After six years, the Greasy-Gooney 10K remains one of northern Virginia's best-kept racing secrets. Just twenty-nine runners (and two dogs) showed up this year for what is easily the most scenic road race in the Shenandoah Valley. Held at the peak of the fall foliage season in the southern Warren County village of Browntown (80 miles west of Washington, DC), the race follows two stream valleys through the foothills of the Blue Ridge, affording runners many views of the mountains in the nearby Shenandoah National Park. The scenery comes at a price, however. The first half of the course is uphill, ascending 500 vertical
Three-time Greasy-Gooney champion Monika Bracken entered the race as the women's favorite, but 28-year-old Mary Rice of Winchester pulled off a surprising upset. Rice, last year's third place woman, opened up enough of a gap early to prevent Bracken from catching up in the second half of the course. Rice's time of 44:57 was the fourth fastest women's time in Greasy-Gooney history. The 39-year-old Bracken, who lives in Rappahannock County on the opposite side of the Blue Ridge, strode in for second place twenty-four seconds later. Third place went to 23-year-old Michelle VanHorn of Harpers Ferry, WV, in 49:20. The top woman 40 or over was Ann Robb, 41, finishing with husband Tom in a leisurely 56:22, while Cheryl Harrison (59:35) was the fastest runner from Warren County. (Harrison noted afterwards that her dog Casey was the top female canine finisher, with Mary Deppa's dog Bill being the top male dog!)
No past Greasy-Gooney men's winners showed up this year, so first overall was left wide open for 39-year-old Raymond Bollock of Winchester. Bollock quickly trotted past initial leader James Rice and pulled so far ahead of the rest of the field that he was able to take a brief walking break during the difficult third mile. Front Royal's Karsten Brown, 29, worked hard to establish himself in second place early in the third mile, but Berryville 14-year-old Benjamin Veilleux zoomed by him at the three mile mark and never looked back, focusing squarely on Bollock. One of the Shenandoah Valley's top middle school runners, Veilleux flew down the second half of the course, but in the end he ran out of room to catch Bollock. Bollock won the men's competition in 38:40, with Veilleux falling short by twenty-four seconds. Brown stayed steady and earned third in 40:19. Bill Stahr, 43, of The Plains, just missed catching 2001 Greasy-Gooney runner-up Patrick Gladden for fourth place, but Stahr wound up as the top male Masters finisher in 41:32 (setting a Greasy-Gooney age group record for men 40-44 in the process).
Patrick Farris, who came up with the idea for the Greasy-Gooney 10K while touring the beautiful back roads of Warren County in 1999, announced that he intends to step down as race director next year. Farris' enthusiasm is one of the reasons the race has been a local favorite, so he deserves a great deal of thanks for all his efforts over the years! (Proceeds from Greasy-Gooney will benefit the Warren Heritage Society, of which Farris is the executive director.) Thanks as well to this year's Greasy-Gooney volunteer crew, consisting of Brown, Terry Leckie, and Joe Bernazani. Brown and Leckie will likely be next year's Greasy-Gooney 10K race directors, so they hope the secret of the Greasy-Gooney 10K gets out by Saturday 22 October 2005!
(Special thanks to Tom & Jean Lacombe, owners of O.J. Rudacille's General Store in Browntown, for donating two coupons for free Christmas trees from their tree farm.)
