Stupid Little 10 Miler and 5K - Sunday 22 March 2009

INFO

REGISTER

COURSES

AWARDS

DIRECTIONS

F.A.Q.

RESULTS

THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING! RESULTS COMING SOON!

Many thanks to everyone who participated in the seventh, and by far the largest, running of the Stupid Little 10 Miler & 5K! We had 115 10 mile finishers, 63 5K finishers, long lines at the registration table, great weather, fantastic volunteers, and a great deal of custom-printed Monopoly money which took much too long to print & cut considering most of it will likely go right in the trash. Hopefully everyone had a good time on Sunday. If you have any feedback about the race, good or bad, send an e-mail to the Stupid Little race director. Was it crowded out on the course? Were the course markings okay? Was there much traffic? Did you run into any problems? Anything that you particularly liked or disliked about the race?

The race results will be posted sometime this week; the stupid little race director has needed some serious recovery time. He will send out an e-mail to all the participants as soon as the results are posted. If you did not include your e-mail address on your entry form and you want to be notified, send us a message.

As usual, we did not have nearly enough volunteers, so I'm extremely grateful to those who did volunteer, particularly since your race director was extremely sore and sleep-deprived and not very on the ball as a result. Terry Leckie was a huge help in many areas. Kyra Brown did a fantastic job getting the results done quickly. Nancy Bullock always helps us out and is utterly invaluable. Colleen Snyder assisted Nancy & Kyra with registration and helped Nancy at the 10 miler turnaround too, as did Alyssa Meadows. Alexander Snyder and Nancy Specht did their usual professional jobs operating the timing devices. Sam Kertzman got everyone parked well and worked the 5K turn with injured semi-legend Charles Bowles. A man whose name I can't recall did us a great service by recording bib numbers at the finish line. Chris Northrup and Tom Robb kept everyone watered at the water stop. I am probably forgetting others who helped. This race could not have been held without these excellent volunteers!

While you wait for the results to be posted, give some thought to participating in the Rotary 5K Run for Polio & Quarter Mile Kids Run in Winchester this Saturday (28 March). I haven't had time to get the Rotary 5K Web site fully updated (I barely had enough time to get the Stupid races pulled together!), but the race flyer is there and has all of the primary race information. Hope to see you there!

LAST MINUTE STUFF

We've put together a page with some news, notes, & race day instructions, to give you a sense of what to expect on Sunday morning. Hope we'll see you at the race! (Note: The Last Minute Stuff page was updated on Saturday afternoon.)

REGISTRATION

You can still sign up online until noon-ish on Friday, or you can just show up on race morning and sign up then! See our registration page for details.

WHO'S RUNNING?

Check our list of registered runners!

VOLUNTEERS WANTED!

We need volunteers! If you can help out on race day, e-mail the race director and we'll put you to work.

FACEBOOK PAGE

If you're one of those Facebook people and you want to announce to the world that you'll be running this race, visit our Facebook event page!

Yes, the Stupid Little 10 Miler & 5K is back for its seventh running! This event is held solely because of the lack of long-distance road races in the Shenandoah Valley. We thought it would be nice to throw together a low-key, inexpensive 10 mile race for area runners to enjoy, and we've tacked on a concurrent 5K race for those who might not be up to running ten miles. We'll do our best to put on a relatively well-organized event, but as the race name plainly suggests, this is not a big production, so you might not want to set your expectations too high. But if you want to go for a nice scenic run on rural roads alongside the Shenandoah River, feel free to come out to Clarke County and join in the stupidity!

The stupidity begins on Sunday 22 March 2009 at Watermelon Park, a campground located a few miles southeast of Berryville, Virginia. The 10 miler starts promptly at 8:02 AM, while the 5K starts at 8:12 AM. Race-day registration and check-in are from 7:02 to 7:47 AM. Watermelon Park is approximately 18 miles east of Winchester, 25 miles west of Leesburg, 28 miles northeast of Front Royal, 38 miles south of Martinsburg, and 65 miles west of Washington, DC. Full driving directions can be found on our directions page!

Entry fees for either race are $5.99 early or $7.99 on race day, with a $1 discount available for members of the Shenandoah Valley Runners and the Loudoun Road Runners Club. To preregister, just print up an entry form, write us a check, and mail it all in-- or sign up online with a credit card! Entry forms and links to online registration can be found on our registration page. All registrants will receive one of our world-famous "Stupid Little 10 Miler & 5K" pencils! (How's that for an amenity?)

Both of our USATF-certified courses are quite pretty, heading out and back from Watermelon Park on mostly gravel rural roads along the Shenandoah River. The 10 miler is two-thirds flat, with two unavoidably hilly sections at miles 2½ and 6¼. There will be at least one water stop (which you will pass twice); we will try to add another water stop if we can scrounge up enough volunteers.

The Shenandoah River near Watermelon Park

The 5K is almost entirely flat and has no water stops. Check the course map page for obsessively detailed course information... and if you really want to see things up close and personal, take our 76-image photographic tour of the courses!

This year we're offering up to $27,176 in prize money! Okay, so most of it may not actually be real money, but you can use this faux money when playing a certain popular board game, anyway. The top three overall get "money", deeds to valuable Atlantic City properties, hotels, metal tokens, and a cheap trophy; the age group winners get lesser amounts of "money" and probably cheesy certificates; and we'll have a couple other odd awards too. Plus, we'll be giving out actual U.S. currency for the 25th finisher in each race: 25th in the 10 miler gets $30, and 25th in the 5K gets $15! A complete list of award categories can be found on our awards page. Awards will be doled out at the conclusion of each race.

Because this is far from a fancy event, there are a few issues and rules to which we must call attention, so that you'll be aware of just what you're getting into by participating:

The courses will be open to vehicular traffic, and we do not expect to have any course marshals except at the turnaround points. You are responsible for your own safety and for following the course markings. (In particular, parents of younger runners need to consider this before deciding whether or not to let their children participate. This is not the ideal race for those younger than high school age.)
For safety and insurance reasons, you may not run the race with headphones, baby joggers, or dogs. Violators will be disqualified. (Why?)
On-site medical assistance will not be available.
In the event of snow, ice, or flooding, the event may be modified or cancelled. (How?)
Entry fees are non-refundable, and entries are non-transferrable. (Why?)

Check our Frequently Asked Questions page, or contact the stupid little race director, Karsten Brown, at (540) 635-1773 or karsten@shentel.net!

This event could not be held without the hospitality of the Miller family and Watermelon Park! Thanks as well to the Shenandoah Valley Runners for continuing to sponsor the Stupid Little races despite their better judgment.