UCAR > Communications > Staff Notes > October 1996

The 1996 up-the-hill races: Way cool

If it's not raining, hailing, or snowing, then it's windy and brisk. One way or another, the atmosphere usually conspires to keep the annual race up the mesa road interesting. This year's chilly but bright weather on 13 September helped keep runners and bikers comfortable, but only a relative handful of spectators braved the wind. No race records were established, and the winners were all previous victors, including Deirdre Garvey, who aced both the women's bike and foot races. In the interdivisional relay race, the Advanced Study Program was the surprise champion, thanks to a combination of fleet feet and high participation. (See the explanation of results for more details.) The Employee Activities Committee (EAC) sponsored the race and the after-party, which filled the Mesa Lab's lobby and atrium with happy noshing. •BH

Bike Race (men)

1st         Alan Hills, ACD               5:37
2nd         John Clyne, SCD               5:40
3rd         Brian Bevirt, SCD             6:07
4th         Karsten Baumann, ACD          6:12
5th         Dave Glass, UCAR              6:41
6th         Nolan Atkins, ASP             6:43
7th         Blake Caldwell                7:02
(12-year-old son of Ginger Caldwell, SCD)
8th         Graham Barnes, HAO            7:06
9th         Brandon Vogt, FSS             7:20
10th (tie)  Jean-Francois Lamarque,ACD;
            Paul Lawson, MMM              7:29
12th        Jeff Weil, MMM                7:49
13th        Peter Bockenthien, ISS        8:07
14th        Kevin Raeder, CGD             8:11
15th        Paul Willis, HAO              8:23
16th        Ethan Alpert, SCD             8:48
17th        Brent Halsey, CGD             8:50
18th        Wayne Morrow, FSS             9:27
19th        Rick Anthes, UCAR             9:46

Bike Race (women)

1st         Deirdre Garvey, RAP           7:11
2nd         Gretchen Wallhaus, UNAVCO     8:58
3rd         Anne Jefferson, ACD           9:00
4th         Julia Lee-Taylor, ASP         9:45

Deirdre Garvey aces the women's foot race in her third running victory since 1990. She's wearing the official RAP team shirt, which reads: "No, I'm not on steroids, but thanks for asking."

Trash bags were the uniform of choice for the winning relay team from ASP.

Alan Hills, perennial men's cycling champion of the mesa race, does it again. It was his first race and his first victory since 1993.

In keeping with the fall party's theme, "Friday the 13th by proxy," relay runners had to transfer witch's hats.

Blake Caldwell, 12-year-old son of Ginger Caldwell, displays the form and determination that enabled him to hang with the big dogs on his way to 7th place.

Rick Katz, who won the first two up-the-hill races in 1980 and 1981, notched his fifth victory this year--his first win since 1987. "The secret to my victory was Andrew Crook's being jet-lagged from a trip to England," says Rick. "I'd like to thank him."

Foot Race (men)

1st         Rick Katz, ESIG               8:33
2nd         Karsten Baumann, ACD          9:06
3rd         Dave Albo, RAP                9:13
4th         Detlev Helmig, ACD            9:26
5th         John Clyne, SCD               9:33
6th         Charlie Zender, CGD           9:46
7th         Alan Hills, ACD              10:07
8th         Paul Lawson, MMM             11:16
9th         Peter Hildebrand, ATD        12:35
10th        Doug Wesley                  12:36

Foot Race (women)

1st         Deirdre Garvey, RAP          10:27
2nd         Barb Bailey, CGD             11:23
3rd         Betty O'Lear, UCAR           11:26
4th         Rachel Ames, RAP             11:35
5th         Kay Miloshevich, COMET       11:37
6th         Heidi Lindenlaub, COMET      12:04

Division Relay Race
(time and percentage of division participating)

1st         ASP         6:33, 74.1%
2nd         MMM         6:50, 63.6%
3rd         HAO         6:29, 52.3%
4th         CGD         6:07, 33.3%
5th         ACD         6:18, 35.2%
6th         RAP         7:35, 36.0%
7th         ATD         7:15, 11.4%
8th         SCD         8:33, 18.0%
9th         UOP         9:05, 19.2%

(The NCAR director's office and UCAR administration
did not field teams this year.)

How the Relay Results are Calculated

The formula for calculating overall results for the division relay race has been passed down through the generations of the EAC. The formula is as follows: Normalized time + normalized participation, where normalized time = (fastest time - measured time)/(fastest time - slowest time) and normalized participation = (measured participation rate - lowest participation rate)/(highest participation rate - lowest participation rate).

Due to the much wider variation in participation rate than in time, it was noted that the participation rate overshadowed the times in the final ranking. Consequently, the EAC will investigate weighting the participation factor in future relay races. For example, had the normalized participation been scaled down by a factor of four, the overall finish order would have been: 1st place, ASP; 2nd place, CGD; 3rd place, HAO. •Becky Ruttenberg, EAC

The 1996 up-the-hill races: Way cool

Deirdre Garvey aces the women's foot race in her third running victory since 1990. She's wearing the official RAP team shirt, which reads: "No, I'm not on steroids, but thanks for asking."

Trash bags were the uniform of choice for the winning relay team from ASP.

Alan Hills, perennial men's cycling champion of the mesa race, does it again. It was his first race and his first victory since 1993.

In keeping with the fall party's theme, "Friday the 13th by proxy," relay runners had to transfer witch's hats.

Blake Caldwell, 12-year-old son of Ginger Caldwell, displays the form and determination that enabled him to hang with the big dogs on his way to 7th place.

Rick Katz, who won the first two up-the-hill races in 1980 and 1981, notched his fifth victory this year--his first win since 1987. "The secret to my victory was Andrew Crook's being jet-lagged from a trip to England," says Rick. "I'd like to thank him."

How the Relay Results are Calculated

In this issue
Other issues of Staff Notes
UCAR
NCAR
UOP

Prepared by Jacque Marshall, jacque@ucar.edu, 303-497-8616

The 1996 up-the-hill races: Way cool

Deirdre Garvey aces the women's foot race in her third running victory since 1990. She's wearing the official RAP team shirt, which reads: "No, I'm not on steroids, but thanks for asking."

Trash bags were the uniform of choice for the winning relay team from ASP.

Alan Hills, perennial men's cycling champion of the mesa race, does it again. It was his first race and his first victory since 1993.

In keeping with the fall party's theme, "Friday the 13th by proxy," relay runners had to transfer witch's hats.

Blake Caldwell, 12-year-old son of Ginger Caldwell, displays the form and determination that enabled him to hang with the big dogs on his way to 7th place.

Rick Katz, who won the first two up-the-hill races in 1980 and 1981, notched his fifth victory this year--his first win since 1987. "The secret to my victory was Andrew Crook's being jet-lagged from a trip to England," says Rick. "I'd like to thank him."

How the Relay Results are Calculated

In this issue Other issues of Staff Notes UCAR NCAR UOP

Prepared by Jacque Marshall, jacque@ucar.edu, 303-497-8616

In this issue
Other issues of Staff Notes
UCAR
NCAR
UOP