A Great “Runcation” in West Virginia!
This past winter when my wife and I started talking about taking a short spring vacation to go hiking I had an idea. If I could find a half-marathon race during this pandemic, maybe I could run a race in-person. She gets a trip and I get a race. Everybody wins!
Doing some searching on Running In The USA I found what sounded like a great option. The Canaan Valley Half Marathon near Davis, WV in late April. I had never heard of this race or of Davis, but with more searching I saw that the surrounding area of Tucker County has several options for hiking. There is the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, the Dolly Sods Wilderness, Blackwater Falls State Park and more. So I registered for the race and hoped it wouldn’t get cancelled due to COVID.
The Race Wasn’t The Focus
When planning this “runcation” I had to decide what to make the focus. I decided it would be the vacation, not the race. To enjoy hiking and exploring the local areas before the race I couldn’t be too worried about my race training or performance. Based on our travel schedule I knew I’d miss many days of training leading up to the race and would just have to toe the starting line in whatever shape I was in, but knowing it I wouldn’t be PR-ready. That actually took some of the pressure off on race day. I looked at it as simply a supported long run in my overall training plan. That is until the race started.
A Smaller, Friendly, First-Class Event
The communication from the race organizers in the weeks before the event was very helpful. They were proactive in addressing concerns we had about the race during this pandemic. As changes were made we were alerted by email and social media. They created a group Facebook page for runners to connect and share as well. I could tell by the questions and comments posted on that page that this would be a fun group to run with. Lots of interaction. Local runners offering advice on lodging and restaurants, first-time racers looking for encouragement and getting lots of support.
The race was actually split into two events with a Saturday and a Sunday field. I was assigned to Sunday but I kept an eye on the weather and when I saw the forecast for Sunday morning was rain and colder I thought I’d inquire about changing days. At the packet pickup Friday evening, the organizers were very accommodating and moved me to Saturday with no hassle (even though I know changes like that are very disruptive to the organizers, they never let on.)
The field was divided into several waves and we started 5 minutes about to help with social distancing. While this meant we didn’t have the excitement of one big group taking off at the same time, it actually helped the excitement build with each of the first four waves that left before mine.
A Challenging But Pretty Course, With Friendly Runners
The elevation changes on my normal training routes at home rarely exceed double digits. It is flat. So I knew the hills of WV would be a challenge. The course was immediately downhill just yards past the starting line. Once we got down that hill we started a long, slow, incline up for the next quarter mile or so. Then we did a hairpin turn and came back down that long slope and then headed out to the rest of the course. It was mostly rolling with a few steeper sections. Much of the course was on the cart path of a golf course in the valley so we had great views of the beautiful mountains all around us.
A couple miles into the race I noticed I’d been running by a guy doing the same pace. He asked me my goal time and I explained I originally thought I’d go slower due to missing some training with injuries but I felt okay so was holding a faster pace so far. His goal was faster than mine but we ran together for several miles although he moved ahead on the uphills and I caught him on the downhills. He was from WV but over an hour away. He was 33 and this was his first half-marathon. We talked about running, training, racing shoes and gel, and bears. (I told him my wife was worried we’d see bears on our hikes. He said down worry in this area.) Conversation like this really helps pass the miles. We hung together until about the 9 mile mark and then he went ahead on an uphill and I had to walk part of that hill so I didn’t catch him after that. At the finish I saw he had come about two minutes before me. He had missed his original goal but I think he felt good about his first half-marathon.
On With The “cation” Part Of The Runcation
The race on Saturday was a good time and I’ve very happy I got to run it. But it was nice to have it behind me so we could then enjoy the rest of the week exploring the area and multiple hikes with some amazing views.
Overall it was a very sucessful, enjotable runcation and a great model for future trips.
I hope.
