Stories

• Redeye 50km
• Frosty Fifty
• College Bowl Contest
• Swinging Bridge 50km
• MLK Weekend
• Eagle Run
• Mary Sayers
• Rocky Raccoon 100
• Uwharrie
• TWOT
• VHTRC Awards
• HURT 100
• Holiday Lake 50km
• Welcome to Sophia
• Mt Mitchell
• Hashawha Hills 50km
• Reverse Ring
• Old Pueblo 50
• CCT Fat Ass
• Buzzards Marathon
• Elizabeth's Furnace 50km
• Bel Monte 50 Mile
• Terrapin Mountain Marathon
• Coyote Two Moons 100 Mile
• Chocolate Bunny 50km
• Mr. and Mrs. Tom Corris

The Happy Couple! It's now Mr. and Mrs. Tom Corris. The former Kirstin Walcott married Tom Corris during a Caribbean cruise in March. The happy couple is back and in love. You can see photos of the happy occasion here and here. Our best wishes to the Corris's.

Chocolate Bunny Results: Speaking of Tom Corris, the results from his Chocolate Bunny 50km are now available. This event has become an annual tradition put on by Tom and a small group of volunteers whom he recruits with the promise of a party. 2008 Chocolate Bunny 50km Results

Kerry Owens at C2M Finish. Photo: Jill Quivey

Coyote Two Moons 100 Mile: Chris Scott's inaugural Coyote Two Moons 100 Miler held in Ojai, California on March 21-23 was, by all accounts, a worthy replacement for the Coyote Fourplay. Though there were only a few VHTRC members there, they had very impressive results. Derrick Carr was second in the 100 and Amy Sporston was the female winner of the 100 km. The event is held in the mountains behind Ojai where the trails are very runnable, but where there are big climbs and descents. It is beautiful but tough running. Jill Quivey sent the photo at right that shows Kerry with her finisher's buckle, her "best blood" entry, and her "stinker award" for getting to the aid stations too soon. Here is Jill's picture of Dave at the bottom of Gridley. Chris has written a report that is best read while under the influence of something. The results are skewed by "bonus" and "boner" miles. (You had to be there.) . If this event is anything like C4P, there will be many pictures. Here are some. Two Moon Web sites: one | another.

HAT Run: A large crowd participated in the 20th HAT Run 50km on March 29. There were many VHTRC members among the 327 finishers. Perhaps most happily, Alan Gowen was among them. It was also great to see that Phil Anderson, the "Anderson" of "Hinte-Anderson," finished. Results

Terrapin Mountain Marathon: Is there life after David Horton? Apparently, yes. Clark Zealand held the Terrapin Mountain Marathon which, in true Horton fashion was estimated at closer to 30 miles, on March 29. Several VHTRC members participated. Results

VHTRC Takes Top Honors at Bel Monte 50 Mile: Eva Rosvold and Mike Mason won the 50 miler at Bel Monte on March 22. Michele Harmon adds: "The weather was perfect for the Bel Monte 50K and new 50Miler. Both courses are very technical and difficult with a lot of climbs and descents. The race started in the dark, everyone's feet got wet due to the numerous high stream crossings, and many people finished looking like they were competing for best blood. Mike Mason won the inaugural 50 Miler in 8:55, Robin Kane was 3rd, finishing a few minutes in front of Joe Clapper and Greg Loomis (tied for 4th, finishing in 9:59). Others doing the 50 Miler included Vicki Kendall, Sharon Lapkoff, and Dave Snipes. Mark Lundblad broke the 50K course record in a time of 4:18, Ann Lundblad was 1st female (3rd overall), and Michele Harmon was 2nd female (7th overall)." Results

Male Winners Sean Andrish and Keith Knipling

Elizabeth's Furnace 50km: Mike Bur reports: "We had a spectacular day for running on Saturday which is good since the order of the day seemed to involve falling on the rocks alot and getting off course. We had veterans convincing other veterans to take wrong trails. Newbies didn't stand a chance. But, that's trailrunnin'. Sean Andrish and Keith Knipling ran strong together all day and shattered the course record coming in at 5:29:22. Michele Harmon finished first female at 6:23:05. Results | The Sisterhood | more photos on Flickr

Buzzards Marathon: Harry Smith and the Buzzards put on the 10th Buzzards Marathon in Pennsylvania on Sunday, March 16. This "non-event" is a late-winter tradition. There was light snow at the beginning and the course was wet and muddy, but that's par for this course. The snow stopped and the sun came out. It turned out to be a great day. This run proves that it's appropriate that Pennsylvania is the "keystone state." Thanks to Harry and his coconspirators for another great run.

CCT Fat Ass: Mike Bur reports: "A small group of about a dozen runners showed up for this years version of the CCT put on by John Coogan. Runners 'doubling up' for the weekend, doing both Greenway and CCT, were Dave Snipes and Mitch Goodman. Eric Levy-Myers and son provided support at the turn-around. This year's event was around a marathon distance but next year it will be back up to a 50k and will likely again be the Sunday after Ed Schultze's Greenway." Web site with results

Harmon Sets Course Record in Greenway 50km Win: Michele Harmon was the female winner of the Greenway Trail 50km put on by Ed Schultze and the Montgomery County Road Runners on March 1. Several other VHTRC members finished the 50km and the marathon. (It looked like most did the 50km.) Results | Event Web site

Old Pueblo 50: Steve Core reports that Sean Andrish was 2nd at the Old Pueblo 50 miler in Arizona in a time of 7:59. There were other VHTRC members in the run, but we don't yet have information. Old Pueblo web site (there are other sites -- just Google it)

Reverse Ring: The full Reverse Ring results are now available. They even include times in and out of each aid station. Jim Harris and Mike Dobies were first to finish in 20:04. Kerry Owens was the first female. Q and Bur did the results long ago. VHTRC.org just dropped the ball in getting them up. Yet another intern has been fired. Reverse Ring Results.

