Another Winter Series is history. Thanks to the strong efforts of series director Rick Kerby, this was another successful series. Kudos also go out to the individual race directors, Kim Whatever She Calls Herself, Patrick Farris, Jen Peachey, Nancy Specht, Raylene Scott, Mark Stickley, Karsten Brown and Rick, for putting on well organized events (though I
Kim heads up the Poker Run
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am still trying to figure out exactly what the Kimster was responsible for at the Poker Run). Additionally, as much as it kills me, we must give another hearty thank you to Karsten for his continued tireless efforts with the series. Besides marking two courses and race-directing one, Karstantinople was responsible for the finish cards, flyer, results, points, the Web site, and lots of other stuff that I am sure he will tell me about.
Some quick facts and figures:
There were 183 different participants in the series. (Last year there were 195.) That breaks down to 75 women and 108 men.
114 of the 183 participants were SVR members (43 women, 71 men), which means that about a quarter of club members ran at least one Winter Series race.
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Record attendance at the Treasure Hunt 5K
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The average number of participants per race was 61.6 (down from 66.9 per race last year). The race with the most finishers was the Treasure Hunt 5K with 78 while the Mystery Distance Run had the least with 42.
Only seven runners completed all eight races. Last year there were 15 runners with perfect attendance. Additionally, Nancy Specht has not missed a Winter Series in at least six years.
In percentage terms, the number of runners who participated in just these number of events was:
I always find it amazing that so many runners only attend one event. 48% of all participants-- 87 runners-- only attended one event! (57 of those runners were not members of the club, however.)
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Mike Wilcox
C. Moore
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Some new faces were in the top five. These include Michael Wilcox, Kennon Yeck, Chris Northrup, Charles Bowles, Sandy Adams, Christina Moore, and Rachel Eisenfeld. There was only one returning male in the top five (me) and one returning female (Tracy Rice).
It was the year of the girls, with over a quarter of the women's participants in the series aged 16 or under. Christina Moore and Rachel Eisenfeld made the women's top five, and four others were in the top twenty. (Participation by boys was off sharply this year.)
Once again, if you liked off road courses, this series was right up your alley. ALL the races had some unpaved sections as even the Mystery Distance Run got in on the off road theme (okay, it was only 6 feet but it still qualifies).
Once again, if you lived in the Berryville area, you spent the least amount of money on gas if you attended all the races.
People still go out way too fast. In years past, it's been the young men who zoomed out early and then died. This year, we had a lot of young female runners going out too fast. To wit, if you went out with someone in the first mile in 7 minutes and later finished 1:30 after her in a 5K, you had to average 7:45 minutes per mile for the last 2 miles. This is just poor racing and pacing. Studies show that if you go out the first mile more than 10 seconds per mile faster than what you hope to average, you will fade. This winter series really proved that. Learn to pace yourselves!
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The snowy Mystery Distance Run
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This started out as the coldest series on record but the last 4 races saw the temperatures rise and return to normal conditions. The wind at Lincoln was probably the worst weather we experienced though the light snow at the Mystery Run and the rain at Blandy were also extreme.
Some personal awards: Many readers will note that many of these winners are the same as last year. That's because there were no new race locations this year.
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The author at the Poker Run
Mike Allen follows markings at the Predicted Time 5K
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Favorite Course: The Mystery Distance Run. Again, I trained out there for many summers. Quiet country roads and little traffic. Just a nice place to run and few off-road surfaces.
Least Favorite Course: The Poker Run. Man, what a nasty course. Just too much poor footing and at times it was difficult to see very far ahead. You really had to concentrate on the ground as the footing was just awful for a lot of it.
Best Marked Course: Tie with the Poker Run and the Predicted Time Run at FCMS. Karsten did an absolute bang-up job on both of these courses. The Poker Run was incredibly well marked and showed Karsten's commitment to the event.
Best Food: Though there was a snafu by the bagel store and the number of bagels was down, Raylene (at the Lincoln race) still had the best food with all those fresh bagels. And some people were able to take home a few leftovers.
The This Is The Winter Series Award: To Jen Peachey for holding the Mystery Distance Run in a light snow with some icy roads. Then again, if Jen had postponed the event, I would have been the race director as she would have been in Europe.
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Ruth R. at Tandems 5K
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The I Need An Award Award: Three winners. An unnamed runner (you know who you are) for going out on the Treasure Run course to warm up and picking and choosing cards until he found a low number. Ruth for making me run on her team at the Tandems Run, and Mark Vann's from-the-deck straight flush at the Poker Run.
The Best Threat to Be a Team Member Award: To Ruth who swore that I had better not even consider being on a male team at the Tandem Run with Chris Northrup. So I was forced to run with Team Riemenschneider in the mixed division. I have learned long ago to avoid Ruth's wrath whenever I can.
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Bill Stewart
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The Get a New Hat Award: To Bill Stewart. Now I hadn't seen Bill run in the winter in a long time. But there he was at the Poker Run wearing the same orange hat he has been wearing since the beginning of time.
The Best Volunteer Award: To the youngsters in the woods at the Tandem Run. They were so cheerful and friendly, I half wanted to stop and talk to them.
The Whiner Award: Hands down, Karsten Brown. He had the flu, his back went out, his throat hurt, he had a cold on and on.
The Phlegmmiest Runner Award: Again, Mr. Brown. At the Tandems Run, he kept expectorating though out the whole run. Apparently it was so bad, the usually mild-mannered Heather Kremer asked him to stop doing it while they were running near each other late in the run.
The Chump Award: To this author, who won the men's Winter Series despite never winning a race and only finishing second overall in one event. Many thanks to speed balls Mark Stickley, Jared Prunty, Dustin Sweeney and Chris Northrup for missing a couple of events.
So that wraps up another Winter Series. If you haven't thanked a race director or Rick Kerby, shame on you. All of us owe these folks a debt of gratitude for putting on these fine events. Very few running clubs put on this type of series, which enables all of us to get out a few times in the winter, run, and have a good time. Be sure to extend your appreciation to all the people mentioned at the onset of this article the next time you see them.
