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

Diane Behm

2018 Report

March 17, 2018 • Fort Valley, VA

75 starters, 62 finishers

Report

Below are the results of the 2018 St. Patty’s Day edition of the Elizabeth’s Furnace 50k, held, of course, on March 17th, 2018. This was the 13th annual running of this VHTRC event. The EFA 50k is held on a colorful assortment of challenging trails around the historic Elizabeth’s Furnace along the Passage Creek, in the northern entrance area to the Fort Valley and the Massanutten Mountains.

First to the finish, in a sparkling new course record, was James Fogg. Dave Frazier had the previous best, and the only time under 5 hours (Dave’s 4:59:32 was in 2014). James rolled in nearly 7 minutes under that time! His finishing time was 4:52:55. It is tradition to mark a record in results with an exclamation point, and rarely is it more merited than in this instance. The Family Fogg has had some great runs at Elizabeth Furnace. James’s brother Dan Fogg was second to Adam Watkins in 2017, and Dan and James were third and fourth in 2016. Adam Watkins was second overall, in what is now the third fastest time in the history of this run. His time was 5:02:21. Adam spent a fair amount of time sprawled out on the trail, as evidenced by his strong Best Blood performance. Paul Jacobs finished third in 5:05:32 - now the fourth fastest time in the 13 years of the EFA 50k.

First woman to the finish was Kelly MacDonald. Her time of 6:15:29 was also good for 6th place overall. 2nd woman and 16th overall was EFA veteran runner extraordinaire Michele Harmon.

