Rob Colenso

2014 Promise Land 50K++

Holly Bugin continued to lead the way for the VHTRC in the mountains outside of Lynchburg, Virginia, following up her win at Terrapin Mountain 50K a few weeks ago with another win at the Promise Land 50K++ on April 26, clocking a wicked fast 5:47:45 to take top honors among the ladies and 35th overall in the field.

Ryan Paavola continued his strong season as well, finishing first among VHTRC men and sixth overall with a time of 5:06:16. Also representing strong for the Happy Trails gang was Mario Raymond, who took age group honors in the male 40-49 division with a 5:21:40 finish time.

There was the usual strong VHTRC turnout for this third event in the Lynchburg Ultra/Beast Series, and course conditions were the best that we’ve seen in the area yet this year. The snows of Holiday Lake 50K++ and slush/mud of Terrapin Mountain 50K gave way to dry trails, seasonably warm temperatures and fast finish times. Several VHTRC members came out to Promise Land as a tune-up for the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 and showed that they’re ready for the big climbs coming up next month.

Tentative results are posted here.