Capon Valley 50k

Well, what to say about Capon this year? Let’s start with HOT and HUMID! I just looked at weather.com to see what yesterday’s actuals were for Yellow Spring, WV. At about 2 pm, Amanda, Lydia and I guessed it was 75-80 with what felt like 80 % humidity. Weather.com says it was actually 63 degrees with 87% humidity at 8 am and 73 degrees with 70% humidity at 3 pm. Bottom line is that it was the first real long run of the year in heat and humidity for many of us (except for Amanda who trained in heat and humidity in Hawaii during her 2 week vacation!) and that made for a tough day. But we all made it and had a pretty good time! Results are not up yet on the website but Amanda and I finished in about 7:10, Ken was about a minute behind us, and Mark posted an impressive time at around 6 hours I think. My time was about 20 minutes slower than last year, but that’s ok, I knew I’d be slower with just 2 weeks of recovery from Promise Land and given the weather conditions. Details of the day are below. Splits to come later. Here are pictures.

Pre-race
Bill, Amanda and I drove out the morning of the race (1 hr, 40 minutes from Sterling, VA) and got there in plenty of time to pick up our numbers, prepare our drop bags and chit chat with many of the folks there from WVMTR, VHTRC, and MCRRC. At the race briefing we heard that there was a round trip ticket to anywhere in the continental US for the male and female winners, a buzz arose from the crowd! Somehow I knew I would not be in competition for this prize. We gathered outside, heard the national anthem and then someone said the course was open and we started off down the road from the Ruritan to begin the race.

Start to aid #1, Goleman Barn (0 to 3.4)
This section goes pretty quick. You’re on a combination of paved roads, gravel roads and short single track trails, and then you arrive at the ex-RD’s barn well stocked with all the aid you could imagine. Her house and barn are set in a beautiful field with views back toward the mountains; you look forward to seeing this place later since this is also aid #6, your last aid station before the finish.

Aid #1 to the water only stop at the river (3.4 to 6.8)
This section is a combination of fast, very runnable, gravel and dirt roads with some single track mixed in. This is also where you begin a pattern for the day, exit single track trail, fly down hill on a road to an aid station, abusing your quads in the process. At this point Ken, Amanda and I have been running together the whole way, we are having fun sharing stores about running and ultras and looking forward to what is coming our way.

Water only stop to aid#2, Capon Springs Road (6.8 to 10.5)
We leave the river to an immediate climb straight up a hill. We lament the fact the West Virginians don’t seem to be into switchbacks. This is also where I confirm that my legs are not recovered from PL. I can’t believe this is so hard so early in the race! Then I suck down a gnat and begin a coughing spell that lasts forever. At this point Ken leaves us in the dust and I continue climbing and coughing. This section is almost all single track except for an interesting section along a power line cut. With the wires crackling above, you go straight down on a trail that drops away from your feet, and then straight up, repeat, then back to single track. We catch back up to Ken in here. Exit single track once again, race down the road, cross the stream with iplayoutside.com photographer snapping pictures, and enter aid #2. Bill has come out to this aid station to see us. We all resupply from our drop bags and the ample food at this station. So far I had been running with a 24 ounce hand held, here I also grabbed my ultimate waist belt and another 20 ounce water bottle. With the heat and humidity today and the distance between aid 3 to 4 and 4 to 5, I figured I’d want the extra water. We talked with Bill about the BUGS, he had been attacked all morning at the aid station, and we were battling gnats ourselves. I don’t know exactly when it started, but they were really annoying, the best thing was not to stop for any reason, just keep moving forward. Ken changed his shoes and we all headed out.

Aid#2 to aid#3, Milk/Back Creek (10.5 to 14.4)
We started on a really pretty section running alongside a creek, then we quickly had to cross back and forth a couple of times. Since Ken had just changed shoes and socks, he was a little annoyed at this. Somewhere in here, Ken left us in the dust again. I know Amanda could have taken off at any time, but she had decided to stick it out and run with me, logically arguing that this was good Highlands Sky training for her, more time on her feet!! I was happy for the company. I think it was in here that Amanda slipped on a rock while crossing a stream and sliced open her thumb. This was no big deal to her, she cleaned it up and didn’t mention it again. Although we both were very careful from now on at stream crossings! I don’t remember too much else about this section. Before long we were once again exiting single track and blasting down the road to aid #3. We restocked and left pretty quick. As Amanda and I left, Lydia Young (WVMTR) entered the station and we said quick hellos, I was glad to see her doing so well.

