March 29, 1997 marked the second running of the only organized 50K race in Virginia. 50K's are growing in popularity much like the 5K's did several years ago. The 50K's seem to be an attractive distance to many ultrarunners. What better way is there to get in a quality long workout with aid stations?

In 1996, the race was on June 14 with 77 starters. However, this year saw a much leaner field with only 47 starters. Apparently there were several conflicts, the Easter Weekend, the change from the June date, and accidentally booking it the same weekend of the Hinte-Anderson 50K in Maryland, which were not conducive to a good turnout this year. However, this was the only date that the Holiday Lake 4-H Center was available to us, so we had little choice. It was either have the race on this date or not have it at all. However, it seemed that for those who came and ran, they were very pleased with the time of year and requested that we keep it the same for next year.

Mike Harrison blitzed the course in 1996 with 3:18:58, placing him 7th in the nation at this distance. Only one runner ran faster than Harrison's 50K time on trails in the U.S. in 1996. This should entice a lot of runners to come to the 1998 race . . . fast course . . . and trails!

Courtney Campbell (2nd in 1996), and Mike Morton (3rd in 1996) were back to take home the beautiful wall clock awarded to the first male and female. Byron Backer (Greenville, SC) and David "Big Gun" Drach (Leasburg, NC), traveled north to give the young boys a run for their money.

Nancy Drach (Big Gun's better half and 2nd in 1996) was back to improve on her time of 5:13 and also to attempt to break Jo May's 1996 time of 5:06.

Race weekend started on Friday as runners, crews and family checked into the Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center. This is a full service year-round camping/recreational facility. Runners opted to camp out ($3.00 per site), or stay in a bunkhouse or rustic cabin ($8.50 per person), in this beautiful setting on Holiday Lake.

The Center hired a new Food Service Manager this past year, and she prepared an outstanding pasta meal on Friday night, with various kinds of pasta and delicious sauces, along with breads, salads, and cakes. Following the race on Saturday, she also prepared the lunch meal consisting of baked chicken breast in a cream sauce, baked potatoes, green bean almondine, salads and a scrumptious dessert called "chocolate sin"! It was truly a welcomed sight by the hungry runners, crews, aid station workers and family members. Last year was great, but this year was outstanding! I've never had better food at a pre- or post- race meal. It was delicious!

I thought we would have cooler weather in March than at last year's race in June. However, the temperatures were very warm and humid for this time of year (60's to high 70's).

As expected, Campbell and Morton took the lead and went out together fast! At 5:30 a.m., the first rays of daylight were not yet visible. As a result, most carried flashlights for the first 15-30 minutes. Less than 1/2 mile into the race, Morton (following closely behind Campbell), severely turned his ankle. Runners heard him calling out in pain with several seeing him writhing on the ground. Being the tough guy that he is, he got up and tried to continue . . . persevering on for 9 miles where he finally dropped out.

This left Backer, Drach and local runner Darrell Wargo (L.U. student) to chase Campbell. Campbell gradually pulled away (as expected) as he coasted to a 3:31:47 win and a 3 minute/27 second improvement from his '96 time.

Backer, and Wargo stayed close together through 20 miles with Drach closing the gap on both. By 22.3 miles, Drach had passed the fading Wargo and was only two minutes behind Backer. With less than 5 miles to go however, Drach took over 2nd place and continued on to break 4 hours (3:59:52) with a final all-out sprint down the last hill to the finish line.

Another L.U. student, Andrew Thompson, closed strongly passing Backer in the last mile to take 3rd overall. Thompson is only 21 years old and has a very promising future in ultra running. Backer took 4th place and first time ultra runner, Chris Betz took 5th place.

Timothy Antaya finished 8th overall and took the Masters title with a time of 4:28:44. David King (Fleetwood, NC) took the Grand Masters title in 4:53:37.

Nancy Drach (Leasburg, NC) ran unchallenged from start to finish to claim 1st place with a time of 4:49:29, finishing 11th overall. This was a 23 minute/39 second improvement from '96 and also broke Jo May's '96 time by over 18 minutes. Who knows what she could have run if she had been challenged?

Terri Hayes, (a recent west coast transplant to Roanoke, VA) laughed and enjoyed her way to 2nd place in 6:20:24. Vicky Stephens (Gerrardstown, WV) claimed 3rd in 6:39:19, while Judith Gilbert (Stevenson, MD) took the Masters title in a time of 7:28:21.

The only other non-finisher was 54 year old, Cleta Duncan (Greenville, SC). Her identical twin daughters (Suzanne Duncan and Theresa Boyes) paced her past her longest ever run of 12 miles. Cleta was able to make it 28 miles before being succumbed by total fatigue. Both her daughter's continued on to finish the race.

What does 1998 hold for the Holiday Lake 50K? Greg Wallace (4-H Center Program Director) has stated that they definitely want to continue to hold the race. We both agreed that for the race to be successful, we would need to establish a date and hold it the same time each year. He indicated that March 14 or 21 are two possible dates. We will also be changing the course from aid station 4 (12.2 miles) to the turnaround (15.67 miles). Most of this section was on pavement. However, we have found a way to move all of it to a trail with much of it following the western banks of Holiday Lake. This will make the course a little slower, but much prettier. Pease drop me a note and indicate your preference for either March 14 or 21.

See you at the MMTR 50 Miler on October 18, 1997.