Written By and Photos By Jon Lamkins

Event: Rally Against Leukemia 2020

Date: August 8, 2020

Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, NH

Rallymasters: Jon and Kelli Lamkins

For the 2020 edition of Rally Against Leukemia, Rallymasters Jon and Kelli Lamkins were faced with the dilemma of “how do we layout an event two states away from our Connecticut home during COVID-19 travel restrictions?” Luckily the original plan for RAL 2019 called for teams to visit locations both east and west of Route 93, but ended up with all but 1 question being west of Route 93. So Jon and Kelli culled through the east locations to determine a potential route. A 1 day run in mid-July confirmed most of the locations were valid (1 substitute location needed to be found along way).

On Saturday, August 8th, 10 rally teams showed up at New Hampshire Motor Speedway between 8:30 and 10 am for RAL 2020. After a 20 mile odometer calibration run, the teams received a NH Lakes Region tourism map and a list of 10 questions. Teams then plotted their own route/course in an effort to answer the 10 questions in the least amount of miles (use of GPS and other electronic devices for course determination is not allowed). Teams received points for every mile traveled, 30 points for incorrect/unanswered questions, and 2 points per question where they failed to record their mileage. (There were also time penalties for returning to NHMS after 4 pm but all teams returned long before then).

When looking at the map, the questions were laid out in a rough circle that could be run clockwise or counterclockwise. Clockwise the location were:

  • Harvest Bible Church in Gilmanton Iron Works
  • Alton B&M Railroad Park in Alton
  • The former location of Moody’s Ice House along Crescent Lake in Wolfeboro
  • The Wentworth Historic Site off Route 106.
  • Turntable Park in Sanbornville
  • The First Congregational Church in Farmington
  • The Bandstand in Center Barnstead
  • Strafford Town Forest along Route 126
  • Piece Time Puzzles in Northwood
  • Maxfield Public Library in Loudon

At the end of the day, defending champions Nina Piccola and Michael Beliveau (along with Isabella Piccola) won the event with a final adjusted mileage of 109.09 miles. Second place was a declared a tie between the team of Ed and Liz Kotowski (111.2 miles) and the team of Richard Miller and Jessica McGillis (111.24 miles). Rounding out the top 5 were: Scott and Kathy Beliveau (112.95 miles) and Josh and Carter Maxfield (116.31 miles and no relation to the library). Eight of ten teams answered all the questions and all completed in less than 5 hours.