Staff photo - John Kelley Krista Park won overall in the women's division. Park is ranked number one in the nation for her division Staff photo - John Kelley Riders take off from the starting line Saturday morning at Fort Yargo

The first Blockhouse Boogie race at Fort Yargo was a success, with more than 300 racers of all ages participating, said the president of the Yargo Area Bike Association (YABA).

Steve Gordon said the race was the first pairing YABA with the Southeastern Off-Road Bike Association (SORBA) and he hopes YABA can will work with them in the future.

In the meantime, Gordon said that SORBA will make a donation to Fort Yargo State Park and YABA has plans to add two more miles of single track within the park over the next year. The group recently finished expanding the trail in preparation for the race.

"When it's all said and done," said Gordon, "we're going to have 15 miles of single track in Fort Yargo."

Gordon said the race went flawlessly and there were no reported injuries, the best he hoped for.

Andy Johnston of Lilburn won the overall race in the men's division with a time of 2:07:57. He was followed about five minutes later by Darrell Prillaman of Athens in second and Adam Kovaly of Alpharetta in third.

On the women's side, Krista Park of Dacula won the overall race in 2:32:19. Park was recently ranked number one in the nation by the National Off Road Bike Association.

Trailing her in second was Dani Dembrak of Athens and Kim Moore of Sharpsburg.

In the under 18 Expert Junior division, Tristan Cowie of Dawsonville won on the men's side in 2:30:17 and was followed by Christian Parrett of Macon and Zach Kovaly of Alpharetta.

There was also a featured Youth Series for different ages. In the 5-6 year-old bracket, Marco Newman of Athens came in first, Owen Dillingham of Lawrenceville second and Judson Gann of Smyrna took third.

In the 7-8 series, Eli Purdue of Clarkston took first, Jake Smith of Lawrenceville second and Evan Newman of Athens third.

In the 9-10 year-old series, Evan Souther of Flowery Branch took first and Heyden Lanzilotta of Athens took second.

Gordon said the race could not have gone off so well without the help of many sponsors who include Addictive Cycles, Mellow Mushroom and Apalachee Cycles.

Also, Gordon said Fort Yargo has been instrumental in working with YABA and in supporting their conservation-based approach to off road bike racing.

In appreciation, Apalachee Cyles donated a new off-road bike to the park for their use.

Originally published Wednesday, September 14, 2005