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Saturday, June 18, 2011 -- Davis, WV
Highlands Sky Trail Run (iPO Event Id#: 13372)

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

Eva Pastalkova
Eva Pastalkova
It's hard to explain the elation one feels when accepting and conquering such a tough challenge. From the eye of the camera, it can be captured for a moment; all of the joy and pain, exhaustion and triumph.

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.

Aaron Schwartzbard
Aaron Schwartzbard
Aaron Schwartzbard returned to the course with some vengeance since his finish in 2010 earned him 5th. He took the overall title this year in 6:07:35 and was all smiles. On his website www.trirats.net he states, "I've tried racing short and I've tried racing long. Neither really worked for me, so now I race very long. I'm either an ultrarunner posing as a triathlete or a triathlete posing as an ultrarunner. Or perhaps I'm a web geek posing as an endurance athlete."

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.

Highlands Sky Trail Run
See more Highlands Sky Trail Run Photos

Highlands Sky Trail Run
See more Highlands Sky Trail Run Photos

Highlands Sky Trail Run
See more Highlands Sky Trail Run Photos