2026 Report

Below are the collected results of the 2026 Waterfall 50k. As always with Virginia Happy Trails Running Club events in the mountains, there are many tales to be told. The highlights would have to be two top runners in this year’s race. Stephen Knight was the overall winner with a wonderful time of 5:47 and change; second overall and first woman to finish was Amanda Presgraves. Amanda’s time set a new event record in this, the 9th edition of Mike Bur’s Waterfall 50k. Her 6:04:25 beat Sheila Vibert Martin’s previous best (6:34:40, set in 2021) by just over a half hour! Amanda is on a little streak of pounding these Massanutten rocks into so much dust, having broken the women’s record at Boyer’s Furnace 40 miler less than a month ago by over an hour. Amanda and Stephen were also the Queen and the King of Waterfall; they cruised together across Crisman Hollow Road 5 kilometers into the race in 37 minutes and 20 seconds. Stephen was the overall winner at the 2024 Massanutten Mountains 100 Miler in 2024 and he is signed up to give it another go this coming May; Amanda finished second at MMT in 2025, and she has not yet formally committed to pinning a race bib at this year’s race. Finally, Stephen was by far the top MLK Weekend finisher, as he also completed the Massanutten Training Academy run the day before Waterfall.

Of the 54 starters at this year’s WTF, 36 completed the entire distance and received the revamped WTF finisher’s sticker. 6 more either opted or were prompted by cut-offs to complete the shorter “Party Route” of 22 miles. 14 of the 54 had run the Training Academy the day before, so a particular hardy congrats to all of them for returning for more time on those punishing Massanutten rocks!

RD Bur would like to offer particular thanks to the runners who took part in an impromptu “race within a race”: what became known as the Rocky 30k. Rocky would be the name of Bur’s dog, who decided he had enough of hanging out at the Crisman Road crossing 5k aid station while all of these runners kept zipping by on their way up to Kerns on the orange-blazed Massanutten Trail. He eventually high-tailed up the trail after them, passing runner after runner until he ran into Ivory Lira. At that point, they were just short of two miles up from Crisman.

As she guided Rocky back towards the road, she eventually encountered a trio of runners, Tracy Cooley, Lisa Peabody and Sam Neakrase, who had all run all or part of the training run the day before and were fairly certain they wanted to cut this day short. Rocky gave them that opportunity. They ran him back to the road and then down the road towards the Visitor’s Center. After surrendering Rocky to Bur and getting some aid from volunteer Cara Mason, they then ran the back end of the course to complete their roughly 30k day on the trails. Rocky thanks Ivory, Tracy, Lisa and Sam for the trail time and for getting him back to Bur safely!

Many thanks also to the hardy corps of volunteers who came out on this rather cold winter’s day to help their fellow runners. They are all listed below the results and splits on this page; it was another nice blend of some new volunteers mixed in with club members who help out at multiple events and races over the years. We hope to see them all back for future VHTRC events, and to continue to see new faces in the mix at aid stations and in other roles. Thanks again to you all!

And thanks to the VHTRC for its sponsorship of this and so many other events! The 10th running (weather permitting) of the Waterfall 50k should be on its traditional calendar slot of MLK Weekend Sunday in 2027; entry into the field is open to VHTRC members only and will begin on December 1, 2026.

Cara Mason has posted her photos on Flickr from the Visitor’s Center Aid Station.

Photos

Other reports

• Rocky's Run, by Rocky Bur

Results

Course Definitions:
PL = Party Loop. Ran to Visitor’s Center Aid Station, then took “party route” back to the finish, for about 22 miles
VC = Ran to the gate at the base of Crisman Hollow Road (so less then a mile from the Visitor’s Center), then accepted a ride back to the finish, for about 19 miles
Rocky = The Rocky 30k. Started across Kerns, rescued Bur’s dog Rocky, then ran back to the VC before completing the southern loop to the finish
Self = Self Extracted. Ran to the base of Waterfall II, then took the white trail back to the finish, for about 18 miles.
Roadie = Crisman Hollow Road Loop. Ran the course to Gap Creek Aid Station, then took the roads back to the finish.
Back = Southern Loop. Opted to pass on running any of the course north of Route 211, but instead focused on running the trails up and around Byrd Knob.
IR = Injured Reserve. Runners who figure out the best way to self-extract after issues emerged early on the trails.

Splits

Waterfall 5k (Donut Aid Station at the Crisman Hollow Rd crossing) - times are noted in minutes.

Volunteers