RacePacket Home | Awards & Age Groups | 2003 Results# NAME AGE SEX CITY, STATE TIME PACE IN SEX AWARD 1. Raymond Bollock 39 M Winchester, VA 38:40 6:13 1st 1st M Overall 2. Benjamin Veilleux 14 M Berryville, VA 39:14 6:19 2nd 2nd M Overall 3. Karsten Brown 30 M Front Royal, VA 40:19 6:29 3rd 3rd M Overall 4. Patrick Gladden 24 M Stephens City, VA 41:30 6:41 4th 1st M 20-24 5. Bill Stahr 43 M The Plains, VA 41:32 6:41 5th 1st M 40-44 6. Daniel Dunlop 13 M Berryville, VA 41:54 6:45 6th 1st M 14 & Under 7. Terry Leckie 40 M Front Royal, VA 42:27 6:50 7th 2nd M 40-44 8. Joe Bernazani 48 M Front Royal, VA 43:11 6:57 8th 1st M 45-49 9. James Rice 25 M Winchester, VA 44:35 7:10 9th 1st M 25-29 10. Mary Rice 28 F Winchester, VA 44:57 7:14 1st 1st F Overall 11. Monika Bracken 39 F Castleton, VA 45:21 7:18 2nd 2nd F Overall 12. Lawrence Kusko 35 M Cross Junction, VA 47:19 7:37 10th 1st M 35-39 13. Tom Aldstadt 45 M Winchester, VA 47:42 7:41 11th 2nd M 45-49 14. Don Hickman 61 M Manassas, VA 47:49 7:42 12th 1st M 60 & Over 15. Michael Triantafillou 45 M Winchester, VA 48:10 7:45 13th 3rd M 45-49 16. Michelle VanHorn 23 F Harpers Ferry, WV 49:20 7:56 3rd 3rd F Overall 17. Denny Myers 50 M Stephens City, VA 49:33 7:58 14th 1st M 50-54 18. Doug Morris 66 M Delaplane, VA 49:38 7:59 15th 2nd M 60 & Over 19. David Gray 39 M Winchester, VA 51:18 8:15 16th 2nd M 35-39 20. Paul Grosz 54 M Stephens City, VA 56:16 9:03 17th 2nd M 50-54 21. Ann Robb 41 F Winchester, VA 56:22 9:04 4th 1st F 40-44 22. Thomas Robb 42 M Winchester, VA 56:22 9:04 18th 3rd M 40-44 23. Tim Brown 54 M Middleburg, VA 56:23 9:04 19th 3rd M 50-54 24. Jeff Campbell 43 M Elkton, VA 57:37 9:16 20th 25. Mary Deppa 46 F The Plains, VA 59:34 9:35 5th 1st F 45-49 26. Cheryl Harrison 40 F Front Royal, VA 59:35 9:35 6th 2nd F 40-44 27. Bob Gurtler 69 M The Plains, VA 1:01:46 9:56 21st 3rd M 60 & Over 28. Colleen Snyder 48 F Linden, VA 1:12:13 11:37 7th 2nd F 45-49 29. Bob Atkins 79 M Winchester, VA 1:24:51 13:39 22nd
FEMALE OVERALL # NAME AGE SEX CITY, STATE TIME PACE O'ALL IN SEX 1. Mary Rice 28 F Winchester, VA 44:57 7:14 10th 1st 2. Monika Bracken 39 F Castleton, VA 45:21 7:18 11th 2nd 3. Michelle VanHorn 23 F Harpers Ferry, WV 49:20 7:56 16th 3rd MALE OVERALL 1. Raymond Bollock 39 M Winchester, VA 38:40 6:13 1st 1st 2. Benjamin Veilleux 14 M Berryville, VA 39:14 6:19 2nd 2nd 3. Karsten Brown 30 M Front Royal, VA 40:19 6:29 3rd 3rd MALE 14 & UNDER 1. Daniel Dunlop 13 M Berryville, VA 41:54 6:45 6th 6th MALE 20-24 1. Patrick Gladden 24 M Stephens City, VA 41:30 6:41 4th 4th MALE 25-29 1. James Rice 25 M Winchester, VA 44:35 7:10 9th 9th MALE 35-39 1. Lawrence Kusko 35 M Cross Junction, VA 47:19 7:37 12th 10th 2. David Gray 39 M Winchester, VA 51:18 8:15 19th 16th FEMALE 40-44 1. Ann Robb 41 F Winchester, VA 56:22 9:04 21st 4th 2. Cheryl Harrison 40 F Front Royal, VA 59:35 9:35 26th 6th MALE 40-44 1. Bill Stahr 43 M The Plains, VA 41:32 6:41 5th 5th 2. Terry Leckie 40 M Front Royal, VA 42:27 6:50 7th 7th 3. Thomas Robb 42 M Winchester, VA 56:22 9:04 22nd 18th 4. Jeff Campbell 43 M Elkton, VA 57:37 9:16 24th 20th FEMALE 45-49 1. Mary Deppa 46 F The Plains, VA 59:34 9:35 25th 5th 2. Colleen Snyder 48 F Linden, VA 1:12:13 11:37 28th 7th MALE 45-49 1. Joe Bernazani 48 M Front Royal, VA 43:11 6:57 8th 8th 2. Tom Aldstadt 45 M Winchester, VA 47:42 7:41 13th 11th 3. Michael Triantafillou 45 M Winchester, VA 48:10 7:45 15th 13th MALE 50-54 1. Denny Myers 50 M Stephens City, VA 49:33 7:58 17th 14th 2. Paul Grosz 54 M Stephens City, VA 56:16 9:03 20th 17th 3. Tim Brown 54 M Middleburg, VA 56:23 9:04 23rd 19th MALE 60 & OVER 1. Don Hickman 61 M Manassas, VA 47:49 7:42 14th 12th 2. Doug Morris 66 M Delaplane, VA 49:38 7:59 18th 15th 3. Bob Gurtler 69 M The Plains, VA 1:01:46 9:56 27th 21st 4. Bob Atkins 79 M Winchester, VA 1:24:51 13:39 29th 22nd
Event Calendar |
Grand Prix Standings |
Race Results |
Subscribe to racePacket |
Sign the Guestbook |
About racePacket |
Cool Sites |
On-Line Store |