Bluemont Fair 10K

Bluemont, VA, September 16, 2006

Race Report

10K winners

A damp, misty morning could not put a damper on the 28th annual Bluemont Fair 10K, held on Saturday 16 September 2006 in the small western Loudoun County town of Bluemont. This year's race featured a new race director but the same challenging 6.2 mile course, zooming downhill along the shoulder of Route 7 before slowly working back uphill to Bluemont via quiet country roads. A light breeze flowing down the Blue Ridge added an extra obstacle to the final two uphill miles, as clouds hung just a few hundred feet overhead and temperatures hovered in the mid-60°s. But the cool weather proved advantageous to the seventy-eight participants, with many of those who had run the warmer 2005 event posting faster times this year. About half of this year's field was participating in the 10K for the first time.

Among the newcomers was 15-year-old Emily Durant of Charles Town, WV, who made quite the debut on the area running scene! The orange-shirted teen dashed her way to the overall women's victory in 45:31, the fastest winning time at Bluemont since Winchester's Ann Robb broke forty-five minutes at the 2003 race. Running within sight of Durant was 40-year-old Elyzabeth Voell, co-owner of Loudoun MotorSports & Power Equipment in Leesburg, who took second place in 45:45. This left the female Masters award open for 2003 champ Robb, now 43, who trailed Voell across the finish line by about half a minute. Fourth place went to last year's Masters winner, Kathy Klimek of Round Hill, who had to settle for an age group award despite finishing almost three minutes faster this year. Nancy Andrews, 39, rounded out the women's top five with a 48:09 performance.

Last year's men's champ, 44-year-old Mark Neff of Derwood, MD, came back across the Potomac to defend his win, but he and his challengers quickly learned that they faced a formidable opponent in the form of 22-year-old Chris Sheaffer of Purcellville. Sheaffer, who recently began teaching science at Loudoun Valley High School in Purcellville, graduated from Pennsylvania's Juniata College this year and holds a number of the college's running records, including a 32:39 track 10K. So as he chatted amiably amidst the hard-breathing lead pack during the first mile and a half, it was apparent that the men's race was already effectively over. Sheaffer gradually pulled away and won easily in 36:53. Neff did his best to reel in fellow Montgomery County Road Runners Club member Karsten Brown, 32, but the long-haired fellow from Front Royal held him off, finishing fourteen seconds ahead of Neff for second place. Still, Neff's 37:54 earned him the men's Masters award and was the fastest Masters finish in recent years at Bluemont. (The author's records only go back to 1999.) Winchester's Raymond Bollock, 41, finished fourth in 2004 and took fourth again this year, albeit with a faster time of 39:11. Also showing improvement was three-time Bluemont finisher Jedediah Caldwell, 16, who cruised in for fifth in 40:57.

Race director Charley Billman did a fine job in his first year as Bluemont Fair 10K race director. Assisting him was a crew of invaluable volunteers-- including his young daughter River, who presented prizes of pottery and mugs to the award winners. Also pitching in during the 10K were 2005 Bluemont race directors Raylene Scott and Tom Ashton, as well as Don & Linda Corley, Myron Kremer, Karsten Brown, Bill & William Poindexter, Sunny & Betty Colbert, Mike & Jen Richardson, Kyle Jansen, and a couple others whose names we do not have. Thank you to all who participated or helped out, and hopefully we'll all be back in Bluemont on Saturday 15 September 2007 for the 29th running of the Bluemont Fair 10K!

Bluemont Fair Web site: http://www.bluemontfair.com/