Another Record Year at the Virginia 24 Hour Run for Cancer
The 5th Annual Virginia 24 Hour Run for Cancer was once again a great success. It was held as usual on a flat, 3.75 mile out-and-back loop trail at Sandy Bottom Nature Park in Hampton Virginia from 7:00 a.m. 12 April until 7:00 a.m. 13 April. Although quite warm and humid in the first half of the day, the weather cooperated with a light 30-minute shower in the afternoon that cooled things off comfortably.
Many new course records were set. Herman Richards of Stockton, NJ set a new men’s record of 115 miles. A total of 130 people (33 individual ultrarunners and nine teams) ran/walked at least one loop. 41 people ran 50 or more miles, while 56 people ran at least an ultra of 30 miles. In doing so we raised over $6500.
As usual several great human interest stories emerged. William House (USMC) was raising money for his own cause (The local Down Syndrome society) in addition to the American Society. He has a young son with down syndrome. He raised over $1800 while running the third most miles (82.5) of the day (having never run more than a marathon before). His older (11 years) son Brandon decided he wanted to help by running with dad for a while — he ended up doing seven laps totaling a marathon. David Snipes, trying for a “double 50,” first ran the Bull Run 50 miler in Manassas, VA, then drove 3 hours to Sandy Bottom and ran another 45 miles. He got credit for 95 miles, the second most of the day. Alexy Popov came out to volunteer for a few hours after running a local 5K race in the morning, but after an hour decided to run a few loops. He didn’t stop until he had run over 50 miles. The women’s winner with 75 miles, Jane Kupkowski, had never run more than 34 miles. Tim Scott from the local police academy managed to cover 60 miles having never before gone over 22 miles. Who says police officers eat too many donuts. Finally, the award for “most exceeding her limits,” goes to Mary Simmons who covered 45 miles, having never run/walked more than 4 miles before. As in other years, this was the first venture into the ultra world for many of the runners, allowing most to run/walk much farther than they ever have before. That is what I get the most satisfaction from —- seeing so many people successfully challenge their limits. Many move on to higher levels in the “ultra world.”
Once again the Ranger staff at Sandy Bottom was outstanding in their support. Every need we had was anticipated and taken care of. And as always, the volunteer lap counters from the Peninsula Track Club (Jerry Schenck, Debbie Henderson, Pete Navin, David Donohue, Susan Hagel, Cheryl Lager, Karen Corl, Louis Frederico, and Stephanie Douglas) were critical to the success of the event. Based on feedback from the participants we’ll see you next year at the 6th edition. Same time, same place.
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