Saturday, May 13, 2000 -- Cross Lanes, WV
Poca River 15K
Story and photos by Jennifer Cavender
[Details]
[Coverage]
[Overall Results]
[Results by Class]
[Pic Set 1]
[Pic Set 2]
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A cool breeze blows from the Poca River, and the sounds of song
birds, geese, and yes, even a rooster, provide music for the run.
Friendly neighbors sit on their porches cheering runners as they pass.
Eight o'clock Saturday, May 13th, runners lined up on one side of the
Poca River bridge. At the sound of the gun, they sprinted off. Larry
Taylor led the pack, speeding his way to victory with a time
of 52:54.
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The weather started out out humid and warm, or as the runners describe
it: HOT. Towards the end of the race, the rains came. Taylor timed
his run perfectly, finishing before the downpour. "The last mile was
dry for me," he said. "The mud was slick where they were working on
the road." He is referring to the red-clay covered roads that made
the hills a bit treacherous. Runners veered off the blacktop whenever
possible to run on the grass avoiding injury. However, runners
welcomed the rain. "The rain cooled us off. There were lots of
runners dehydrating," said Chip Urling who ran with his father Charles
Urling. "They need more water stations."
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"The course is a rolling loop. There is a short, steep incline before the finish, and that's the only bad one," said McCracken. So, if you ever get a hankering to leave WV, come run the Poca River 15K. The mixture of camaraderie and scenic mountain view will remind you why WV is Almost Heaven.