, logging three 24 hour events at this point. Baugh's average speed for all events was 17.7 while Finfrock's was 16.8 providing a significant lead for Baugh going into the Iowa UMCA 24 Hour Time Trial. There had been two opportunities for head to head encounters earlier in the season. Baugh took Finfrock's measure at the Texas 12/24 with Finfrock turning the tables on Baugh at the Michigan Nationals. Meanwhile, all the significant players except Jurczynski were at Iowa. Cartwright, holding complete control over the 60-69 Men's category was a force, and both Guths were here needing the two difficulty points to round out their total difficulty limit to 12. When the "corn had been harvested" Finfrock had decimated the JMC field turning in a monster 17.1 average for the 24 hours. Later Baugh would comment "I just didn't have it and Reed was unreal". Meanwhile, Cartwright and the Guths would successfully complete the ride and their seasons.

Place Your Bets
Rankings based on points at the Furnace Creek starting line (top six contenders):

Baugh	11 diff points	190 total points (17.27 mph)
Finfrock	10 diff points	171 total points (17.10 mph)
Guth, John	12 diff points	166 total points (13.80 mph)
Guth, Nancy	12 diff points	165 total points (13.75 mph)
Cartwright, J.	11 diff points	162 total points (14.70 mph)
Jurczynski, J.	09 diff points	139 total points (15.40 mph)

The shoot-out at Furnace Creek between Reed Finfrock and Sam Baugh was supposed to be the culmination of a season long battle for first and second place. A surprise was in store for us all in the form of a dark horse on the one hand and a heart that burst on the other.

These men went after each other like zealots all season, each for their own personal reasons. Baugh just couldn't get the motor running at Iowa after a tough Mississippi Valley 24 Hour. In a phone conversation we had, he said; "I may have put too much into it at MV24". In a letter I received from Finfrock he said, "With an endurance athlete, it is like a race car driver, the body is the car and the brain is the driver and I may have pushed the car too hard at Iowa". Baugh's meltdown was at Iowa and Finfrock's was at Furnace Creek. Finfrock had to withdraw when his kidneys shutdown, but not until he had gutted out 300+ miles. Meanwhile, Jurczynski was holding the course and successfully completed the event, earning enough points to elevate him into second place overall and second in the Senior Men category. Talk about a sprint finish to the season.

Sam Baugh was the Senior Men champion as well as the Men's Overall Champion. Baugh finished with a total of 207.72 points, about 20 points more than last year's top male! Baugh is a consistently fast rider, finishing eight separate events. Baugh set a record for average speed for all events with 17.3 mph. Nancy Guth was the Women's Overall Champion for the second consecutive season. She raced in seven events and earned 165.21 points which represents a record for women in all categories. Guth is also very consistent -- her season started in February with the Sebring 24 and concluded in September with the UMCA 24. Guth set a women's record for average speed in her category and all female categories for all events with 13.8 mph.

In the Men's Senior Division (18-49), John Jurczynski kept the pressure on Baugh during the summer and fall and finished in second with 173.08 Unfortunately, no women raced this year in the Senior Division. Finfrock won the Men's 50+ division for the second year in a row, just edging out John Guth, 171.21 points to 165.78 points. Finfrock set a record for average speed in his category for all events with 17.1 mph.

Jim Cartwright again won the Men's 60+ division with 162.07 points. Cartwright rode seven events, from Calvin's Challenge to the UMCA 24. He was the fifth male overall! Cartwright has dominated his category since the inception of the JMC and holds the record for average speed in his category for all events set in 2001 with 16.1 mph.

Richard Lawrence repeated as the winner of the 70+ category. Lawrence, in a discussion by phone, expressed his disappointment that other riders in his age group haven't taken the opportunity to use the JMC as motivation to compete. He has been a competitor in the JMC every year since it began.

The John Marino Competition was started in 2000 to encourage riders to race more actively. The JMC honors Marino, who founded the UMCA and the Race Across America. The past JMC winners are:

2000	Tom Buckley Cassie Lowe
2001	Jim Trout Cassie Lowe
2002	Marc Pritchard Nancy Guth

in order to be eligible for the overall championship, a rider has to complete at least one tough event worth three difficulty points or more. Seventeen riders met this challenge!

The JMC has been very successful. This year 46 riders competed in a total of 139 events. The most popular events were:

Calvin's Challenge	24 JMC riders
Michigan Nationals	21 JMC riders
Mississippi Valley 24	14 JMC riders
Iowa 24	14 JMC riders
Paris Brest Paris	12 JMC riders

Input from some of this year's category winners about their favorite and/or toughest rides indicate that Calvin's Challenge and the Michigan Nationals rank high due to their excellent organization and the opportunity to see distant friends who migrate to these heavily attended events. Jim Cartwright said that without a doubt, "QuadZilla is the ultimate love/hate relationship. "You curse the climbs and fear getting lost, but at the end, the feeling of accomplishment overwhelms any negative memories and it isn't too long and you want to do it again".

If there was a disappointment this year it was the lack of female participation. Only four women competed which is the lowest since the first year. There are many excellent UMCA women riders who can provide support for each other and compete equally against the men. In fact, Nancy Guths point total this year would have put her in first place in the Men's 50-59 category in the first three years of the JMC based on the 12 point rule. We need to talk to all our women members to get out the word about the JMC. It is just too good not to be engaged.

Final JMC Standings
(Event abbreviations and difficulty points in parentheses)
Events: Sebring 12/24(SE,1/2), Davis 12/24 (DA,1/2), Calvin's Challenge (CA,1), Balltown Classic (BA,1), Central Coast Double Century (CC,1), Tarheel Double Century (TH,1), Race Across Oregon (RO,3), National 24-hour Challenge (MI,2), Terrible Two Double (TT,1), RAAM (RA,8),Boston 600km brevet (BB,2), Quadzilla (QZ,2),Grand Loop (GL,1), Mississippi Valley 24-hour (MV,1/2), Adirondack 540 (AD,3), UMCA 12/24 Championships (IA, 1/2), Furnace Creek 508 (FC,3), Cochise Classic (CO,1) Fireweed 400 (FW,2), Petersham Double (PD,1), Rivers & Hills 200 (RH,1), Birmingham 200 (BD,1), Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP,4)

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