POTTSVILLE — On the steps of the historic Philadelphia and Reading Coal & Iron Co. building, Steve Tichy stretched his legs Saturday morning before running in the 13th Yuengling Light Lager Jogger 5K.
He was hoping to improve his time over last year, when he ran the race not long after having hip and knee surgery.
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Tichy, 60, a retired computer programmer, would have preferred not to run in the rain. The saving grace, however, was that it was cool. Taking on Pottsville’s hills is brutal enough anytime, but agonizing when it’s hot.
For a time, it looked like race organizers could squeeze in the 3.1-mile race before forecasts of rain materialized.
No such luck.
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Dominique Ramer is the first woman to finish the race during the 13th annual Yuengling Light Lager Jogger in Pottsville, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
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Kelly Rymarkiewicz places out bananas for runners at the 13th annual Yuengling Light Lager Jogger in Pottsville, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
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People gather outside the D.G. Yuengling & Son Brewery prior to the 13th annual Yuengling Light Lager Jogger in Pottsville, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
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Racers line up at the start of the 13th annual Yuengling Light Lager Jogger in Pottsville, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
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A racer dressed as a duck jogs up Mahantongo St. during the 13th annual Yuengling Light Lager Jogger in Pottsville, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
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Dominique Ramer is the first woman to finish the race during the 13th annual Yuengling Light Lager Jogger in Pottsville, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)
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SEE FULL PHOTO GALLERY: The 13th annual Yuengling Light Lager Jogger 5K in Pottsville
About a half-hour before the 9 a.m. starting time, the rain came. Not a torrential downpour, but a gentle spring shower that persisted throughout the race.
Runners and spectators huddled under tents, umbrellas and on porches, hoping that somehow the moisture would dissipate.
It did not, and after Wendy Yuengling did a 5-4-3-2-1 countdown from an elevated bucket at the start-finish line at 7th and Mahantongo, 2,357 runners took off past Victorian mansions built by coal barons in the late 19th Century.
“I love your town,” said C. J. Black, a teacher from Fredricksburg, Virginia.
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Black and her husband, Paul, a government contractor who so far has dodged the DOGE cutback, are members of RWB — as in red, white and blue — a veterans organization.
C.J. ran with the names of active duty service men and women dangling from the American Flag.
Their son, Army Sgt. William Black, just returned from a tour of duty in Lithuania.
Cousins Chris and Tyler Laczynski ran in honor of their grandmother, Joanna Laczynski, of Pine Grove. Chris is from New York, and Tyler lives in New Jersey.
They were on opposite sides of the issue of whether rain is good or bad for runners. Chris, a high school football player, likes the coolness it brings. Tyler, who plays basketball, says rain makes the roadway slippery.
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Wherever they stood in the rain, runners, young and old, male and female, agreed on one thing – Pottsville’s hills are murder.
Taylor Cicero described the course, which snakes from Mahantongo to Norwegian and Howard Avenue, simply as hilly.
Normally a marathon runner, it was the 32-year-old Pottsville physical therapist’s first 5K.
It was also Cicero’s first after bringing her son, Callan, into the world a year ago. And she did it in a respectable 22:16 time, the top award winner in the 30-39 category.
Roger Davis, a Berwick native who lives in Jenkintown, Montgomery County, was a top finisher in the 60-69 age group with a time of 24:01.
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Despite the demands of the first 1.5 miles, which are uphill, he came away with fond memories. Actually, it was not as bad as the Run For The Diamonds, a hilly 9-mile run in Berwick, which he has run for 50 years in a row.
“There was no traffic, the city did a nice job,” said Davis, 67, a CPA with a Philadelphia firm. “And the people cheered you on, and offered you drinks.”
Jessica Wiscount cheered on her husband, Rob, from inside a clear plastic umbrella. They are both teachers in Pottsville schools.
“I love that he runs,” said Jessica, a kindergarten teacher. “It promotes a healthy lifestyle, and gives him an opportunity to get out and feel better about himself.”
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Finishing in 32:29, Rob felt he did a lot better this year than last, when it was hot. The rain, he said, cooled things down and made the run more enjoyable.
After crossing the finish line, runners were handed ice packs and offered bananas and water from the sponsor. And, of course, complementary glasses of Yuengling, naturally lager.
Downing a Yuengling, Mike Hillegas boasted he did better this year than last — only a minute, but still better.
“I did the Palmerton Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving, and it was much worse,” said Hillegas, 68, a retired Mack Trucks engineer who lives in Bowmanstown, Carbon County.
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Kyle Price continued his reign as Lager Jogger king, popping a can of Yuengling Lager as he streaked across the finishing line in 17 minutes, 41 seconds. A resident of Milltown, N.J., he has won all but one of the 13 Lager Joggers.
According to the website runsignup.com: Awards were presented to Price and the second and third place male finishers – Tyler Linquist of Palmyra, 17:44, and Benjamin Behm of Birdsboro, 18:12.
The top three women finishers were: Dominique Ramer of Nesquehoning, 21:29; Marisa Kleman of Mount Carmel, 21:52 and Jill Norbert of Allentown, 21:55.
A complete listing is available at runsignup.com.