Geoffrey Baker makes his way across Doll Ridge on the Tuscarora Trail during the 2017 Elizabeth Furnace 50 km.

Diane Behm

2015 Report

March 14, 2015 • Fort Valley, VA

75 starters, 61 finishers

Report

Below are the results of the 10th running of the EFA 50k. The 2015 run saw repeat winners from 2014, as both the mens’ and womens’ champs, Dave Frazier and Angela Russell, again topped those fields. Angela actually bested her time of 2014, despite more challenging course conditions brought on by rain the previous night and heavy snow melt over the previous week, and despite battling a stomach flu leading up to run day. Dave’s time was a few minutes slower than his astonishing course record from 2014. Best Blood was once again won entirely too easily and dominantly this year. John Nelson took a literal faceplant about halfway into the run. See his report for more details.

John Nelson’s Elizabeth’s Furnace 50km Report

The aftermath of John Nelson's face-plant — The aftermath of John Nelson’s face-plant.

This has been a tough winter for training. After cutting short three big runs (21 miles at Boyers Furnace, 16.5 miles at TWOT and 15 miles at Hashawha) EFA was going to be my breakthrough run.

I was looking forward to topping Sherman and finishing strong. I was still feeling fresh along Dolls Ridge with the nasty rocks at mile 14. When the Tuscarora Trail started down, I paused to water the trees, knowing I could catch up to my companions as the trail headed down. Then I was flying down, catching up quickly when I discovered I could hear the creek rushing off to my right. I shouted something about ‘we’re getting close’ and glanced up to see if I could see the fire road to the right. The next thing I knew I was doing a push-up and wondering how bad the damage was.

As I struggled upright, the guys with me came back to ask if I was OK. Someone said my glasses broke and as he put the lenses back in I said don’t worry about them I have new ones on order. I wasn’t gushing blood and didn’t feel dizzy so I figured it was mostly cosmetic damage.

Then I saw Tom Corris and Dave Woll below. They had left their aid station and run up for a jaunt. It turns out we arrived at the intersection with the Signal Knob fire road at the same time as they did. I had a choice to make, hike the climb over the Tuscarora Trail and down to my car or take the flat fire road with Tom and Dave to their cars. I chose the flat because I couldn’t see myself and didn’t really know the extent of the damages, and this would let me stay with people.

My GPS says I ran 14.8 miles and hiked 5.2 miles out. The 5.2 seemed to take all day. I didn’t feel too bad except for being hungry since the crash happened at lunchtime and I couldn’t really eat with a busted mouth. Quatro gave me a YooHoo which was a blessing.

The folks in the Emergency room in Front Royal were not very encouraging, saying things like “Wow, have you looked at yourself yet?” They did offer that the Doctor on call, Dr. Behsudi had trained as a plastic surgeon and did amazing work. He spent 2 hours putting in about 30 stitches. A CAT scan showed no inter-cranial bleeding, but that I had broken my nose.

If there is anything good to take from this experience it’s the advice I would offer. If you run trails, you will fall sooner or later. Some falls are worth writing home about (ask Sean Andrish to show you his hand, or Elena Bragg her knee). You can minimize the impact (pun intended) if you do these things; a) Wear gloves, cheap garden gloves work and if you clip the fingers open you can get used to wearing them even in Summer. b) Try to run with others. If you are going out alone pick a trail that is likely to have traffic. c) Carry a small towel. It works to staunch bleeding and may work as a sling.

My thanks go out to Tom and Dave for giving up their plans and hiking out with me. Thanks to Quatro for his YooHoo which may have kept me from passing out in the waiting room.

Now, I have to wait for the swelling to go down before I can start getting in shape for another go. I think the Chocolate Bunny will have to wait till next year.

