Saturday, August 5, 2000 -- Nutter Fort, WV
WV Blackberry Festival 5K Run
Story and photos by Julie Bertsch

[Details] [Coverage] [Overall Results] [Pic Set 1] [Pic Set 2] [Pic Set 3] [Pic Set 4]

[1999 Coverage]

A high speed finish in Nutter Fort on Saturday morning

Nearly doubling the entries from the 1999 West Virginia Blackberry Festival 5K, this year's race was certainly one to be seen. The 8th race in the Clarksburg Area Race Series had many familiar faces. The festival itself is known for it's black berries, and Babe Ruth Ohio Valley Regional Baseball Tournament. Now in it's 2nd year, the 5K Run has also grown in popularity.

With a background setting of various rides that brought back childhood memories of cotton candy and belly aches, over 200 people took off through the festival parking lot in the cool morning air.

Cruising round the 1st loop

The course repeated itself with 2 loops of some hills and lots of pavement. The dreaded "turnaround" was the hot topic of conversation at post-race time. Leading into the turnaround was Rob Casteel and Larry Taylor. The tight turn made it extrememly difficult for runners to keep up a steady pace. "That turn's pretty nasty," explained Casteel, "You have to slow down, and then there's a herd of people coming at you. Larry and I passed the pace car at that point."

"Larry and I battled around the 2nd loop and up the last hill," said Casteel, "I kicked it in and that's when I got him." Casteel extended his lead to 5 seconds with some high kicking and took 1st overall with a time of 15:49. Taylor(15:54), finished a strong 2nd. "I'd of had a PR if it wasn't for that turnaround." commented Larry Taylor. Daniel Edgell(16:07), finished 3rd overall respectively.

Robin Stone high steps it to the finish line

Really burning up the course and dominating the women's category was Jessica Taylor. Finishing 12th overall, Jess swept 1st with an excellent time of 18:56. Taylor's latest victory before the Blackberry was the 2000 Moonlight Madness 5K in Summersville.

Having her share of wins this year and in the CARS Series, the 2000 1st female for the Doddridge County PATCH 5K, Robin Stone(20:13), captured 2nd on this day. Finishing a strong 3rd for the ladies was Carol Davis with a time of 21:18.

The West Virginia Blackberry Queen enjoys herself

The post race celebration included the daily opening of the Festival, with all of the sirloin beef tips and funnel cakes you could stuff your face with at some low prices.

A very special thanks goes out to those hard working guys, Dave and Josh Weekley, from RunWV.com. Without them, we might still be waiting for results. Be sure to check out their site for the latest CARS Series information.

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The next race in the series is not until September. Don't miss the United Way Kickoff 5K which is also at Nutter Fort!