5th Annual
Holiday Lake 50K++
February 19, 2000
By David Horton
The 5th Holiday Lake looked like it wasn’t going to come off or at least if it did, it was going to be very interesting. As I was driving out to the 4-H Center on Friday, it was raining and sleeting. The trees were coated with ice and it was beautiful...but it made me wonder if anyone would show up. However, the rain soon stopped, the sun came out, temperatures warmed up, and the ice melted. The runners began making their way to the race site, and it turned out to be a lovely evening as the 4-H Center fixed a fine pasta dinner for runners, families and crews to enjoy. Heated bunkhouses were also available to those runners who wanted to stay on site. A double loop course starting and finishing at the Center, lodging, meals, and parking all available at the same location makes for a perfect set-up.
However, in the wee hours of Saturday morning, more rain began to fall...but it stopped just before race time! A full moon could be seen as the runners lined up for the start. The day turned out to be spectacular...although a bit wet and VERY MUDDY! The two stream crossings were going to be interesting!
Everyone is always talking about “Horton Miles.” Sometimes that MAY be an accurate term, but when we originally designed the course it was a very accurate 50K course; as witnessed by Mike Harrison’s winning time of 3:18. In the third year of the race, we took the long section of paved road and moved it on to the trails. The trail was a bit longer! I and others had guessed the length of each loop to be about one mile longer, thus the actual race length was about 33 miles. Eric Ivey and Eric Ford, who were running their first Holiday Lake race, came down early and biked and measured a loop on Friday. Guess what they came up with ???? 17.5 miles!!! 35 miles for two loops! Oh well, I guess there is something to “Horton Miles” after all!
I teach a running class at Liberty University, and two of their requirements are to run a race and help with a race. Six students split up into two groups and worked an aid station. Five other students race the race. How about that for “Field Experience”?
I expected a very competitive race and I wasn’t disappointed! JFK is the largest ultra in the U.S. Courtney Campbell had won the 1999 JFK 50 Miler by 1 minute and 41 seconds over Clark Zealand. Both were on hand to compete in the 2000 Holiday Lake 50K++. Ken Kirschner (Liberty student), Mike Zealand (Clark’s younger brother) and Wes Kessenich, a great runner who had not run a lot of ultras on U.S. soil in recent years, were also expected to be vying for the win.
Campbell and Kirschner took it out hard and were together for the entire first loop. The Zealand brothers stayed together through the first loop as well, not far behind Campbell and Kirschner. Kessenich stayed with them through Aid Station 3 and then started dropping back a little.
At the turnaround (end of Loop 1), and back to the next aid station, the picture began to change. Kirschner and Mike Zealand started to fade. Clark Zealand closed the gap and was within sight of Campbell at the first aid station at the beginning of Loop 2. The lead went back and forth until they were side by side at the last aid station (3.5 miles to finish). Both being cross-country coaches, they began to talk about coaching and their runners ... and I’m sure you can guess what happened then. They ran together ... two outstanding ultra-runners crossing the finish line together. Because of the slow and muddy conditions, I think their performance was better than Campbell’s course record of 3:51 in 1998 with good conditions.
Kirschner held on to third place. Kessenich passed Mike Zealand after the turnaround and finished in fourth place with Zealand rounding out the top five.
Rebekah Trittipoe, defending champion and course record-holder was coming off major surgery on both feet last summer. Trittipoe had not finished an ultra in almost one year and was working her way back into shape. Susan Baehre had finished 2nd in the 1999 Holiday Lake and also 2nd in the 1999 MMTR 50. Competition for the women’s title was also expected to come from Susan Malone, a previous winner of the Catoctin 50K.
All three ladies stayed very close for the entire first loop, with Trittipoe in front, followed by Baehre and Malone. Just like in the men’s race, from the turnaround to the first aid station, the race positions started changing. Baehre passed Trittipoe and continued to pull away the rest of the race. Trittipoe maintained a 5-7 minute lead on Malone all the way to the finish.
In the Master’s division, Peter Worford won in a time of 4:55 finishing 9th overall. Julie Nicholls won the women’s division in 6:40. The Grand Master’s division was won by Frank Probst in 5:14 (16th overall) and Judith Gilbert in 7:25. The Super Master’s was won by Ralph Hirt in 6:02.
The Best Blood award was a toss-up between three women! Martha Holden, Erika Jordan and Colleen Rule. I had Colleen in my running class last semester and she won “best blood” nearly every month. After careful analysis, checking for amount of blood, depth, and caking...Colleen was given the award!
If we had a “Best Break” award, it would have gone to Dr. George Wortley, medical director of the Holiday Lake and MMTR. Dr. Wortley was running his first ultra and trying to complete it under 7 ½ hours. He ran the last seven miles with severe pain in his foot. He finished in 7:37 ... seven minutes over cut-off. X-rays later revealed that he had a stress fracture.
Ralph Hirt was our oldest runner (62) and Adam Childers (18) was our youngest. While checking the course out midway through the race, I saw Ralph and mentioned to him that the youngest runner was only about a minute ahead of him. He said, “I know!” Competition knows no age! However, Adam did finally beat him even though Ralph rallied and ran ahead of him for a while.
My most interesting moment occurred when I was on the course, trying to take different photos of different runners. I had jumped out of my truck and placed myself in the middle of the road to take a picture of three young ladies running together. As I was getting ready to snap the picture, they turned around and “mooned” me! I was shocked! Who were they...I can’t say...but I was sooooo embarrassed!
From my running class, I had five ladies and one man running. All five finished with Mary “Mouse” Andrews placing 4th, Bethany Hunter 5th, Dorothy Fyock 8th, Erika Jordan 12th and Kristen Kapusta 15th in a field of 26 women. Dan Hern finished in 76th place after starting about 20 minutes late. There were 10 other people from LU (staff, students and coaches) who finished the race as well. Sixteen people from LU...must be all that training on all those trails next to campus!
Because of all the ice and rain, the two stream crossings were challenging and COLD. At the biggest crossing, there is a tree you can use to avoid wading. Some runners waded through, while others took the time to cross the tree. While cleaning the course after the race, I was working that section and started across the tree and slipped and fell into the stream! I don’t know of anyone else during the entire race that fell off the tree ... what a weenie!!!
Golf shirts were awarded to all finishers with embroidered golf shirts to the overall winners. Ordering shirts presented a challenge this year. Two weeks before the race, we only had 51 entries. On race day we had 119 registered. What’s a race director to do? But everything turned out well!
As many of you know, the date for the Holiday Lake 50K has varied from year to year due to the availability of Holiday Lake 4-H Education Center. This has made it difficult for planning and preparation. However, it has worked out great from the standpoint that everything is at one place. In the past few years, we have been building trails all over 2,000 acres adjacent to Liberty University known as Liberty Mountain. I have always wanted to have a 50K on Liberty Mountain, but until now, it wasn’t feasible. We would hold it either the first or last weekend in April. Because of these two factors, we are considering either replacing the Holiday Lake 50K with the Liberty Mountain 50K. Or, we may have BOTH! Your comments and suggestions are welcomed on this issue.
What does the future hold for the Holiday Lake 50K++? Will there be a Liberty Mountain 50K? What about both? Please let me hear from you!!!