Saturday, June 18, 2011 -- Davis, WV
Highlands Sky Trail Run
2011: [Details] [Coverage] [Photos] [Overall Results] [Results by Class]
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New Course Records and Returning Champions
Story and photos by Julie Black
When I saw Eva Pastalkova on the trail, she was lost in thought and the emotions showed on her face. The photos tell it all.
Hardly looking up and concentrating on every step, the returning champion broke the women's course record, running the 40 mile haul in just over 7 hours. Pastalkova is quite an accomplished trail runner. According to the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club website, Pastalkova became the second female to ever finish the 2011 Wild Oak Trail 100 mile (TWOT) in Feburary 2011 and in 2010 she took the Promise Land 50K overall female title.
Both the male and female overall winners were from Virginia. Out of curiosity, I just had to look and compare VA to WV entries. People come from all over to run this pristine 40 miles of trail, but Virginia really had a great showing. Four of the top five overall females were from VA, plus the overall Female Master and Grandmaster were from . . . you guessed it, Virginia. That's a fantastic thing to discover. It's great to see so many from our neighboring states out there enjoying the trails of WV.
For the Record
I can't tell you how much I enjoy this event and I don't even get to run it. It's inspiring, not-to-mention gorgeous. The race crew is always friendly and helpful. I've made alot friends there over the years and they always encourage me to get out there and run the trails. It's a great community of life-loving people.
Enjoy many more reports on the WVMTR website.