Today's Barnesville's Pumpkin Festival was run under ideal conditions with a record 615 participants. A fifty-two degree race-start temperature greeted runners and walkers as they raced through the clear, low-humidity air of western Belmont County--perfect conditions for an old guy like me.
Although not totally flat, the course is reasonable with a 300-yard medium grade hill starting just before the one-mile mark. At the top racers enjoy more than a mile and a half downhill and slightly downhill running to the finish line. I love those kind of courses--stretch out the legs and let gravity take over!
As always, race director Carl Kondrach managed an A-Number-One race--great awards, great food, great weather (Carl must have some influence with theWeather Man in the Sky), and a great community that puts on a wonderful festival, perhaps one of the biggest pumpkin festivals in the country. Many runners stay after the race and enjoy the festivities.
The only mistake I encountered today was when I picked up my packet: the name clipped to the front said JOELLA ELLIS. I asked the lady at the registration table if I was entered in the women's race but she said no. Aw shucks!. At first I thought Coach Chrissy Lewis was pranking me because she entered the Martins Ferry coaches and runners as a team to get a discount. She laughed the hardest when she saw the name but swore she didn't do it. Then Carl followed suit and denied the deed. Finally, Carl came up with the explanation--cheerleaders. They helped put together the packets. 'Nuff said.
All in all it was a fun race with great competition. The grandmasters division is getting especially tough. Of the top four runners over 40, three were grandmasters--Wayne McCracken, age 55--18:15, Me, age 58--19:23, and Joe Klempa, age 52--19:27. Another notable grandmaster time came from female overall winner, Sherry Martin--age 52. Sherry ran 18:57 which produced an age-graded score of 91.57 percent. That, my friends, is considered world class for a 52-year-old woman. Wayne's age-graded score was 84.2 percent which is considered national class and also very impressive. If you want to check your age-graded score, go to this Runner's World link.
All in all it was a fun race with over two hundred awards and good fellowship as the temperature warmed into the 70s for the awards ceremony. Age group winners received a real pumpkin and a medal, and overall winners received a pumpkin and a trophy with a pumpkin on top. There's nothing like the Barnesville Pumpkin Festival 5K to kick off the fall season of racing!
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