This race was made special by those who created it.  Both the Cheetah Herders and the man and legend, retired race director and founder Pat Caffrey left big shoes to fill. There is long-standing tradition, grit, and heart behind the Le Grizz Ultra-marathon.  The Polebridge Mercantile aims to preserve that tradition for years to come.  The following are archives and records documented by the Cheetah Herders.

Info of Interest

States Represented:

AK, AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, NE, ND, NH, NM, NY, NV, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, WV, WY

Canadian Provinces Represented:

AB, BC, MB, NS, ON, SK

Other Countries Represented:

England, Australia, Italy

# of Starters & Finishers by Year

1982: 19 16

1983: 23 22

1984: 21 17

1985: 22 21

1986: 24 22

1987: 40 37

1988: 46 45

1989: 73 70

1990: 73 66

1991: 65 63

1992: 54 51

1993: 78 77

1994: 70 68

1995: 74 69

1996: 76 73

1997: 55 52

1998: 70 62

1999: 78 74

2000: 52 50

2001: 54 52

2002: 84 84

2003: 71 70

2004: 56 53

2005: 63 60

2006: 71 69

2007: 88 85

2008: 89 83

2009: 91 84

2010: 90 87

2011: 76 74

2012: 104 98

2013: 103 99

2014: 90 85

2015: 69 63

2016: 58 57

2017: 48 45

2018:  61  57

2019:  51  51

2020: 60 57

2021: 59 57

2022: 60 49

Exiting the Bushwack. Photo by Jenny Newton

SILVERTIP CLUB

Finishers age 70 and older are automatic members

Ross Waltzer 70 – 10:07:30 in 1992

Bob Hayes 70 – 8:49:07 in 1996; 71 – 8:55:44 in 1997; 72 – 8:56:13 in 1998; 73 – 9:36:42 in 1999; 74 – 9:50:52 in 2000; 76 – 9:50:35 in 2002; 78 – 9:50:22 in 2004; 79 – 10:13:49 in 2005; 80 – 11:04:03 in 2006; 82 – 11:00:33 in 2008; 83 – 10:47:45 in 2009; 84 – 12:02:54 in 2010; 85 – 13:13:28 in 2011

Bill Halm 70 – 11:25:35 in 1997

Burt Carlson 72 – 11:35:56 in 1997

Robert Haynes 73 – 16:30:45 in 2004

Jim Grindley 70 – 9:32:16 in 2005; 71 – 11:01:29 in 2006; 72 – 10:09:51 in 2007; 73 – 10:36:40 in 2008; 74 – 10:46:15 in 2009

Bob Johnson 71 – 12:13:37 in 2009

Larry Carroll 70 – 12:13:37 in 2010

John Morelock 70 – 10:19:16 in 2012

Dusty Moller 70 – 11:09:22 in 2014

Max Welker 72 – 11:55:38 in 2014

Gunhild Swanson 70 – 9:42:02 in 2014

Sylvia Quinn 77 – 10:24:58 in 2014

Kathie Lang 70 – 13:11:53 in 2019; 71 – 15:58:55 in 2020 – 72 – 13:54:47 in 2021; 73 – 14:43:23 in 2023

Richard Hildner 74 – 12:49:47 in 2020

Richard Dingman 72 – 12:35:48 in 2021

Jim Ballard 71 – 16:00:00 in 2021

FURBALL CLUB

Finishers under age 20 are automatic members.

