Santa Ana Mountains, CA
By Chris Vargas
Photos by Warrior's Society/Chip Leopard
 
The ride begins from the end of Black Star Canyon Road at 7:00 a.m. Take Black Star Canyon Road to the Main Divide Road and at this point you will traverse the Santa Ana Mountain range via the Main Divide Road hitting all the peaks (including Modjeska and Santiago Peaks) until you intersect with the Trabuco Canyon Trail. Then descend down the Trabuco Canyon Trail to Trabuco Creek Road and out 4 miles to the finish line at Trabuco Canyon Road.
 
How hot was it at the 2008 Traverse? I'll let Warrior's Society club member Ned "Lone Wolf" Reynolds describe it:
 
"It was really hot between Holy Jim and the finish line.
 
In hindsight it was kinda of funny on the Main Divide between Holy Jim and Trabuco. Occasionally you'd hear someone screaming in back or in front Who was cramping up. It was funny until it happened to me... Several times."
 
The high temps were in the low 100's and the finishing results showed it with 39 DNS's and 40 DNF's. Our support crews were busy evaluating riders as they made the aid station at Maple Springs and Four Corners. Several riders recouped for as long as one hour before continuing on only to DNF at Holy Jim and the Main Divide.
 
But there were some survivors, which is a better description than finishers for those who completed the course.
 
In the Pro Class Tinker Juarez finished the 40 mile course with 8000 feet of elevation gain first with a time of 3:55:16. In second place was Jason First with a time of 4:06:17 with Mario Correa in 3rd at 4:19:02. The top three Pro finishers won $300, $200 and $100 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places.
 
In the Expert 18 to 30 Class Jon Fugitt finished first with a time of 5:32:59 with Timothy Heinrich in second with a 6:02:02 and Yens Raz in third with 6:07:23.
 
In the Expert 31-45 Class Guy Sutton finished with the 4th fastest time of the event with a 4:21:412. Phil Kelly finished second with a time of 4:44:09 and Johnny Dalton finished 3rd with a time of 5:06:33.
 
In Expert 46-59 Warrior's Society club member Jeroen "Dust Cloud" Bossboom finished first with at time of 5:01:32. Larry Price was second with a 5:20:38 and Warrior's Society club member Ned "Lone Wolf" Reynolds 3rd with a time of 6:07:54.
 
The Intermediate 18-30 Class was won by Ryan Meyer in a time of 5:29:54. Matt Vaughan was second with a 5:30:30 and Jason Rusk third with a time of 05:35:44.
 
In the Intermediate 31-45 Class Ton Van Daelen finished first with a time of 5:20:14, Rick Vangrin second with a 5:41:38 and Darin Cox in third with a 5:56:35.
 
In Intermediate 46-59 Pete Sweeney finished first with a 5:30:35, Carl Bunke second at 5:42:45, and Dave Gibson in third with a time of 06:00:32.
 
In the Female Open Class Warrior's Society Club member Mary "Never Tires" Huth finished first with a time of 07:10:22. Dawn Niday came in second with 8:06:20 and Catherine Fielder third with a 9:01:41.
 
At the end of the race Warrior's Society Executive Director Sherry Panttaja was amazed and comforted to see racers who had finished already helping others who had just come across the finish line in need of support. Everyone was helping each other get to the chairs in the shade, getting each other cold drinks and passing out the cold watermelon.
 
Once again our sponsors deserve a big thanks including our major sponsors Shimano, Rock N Road, Sho-Air, Clif Bar, Switchback Cyclery, The Other Room, and El Pollo Loco for providing a great lunch. We have many other sponsors we like to thank on our warriorsociety.org sponsorship page.
 
Of course the event would not be possible without all the support volunteers who kept a close eye on the participants and our communication teams who kept us apace of what was happening across the course. Thanks to the SOARA Ham club for the use of their repeater and operators and to Barry Wood for not only another great t-shirt design but for all his work on streamlining our registration and timing.
 
