Hatfield & McCoy Marathon-long (Read 1251 times)

Hatfield & McCoy Marathon--No feudin', just runnin'. There has been some interest on RA in this race, so here I present my somewhat long race report: The Hatfield-McCoy feud was a violent, long-running battle between two clans who lived in what is now coal mining country along the Tug River on the West Virginia/Kentucky border in the late 19th century. While few know all the details, in the USA the term "Hatfields & McCoys" is a familiar metaphor for a long, violent feud. It ended long ago and today is the theme of an annual festival in the area, of which the marathon is a part. The RD is David Hatfield--yes, he's a member of that Hatfield family. This race is one of the best deals going. For $35 you get entry into the marathon, a great pasta dinner complete with a skit featuring "Devil Anse Hatfield" and "Ran'l McCoy" telling the tale of the feud, a nice T-shirt and finishers medal, and a shot at one of many door prizes. It's a small race with about 230 runners in the marathon and another 100 or so in the half-marathon. This is the opposite of the usual ratio, probably due to the remote location of Williamson, WV. That also accounts for the relatively large turnout by Marathon Maniacs and 50-staters, who can count it as either a West Virginia or Kentucky race. There are enough runners so that you will have company along the course but there is never a crowd to hold you up, and every runner is assigned to either the Hatfield or McCoy team. The course is not USATF certified and is not a Boston Qualifier but it is well-measured and chip timed, and proceeds benefit track and cross-country scholarships for area high school students. Vans started running at 5 a.m. for the 7 a.m. start. These church vans, driven by some of the many volunteers who work this race, made the rounds of all the local motels. That's one of the best features of the marathon, the community is very supportive of the race and permits them to have 25 water stations, about one every mile! We reached the start area in the parking lot of Food City grocery store on the Kentucky side of the river, got our timing chips and waited for the start. The store opened early and we runners really appreciated the rest rooms. The weather was mild but very humid, like a wet blanket, with just a touch of mist. After a prayer we lined up for the shotgun start. With a real shotgun, fired by "Devil Anse" Hatfield hisself! (or the guy who played him in the skit, anyway). The course starts off with a slight downhill grade along a 4-lane highway then turns onto a quiet two-lane road along a creek through rural neighborhoods. We passed everything from immaculate little cottages to ramshackle trailer homes and heard plenty of dogs barking and roosters crowing. The road is one-way during the race so we had half of it to run on. This first five miles of the course has many rolling hills but, like much of the course, is strongly cambered to the right. This soon got tiresome and I found myself running down the middle stripe where the slope was not quite so bad. I also went out a bit too fast due to the downhill trend in the first two miles. We encountered an aid station about every mile with water and Gatorade, some with gels and fruit. Every station, without exception, was well-stocked and well-run by friendly helpers. At mile 6 we hit Blackberry Mountain and the fun was over. Suddenly the road started heading up, climbing about 750 feet in a mile. Aid station 5 is at the very top then the road heads back down again, even steeper than the climb. This part can get you in trouble and seriously hammer your quads. By mile 8 we were back on rolling hills along the creek again. Along the way we passed some markers commemorating the feud: The next four miles were rolling two-lane with the irritating camber, then through an alley and across the Tug River into West Virginia--Hatfield territory. The halfway point is in Matewan, the site of the Matewan Massacre during a dispute between the coal mines and union organizers in 1920. At this point you have the option of passing through the finish line and stopping with an official half marathon to your credit, and a lot of runners did this in 2005 due to the oppressive heat that year. This time it was still overcast but was starting to get very warm, and the humidity was stifling. I crossed the half in 1:55, hoping for a sub-4. Marathoners continued on, back over the river into McCoy territory (Kentucky) and down a one-lane asphalt road. This was a very quiet 4 miles, with almost no traffic and just the occasional fishing pond, house or dilapidated trailer with barking dogs. We were spread out by now, generally a few hundred yards apart. A lot of folks were sitting out in front of their homes watching and cheering us on. One very run-down house still had Christmas decorations on its chain-link fence. I waved and yelled, "Merry Christmas to You!" back. It was shady along this part, which was a good thing as the sun was coming out and it was getting hot. It was also continuous rolling hills and my legs were starting to feel fatigued. I began to realize that it's not such a good idea to run a tough 50k and a marathon six days apart! Mile 17 was the hardest, as the pavement ended and the road turned into a hilly, rocky, muddy jeep trail. Nobody warned me about this part. After about a mile of this we were suddenly spit out onto a golf course and ran along the golf cart paths briefly, with golfers patiently waiting for a break in the stream of runners so they could hit. Then across the race signature "swinging bridge" into West Virginia again for a short time: Then past another aid station, and back over into Kentucky. By now, at the 20-mile mark, the sun was out in full force, it was really hot, and there was less shade here. I had steadily lost time and soon realized that a sub-4 was not in the cards today. In the last 5 miles of rolling, cambered two-lane along this stretch, we passed through coal mine property and then over a bigger hill, "McCoy Hill". Fortunately there was still an aid station about every mile to keep everyone well-hydrated. I took s-caps (electrolyte pill) at mile 15 and 20, since I was sweating so much. We passed a group of locals who were asking each runner where they were from, and writing it down. I yelled, "Georgia", and knew that they would be surprised when my friend Ashis from India passed by. At long last I reached mile 25 and was coming back into town. This had been a nice, scenic course but the last mile has to be the ugliest that I've seen--along a busy highway in the blazing sun past fast-food restaurants and over a stark concrete bridge into West Virginia again to the finish in Williamson. It's a very small but nice town, and there were "Devil Anse" and "Ran'l" to high-five us as we finished. Finishers got their medals and raace towels, plenty of post-race goodies (the watermelon was especially sweet), and we were invited to cool our feet in a fountain. Nice. Also included is a barbecue sandwich, which was delicious. I finished in 4:06, slower than I had hoped, but percentage-wise about the same placement as my good run at Flying Pig, so I'm OK with it. This race is a great bargain and a lot of fun, and runners really are made to feel welcome. It has just about everything you could need (unless you need a big expo, massive crowds and big entry fees). The only drawback is that it takes some effort to get there, but it's well worth it. You even get a history lesson! Just be sure to book a room early, as lodging in Williamson is limited and the next nearest rooms are 30 minutes away.

That's sounds like a very fun race, Perfesser. I really like that bridge, reminds me of the one we used to use for initiations into a "secret society" we had in our boy scout troop as kids! Great report - I'll have to add that one to my wish list.

Sounds like a very cool race with a lot of history surrounding it.

This race is on my "to do" list --- thanks for the great race report!