Co-RD Pam Gowen and Winner Joe Clapper at finish

Clapper and Widdowson Win First Hashawha 50km: Pam and Alan Gowen put on an outstanding event in the Hashawha 50 km near Westminster, Maryland. After braving a very icy section of road, participants enjoyed a well-marked trail that was covered by a thin layer of snow, with a little ice. The aid stations were fantastic. Joe Clapper and Diana Widdowson were the overall winners. Thanks to Pam, Alan, and all of their many great volunteers! Results, Report, and Photos

Mount Mitchell: Several VHTRC members participated in this tough event that goes to the top of Mt. Mitchell, the highest mountain in the East. Mike Mason was the leading VHTRC finisher in the 40 mile in ninth place. Annette Bednosky won the marathon. Results

Congratulations! To new parents Mel and Rob Saraniero. Sofia was born on Monday. She was 8 lbs and 12 ounces and 21 inches long.

Women Shine at Holiday Lake: David's Holiday Lake 50km was held on February 16. Justine Morrison was the female winner. Amy Sproston won her age group and was second overall. On the men's side, Derrick Carr won his age group. Several other VHTRC members participated in this well-attended event. Results.

HURT 100: Alex Papadopoulos finished an impressive seventh at the HURT 100 miler in Hawaii. This event is noted for being very tough. Only 21 people finished. HURT Web site

Helen Hipps Receives award from James and Rebecca Moore

Awards Party: The VHTRC held its annual awards party on February 9. A large group of club members gathered for companionship and the announcement of awards. The highlight of the evening was the announcement of the James Moore Award. This award, for service to the community in general as well as to the running community, went to the very deserving Helen Hipps. Keith Knipling, to no one's surprise, won both the male runner of the year as well as the performance of the year. His year was incredible including running three 100 miles on successive weekends -- winning two of them. He also ran both TWOTs. Keeps the Runner of the Year award in the family. Gary won it last year.

Amy Sproston was the top female honoree present. Annette Bednosky and Challen Edwards also received awards. Kerry Owens was responsible for the excellent food and Jaret Seiberg kindly arranged for the excellent facility. Joe bought the refreshments. Oh, and Mike Bur won the prestigious "Horton" award.

TWOT: Results and photos from the Wild Oak Trail 100 held on February 2 are now available. No one went past two loops. Results

Andrish Wins Uwharrie: : Jaret Seiberg reports that Sean Andrish won Uwharrie. Sean further reports: "Brian Schmidt came in 2nd, Harland Peele came in 4th, Steve Core finished 11th, and Jen Ragone was 4th woman." There were several other VHTRC finishers including Quatro whom Jaret described as "socializing." Uwharrie Web site.

Schwartzbard Second at Rocky Raccoon 100: Aaron Schwartzbard got second at the Rocky Raccoon 100 held on February 2-3, in Texas. Jeff Holdaway and Prasad Gerard also finished well in the large field. Rocky Raccoon Web site. | Results

Mary Sayers: The VHTRC Board agreed to donate $100 to the Friends of Baker Park toward the memorial bench for Mary. Eagle Run participants threw $150 in a bucket to supplement that. So the club was able to donate $250. We expect that many of you will want to make your own donations. Besides everything else, Mary was there with a huge smile at running events. Those smiles mean a lot. They came despite great pain. Mary Sayers Obituary and Memorial Donation Information.

Eagle Run: Eagle Run Sunday saw cool but good weather for the 70+ runners who participated in the annual Eagle Run put on by Gary Knipling and supported by the VHTRC. We started off with a bang seeing several eagles on ice in the river. We didn't keep that pace, but still saw 25 eagles. At the end, there was a social hour around the fire. Thank you to Gary and all his helpers! Photos on Flickr. Also, see Mark Zimmermann's very interesting shots.

Group at Start of Moonlight Run (click for larger)

MLK Weekend Runs: It was cold, but many people had a great time at the various runs over MLK weekend in the Massauntten mountains. The weekend started out with the traditional Moonlight Run. A small group had good light from the not-quite-full moon. The next day, Tom Corris helped a large group check out the first part of the MMT course in the "Buzzards to Roosevelt" run. Finally, on Sunday, Bur and Quatro organized (?) a three ring circus of folks in the "Gap to Gap." Apparently, Mike Dobies was kidnapped by terrorists. Here is his ransom picture. See also Kirstin's photos of MMT training run #1.

Several Finish Swinging Bridge 50km: Age group winners included Derrick Carr, Sean Andrish, and Steve Core. Bethany Patterson won the 35km. Results are available on the Richmond Road Runners site, but you have to look for them. (We can't link directly to them. Sorry.)

Amy Leigh Brown Wins College Bowl Contest: John Shepard got second. Five people tied for third. Amy, aka "Flame," took an early lead and didn't look back, though she did make it close by picking OSU in the BCS game. Final Standings

Frosty Fifty: Quatro Hubbard reports on the Frosty Fifty held January 5 in North Carolina.

Redeye 50 km: A small group of hardy runners showed up for the annual Redeye 50 km in Prince William Forest Park. It was nice weather at first. Then it got breezy and a bit colder. But it didn't rain. Howard Nippert beat Robin Kane for the "win." Gary has done the results. Also, there are pictures on the Flickr Site.

Hunting Season: Actually, we think it has been hunting season for awhile now. Be careful out there. Hunting information: Virginia | VA Season Quick Reference [pdf] | Maryland | West Virginia. (You gotta see the cute little bear on the West Virginia site. He/she is just waiting to be someone's run!)