Jerry Chambers 16 – 8:27:50 in 1986

Tova Reddick 18 – 9:38:56 in 1994

Matt Darrington 12 – 11:40:38 in 1999

Nick Weisgerber 18 – 9:51:45 in 2003; 19 – 9:15:33 in 2004

Barret Schlegelmilch 19 – 9:35:25 in 2008

Jacob Hinz 19 – 9:30:55 in 2011

Cameron Gehrman 19 – 11:24:54 in 2011

10 CUBS AWARDS

Volunteers who staff the event 10 times are given a smaller version of the 10 Bears Award

Rose & Lynn Carey – Awarded in 1991

Bill Pursell – Awarded in 1995

Randy Avery – Awarded in 2001

Bill & Peg Moir – Awarded in 2002

Chuck Rippey – Awarded in 2003

Ann & Bill Tarr – Awarded in 2004

Debbie Bloomfield – Awarded in 2005

Mike Sands – Awarded in 2005

Beth Burren – Awarded in 2006

Steve Bolling – Awarded in 2007

John & Evelyn Pacheco – Awarded in 2007

Tom Torpen – Awarded in 2009

Mike Fraser – Awarded in 2010

Louie & Cheryl Van Duzer – Awarded in 2012

9 MILE-AN-HOUR CLUB

Finishers under 5:33 are automatic members.

Drew Coco – 5:20:00 in 2021; 5:21:19 in 2022

8 MILE-AN-HOUR CLUB

Finishers under 6:15 are automatic members.

Rick Spady – 5:55:49 in 1983; 5:50:56 in 1986; 5:44:54 in 1988; 6:05:09 in 1989; 6:10:21 in 1990; 5:59:36 in 1991

Jim Pomroy – 6:13:35 in 1985

Don Kardong – 5:58:37 in 1987

Peter Holubar – 5:56:28 in 1989

Mark Tarr – 5:53:57 in 1991; 6:00:37 in 1992; 5:51:21 in 1993; 5:38:26 in 1994; 6:13:03 in 1995; 5:34:38 in 1996; 5:55:30 in 1997; 6:02:42 in 1998; 6:08:43 in 1999; 6:12:59 in 2001

Bob Feeney – 6:07:35 in 1991; 6:04:16 in 1992; 6:02:55 in 1993; 6:09:38 in 1994

John Cave – 6:07:21 in 1993; 5:54:58 in 1994; 5:51:02 in 1995

Jeff Tiegs – 5:42:06 in 1996

Michael Bresson – 5:52:38 in 1996

Rob Macal – 5:52:26 (unregistered) in 1995; 6:03:31 (qualifier) in 1996; 5:47:22 in 1999

Seth Swanson – 5:57:39 in 2011

Heath Wiltse – 5:58:45 in 2012

Andy Prevost – 6:04:09 in 2012

Benjamin Bucklin – 6:14:47 in 2014

Drew Coco – 5:45:13 in 2020

Jason Delaney – 6:07:48 in 2020; 5:34:58 in 2021

Cody Moore – 6:12:55 in 2020

7 MILE-AN-HOUR CLUB

Women Finishers under 7:09 are automatic members.

Bobbie Pomroy – 7:07:56 in 1984; 6:37:53 in 1985; 7:05:37 in 1986; 6:58:18 in 1987

Cathy Relf – 7:04:38 in 1988

Glenna Burmeister – 7:08:58 in 1995

Connie Ridenour – 7:08:28 in 2002

Kendra Borgmann – 6:40:33 in 2007

Jenny Pierce – 6:50:46 in 2012

Christi Richards – 6:54:44 in 2015; 6:56:59 in 2016

Evie Tate – 6:58:33 in 2021

Natalie Como – 7:06:47 in 2021

Special Olympics Fundraising Benefit

The event has raised money, both by donations by Plum Creek Timber Company on behalf of the runners, and by the runners themselves, since 1986. Youth athletes of the Special Olympics turn out every year to staff a complimentary aid station on the dam, the last aid before the finish.

Between 1986 and 2022, $33,385 has been raised.

North Fork Community Donations

Since 2019 Le Grizz has donated any remaining proceeds along with a generous donation from the Polebridge Mercantile to a different North Fork non-profit organization. In 2019, North Fork Trails Association, http://nftrails.org/, received $500.00. In 2020, the North Fork Landowner’s Association, http://nflandowners.com/, received $500.00