Pictured left to right are 3rd place winner, Mark Desaulniers; 1st place winner, Milo Davis; 2nd place winner, Bradley Poole; and Coach Mark Wilson. Submitted Photo.

Special to the OBSERVER

CASSADAGA — On Saturday, Feb. 8, as part of the Cassadaga Winter Festival, a walk/run event, aptly named the Frozen 50K was held. Runners and walkers met at the fire hall for a no frills event — meaning that there were no T-shirts, no medals and no finish line — to complete in the perfect 5K loop around the Lower Lake in Cassadaga as many times as they wished. The $5 entry fee was all donated to the Cassadaga Fire Police.

Sixty-nine participants showed up on a beautiful snowy morning and took off at 7 a.m. to begin their loop(s) around the lake. Three participants completed the entire 50K — 10 loops around the lake. First came Milo Davis, 23 from New York City with a time of 5:57:52; followed by Bradley Poole, 32, from Little Valley in an even six hours; followed by Mark Desaulniers, who just turned 57, from Lily Dale, finished at 6:13:00.

Milo read about the event on an ultra runners website and flew into Buffalo on Friday night just to run the event. Bradley is training for his epic run through every town in Cattaraugus County this summer to complete 266 miles with a goal to raise $100,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation;, and, Mark wanted to celebrate his 57th birthday in a memorable way and was joined by his wife, Emmy, who ran five loops around the lake.

The event was produced by Wilson Endurance Sports of Cassadaga. This event will definitely become a permanent part of the Winter Festival activities. At the conclusion of the run around the lake participants enjoyed pancakes made by Coach Mark Wilson of Cassadaga and a well deserved refreshing beverage by sponsors Southern Tier Brewing Company.