CAPON VALLEY 50K

THANKS TO DON PARKS AND WWW.IPLAYOUTSIDE.COM FOR MUCH OF THE PRIOR YEAR INFO

  2008    2007    2006    2005    2004    

2008 RUN

You ran 31 miles through drizzle, mud, high creeks, and finally sunshine, and came back full of smiles and thanks. You were GREAT and you made our 10^th Anniversary a big success.  Special thanks go to those of you who sent us such great feedback!

    The creeks should have been low. Last summer was so dry that local farmers sold their cattle because they couldn't raise enough hay to feed them over the winter. Winter went by with almost no snow and the spring rains skipped over the Capon Valley. So when Diana Boehm of Dripping Springs, TX e-mailed me on April 17^th about the creeks, I (Carol) told her they were running low -- then the rains came! We've had rain off and on for the last 3 weeks and it POURED Friday and Friday night. Runners told me the mud in places was thick enough to cover their shoes and some of the creeks were calf-high.

    Our first place runner, Jason Bryant of Elkin, NC, ran a phenomenal time of 3:55, 28 minutes before the second place runner, Robin Kane (a male runner from Arlington, VA, not our female Race Director). The first female was Kendra Horger from Richmond, VA, finishing in a time of 5:07. Only 120 of the 159 registered runners started the race. Despite the less than ideal weather conditions, 115 of them finished the race.

After the race, Race Director, Robin conducted a drawing for the 2 grand prizes -- trips for 2 to Las Vegas including roundtrip airfare on Southwest Airlines from anywhere Southwest’s fly’s to Las Vegas and two nights hotel accommodations at the Las Vegas Hilton or similar accommodation. Twenty-one runners qualified for the drawing. The winners were Robin Kane (the runner) and 15^th place Jay Manwiller of Reading, PA.

     RESULTS

2007 run

Congratulations to all of you who completed the 2007 race.  Almost half of you have run this course before. This year's winner, Aaron Schwartzbard (3:52:09)  cut more than 10 minutes off last year's finishing time, setting a record for the longer course introduced in 2005.  Second place finisher, Brian Schmidt (3:54:26), also beat last year's course record.    The first woman finisher, Antoinette Lucas, came in third, running the course in 4:22:29.  For their accomplishments, Aaron and Antoinette received round trip airline certificates from American Airlines.

    We were honored this year  to host three members of the U. S. military, Dan Stasny, Jeffrey Clemons,  and  Michael McGlynn.  In all, 132 of the 135 starters completed the run and received certificates for their efforts.  Our oldest runner, Arthur Moore, was 69.   

2006 RUN

RACE DIRECTOR'S STORY

Runners and campers began arriving for our 8th annual Capon Valley 50K Run early on Friday, May 5th. We had perfect weather, mid 60's with very low humidity, and the run began at 8 AM on May 6th.

The 109 runners left the Ruritan Park in a pack, but since we have added a few hills on the way to Aid Station 1 (my horse barn), by the time the runners arrived at stop 1, there was a good spread.

The run went so smoothly this year that I (as race manager) had nothing to do, and it was lovely. Our volunteers have blossomed into fantastic aid station organizers and runner aids, leaving me with the ability to arrive at each stop, make sure all was in place, and move on to the next, then on to the finish.

Serge England-Arbona finished at 4:02:58, 15 minutes ahead of last year's finishing time. In years prior to 2005 the course was a little shorter, so this is a record time for our new course - which added 2 miles and several significant hills. Mark Hoon and Robert Magin finished in second place together at 4:19:42. The first 3 runners were all from Maryland. Our first woman, Monica Bachmann from Pennsylvania finished at 5:10:20. 109 runners started the course, and 102 runners finished, 7 dropped out due to various pulls and injuries.

The Ruritan outdid itself, as usual, with its wonderful chicken barbecue dinner, pasta salad and wonderful home made desserts, along with vegetarian ribs, after the runners had a nice hot shower!
 

It was our best ever run, and we thank all of our incredible volunteers who, with their kindness and attention to detail, made this such an impressive event. Once again, all proceeds from the run will support the Capon Springs Volunteer Fire and Rescue, the Ruritan Club and Edgebrook.org. I have already received endless compliments via e-mail from the runners, thanks so much for your kind words and we hope to see you next year.

Although I am a horse back rider, not a runner, I love bringing together folks from the ultra running community for a day of camaraderie and fun and sharing with you our much-loved trails through the Capon Valley in Hampshire County, West Virginia. We have as much fun putting this run together as you have running it. Our hope is that you'll find the trail challenging and leave with great memories, a new friend or two and plans to come back next year.

Lynn Golemon

CAPON VALLEY 50k RUN - 5/06/06
122 Registered
109 Total Started
102 Total Completed
15 States represented

75 Men Starters 80 registered
5 Men - pulls
93% -- % Completion-Men                                                                                                             Thanks for 8 years as RD

34 Women Starters 42 registered
2 Women - pulls
94% -- % Completion-Women

2005 RUN

The New Face of the Capon Valley 50K
by Lynn Golemon, race director

The 7th annual Capon Valley 50K was the most difficult Capon Valley race so far. Some of our experienced runners have been telling us for years that the course was short. So over the last year we measured the entire course with a GPS and a topo map, and guess what... they were right.

