Good weather made the first day of the fifth-annual Thompson Mud Bogs put on by the Northern Manitoba Off-Road Association (N.M.O.R.A.) the best-attended ever, with a crowd of over 600, according to the organizers.
“The weather was on our side for the most part of the day Saturday and provided some light rain on the Sunday,” said Dennis Foley of the N.M.O.R.A.
Matt Silva's time of 4.7 seconds through the 150-foot mud pit won him the open class and was also the fastest time of any truck. Kenneth Wark finished second in that division with a time of 5.985 seconds, while Richard Sterzuk was third in 5.993 seconds.
Jason McPhee won the stock class for the third year running, traversing the mud pit in 8.781 seconds, while Frank DeGrave (9.222 seconds) and Jorden Fehr (9.281) were the others in the top three.
McPhee was second in the super stock 6 class in a time of 8.401 seconds, finishing behind Greg Robson's 6.532-second run but ahead of Rockie Joy, who made it across in 9.222 seconds. Greg Robson was also second in the modified 6 class with a time of 7.914 seconds, finishing behind winner Marc Klym (7.182 seconds) and ahead of Joy (7.914 seconds.)
The super stock 8 class was won by Josh Forest (7.074 seconds) ahead of Rolly Becker (7.279 seconds) and Janice Robson (7.373 seconds).
Kelly Kopeechuk was the modified 8 class winner with a time of 5.923 seconds, with Jeremiah McKenzie second at 6.381 seconds and Wark third at 6.562 seconds.
The powedrpuff class winner was Cheri Murie at 6.379 seconds, with Kayla Wark (6.444 seconds) second and Megan Lowe (7.733 seconds) third.
“I would like to thank everyone who helped make this event such a success,” said Foley. “The over 30 drivers who competed who always put on a great show, the three amazing live bands we had this year – The Bonnie Situation, Poetry in Motion and Wake Fyre – the face painting provided by the great people from Parsons sales and service and of course the Thompson Trailbreakers for keeping everyone from going hungry at the concession. Peter Paulic from Smooks for providing the crew and equipment to make the pit. It has taken a few years but we see more and more anticipation from Thompsonites about the mud bogs, which is encouraging for us. We offer a free admission event which is rare for an event of this calibre and this must be known that the only reason we can do this is because of local businesses who see the value of community events and sponsor us and for that I thank them.”
