Mud- encrusted grass-and-dirt "rooster tails" flew 12 feet -maybe 15-high as vehicles revved up in the open fields. Under foot, boot-sucking, slippery mud was at least six inches deep.
Satuday's 12th annual all-terrain vehicle Super Bowl of Poker Runs was off and running through the Cochranton area-in the muddiest conditions ever.

"We have never had this much mud. Never," said Martha DuPont, Allegheny Highland Pulling Association Inc. treasurer and co-chair of registration. "In the 12 years we've done it, this is the first year we've had mud."

The mud was not the only first at this year's event.

At 7 a.m. Saturday, DuPont said, William Lorm and Adrienne Hodge of Geneseo, N.Y., exchanged wedding vows at the Poker Run Site. The couple, who met at the Poker Run five years ago, were united in marriage by retired pastor Don Howard, formerly of Cochranton and now of Van Buren Point, N.Y.

"After the wedding, the bride and groom and their six attendants climbed on their ATVs and rode off into the sunrise together," she said, adding that it was the event's first wedding.

With approximately 6,853 participants, entries were down, DuPont said during the event, probably because of the aforesaid mud. Even at that,"Things seem to be going good- people seem to be enthused." Last year's event drew 7,153 ATVs drivers.

With three trail systems running 150 miles through five townships and Cochranton Borough, there was plenty of mud to be had by all- and have it, they did. Mud-covered riders went unrecognized by even their closest friends-until their helmets came off.

Riders are started in groups on the trails at the rate of about 2,000 per hour. Traditionally, it takes about four hours to get everyone off and running, and things this year went pretty much according to schedule.

The event is organized by David Carroll, president of AHPA; Dick Clevenger, vice president; association secretary Steve Carroll; DuPont; and Jon Carroll.

By Marry Spicer Meadville Tribune