Photos

Quatro Hubbard’s photos, courtesy of of runners and volunteers

Results

Place	Name	Age	Sex	Home	Mudhole / 10.3	Furnace / 21.8	Finish / 31	Comment
1	James Fogg	40	M	MD	1:33	3:32	4:52:55!	50k
2	Adam Watkins	38	M	DC	1:38	3:32	5:02:21	50k †
3	Paul Jacobs	39	M	DC	1:38	3:32	5:05:32	50k
4	Mike MacLellan	31	M	VA	1:54	4:04	6:01	50k
5	Justin Faul	37	M	VA	1:50	4:19	6:14	50k †
6	Kelly MacDonald	29	F	VA	2:01	4:25	6:15:29	50k
6	Eric Harris	45	M	MD	1:55	4:01	6:15	50k
8	John Cassilly	51	M	VA	1:56	4:24	6:17	50k
9	Patrick Vaughan	40	M	VA	1:55	4:12	6:19	50k
10	Keith Knipling	42	M	VA	1:57	4:27	6:20	50k
11	Ryan Brown	32	M	MD	1:56	4:25	6:34	50k
12	Karsten Brown	43	M	VA	2:02	4:43	6:46	50k
13	Gavin Watson	57	M	MD	2:13	4:53	6:55	50k
13	Joe Schramka	48	M	DC	2:13	4:53	6:55	50k
15	Josh Howe	39	M	VA	2:00	4:39	7:00	50k
16	Michele Harmon	52	F	MD	2:18	5:06	7:20	50k
17	Olivier Leblond	45	M	VA	2:15	5:16	7:21	50k†††
18	Doug Massengale	42	M	MD	2:22	5:08	7:25	50k
19	Andy Peterson	61	M	VA	2:23	5:14	7:30	50k
20	Steve Barge	51	M	VA	2:19	5:13	7:31	50k
20	Stephen Yurek	56	M	VA	2:24	5:13	7:31	50k
22	Emily Clay	28	F	MD	2:16	5:20	7:39	50k
22	Casey Fisher	34	M	MD	2:21	5:20	7:39	50k
24	Dan Hawk	45	M	MD	2:23	5:22	7:41	50k
25	Guy Towler	48	M	VA	2:21	5:09	7:45	50k
26	Chris Pabian	41	M	PA	2:34	5:51	7:51	50k
27	Alvin Lee	43	M	MD	2:26	5:29	7:59	50k
28	Jamie Greenawalt	50	F	PA	2:26	5:35	8:04	50k
28	Larry Huffman	57	M	VA	2:26	5:35	8:04	50k
28	Bruce Tweedie	56	M	VA	2:30	5:35	8:04	50k
31	Art Perraud	60	M	MD	2:26	5:30	8:05	50k
32	Ashley Carr	32	F	MD	2:28	5:39	8:06	50k
33	Tom Simonds	63	M	VA	2:34	5:45	8:15	50k
34	Hompeng Komthirath	43	M	VA	2:25	5:30	8:20	50k††
35	Jeff Pence	59	M	VA	2:33	5:39	8:27	50k
36	Stephen Cooper	63	M	MD	2:32	5:51	8:39	50k
37	Michael Stefanon	49	M	VA	2:33	5:39	8:40	50k
37	James Miller	53	M	VA	2:26	5:46	8:40	50k
39	Samantha Pitts-Kiefer	40	F	VA	2:26	6:05	8:57	50k
39	Marty Fox	67	M	VA	2:45	6:20	8:57	50k
41	Tammie Garstecki	46	F	MD	2:26	6:11	9:06	50k
42	Brian Carr	42	M	MD	2:32	6:16	9:07	50k
43	Loel Romeo	53	F	MD	3:07	6:23	9:10	50k
44	Eric Thomson	49	M	VA	2:49	6:22	9:20	50k
44	Jon Jester	58	M	VA	2:53	6:23	9:20	50k
44	Joyce Fendley	52	F	VA	2:53	6:28	9:20	50k
47	Scott Martin	56	M	NY	2:42	6:24	9:27	50k
48	Gary Maier	65	M	NY	2:53	6:28	9:37	50k
49	Lindsay Burleigh	38	F	VA	2:43	5:31	9:38	50k
49	Ariana Sarar	33	F	DC	2:50	6:31	9:38	50k
51	Gary Bowman	52	M	PA	2:48	6:33	9:39	50k
51	Mandy Pierce	43	F	PA	2:53	6:33	9:39	50k
53	Sirisha Golla	41	F	VA	3:06	6:47	9:56	50k
54	Jeffrey Klemm	67	M	VA	2:51	6:43	10:01	50k
55	Tracy Cooley	45	F	VA	2:46	6:33	10:07	50k††††
56	Tony Escobar	54	M	VA	3:05	7:05	10:26	50k
56	Shelly Cable	48	F	PA	3:05	7:06	10:26	50k
56	Marwa Elsayed	43	F	VA	3:05	7:06	10:26	50k
59	Bob Anderson	71	M	VA	3:08	7:05	10:29	50k
60	Jimmy Roeder	38	M	MD	2:52	7:08	10:45	50k
61	Judith Weber	58	F	MD	3:08	7:04	10:47	50k
61	Alan Zwart	47	M	DC	2:55	7:10	10:47	50k
DNF	Tracey Thibodeau	47	F	VA	3:15	6:45	7:18	23 miles
DNF	Ari Darmon	34	M	VA	2:50	7:13	x	23 miles
DNF	Eric Rohnacher	39	M	VA	2:52	6:50	x	22 miles
DNF	Robert Grolemund	49	M	VA	3:15	7:04	7:18	22 miles
DNF	Tracy Dahl	38	F	VA	3:11	7:30	x	22 miles
DNF	Brian Schmidt	49	M	VA	1:40	3:41	4:05	21 miles
DNF	Dan Aghdam	49	M	VA	2:21	x	5:33	21 miles
DNF	Kevin Green	45	M	MD	2:25	x	5:53	21 miles
DNF	Sara Fanous	38	F	VA	2:29	x	5:44	21 miles
DNF	Jaret Seiberg	48	M	MD	2:42	x	5:44	21 miles
DNF	Carole Williamson	56	F	MD	3:07	x	6:53	21 miles
DNF	Larry Thibodeau	49	M	VA	3:15	x	7:05	21 miles
DNF	David Stauffer	25	M	VA	1:38	x	3:20	road drop†††††
! — new course record † — tie for Best Blood (in the view of the horrified volunteers †† — Homer Komthirath covered the full distance of the EFA 50k, but accidentally took the “social loop” on the Sherman Gap/Shawl Gap side of the course (in other words, ran that section backwards). ††† — 1st in Bonus Miles: Olivier Leblond reported that he covered over 34 miles on the course †††† - 1st woman in Bonus Miles: Tracy Cooley reported exploring the entire Sherman Gap pink trail including the little-used section that involves fording the Passage Creek and crossing the Fort Valley Road all the way to Bear Wallow and the Mudhole Gap purple trail. ††††† - Self Extraction Award: David Stauffer aggravated an IT band injury while stopping at the 1st Aid Station at the end of the Mudhole Gap trail. The fastest and easiest way out was on foot, back to Signal Knob parking by way of the entire length of the Mudhole Gap trail back to the Fort Valley Road, then up the road to the parking lot.

Last updated December 16, 2019