Thanks also to Carrie Hardin, Sherry Panttaja and Tim Panttaja for making the awards
 
Our hats off to the staff at O'Neill Park, including Supervising Ranger Ron Slimm, for their help in staging the event.
 
As you all know this event, after event expenditures, will provide around $7,000 to $8,000 to the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund. The Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund honors the bravery and dedication exhibited by Americans in our Armed Forces who have sacrificed life or limb defending our country by providing educational scholarships to their children.

 
County Supervisor Bill Campbell was a big help in getting the permit fees waived for the use of Black Star Canyon Road, meaning around $500 extra dollars will be going to the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund. The lunch provided by El Pollo Loco also saved us around $1,500, which also means more money for the fund.
 
And last but not least thanks to all of you who by your participation will help provide scholarships to the children of our veterans severely wounded or killed in action.
 
See you at the Toad Festival on Saturday, June 7th, which will be a fundraiser for "Talk About Curing Autism" (TACA).
 
The Warrior's Society
warriorssociety.org
 
2008 THE TRAVERSE RESULTS
PRO
1. 03:55:16...Tinker Juarez...47 years old
2. 04:06:17...Jason First...25
3. 04:19:02...Mario Correa...38
EXP 18-30
1. 05:32:59...Jon Fugitt...30
2. 06:02:02...Timothy Heinrich...18
3. 06:07:23...Yens Raz...30
EXP 31-45
1. 04:21:41...Guy Sutton...39 yrs old
2. 04:44:09...Phil Kelly...35
3. 05:06:33...Johnny Dalton...45
4. 05:12:50...Michael Caffrey...41
5. 05:44:10...Alex Suchey...39
6. 05:51:09...Volker Hipp...42
7. 06:32:50...Adrian Brecht...44
8. 06:42:51...Brian Freeze...42
9. 07:52:40...John Hudspeth...44
EXP 46-59
1. 05:01:32...Jeroen Bossboom...47
2. 05:20:38...Larry Price...47
3. 06:07:54...Ned Reynolds...47
4. 06:14:48...Armando de Armas...51
5. 07:03:57...Randy Profeta...53
INT 18-30
1. 05:29:54...Ryan Meyer...28  yrs old
2. 05:30:30...Matt Vaughan...25
3. 05:35:44...Jason Rusnak...30
4. 05:54:17...Andrew Winger...30
5. 06:05:32...Matt Kipper...20
6. 06:36:58...Eric Hunner...30
7. 07:54:03...Matt Nourmohamadian...18
8. 08:30:55...Dan Dupont...30
9. 08:46:24...Sebastian Garcia...29
10. 09:04:57...Matthew Cook...21
INT 31-45
1. 05:20:14...Ton van Daelen...40
2. 05:41:38...Rick Vangrin...38
3. 05:56:35...Darren Cox...38
4. 06:10:18...Troy Liposec...45
5. 06:18:21...Peter Waker...42
6. 06:19:19...Greg Castaneda...45
7. 06:21:27...Ricardo Contreras...36
8. 06:22:28...Oscar Contreras...41
9. 06:24:15...Gene Frial...43
10. 06:26:09...Chris Baldewin...43
INT 46-59
1. 05:30:35...Pete Sweeney...46  yrs old
2. 05:42:45...Carl Bunke...47
3. 06:00:32...Dave Gibson...47
4. 06:15:02...Jeff Williams...51
5. 06:19:29...Jay Lennon...49
6. 06:35:27...Kirk Waymire...48
7. 06:42:02...Robert Swigart...46
8. 07:12:27...Mark Cluttey...53
9. 07:17:09...Dennis Thompson...51
10. 07:32:17...Frans van Beers...48
WMN OPEN
1. 07:10:22...Mary Huth...45
2. 08:06:20...Dawn Niday...36
3. 09:01:41...Catherine Fiedler...19