Saturday, August 9, 2003 -- West Union, WV
RunWV 7K (CARS #11) (iPO Event Id#: 5533)
Story and photos by Tara Struyk

[Details] [Coverage]
[Overall Results] [Results by Class]
Pictures: [Set 1] [Set 2] [Set 3] [Set 4] [Set 5] [2002 Event Coverage]

Heading out the rail-trail at the RunWV 7K

It was a muddy trip down the West Union Rails to Trails on Saturday in the RunWV 7k. The track-to-grass-to-gravel terrain gave the 11th event of the Clarksburg Area Road Race Series a distinctly cross-country flavor.

This seemed to suit first place finisher Scott Gemberling just fine. Slated to be one of the top high school cross-country runners in the state this year, the seventeen-year-old immediately established a comfortable lead over many more racers. A solid effort and a cool, overcast morning carried him to an impressive win in a time of 24:16, with second place a full minute behind.

Josh Weekley heads for another second place finish

Josh Weekley, 31, was second, pulling away from nineteen-year-old Josh Sheets to finish in a time of 25:18. In fact, Weekley and Sheets waged a similar battle at last year's race: the results were the same with Weekley beating Sheets by less than a minute each time. This year, with Murshid Latif out of the picture, Sheets finished third in a respectable 25:52.

In the women's race, Rachel Mallory, 17, started and finished ahead of all the women, to finish comfortably in 32:22. Finishing nearly simultaneously were Rebecca and Olivia Fulaytar, both seventeen. Rebecca was able to pull away at the finish line, beating Olivia 33:23 to 33:2

The oldest and youngest finishers in the race were also awarded. Seventy-three-year-old Maurice Miller beat many considerably younger competitors to finish in an impressive 39:42. He also outran Caleb Moore, 8, who was awarded for being the youngest finisher in this year's race. His time was 54:15.

Stride for stride right to the finish

As for the County Cup standings, Doddridge County took top honors once again with the help of top finishers Josh Weekley and Josh Sheets. Second place went to Harrison County, who trailed behind by nearly 30 points.

The race complete, the runners filed into Cline Stansberry Stadium for fruit and enough hot dogs to satisfy even the hungriest runners. And faster runners got the pleasure of watching some late-race action on the track. Eight-year-old Caleb Moore made a mad dash down the straightaway to the finish line, edging out his mother, Tina Moore, by one second and completing the morning with one of the most exciting finishes of the race.