2018 Report

Report

The results for the 2018 PB&J 50k are posted below. Thanks for all the runners and volunteers for making this year’s event the best of the five held to date! This year’s run, held on a generally cloudy and humid day on the first weekend in October (continuing a relentlessly wet and humid late summer and early fall in 2018), saw a record number of starters and a record number of finishers.

62.5% of the runners who started logged an official finish. This percentage would seem to indicate that the PB&J is held on a ridiculously challenging course for a 50k. However, little could be further from the truth. Other than some early rocky miles on the South Valley Trail along the South Fork of Quantico Creek, the course is quite benign and eminently runnable. It is two loops, however, so the lure of some runners’ cars clearly proves to be stronger than the desire to score the sweet PB&J sticker.

To compare to previous years:

• 2017: 51 finishers out of 85 (60%)
• 2016: 38 finishers out of 71 (53.5%)
• 2015: 44 finishers out of 61 (72%)
• 2014: 35 finishers out of 58 (60%)

Back to this year’s run. The first loop got off to an exciting start at the front of the pack, as a cluster that was generally led by Matt Christovich, and included Dave Herring, Tyler Gonsen, Will Adams, Rachel Viger and Dave Herring set a brisk early pace. After the first aid station, Will Adams quickly opened up a small gap on this group and systematically increased his lead over the remaining 24 miles to ultimately take the overall win with a nice time of 4:25. This is the third fastest winning time in the short history of the run (Dan Fogg’s 4:04 remains the record, set at last year’s run). Brian Schmidt set a consistently strong pace and finished second overall (first VHTRC and first masters, as well), and Tyler Gonsen was third. VHTRC members Dave Herring and Trevor Baine finished in 4th and 5th, in times just over 5 hours. Early pace setter Matt Christovich felt the lingering effects of a nasty bout with strep throat that led to his falling back to 6th overall, a remarkable performance under those circumstances.

Rachel Viger cruised to an easy victory on the women’s side of the PB&J field. Rachel had been part of the early break away group, and she held on to finish in a sparkling time of 5:27, 7th overall (1st VHTRC). This is even more impressive in that Rachel was experiencing her first run at the ultra distance. The next four women finished in a fairly tight cluster in just over 6 hours: tied for second in 6:06 were Suzie Spangler (also 2nd VHTRC) and Kathryn Linehan; Llewelyn Engel was 4th woman 4 minutes back, and 5th woman was Carolyn Gigot in a time of 6:12.

The 2019 run date will be in the traditional early October slot on the run calendar; stay tuned to the event website for an announcement as to the specific date. The 6th PB&J 50k will feature a new start/finish location in Prince William Forest Park. Rather than using the Pine Camp parking area and pavilion adjacent to the PWFP’s Visitor Center, the Telegraph Picnic Pavilion located just down the road from the Visitor Center will become the new host site. This will also lead to a small alteration to the course as a result. Look for entry to open using the VHTRC’s online sign up system in late August/early September of 2019.

Other reports

Trevor Myers Run Report

Photos

2018 run photographs.

Results