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A snowy starting line
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This year's Mystery Distance Run very nearly became the first Winter Series race to be called off since 1996, as forecasts earlier in the week were calling for a number of inches of snow on the morning of Saturday 30 December 2000. On Friday night, however, the snowfall forecast had been knocked down to less than an inch (dang those weatherpeople for scaring us!). Thus, the race was held as scheduled, becoming the first Winter Series race in memory to be held while a significant amount of snow was falling. Despite temperatures in the upper 20°s, a bit of wind during the first half of the race, and the occasional icy patches left over from a previous snowfall, I'm sure the snow was enjoyable for the 42 participants (including 36 SVR members).
Runners wait for the bus to get going
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Prior to the race, runners knew only that the course would be between three and five miles, and as usual, everyone was driven on a bus from Powhatan School to the start. But this year, thanks to devious race director Jen Peachey, the bus ride was less than half a mile in length! Runners started at the intersection of Country Club Lane & Millwood Road and ran a slightly hilly 4.87 mile loop through Boyce and Millwood before returning to the finish at Powhatan.
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Nancy Gauthier (at left, with Gabby Vaughn)
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After the race, each runner tried to guess to the nearest hundredth of a mile how far they had run, and just one participant got it right: 38-year-old Nancy Gauthier of Cross Junction. Way to go, Nancy! Sandy Adams, Jon Palks, and Caroline Pratt all came within two-hundredths of a mile of the correct distance, while Heather Kremer, Chris Northrup, and Laurie Volk were only four-hundredths off. Check out the "results by distance guesses" page for more, and see the right column for more guessing statistics.
Chris Northrup
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As for the race itself, Chris Northrup took the lead after less than a half mile and never looked back, finishing in 29:12 despite slipping on an icy patch as he turned at Powhatan School before the finish. Chris frequently finishes races a couple of places back from the top spot, so it's good to see him win a race for a change! Course measurer Neal Riemenschneider had a couple of icy adventures of his own during the morning, but he placed a solid second in 30:24. Vincent McDonald came out from Arlington to finish third (31:26). Winter Series newcomer Michael Wilcox continued his strong showing this winter with a fourth place finish (32:22), and local gent Jon Campbell (sans dog this time) took fifth in 32:40.
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Sandy Adams with her prizes
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It goes without saying that Ruth Riemenschneider came away with the women's win, finishing ninth overall in 34:12. (Poor Ruth didn't get to guess the distance because hubby Neal accidentally told her the distance as they were driving to the race! I hope Ruth has let Neal out of the doghouse by now.) 51-year-old powerhouse Sandy Adams was second in 35:36, and Heather Kremer finished third in 36:39. The battle for fourth was fairly close, with Tracy Rice beating out Rachel Eisenfeld by nine seconds in 38:51.
Jen Peachey
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Jen Peachey did a fine job in her first year as Mystery Distance Run race director-- thanks, Jen! We must also acknowledge the contributions of Tom Robb, who opened up the school and drove the bus; Jerry Anderson and Rick Kerby, the wacky finish line crew; course marshals Kim Yeck, Karsten Brown, and a couple of other people whom I don't know; and Neal Riemenschneider, who not only measured the course and provided your author with info for this report, but who was also going to host the race at Powhatan on January 6th if it had been postponed! (Jen was going to be out of the country that day.) And of course we must thank Powhatan School itself for allowing us to make use of their spacious (if cold) gymnasium.
While you wait for the thirteenth annual Mystery Distance Run a year from now, be sure to check out the results, distance guesses, and 73 race photos here on the SVR Web site. And remember: the next Winter Series race is the Treasure Hunt 5K, scheduled to be held on Saturday 13 January 2001 at Clarke County High School in Berryville!
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