2024 Report

The first of 2024’s three MMT Training Academy runs saw 44 runners off from the start on Moreland Gap Road behind the Caroline Furnace Lutheran Camp at 6:47 am on Saturday, January 13th. Runners set out to cover the first 32 miles of the MMT 100 course, with the finish at the Signal Knob parking lot. Heavy fog gave way eventually to cloudy skies and a brief rain and snow squall as runners began reaching the first aid station at Edinburg Gap. The winds picked up and temperatures dropped throughout the day. Runners reported some muddy spots but conditions were pretty good on the trails, considering the rain that fell the previous day.

Runners were treated to hot food (hash browns, pancakes, and grilled cheese) and snacks at both Edinburg Gap (mile 11) and Woodstock Tower (mile 19) aid stations. Volunteering at Edinburg were Kevin Bligan, Carl Bligan, and Aleck Wong; Sarah Smith and Jeff Best served up the treats at Woodstock Tower. Karen Wille, Tonnie Warfield, Elaina Stanton, and your run director served up veggie chili, roasted potatoes, and baguettes along with more of Jeff Best’s awesome grilled cheese sandwiches. Runners seemed to enjoy themselves around the fire as the afternoon progressed.

Thirty-four runners completed the entire 32-mile course, while five ran shorter, but still admirable distances, choosing to stop at one of the aid stations. Five runners “chose” what one described as the “fast pass lane” (aka the forest service road) from Moreland Gap to Edinburg Gap, and thus missed the charms of Short Mountain. None of the “Fast Pass Five” seemed disappointed as they cheerfully ran into the aid station.

Half of this year’s field are entered in MMT; of those, it will be either their first MMT or a return to right a previous DNF. And for seven, MMT will be their first ever 100 mile run! Good luck to this latter group, and to all the runners this year in whatever runs they came out on this winter’s day to prepare for!

Entry is still open for the second Massanutten Training Academy run, scheduled to be held on Saturday, February 17th, which will cover the middle third of the MMT run course, from Signal Knob to Camp Roosevelt.

Your run director hopes to see you next year at 5:30 am at the Signal Knob parking lot on the Saturday of MLK weekend (Jan 18, 2025)! Entry will open a month ahead of the run.

[Editor’s Note: Huge thanks to all the volunteers, but particularly to that unnamed run director, who for the purposes of this report we will just refer to as “Larry Huffman.”

Larry stayed out in the Massanuttens and completed Day Two of the MLK Weekend runs, by finishing the Waterfall 50k!

Those participants in this first Training Academy run who were able to answer the call of the alarm clock the following morning and showed for the second event, the WTF 50k, should be applauded for maxing out this fantastic weekend of two long supported mountain training run. Their sanity could perhaps also be questioned, but we will refrain and instead just offer kudos - and WTF stickers! - to the following (in alphabetical order):

Keavy Baylor, Joshua Binder, John Calabrese, James Miller, Adam Rasmussen, Huanyuan Sheng, and Christian Stanton. Tin Luu competed in the Waterfall run, but opted for the Party Route that returned him to the finish after about 22 tough miles on Sunday. Well done, all!

Oh, and not to forget Barret Stanton, who also did the double … it might be easy to forget Barret, since his time on both courses was relatively short compared to everyone else. So blink and you may have missed him! Barret was first to the finish on Saturday. He also won the Waterfall run on Sunday. Happy MLK Weekend, Barret! And Happy MLK Weekend to all who came out to run and to help over this wonderful weekend in our Massanutten Mountains.]

Results

AS 1 - Edinburg Gap, 12 miles
AS 2 - Woodstock Tower, 19 miles
Finish - Signal Knob Parking, 31 miles

And here is our usual admonition regarding the “results” below… Bear in mind: this is not a race. No one treated this as a race. These should not be considered “race results.” The times are provided for informational purposes only. This can help others who pull the route from the event site and run the course self-supported, so that those runners can approximate times. It can assist those considering this training run in future years to estimate their own run times. And it is helpful for volunteers to see the range of times that runners take to cover certain sections.