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Winners in some of the races of the first Oracle Rumble are, from left: Tammy Kovaluk First Place 10K Female, 3rd Overall; John Mollenhour 1st Place 10K; Veronica ‘Ronni’ Rudolphi 1st Place Overall 50K; Aaron Yoder 1st Place Male 50K.

   On Saturday, Jan. 28, the inaugural Oracle Rumble was held in Oracle. The race drew over 260 runners that competed in 50-mile, 50K, Half-Marathon, and 10K races along portions of the Arizona Trail and Oracle State Park. 

  Oracle State Park was the staging area for the race which is expected to be an annual event as part of the Arizona Trail Running Series. It was presented by Summit Hut, an outdoor gear store in Tucson.

  Matthew Nelson, Executive Director of the Arizona Trail announced the award winners and said that the race was to “provide a venue for adventure and help bring people to the Arizona Trail.” 

  Early results of some of the races were: 1st Place Overall 10K – John Mollenhour; 1^st Place Overall 50K – Veronica “Ronni” Rudolphi; 1^st Place female, 3^rd Place Overall 10K – Tammy Kovaluk; 1^st Place Male 50K – Aaron Yoder.  50 K 1^st Place – Doug Loveday; 2^nd Place – Mike Duer; 3^rd Place – Derek Lemaine.

  Runners from Oracle who competed were Shanna Welch and Linda Langford. The Oracle Rumble is a welcome addition to events in Oracle that bring people to the area and showcase the Arizona Trail and their Gateway Communities.

John Hernandez (785 Posts)

John Hernandez lives in Oracle. He is retired and enjoys writing and traveling. He is active in the Oracle Historical Society. He covers numerous public events, researches historical features and writes business/artist profiles.

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