Saturday, May 6, 2006 -- Yellow Spring - Capon Valley, WV
Capon Valley 50K Run (iPO Event Id#: 7255)
Photos by Don Parks

[Details] [Coverage]
[Overall Results]
Pictures: [Set 1] [Set 2] [Set 3] [Set 4] [Set 5] [Set 6] [Set 7] [Set 8] [Set 9]
[Set 10] [Set 11] [Set 12] [Set 13]
Past Coverage: [1999] [2000] [2001] [2002] [2003] [2004] [2005]

Splashing through the scenery in Capon Valley

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 on his way to a win and new course record

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!

Running the beautiful hills

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