Aid#3 to aid#4, Capon Springs Grade (14.4 to 18.7)
I have a couple of strong memories of this section. First is running through the field and across a small stream to see the rubble of the house that had burned down in winter of ‘05/06. Before the race last year we had a moment of silence to remember the two elderly women from the community that lived in this house and had died in a fire. The RD had always asked us to cross the stream on their property and get our feet wet rather than using the small footbridge – the ladies didn’t think the small bridge could take the pounding of 200 runners. They would usually be on their front porch to see the runners go by. It was sad to once again think about these two women losing their lives here. Next memory is continuing down this road to the rundown house with the ‘do not enter’ and ‘security camera in use’ signs. Despite the unfriendly appearance, there was always someone here offering informal aid. Other years there have been folks here enjoying a cold beverage on the porch, this year there was only one guy at his pick up truck offering water. Right after this I recognize that I’ve forgotten that the really long, steep climb is not between aid#4 and #5 as I though, it is happening NOW! I think a couple of people passed me here. One guy mumbled under his breath as he passed, ‘it’s supposed to hurt.’ Amanda was climbing strong as I trudged my way up the hill for what seemed like forever, battling the gnats all the way. Finally we reached the top and hit a really nice wide section of trail. Probably an old logging road, it is mostly flat through some pretty woods. If I had legs here, we could have picked up some time. I think this is about the time Amanda and I started to discuss how well she could do at this race if see was racing. Sure there are hills you’ll walk, but there are lots of fast down hills as well as flat areas she could cruise on. Also, aid is ample and well-placed, they will transport a drop bag to any of the aid stations you want, and it is not rocky and very runnable. So look out, next year Amanda is coming back to race! Next thing you know, we hit a road again, turn right and run down hill to aid#4. We again restock pretty quickly and see Lydia come in just as we’re leaving.

Aid#4 to aid#5, Capon Springs Road (again) (18.7 to 24.4)
You re-enter the woods and immediately have a nice downhill. There are a few wet rocky spots but it’s pretty runnable. This section is something like 5.7 miles long. It seems like we go up and down a few more times here, run some on roads again, have several stream crossings, and see some nice water falls. I don’t know why I don’t remember more about this section…then we come to a gate and a paved road. There are two nice volunteers here to help us safely cross the road, not that I saw any traffic, and they tell us we have 100 yards to the aid station. This is really more like 0.5 miles. We enter the aid station and revisit our drop bags. I drop off my extra bottle and go with the one handheld again. I also restock salt pills and hammer gel. Then Amanda, Lydia and I head out to an immediate climb. We only have a 10k to go now.

Aid#5 to aid#6, Goleman Barn (24.4 to 27.6)
I remember this! The sun is beating down on us, I see clear blue sky above me through the trees and wish for a thunderstorm. We climb steadily, reach the top, have some runnable down hill then hit another climb that looks even steeper than the last one. I guess the good thing is they aren’t too long, I tell myself, I mean it’s not like 2000 feet at PL! I wonder how I forget these parts from year to year. I wonder why in the world I would want to do Highlands Sky, what if it’s this hot? We start to lose Lydia on these climbs. Amanda keeps me going. I finally start to recognize the trail and realize we are getting very close to the barn, I anticipate being sprayed with the hose that they always have out at this aid station. Whoohooo, we enter the aid station and know we have only a few miles to go. I get sprayed and we reunite with Ken. He said he’s been taking his time and said he’s having a good day. He departs, Amanda says he’s thrown down the gauntlet and we’d better get going.

Aid#6 to the Ruritan and the FINISH (27.6 to 31)
We dash (ok stagger) across the pasture, hit the gravel road and try to keep Ken in sight. A beautiful Baltimore Oriole streaks by, Amanda and I both get good looks! Wow! Now the sun is really getting to me. We’re no longer in the woods, we’re running on the road, I’m somehow still wishing for rain, I get a cramp in my side, Amanda urges me on. Ken disappears ahead of us. Finally we hit shade again. We alternate a few times between single track and road. At long last, I recognize what I know is the last blast down hill, we catch Ken here, this leads us to the last short little up hill and then we are at the paved road, probably a mile from the finish. The friendly volunteers caution us when we get to the main road, we cross the bridge over the Cacapon River, turn right at the post office, cross the field, now we can see the Ruritan. Bill races across the field and gets our picture. We turn left on the driveway to the finish. I want to walk but don’t want to be caught walking so I keep going. I can see the finish line, Amanda and I ‘sprint’ to the finish and cross. Done! Another wonderful volunteer hands me an ice cold bottle of water, awesome!

At the Ruritan
We enjoy showers and lots of food. For those of you concerned about getting your money’s worth, these people know how to feed you. They have chicken, vegetarian ribs, vegetarian baked beans, applesauce, pasta salad, green salad, iced tea, lemonade, soda, and did I mention dessert. Your choice of chocolate cake, peach pie, pecan pie and several other options I did not notice. For the record, I went for the peach pie. We shared congratulations and stories of the day with many. Chatted briefly with the race director and thanked her for the awesome race. She urged us to come back next year for the 10th anniversary of the race; I think we’ll be back.

One final note: Amanda and Bill Young both had their Garmin watches going. They both recorded 29.3 miles so apparently this course is still short. It’s been changed a couple of times to ‘fix’ this. It sure felt like 31 to me.