Saturday 25 October 2003 at 9:00 AM. Registration will be from 7:30 to 8:45 AM.

Browntown, eight miles south of Front Royal in Warren County, Virginia. Parking, registration, and the finish line are all within shouting distance of each other in Browntown itself; the starting line is about three-quarters of a mile to the west on Bentonville-Browntown Road. Since you'll have to walk or jog the three-quarters of a mile to the start, please be in Browntown no later than 8:45 AM!

Entry fees are $12.00, whether you preregister or pay on race day. Early registration is appreciated, of course. Just print up our entry form, fill it out, and send it with your check (payable to "Warren County High School") by 15 October to Patrick Farris, Warren County High School, 240 Luray Avenue, Front Royal, VA 22630!

Given to the top three males & females overall, plus the top three males & females in the following age groups: 14 & under, 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-59, and 60 & over. Additionally, there will be prestigious awards for Most Awkward Race Outfit, Most Dressed Like Lord Fairfax, and a few other like honors.

Ah yes, the course! Our beautiful USATF-certified (#VA99025RT) 10 kilometer (6.2 mile) route is on dirt roads for the first four miles and on pavement for the final two. There's no getting around the fact that the course is tough! You will climb nearly 500 feet through the Greasy Run valley during the first three miles, while the last three miles through the Gooney Run valley are almost entirely downhill. But you'll also be treated to pleasant country scenery and views of Hogback Mountain (pictured at left) and the famed Blue Ridge. (To see more of the course, take a gander at our official course photographs.)

IMPORTANT NOTE: While the finish line is in front of the registration area in Browntown, the 10K starts three-quarters of a mile west of Browntown on Route 613 (Bentonville-Browntown Road)-- this will be a brief ten minute walk. Please arrive in Browntown no later than 8:45 AM, so that you will have time to walk to the start!

The course is easy to follow, as there is only one turn. From the start, you'll run west for about half a mile on Bentonville-Browntown Road, then you'll turn left on the Gooney Manor Loop (Route 631). (We are not making the name up-- see the picture at right!) Just follow the Gooney Manor Loop up the Greasy Run valley and back down the Gooney Run valley into Browntown. There will probably be two water stops along the course, and there will also be police protection along the first half mile on Bentonville-Browntown Road.

Check out our topographic map for a detailed look at the course (note: it's a large 138K image, so it may take a little while to download), or see our course profile page for an elevation graph and a three-dimensional rendering of the area!

Contact race director extraordinaire Patrick Farris at (540) 678-4041. (That's Mr. Farris to you Warren County High School students.) You can also e-mail the SVR Webmaster with any questions, although he does not guarantee that he will know the answers!

Browntown is a tiny town located just beneath the Blue Ridge Mountains in southern Warren County, Virginia. The town is 21 miles northeast of Luray; 30 miles south of Winchester; 34 miles southwest of Berryville; 53 miles northeast of Harrisonburg; 54 miles south of Martinsburg, WV; 60 miles southwest of Leesburg; and 80 miles west of Washington, DC. Check out this map courtesy of MapQuest. Basic driving directions are as follows:

Coming from Front Royal & points north: Take Route 340 south through Front Royal, following the signs for Shenandoah National Park & Skyline Drive. Just south of Front Royal, pass the Skyline Drive entrance, then take your very next left (just over the hill) onto Browntown Road (Route 649). Drive approximately seven miles to Browntown; park where instructed. (If nobody's there to instruct you, just look for the registration table set up next to the road and park somewhere near it!)

From Luray & points south in the Page Valley: Come north on Route 340 to Bentonville, and turn right onto Bentonville-Browntown Road (Route 613). From there it's about six miles to Browntown.

From the DC metro area: Follow I-66 to exit 13 (Linden/Front Royal), turn left at the end of the off-ramp, then turn right at the stoplight onto Route 55 west. Drive on Rt. 55 for five miles into Front Royal, and when 55 intersects with Route 340, turn left onto 340. In maybe half a mile, you'll pass the Skyline Drive entrance-- take your very next left (just over the hill) onto Browntown Road (Route 649). Drive approximately seven miles to Browntown.

Browntown was originally part of a 13,000-acre area of land called "Gooney Manor", which was owned by the sixth Lord Fairfax. The area was surveyed for Lord Fairfax by Col. William Green in 1748. At the time, Gooney Run was known as "Sugartree Creek". Legend has it that Lord Fairfax renamed the stream after his favorite hound, Gooney, who supposedly drowned in it.

Browntown was originally referred to as "Hambaugh", but the town's final name came from the Brown family, once-prominent residents of the area. Browntown had a brief upswing in the late 1800s thanks to the arrival of the Cover Brothers Tannery, but things quieted back down upon the closing of the tannery around the turn of the century.

The old Browntown Church, tucked back into the woods around mile 4.5 on the course, dates back to the late 1800s. About 0.3 mile later, the Gooney Manor Loop comes into the path of the old Browntown-Harris Hollow Road, which headed off to the right, up over the Blue Ridge, and down into Rappahannock County. The road is now classified as a horse trail within Shenandoah National Park.

Hogback Mountain, the high point on the Blue Ridge in front of you during the first half of the run, is the highest point in the north section of Shenandoah National Park and the ninth highest peak in the whole park. You may be able to spot radio transmitters on one of the "humps" (the second one from left, as viewed from the north)-- these serve the Virginia State Police, the Virginia Division of Forestry, the Park itself, and the GSA. Just below the towers is a popular launch site for hang-gliding. You may also see overlooks on the ridgetop-- these are part of Skyline Drive, the 105-mile road that runs through Shenandoah National Park. The longest overlook in the park sits atop Hogback's third "hump".