Stupid Little 10 Miler & 5K

Berryville, VA, April 10, 2005

Race Report

After going on hiatus in 2004, the Stupid Little 10 Miler & 5K returned for its fourth running on Sunday 10 April 2005 at Watermelon Park outside of Berryville, Virginia! The event was originally created in order to bring an inexpensive, longer-distance road race to the Shenandoah Valley, since currently there are no other road races longer than 10K in the entire valley. Since the race director did not want to make the event a fancy one, he came up with the silly race name in order to keep everyone's expectations nice and low. (Little did he realize that "stupid" is a bad word in some households!)

This year's edition of the race saw a very large turnout (by our standards, anyway), with a record 139 runners and walkers coming out to enjoy our two scenic courses alongside the Shenandoah River. The participants were treated to absolutely perfect weather. Skies were clear and temperatures rose from around 40° to the mid-50°s by the time the last 10 milers finished. (To those who opted to run the incredibly windy Cherry Blossom 10 Miler the week before instead of our humble little 10 miler, we say: Ha ha!)

10 MILER RECAP

The 10 miler began at exactly 8:00:00 AM with a field of eighty-four participants, led by Clarke County High School assistant track coach Dustin Sweeney, 22. Sweeney, who only lives a couple miles away and is believed to train on some of the roads used in the race, easily shattered our old men's course record with a solid 58:15.1 performance. Taking second overall was 26-year-old Michael Vega of Ashburn, who improved on his Reston 10 Miler finish in March by seven seconds, finishing in 1:00:09. George Mason University student Charles Bowles, 22, earned third in 1:03:18.2.

On the women's side, the 10 miler belonged to Winchester's Brenda Schrank, 33. Schrank was taking it easy after having finished 24th overall at the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler one week earlier (in 1:03:24), but she still won the race by over six minutes, finishing in 1:08:20.5. Clarksburg, MD's Renee Weidman, running her first competitive race of any distance, took second overall in a terrific 1:14:41.8. Third overall went to Nancy Andrews, 37, of Aldie, VA, who ran a 1:16:36.9.

Among the older folks, our male Masters award went to Bill Stahr, 44, of The Plains, VA, who shattered our Masters record with his 1:06:37.5 fourth place finish. Winchester's Ed Mayhew, author of the book "Fitter After 50" (and the soon-to-be-published sequel, "Fitter For Life") ran a 1:20:31.2, taking the men's Senior Masters award. (The exact definition of "Senior Masters" seems to vary; we went with 55 & over for our races.) 42-year-old Laeticia Warring of Reston returned to the race for the first time since 2001 to earn the female Masters prize with a 1:18:36.3 performance, and Middleburg's Punkin Lee, 58, nabbed the Senior Masters trophy by finishing in 1:43:12.5.

We also offer a few other awards at this event, including prize money and an Oscar-like trophy for the 25th overall finisher! Middleburg's Chris Tate was in 28th place at the turnaround on our point-to-point course, but by the end he had worked his way up to 25th and a payday of $30. (Ooh, aah!) Receiving a trophy for finishing Second to Last Overall was Crofton, MD's Petra Bradley, who beat out her friend Alice McNair for the award by a thirty second margin. And then there are perhaps our most unique awards— the two "I Almost Got Shafted" awards, given to the fastest male and female who would not have received a trophy or certificate otherwise. Embarrassed Winchester residents Tom Aldstadt and Lori Bales took home these prestigious trophies (featuring the hindquarters of a horse).

5K RECAP

As for the 5K, a total of fifty-five runners tackled our flat out-and-back course along the river. Duking it out for the lead were friends Kevin Shirk, 25, and Mike Tanner, 29. Tanner, hailing from Strasburg, VA, had been the men's 5K course record holder, but Winchester's Shirk was too fast this day. Shirk took the overall win and set a new course record of 16:28.1, while Tanner zoomed across the finish line thirty seconds later for second place. The battle for third place was tight, with Mike Meadows of Martinsburg fighting his way past Jerry Franklin of Charles Town during the second half of the race, finishing one second ahead in 18:22.3. Franklin's consolation prize was the trophy for the top male Masters finisher.

We ended up with an unexpected but very familiar 5K women's winner: 47-year-old Ruth Riemenschneider of Winchester. Not seen at the races too often over the past couple years due to injuries, Riemenschneider decided to come out and run the Stupid Little 5K just for fun. But to her surprise, she found herself in the women's lead, and by the end she'd earned yet another trophy to add to her vast collection, winning in 22:33.5. 26-year-old Tammy Linaweaver of Stephens City went unchallenged for second overall, finishing in 24:12.9. And third place went to a young woman running her first-ever 5K race, 13-year-old Alyssa Meadows of Martinsburg (daughter of the aforementioned Mike Meadows)!

Winchester's Randy Wingfield, 59, is the only person to have competed in all four Stupid Little 5Ks, and his 21:53.4 performance this year was enough to earn him the male Senior Masters trophy for the third straight running of this race. 52-year-old Nancy Specht, the well-known head coach of Clarke County High School's state champion cross-country teams, placed fourth among the women and won the female Masters award with a 25:03.5. And we were pleased to actually be able to give out the female Senior Masters award in the 5K for the first time ever! 55-year-old Sharrie Booth of Silver Spring, MD was tops among the four female participants aged 55 or over, taking home the trophy for her 30:21.3 finish.

As we did with the 10 miler, we offered more silly awards in the 5K, including the big cash payout for 25th overall. Earning the $15 and the little Oscar trophy this year was 41-year-old Chuck Call of Reliance, VA! Christine Densmore of Inwood, WV and Leesburg's Darryl Hrynyk (the only participant in this event's history with no vowels in his last name) were the fastest woman and man to get no other awards, thereby winning our "I Almost Got Shafted" trophies. And the 5K's Second to Last Overall Award went to Brad Rippey of Bunker Hill, WV, who— because he had run the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler one week earlier (finishing 105th overall in an excellent 59:44)— opted to walk the 5K with wife Jolene. The couple approached the finish line hand in hand, but Brad jokingly leaned forward at the last moment— unwittingly (or perhaps wittingly) earning himself the Second to Last Overall trophy! (Jolene didn't complain, as she got a nice walk with her husband out of the deal.)

THANK-YOUS

Hopefully all of this year's Stupid Little 10 Miler & 5K participants had an enjoyable time! Special thanks must be offered to our race volunteers: Leesa Anderson, Kyra Brown, Nancy Bullock, Jenny Busanic, Sam Kertzman, Audrey Lawrence, Lynne Lawrence, Terry Leckie, Ramona Morris, Brad Shroades, Nancy Specht, and Margaret Spivey. The race couldn't have taken place without the invaluable assistance of these volunteers! It also couldn't have taken place without the hospitality of the folks at Watermelon Park, the private campground which served once again as our race site. (And thank you as well to the residents of Lockes Mill Road, Briggs Road, and Ellerslie Road for putting up with all the runners on race morning.) Here's hoping that the Stupid Little 10 Miler & 5K will be back for a fifth running next year— perhaps on Sunday 9 April 2006!