The Fulmont Road Runners Club held the 31st Annual Mule Haul 5k on Sunday, June 15 in the village of Fort Hunter. The Fathers Day event began in the village and continued along the towpath trail of the historic Erie Canal, passing Yankee Hill and the Empire locks. Volunteers were along the trail encouraging runners as they passed. The race concluded at the Fort Hunter Firehouse.
A total of 150 runners finished the race, most from local communities, but some came from states as far as California and Hawaii. The top men’s and overall finisher was Thomas McClellan of Gloversville, NY with a time of 26 minutes and 53 seconds. The women’s top finisher was Tantra O’Neil of Fultonville, NY with a time of 34:39.
Cade Whiting of Scotia, NY was the youngest finisher at age seven. His time was 1:02:08. Lenny Guere, 79, of California City, California and formerly of Amsterdam, NY completed the course walking with a time of 1:26:18.
The Fulmont Road Runners Club inducted Jim Moore into the FMRRC Hall of Fame. Moore was a past president of the club and a former director of the Mule Haul 5k Race. According to current race director Bill Platt, Moore’s accomplishments are “too numerous to mention”. Moore served the FMRRC and the race communities of the Capital Region for many years.
The FMRRC also awarded the James Dern Memorial Scholarship Award to Amsterdam High School students Caitlyn Adamchick and Ilenis Quinones.
Both Adamchick and Quinones were members of the AHS varsity girls cross country and track and field teams for four years and were noted for dedication and leadership throughout their school careers. AHS captured the last Big 10 league title in girls cross country this past fall and finished second to Albany in girls track and field this year after winning the title in 2013. Adamchick will be attending Sacred Heart University in the Fall and pursue a degree in the nursing or physicians assistant field. Quinones will pursue a similar career path at Russel Sage College in Troy, New York.
The FMRRC awards the Dern Scholarship each year to graduating high school seniors who participate in track and cross country sports and will be attending college in the fall.
A Fathers Day picnic catered by the Hot Dog Hut of Johnstown, NY was held for everyone in attendance after the race. The next race on the FMRRC Grand Prix Race calendar is the Adirondack Distance Run, this coming Sunday, June 22nd in Lake George, NY at 7:30am.