Results

Place	Name	Sex	Age	State	Mudhole/10 miles	E. Furnace / 22 miles	Finish
1	David Frazier	Male	29	VA	1:21	3:33	5:20:28
2	Matthew Bugin	Male	33	VA	1:34	3:45	5:23:58
3	Kyle Lawrence	Male	30	VA	1:34	3:45	5:38
4	Jack Kurisky	Male	47	VA	1:34	xxx	5:40
5	Joey Cohen	Male	31	DC	1:48	4:03	5:51
6	Chris McIntosh	Male	41	VA	1:34	3:47	5:58
7	Evan Fisher	Male	34	VA	1:45	4:03	6:00
8	Ginn White	Male	39	MD	2:05	4:25	6:12
9	Trevor Baine	Male	33	DC	1:45	4:15	6:22
10	Gavin Watson	Male	54	MD	2:05	4:28	6:33
11	Joe Schramka	Male	46	DC	xxx	4:41	6:46
12	Angela Russell	Female	38	MD	2:02	4:41	6:52:20
13	Larry Watson II	Male	48	MD	2:04	4:40	6:59
14	Kevin Russell	Male	44	MD	2:02	4:41	7:07
15	Jesse Fuller	Male	31	VA	2:07	4:47	7:12
16	Dan Rogers	Male	39	MD	2:13	4:47	7:12
17	Matthew Smith	Male	35	VA	xxx	4:47	7:15
18	Kevin Green	Male	42	MD	2:14	4:52	7:15
19	Dave Herring	Male	44	VA	2:06	4:47	7:17
20	Ron Green	Male	47	MD	2:11	4:52	7:17
21	Glen Gibson	Male	35	VA	xxx	4:54	7:24
22	Brian Carr	Male	39	MD	2:07	xxx	7:28
23	Birgit Mitchell	Female	43	MD	2:14	5:08	7:30
24	Danny Mowers	Male	37	PA	2:20	5:08	7:30
25	Michael Hannon	Male	50	MD	2:20	5:08	7:34
26	Jaret Seiberg	Male	45	MD	2:15	5:09	7:38
27	Rick Thompson	Male	50	MD	2:11	5:02	7:39
28	Art Perraud	Male	57	MD	2:14	5:06	7:43
29	Michele Harmon	Female	49	MD	2:18	5:10	7:48
30	Paul Crickard	Male	61	MD	2:18	5:22	7:51
31	Alisa Springman	Female	40	VA	2:22	5:32	7:54
32	Jim Daniels	Male	41	VA	2:22	5:32	7:54
33	Tim Gavin	Male	47	MD	2:20	5:24	7:55
34	Jeff Pence	Male	56	VA	2:18	5:10	8:07
35	Dan Aghdam	Male	46	VA	2:31	5:32	8:07
36	Irawan Balcet	Male	38	VA	2:29	5:37	8:08
37	Fred Fialco	Male	41	MD	2:29	5:38	8:08
38	Betsy Nickle	Female	31	DC	2:26	5:04	8:11
39	Sara Fanous	Female	35	VA	2:27	5:37	8:23
40	Tom Simonds	Male	60	VA	2:27	5:37	8:23
41	Rob Tidwell	Male	44	VA	2:16	5:08	8:26
42	Bruce Tweedie	Male	53	VA	2:33	5:45	8:29
43	Stephen Cooper	Male	60	MD	2:30	5:44	8:33
44	Jill Quivey	Female	13	VA	2:31	5:48	8:33
45	David Quivey	Male	15	VA	2:31	5:48	8:33
46	Jesse Parker	Male	35	VA	2:18	5:08	8:34
47	Nathan Vasher	Male	29	VA	2:42	5:58	8:52
48	Charlie Hogan	Male	55	MD	2:20	5:46	8:59
49	Lisa Johnston	Female	50	MD	2:41	6:12	9:03
50	Kristen Pence	Female	33	VA	2:38	5:58	9:04
51	Eric Thomson	Male	46	VA	2:42	5:58	9:04
52	Michael Jury	Male	39	VA	2:34	6:07	9:09
53	Larry Ferguson	Male	39	VA	2:35	6:07	9:09
54	John Godinet	Male	58	MD	2:41	6:12	9:16
55	Frank Probst	Male	71	VA	2:39	6:12	9:17
56	Robert Perry	Male	52	MD	2:40	6:12	9:23
57	Scott Millar	Male	46	MD	2:41	6:12	9:23
58	Alan Gowen	Male	65	MD	2:41	6:25	9:23
59	Alan Lagon	Male	45	MD	3:02	6:21	9:26
60	Ed Walsh	Male	66	VA	2:44	6:39	10:24
61	Judith Weber	Female	55	MD	3:17	7:15	11:12
DNF	Tyler Keyworth	Male	29	MD	1:34	3:52	xxx
DNF - 23	Brian Schmidt	Male	46	VA	1:34	3:52	xxx
DNF - 23	John Garneski	Male	38	VA	xxx	5:56	xxx
DNF - 23	Katie Raezer	Female	46	PA	2:25	5:58	xxx
DNF - 23	Michael Gildea	Male	50	VA	2:38	6:02	xxx
DNF - 23	Gary Maier	Male	62	NY	2:41	6:12	xxx
DNF - 23	Mary Ellen Hutchins	Female	60	VA	2:51	6:42	xxx
DNF - 23	Megan Wiegand	Female	29	DC	3:06	7:22	xxx
DNF - 23	Katie Keier	Female	44	VA	3:06	7:22	xxx
DNF - 23	Bob Gaylord	Male	66	VA	3:06	7:22	xxx
DNF - 22	Sean Andrish	Male	45	VA	1:34	3:52	xxx
DNF - 22	Brian Sobolewski	Male	40	VA	2:49	xxx	xxx
DNF - 22	Francesco Smith	Male	29	MD	2:56	xxx	xxx
DNF - 22	Erin Brown	Female	31	VA	2:57	xxx	xxx
Notes: 23 mile runners were recorded as having run to the second aid station at the Furnace, then running directly to the finish without doing the Sherman Gap loop. 22 mile runners were recorded as having gone directly to the finish, skipping the Furnace aid station. Irawan Balcet and Fred Fialco get “extra credit” for diverting in error to the finish line early, then returning to the course to complete the Sherman Gap loop. Tyler Keyworth started the Sherman Gap loop, but returned when he experienced back issues. I think that covers all our asterisks for 2015!

Last updated February 22, 2020