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Neal Riemenschneider, Derek Clark, Brad Rippey, Bob Schneider, & Daniel Thrasher lead the other 127 participants
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Hills, traffic, hills, bus rides, hills, and a beautiful foggy sunrise... All of this made for quite an entertaining morning at the Blue Ridge Hospice 5K Run/Walk, held on Saturday 18 September 2003 in Clarke County, VA! With 160 registrants and 132 official finishers, the first-year race saw the third highest turnout of any race held in the Shenandoah Valley so far this year. The race was organized by the Blue Ridge Hospice with help from the Shenandoah Valley Runners, and thanks to the high turnout, the Hospice came away with a good chunk of change for its invaluable programs to assist the terminally ill.
Waiting for the start in front of the Long Branch mansion
A truck backs out of the way of the lead runners
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It was still dark outside as runners began arriving at Blandy Experimental Farm & State Arboretum near Boyce. Skies were clearing, but parts of the Shenandoah Valley were blanketed with ground fog as temperatures hung in the low 40°s. Since the runners and walkers would be following a point-to-point route from the nearby Historic Long Branch estate back to Blandy, a bus (courtesy of Schrock Tour & Charter) was on hand to transport everyone from Blandy over to the Long Branch mansion. Problems getting in and out of the Long Branch estate, where the Shenandoah Valley Hot Air Balloon & Wine Festival was underway, caused the start to be delayed by fifteen minutes or so.
Eventually the last load of runners arrived in front of the mansion... but another delay came in the form of automobile traffic, which was still streaming up the driveway from Long Branch's back gate! With the fog obscuring our view of the back gate, it was difficult to predict when we'd have clear sailing down the driveway. So organizers just said the "G" | |
Carolyn Wilson
Cassandra Brown
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word-- with a truck still coming up the drive. The driver ended up having to jam into reverse and back off into the grass to avoid the mass of humanity headed her way! Things went a little more smoothly after that, although cars on the early Bordens Spring Road stretch required some dodging as runners made their way along that narrow gravel road. The course certainly didn't get any easier, with hills snaking up and down all the way back to Blandy. The hills made it hard for the speedsters to appreciate the pretty rural scenes alongside the course... although the more leisurely participants undoubtedly got to enjoy some pleasant views.
A 38-year-old visitor from the Queen City Striders, Maureen Hall of LaVale, MD, sped off into the lead and never looked back. Finishing as the first woman in 20:25, Hall's only competition on the very rolling course was a bevy of men, as she ended up placing seventh overall. Well back in second was a casual Carolyn Wilson, 43, of nearby Millwood. Wilson had been signed up for that morning's Mountain Masochist Trail Run 50 Miler in Lynchburg, but the ultrarunning veteran opted for our shorter run in order to have some more time at home that weekend. Crossing the line in 22:50 (thirteen seconds after Wilson) was Berryville 27-year-old Cassandra Brown, who was also the third finisher at the Berryville Barns Festival 5K back in May. 46-year-old Ruth Riemenschneider (23:13) and 12-year-old Erin Broy (23:53) rounded out the women's top five.
27-year-old Bob Schneider (possibly of Washington, DC, although he listed "D.D." as his hometown on his finish card) appears to have had the men's race well under control, slaughtering the competition with a commanding
Brad Rippey
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17:18 finish. 23-year-old Derek Clark, having come to the race all the way from the Morgantown, WV area, nabbed second in 18:01, fifteen seconds ahead of the SVR's top finisher, Brad Rippey, 37. Rippey had been picked as the pre-race favorite by fellow SVRer Mark Vann, who actually signed up for the race but opted not to run as soon as he found out that Rippey was there! But Rippey didn't have his best stuff at this race, running his slowest 5K time of the year on the tough course, he said. Well behind Rippey was pedestrian Neal Riemenschneider, who trotted across the line in 19:52 after having to make a shoelace-tying pit stop halfway into the race. White Post's Chris York took fifth in 20:05-- an impressive time for a 12-year-old!
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Hot air balloons passing over Blandy Farm
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Hot air balloons began to rise from fields north of Blandy as the later runners and walkers approached the finish line. Some hung around to find out if they'd won an award, only to find out that there would only be awards for the first male and female overall. So we apologize to any participants who were disappointed by the lack of awards! The SVR had suggested that age group awards be offered, and there will be age group awards at next year's event. We hope you'll understand that the Hospice folks are not runners and don't have experience in organizing running events, so they didn't necessarily know how certain aspects of races are typically handled. The SVR will be working with them to resolve some of the problems encountered at this year's race, so we hope you'll consider coming back next year!
Harriette Bayse, Kathy Smart, and Sarah Williams
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A big thank you is owed to race directors Carrie Weinmann and Linda Kurtz for their efforts and enthusiasm this year, and thank you to all of the volunteers for their work, too (including Jen Peachey, who served as the SVR's advisor for the race)! Credit should also go to the race's sponsors, who helped bring in more money for the Hospice: Dallas Croft, Realtor; First Bank; Schrock Tour & Charter; the Goldizen/Riley Group, LLC; Buckley's Printing; Rotz Pharmacy; Winchester Cardiology & Internal Medicine, Inc.; Coca-Cola; Blandy Experimental Farm; Glenn J. Kehs, MD; Cheer Eruption; T-Shirt Attic Screen Printing & Embroidery; Rugs-Direct.com; Bank of Clarke County; and the Kern Motor Company.
And thank you to everyone who participated on the 18th! The Blue Ridge Hospice is extremely grateful for your support. With any luck, we'll see you back in Clarke County for the second edition of the Blue Ridge Hospice 5K Run/Walk (possibly to be held on Saturday 16 October 2004)!
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Amy Hsiao, Terry McCarthy, Ed Butterworth, Terry Leckie, Amy Dzien, & Ruth Riemenschneider lead a long line of runners out of the fog |
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A pretty scene on Bordens Spring Road before the race! You can download a large version of this photo for use as computer wallpaper; we've got versions of it sized at 800 by 600 pixels or 1024 by 768 pixels. |
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Age Groups 
