2024 Report

Below are the tentative results from the 2024 Elizabeth’s Furnace Fat Ass 50k. Under the weather circumstances, a remarkable 74 intrepid runners toed the starting line. And despite the persistent cold, rainy conditions, 55 completed the full 50k distance! Others who didn’t had every intention of doing so, but either ended up at the finish early after taking a wrong turn prior to the second aid station at Elizabeth Furnace, or were kept from a finish by the 7:30 cutoff at that aid station. The slick rocks and heavy mud also led to some banged up runners making the prudent decision to call it a day early.

We did have a very exciting EFA, even though no records were going to be threatened on this day. Lance Dockery grabbed the lead early and was never headed, finishing in 5:22. But David Stauffer, back after being knocked out of two previous EFA’s by injury, pressed hard the entire way and kept Lance within shouting distance until the end, coming in 7 minutes later in 5:29. Huge congrats as well to the top woman on this day, Steph Hill, whose 6:56 finish was also good for sixth overall.

Despite the conditions, an amazing team of volunteers played a huge part in not only helping these runners achieve their goals, but also made the aid stations and the finish line atmospheres as special as they normally are with more typical Elizabethan weather. Chef Jeff Best and his sous chef, Homer Komthirath, overcame some technical issues posed by Jeff’s vintage 19th century Coleman stove and cranked out a high volume of extraordinarily delicious “Furnace Fire” Chicken Tacos and a vat of vegan Tomatillo White Bean soup, which every shivering runner gratefully consumed.

Volunteer Jade Graham took photos literally from start to finish at this year’s Elizabeth Furnace 50k. You can find these wonderful images at the following link on Google Photos.

Thanks so much to ALL the volunteers, and equally to ALL the runners for coming out and making it another great day in the mountains! Send your reports, photos, and corrections to the posted results to Q. Also know that the stickers, which were trapped in suburban Maryland with the very reluctantly MIA RD Mike Bur, will make their way to Quatro, so if you are owed one for your finish, you should have many opportunities to track him down at an upcoming event or run. In particular, there will be the Bull Run Run 50 mile run weekend in early April, with entry spaces still available 😁 [FYI, Mike’s poor son, Matthias, was feeling much better after his bout with a nasty bug by Saturday night.]

Photos

Other reports

• Calabrese Corner, by John Calabrese

Results

• = runners who came into the finish prior to AS 2, then retraced their steps to continue on to finish, so a bonus mile.

Volunteers