Exploring along Dead Run, the last stream crossing before reaching the Beltway.

Keith Knipling

2005 Report

November 6, 2009  •  Washington, DC

60 starters, 41 finishers

Report

The Potomac Heritage Trail
The Potomac Heritage Trail.

Sunday, November 6, marked the third running of the New Potomac Heritage 50k. It was a beautiful 70 degree day and the leaves were at their peak. In fact the day was so beautiful, that we were surprised by many last minute volunteers. Once again, about 60 runners covered at least some distance on the course.

On course, Don Padfield took an early lead and maintained it for the entire run to set a new course record of 5:01. He was chased by Mike Schuster, who after taking several wrong turns, stuck close to Sophie Speidel for a good portion of the run. Sophie ran strong all day and set a new women’s course record. Some of the early finishers who stopped for mimosas at aid station 2 included Laura Dewald, Ed Cappucino, and John Dewalt. Joni Fontana, the third woman in, finished for the third year in a row.

The runner’s field was very geographically diverse this year. In addition to the all-important VHTRC regulars, Jim Sullivan joined us again from Florida. We had others join us from Florida, Wisconsin, the Seattle area, Southern California, and three from Texas. Frequent visitors Bill Losey and Bob Combs joined us from Ohio and from Pennsylvania we were joined by Diana Widdowson, Harry Smith, and John DeWalt.

A big thanks goes out to Amy and Steve Platt for handling aid station 1 for the third year in a row. Sierra and Chase Platt served as young aid station workers in training. Aid station 2 was taken over by John Hayward, Mike Bur, and Meggie Scogna. They were joined by Michelle Arnot and surprise volunteer Jeff Reed. This creative combination of volunteers offered a 5 minute time deduction for mimosa consumption.

After four miles along the Potomac Heritage trail, the runners reached the chain bridge aid station captained by Maria Bertacchi. She was assisted by Anne Andrews, Richard Patch, Amy and Steve Platt, Farouk Elkassed, and Sean Andrish. Up the river, Jaret Seiberg handled the Turkey run aid station for the third year in a row. Ann Noss, Bob Phillips, Rayna Matsuno, Keith Dunn, and Betty Miracle assisted.

Other volunteers who should be recognized include John DeWalt and Kirstin Walcott for their peanut butter sandwich preparation, Karen Krieg for her course marshaling, and Scott Scudamore for recording results. Mike and Nancy Schuster and Sean Andrish were also a great cleanup crew.

The course marking was accomplished with the team of John Hayward, his dog Dasher, Steve Burton, and myself. Things started to fall apart when John Hayward left us….Steve and I had a great conversation going, and I had found some snacks (a totally wrapped Mr. Goodbar!) on trail…. After about 10 minutes of crossing a boulder field along the Potomac River, Steve and I realized we hadn’t seen a blaze in long time. We retraced our footsteps and tried to eliminate any blue flour dropped, but we may have missed some. A few folks missed the same turn we missed and saw traces of blue flour that caused them to believe they were on course. Ultimately everyone found the finish!

Sorry if I missed anyone, but thanks to all of those who helped out. I hope all of the runners and volunteers will participate again next year!

Photos

Anstr Davidson’s and Kirstin Walcott’s.

The trail upstream from Turkey Run.
The trail upstream from Turkey Run.

Results

PLNameTimeDistanceComments
1Don Padfield5:01!50 kmNew course record!
2Michael Schuster5:1650 kmGet lost much?
3Sophie Speidel5:46!50 kmSpeedy sleepy snory sophie sets course record
 James Howton5:4650 km 
5Kristian Pfeiffer5:5250 kmJust passing through!
6Ernesto Cazarez6:0950 kmErnesto returns for another round.
7Ed Cappucino6:19†50 kmFirst male with blood alcohol >.05
 Laura DeWald6:19†50 kmFirst female with blood alcohol.>05
9Mike Bright6:3050 km 
10John Shepard6:27†50 kmNew ultra addict on the scene
11Quatro Hubbard6:30†50 kmGo Cuatro!
 Bill Losey6:30†50 kmBilly edges out Bob through consumption
13Bob Combs6:3550 km 
14Joni Fontana6:4150 km3 years in a row for Joni!
15JohnDeWalt6:45†50 kmA walk in the park for John
16Ed Schultze6:5050 kmStopped to perform trail maintenance
17Paul Sherlock6:5850 km 
18Henry Hobbs7:04†50 km+Texan does bonus miles++
19Barb Isom7:0650 km 
 Rich DeCample7:0650 kmFlew from seattle on Saturday—back on Sunday
21David Snipes7:1150 kmUltra # 5000 this year
22Adam Matheson7:1250 kmA successful finish
23Linda Wack7:15†50 kmEdges out Jessica by consumption
23Jessica Zippin7:1650 kmNeeds jumper cables!
24Jim Sullivan7:1850 kmBack from FLA for another one!
 Robi Saraniero7:1850 kmBig bonus miles for these boys
 Dave Quivey7:1850 km 
 Charlie Miracle7:1850 km 
28Clint Currie7:1950 kmListening to Jaret was your first mistake
30Anstr Davidson7:25:30*50 kmNext year gets 20 bonus minutes for photos!
31Jim French7:2850 km 
32Kirstin Walcott7:35†50 km20 bonus minutes next year for photos
33Joyce Fendley7:4050 kmStays on course!
 Russell Cheney7:4050 kmRan in sandals
35Glenn Landis7:4750 km 
36Harry Smith7:4950 kmThanks for the beer Harry!
37Joe Murgo8:2150 kmFinishes despite desertion of his friends
 Dave Bias8:2150 km 
39Caroline Williams9:1450 kmNumerous detours
40Layne Reibel10:1950 kmGets DC to add to 50 states
41Henry Rueden10:1950 km 
     
42Diana Widdowson5:4628 miles 
43Peter Bennett6:3228 miles 
 Yen Nguyen6:3228 miles 
     
45Marty Lindeman4:01:30††20 milesGets the 20 mile win by consumption
46Tom Corris4:0420 miles 
47Susan Baehre5:2520 miles 
 Linda Gaudette5:2520 miles 
 David Gaudette5:20†20 miles 
 Beverly Bennett5:2020 miles 
51Sharon Lapkoff5:4920 miles 
52Guy Neal6:0720 miles 
 Jill Quivey6:0720 milesJill and Mel were having too much fun!
 Mel Saraniero6:0720 miles 
55Seth Mosier  Was at the start and the finish—did some running in between
56Steve Teplitz  Wasn’t at the start or finish, but checked in at all the aid stations
57Greg Loomis  Seen on course….
58Laura Petrysaite  Marathon ready!
59Micaela Shaugnessy  An early injury time-out!

†consumed 1 cup of magic minute deduction potion at aid station 2
††consumed ½ cup

Last updated December 16, 2019