Greasy-Gooney 10K

Browntown, VA, October 28, 2006

Race Report

Browntown, Virginia is a very small town, just an intersection, really, tucked away beneath the Blue Ridge in a corner of the northern Shenandoah Valley. Since 1999, the town has been the scene of the Greasy-Gooney 10K, a small and challenging road race held around the peak of the fall foliage season, typically drawing around forty finishers each year. But this year, a veritable mob of 94 runners-- exactly double the record turnout of 2005-- descended on Browntown for the race's eighth running! Only an iffy weather forecast prevented the event from breaking the hundred-runner barrier. But those who stayed home missed a beautiful morning with almost perfect running weather, as early morning rain moved out at sunrise and patchy fog burned off shortly after the race began.

Easily repeating as the men's champion was 29-year-old ultrarunner and triathlete Aaron Schwartzbard of Reston, Virginia. Coming off a runner-up finish at the Backyard Burn Fall Trail Series 10 Miler the previous weekend, Schwartzbard zoomed off into the fog unchallenged and strode into Browntown 35 minutes 33 seconds later for his second straight Greasy-Gooney victory. 24-year-old Charles Bowles of Boyce led a secondary pack up the course's 3.1 mile ascent of 480 vertical feet, then pulled away over the remaining 3.1 downhill miles to take second overall in 37:51, followed a long eight seconds later by co-race director Karsten Brown, 32. Another accomplished ultrarunner, Alexandria's Mike Mason, 35, caught Winchester 28-year-old Jason Herron to take fourth in 38:33 to Herron's 38:38, with Arlington's Randall Conner in sight twelve seconds behind Herron.

This year's women's field was led by yet another ultrarunner, 41-year-old Laura Nelson of Woodstock, who recently earned $1,000 as the Baltimore Marathon's Masters champ. Her Greasy-Gooney performance turned out to be just as dominant as Schwartzbard's, and her 42:16 finish lowered the women's course record by over a minute. Second place went to 29-year-old Elizabeth Jones of Fairfax, whose 44:18 finish was the fourth fastest women's time in the event's history. Even more impressive was the stunning effort turned in by 11-year-old Brittany Pollard of Falling Waters, West Virginia, who crossed the line just five seconds behind Jones to take third overall. Winchester's Tina Genay, 35, finished fourth in 46:19, and another talented youngster, 15-year-old Emily Durant of Charles Town, was fifth in an age-group-winning 47:01.

Among other notable performances this year, 46-year-old Bill Stahr of The Plains broke the race's long-standing Masters record, running a 40:03 to place seventh overall. 41-year-old Raymond Bollock (40:34) and 58-year-old Bob Ring (46:21) also set new Greasy-Gooney age group records, as did the aforementioned Nelson, Jones, and Pollard. And the race saw its first-ever finishers in the women's 60-69 division-- Mary Mayhew of Winchester and Jean Davenport of Gum Spring, Virginia. Another age group record fell to 52-year-old Mary Ellen Hutchins of Front Royal, the race's top female finisher from Warren County (54:46). Brown, the first local male finisher, was joined by Denny Myers, Paul Grosz, and Bob Gurtler as the only runners to have finished all eight Greasy-Gooney 10Ks. And 25-year-old Rick Jacobs of Culpeper was well-deserving of this year's Most Awkward Race Outfit Award, having run the 10K in full Batman regalia.

In light of the sudden increase in participation this year, co-race directors Terry Leckie and Karsten Brown were especially grateful for the invaluable assistance of all who pitched in to make the race a success, including Lee Brooks, Kyra Brown, Nancy Bullock, Matthew and Casey Bunting, Bob Gurtler, Sam Kertzman, Lynne Lawrence, Ramona Morris, Seth Myers, Neal Riemenschneider, and Alexander Snyder. Tom Lacombe, owner of O.J. Rudacille's General Merchandise in Browntown, was of great assistance as always, and thanks are also owed to the Browntown Community Center Association and the Browntown Baptist Church for the use of their facilities. Hopefully we'll do this all over again next year with the ninth running of the Greasy-Gooney 10K, tentatively slated for Saturday 27 October 2007!

(A lengthier and more photo-laden version of this race report can be found on the Greasy-Gooney 10K Web site!)