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Cancellation notice
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Freezing rain was in the forecast for the morning of Saturday 16 December 2000, and your Webmaster had even prepared a cancellation notice for the SVR Web site. But temperatures stayed just high enough to keep the rain from freezing, and despite the miserable conditions, an impressive 75 souls (including 62 SVR members) showed up for the second running of the Jingle Bell 5K at Blandy Experimental Farm & State Arboretum in Boyce, VA!
Befitting the race's name, jingle bells were available before the race for runners to tie to their shoes, so that a mellifluous sound would be created as everyone followed the mildly hilly | |
Leslie Lawson ties on a bell
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loop around Blandy. Last year the course ended up littered with bells, as the thread used to tie them proved to be quite breakable as runners pounded the pavement. This year we had regular string on hand in the hopes of alleviating the problem-- but many runners still lost their bells. Thank you to the slower finishers who stopped and picked up lost bells along the course! Next year we'll have to use metal twist ties or something...!
Eisenfeld, C. Moore, Murphy
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Bells or not, Ruth Riemenschneider emerged with another commanding win, covering the slightly long course in 21:18. A whopping ten teenage girls participated in the race, including the second through sixth place female finishers. Virginia Tech's Michelle VanHorn was second in 22:04, followed by Warren County High School's Emily Harrison (22:37), Warren County Middle Schooler Christina Moore (22:51), Sherando High School's Rachel Eisenfeld (23:11), Laurie Murphy of Louisa, VA (23:30), and Charles Town's Leslie Lawson (23:41). The women outnumbered the men at the race by 38 to 37-- a rather rare (but welcome) occurrence.
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The Stickman
Northrup & Sweeney |
On the men's side, Mark Stickley, who will be putting on The Stickman's Tandems 5K in January, was never threatened as the men's victor, finishing in 16:30. Sherando High School senior Jared Prunty followed up his Poker Run 8K win with a second place finish here in 17:21. Prunty ran so fast that he accidentally took a wrong turn at a vaguely-marked intersection and wound up cutting part of the course. But since he'd had a solid hold on second place for the whole race, his detour was overlooked. Heck, third place finisher Chris Northrup nearly took the incorrect turn as well! Northrup reached the finish line in 18:21, followed closely by Clarke County High School senior Dustin Sweeney (18:35). Neal Riemenschneider was fifth in 19:01.
As he had done in 1999, race director Patrick Farris tossed a few Santa Claus hats into the crowd prior to the start of the race. Whoever had these hats on their heads as they crossed the finish line
Farris about to toss another hat
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would get special prizes after the race. But other runners were allowed to steal the hats for themselves! Probably creating a little confusion was the fact that a few other runners wore Santa hats of their own. Since your Webmaster was out waiting for the final finisher when the awards ceremony began, he is not certain who ended up with the hats. But judging by the race photos, the winners may have included Michael Wilcox, Christina Moore, and Nancy Specht. If you have any information about who won the hat game, please send an e-mail to the Webmaster!
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Sheri Kreuz has it all
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Another little diversion was the post-race poll question, "What do you want for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa?", which was included on each runner's finish card. Clearly we had a happy bunch of runners at the Jingle Bell 5K, because the most popular of the multiple-choice answers was "nothing; I have it all", with fourteen votes. Next was "running shoes" with ten votes, with "world peace" finishing a distant third with five votes. (Full poll results appear in the right column.)
Of course, the poll's write-in votes were the most fun. Jared Prunty wanted "a walrus that doesn't smell bad", while Charles Bowles wished for "a cat that doesn't lick the butter". Rick Kerby, meanwhile, wrote on his finish card, "I want to hear Charles Bowles say more than ten words in a row!" Michelle VanHorn dreamed that her college tuition would miraculously disappear. Michael Wilcox wanted a "roller girl", whatever that is (a reference to the movie "Boogie Nights", maybe?). The best response, however, was from Ruth Riemenschneider, whose Christmas wish was "a REAL man". Somehow I don't think Neal liked that one. All of the write-in votes can be found (in blue) on the main results page.
The Farrises
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Lots of thanks go to the Mighty Patrick Farris for his race direction and to his glowing wife Krista for her invaluable assistance. More thanks go to volunteers Kim Yeck, Karsten Brown, Jerry Anderson, and Stan Brooks, and we'd also like to thank the fine folks at Blandy Experimental Farm & State Arboretum for letting us make use of their wonderful grounds. The arboretum folks host many activities throughout the year; check out their Web site at http://www.virginia.edu/~blandy/ for more info!
Also be sure to check out iPlayOutside's selection of 63 race photos from the Jingle Bell 5K, all taken by the fabulous Marty Lamp (thanks Marty). And iPlayOutside's race report was authored by Neal Riemenschneider, too! Feel free to check out our own results and pictures as well.
Finally, heaping gobs of thanks to everyone who attended the race! It's hard to believe that with the cold rain and the threat of freezing rain, this year's Jingle Bell 5K had the second highest attendance level ever for a Winter Series race. We appreciate everyone's participation!
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