Our first aid station has always been early in the race - 2.9 miles - so before that seemed a natural place to add mileage. Unfortunately, any time you add mileage in West Virginia you also add hills. We added 2 miles to the race - 1 mile out and 1 mile back from the first aid station - and removed the 1/2 mile around the flat track at the Ruritan, so that made it seem longer than the extra mile and a half to many of the runners.

The weather, along with a bit of new gravel road made the course even more difficult for the runners this year. It was by far the hottest race day we have ever had at 82 degrees with high humidity and very little wind. The rain and cool temperature of previous years were sometimes hard on the volunteers, but the runners loved it. We extended the finishing time this year due to the record heat and humidity, but we still had 15 runners drop out, more than the total of all the previous years.

It would take pages to thank all of the run volunteers including the Ruritan - for a great chicken dinner, and the Capon Springs Volunteer Fire and Rescue - for their safety checks at the road crossings; we had more help this year than ever before. And as always the runners were most gracious and seemed happy to have such good support.

I guess the Capon Valley Run will no longer be considered a 'walk in the park', but as some of our runners pointed out... it is now a 'legitimate 50K run'. Those who finished are really pleased with themselves, and those who did not... we hope you will be back next year to finish.

Congratulations to all of you, and thanks for being with us.

CAPON VALLEY 50K RUN - 5/14/05 
207 Registered
185 Total Started
170 Total Completed
18 States represented

129 Men Starters 144 registered
11 Men - pulls
98% -- % Completion-Men

56 Women Starters 63 registered
4 Women - pulls
98% -- % Completion-Women

2004 RUN

RACE DIRECTOR'S STORY

Crossing creeks in Capon Valley

Runners began arriving for our 6th annual Capon Valley 50K Run early Friday afternoon, May 14th. We had lots of campers, and we had a record 186 runners start from 19 states, aged 18 to 64. There was a tie for first at 3:49, with our hikers arriving in just over 8 hours. See the statistics for names and times.

The staff was a little anxious about the increase in the number of runners, but other than a little scrambling behind the scenes to keep the aid stations well stocked, it went very well. The only line we saw all day was at the showers at the end of the race.

The Ruritan outdid itself with its wonderful chicken barbecue dinner, pasta salad and wonderful home made desserts. There were even vegetarian ribs!

Off and running to check point #1

We had a record number of first time Capon Valley runners, but many of our returning runners were very puzzled... something was missing... ah ha! It was not raining! The day was wonderful, albeit just a tad humid for runners.

Due to the nice weather, we had an awesome starting ceremony that brought tears to many eyes - our national anthem combined with the raising of the American colors followed by the release of a gorgeous flock of white doves - compliments of Great North Mountain Doves and our friend Lisa Green. We hope this will become a tradition. Lisa not only arranged the moving dove release but also rode her 21 year old endurance horse, Spry, for 25 miles of the trail, and walked the final 2.4 miles behind the runners to assure all were safe and accounted for.

Just a few of the many great volunteers

At the runner check in before the race, Rosie heard one of the funniest comments of the day. When handed his map, the color drained from the face of a runner running his first ultra, and he asked in a panicked voice "YOU MEAN THE TRAIL IS NOT MARKED - WE HAVE TO FOLLOW A MAP????!!!" She reassured him before he collapsed! We get great comments about our trail marking (and we bicker endlessly while marking, accusing each other of spoiling the runners with way too many ribbons)!

We have absolutely the best long-suffering volunteers who get a real kick out of watching the runners as they progress through the race. Our crew at stops 1 & 6, headed by Bonnie and David Thompson, see the runners at their best and worst! It's amazing how far you can go on M&M's and Advil! We try to offer the best of run diets but we find that the cravings vary from year to year. Anyone need any peanut butter?

Sneaking a little shade on the way to the finish

The runner awards, counter savers (tempered glass cutting boards) with a picture along the run trail, given in lieu of T-shirts, were also a special hit. As we handed them to runners, we said "Here's your T-shirt." One runner said that he was going to have trouble pinning his number to it! Some runners wondered what they would wear home, because they had planned to wear their run t-shirt having brought no other.

Oh, and to all the runners who asked... there were plenty of flat places on the trail... the bridge across the river, the old airstrip before stop #3, the beautiful trail along the old and historic railroad bed, and the hayfield by the river! Other than that... guess what.

We were so impressed by runner Kev Hawn who did the MMT 100 last weekend, and then strolled through our 50K with his wife, Faye (his 6th Capon Valley 50K). Way to go Kev!

It was our best ever run, and we thank all of our incredible volunteers who with their kindness and attention to detail made it such an impressive event. Once again, all proceeds from the run will support the Capon Springs Volunteer Fire and Rescue, the Ruritan Club and Edgebrook.org. I have already received endless compliments via e-mail from the runners, thanks so much for your kind words and we hope to see you next year, y'all.

Lynn Golemon, Race Director

CAPON VALLEY 50K RUN - 5/15/04
211 Registered
186 Total Started
180 Total Completed
19 States represented

114 Men Starters
2 Men - pulls
98% -- % Completion-Men

72 Women Starters
4 Women - pulls
94% -- % Completion-Women