The Greasy-Gooney 10K is named after two streams past which the course runs. The first half of the course parallels Greasy Run, while the second half runs alongside Gooney Run (also sometimes referred to as "Gooney Creek"). It seemed only natural to use these two great stream names in the name of our 10K! Both streams come down from Hogback Mountain, with Greasy Run flowing into Gooney Run about a mile north of Browntown. Gooney Run, supposedly named after Lord Fairfax's favorite hound, eventually drains into the South Fork of the Shenandoah River at Karo, about 4½ miles southwest of Front Royal.

The Greasy-Gooney 10K was first held on Saturday 23 October 1999, so the 2012 race will be the fourteenth running. The event was founded by Patrick Farris, then a history teacher at Warren County High School and now the executive director of the Warren Heritage Society (as well as a candidate for mayor of Winchester, Virginia!). While driving the back roads of Warren County and coming up with running routes, he found that the Gooney Manor Loop was an especially beautiful road and decided he wanted to share it with the local running community. And thus was the Greasy-Gooney 10K born! Patrick continued as race director through the 2004 race, at which point he handed over the reins to current directors Terry Leckie and Karsten Brown. (Both Terry and Karsten are getting a bit burnt out on race directing, though, so if you would be interested in getting involved with future editions of Greasy-Gooney, send Karsten an e-mail!)

Things will generally be the same this year as in recent years.

Turnouts vary from year to year, and race day weather always plays a role. For race planning purposes, we're assuming we'll see somewhere between fifty to a hundred participants.

Yes! The Browntown Community Center will be open so that runners can use the restrooms in there. Many thanks to the Community Center Association for their hospitality! Depending on our turnout, though, there might be some pretty good pre-race lines. So you might want to consider using a restroom somewhere on the way to the race or showing up a few minutes earlier. (We didn't hear any complaints last year, but if you were at last year's race and have any feedback on how things went with the bathroom situation, send us an e-mail!) Needless to say, please respect the local residents and refrain from whizzing on anybody's property.

Temperatures have usually been in the 40°s or 50°s at the start, although things were a bit warm for the 2000 and 2009 races (65° and 70° respectively). The average high temperature for 27 October in this area is 61°, while the average low is 41°. With sunrise coming an hour and a half before the 9 AM start, temperatures will probably only have risen a few degrees from the early morning low by the time the race gets going. Here's how the weather's been at the start of all of the past editions of Greasy-Gooney:

You can check the current forecast for Browntown on the National Weather Service's Web site.

Nope! Because this is a not a large race (relatively speaking), we use the "finish card" method of keeping track of finishers. At the finish, you will be handed a numbered card in the order in which you finish. You'll be asked to fill out this card with your name, age, gender, etc., and turn it in right away. Then we use the cards to figure out the results. Very simple!

Well, ten kilometers is a fairly standard race distance, for one thing. For another, starting in Browntown would require more running along the relatively busier Bentonville-Browntown Road, whereas the 10K course is only on that road for a quarter of a mile. Besides, it's too late to change things now. This race started out as a 10K, and it's gonna continue as a 10K, by gummy!

Yes and no. The first 2½ miles are relatively mild, and the last 3.1 miles are virtually all downhill, so only the last half mile before the halfway point is particularly hard. That section will feel long and steep to just about everybody, although if you make the mistake of taking the first 2½ miles too fast, the steep section will feel especially difficult. But if you're just running the race recreationally, it won't feel as bad-- because you probably won't have any qualms about taking a walking break or two! Either way, expect to lose at least a minute or more off of your average 10K time because of the third mile.

We will have a minimum of one water stop, but we may offer two depending on conditions and volunteer availability. (If you know someone who would like to serve as a water stop volunteer, have them e-mail co-race director Karsten Brown!)

Rebecca Nathan claimed both the open and Masters course records with her 42:03 victory at the 2007 race. The men's Masters record also fell in 2007, with Mark Whalley destroying the old mark with his 36:57 finish. The men's open record remains from the inaugural race in 1999, where Frank Curiel blew away the competition with a 34:47 performance. Lots more event record info can be found via our past results page!

Sorry, money lovers, you'll have to look elsewhere. This race is about the love of running, not about a payday. We're too cheap anyway!

The top three overall will receive large-ish trophies, while the top three in each age group will get 6" trophies (basically just a figurine on a marble base).

Sadly, they are no more. Race founder Patrick Farris threw those onto the original race flyer in 1999 just for fun, but few people competed for the "Awkward" award over the years, and (not surprisingly) we never had any participants who dressed like Lord Fairfax. (Lord Fairfax once owned

Is that a guy running the 2001 race while wearing a lab coat & tie?

the land in the Browntown area; Gooney Run was reportedly named after his dog.). So in 2008 we finally decided to ax these two awards. It's two fewer things for us race organizers to worry about anyway.

Nope, sorry. Apart from the obvious liability and insurance issues, it's a matter of safety. The course is completely open to vehicular traffic, and the road is narrow at times with blind curves. You're going to need to devote as much attention as possible to not getting run over by automobiles. So leave the headphones, iPods, and MP3 players at home, please. We're serious about this-- indeed, we will be disqualifying any participant seen in possession of headphones, whether they are in or out of the runner's ears, while the race is in progress. I know this sounds harsh, but we just really don't want anyone getting hurt during our race.

Again, nope. Same reasons as the headphones thing: safety and liability. The road over those first four miles is just too narrow for a dog to be underfoot or a baby jogger to be in the way. And we really don't think a child would enjoy the bumpy gravel ride anyway!

Don't worry, we're not trying to swindle you! This is a low-budget race funded entirely by the entry fees, and the race is not intended to make any sort of significant profit. While we've managed to come out in the black over the past few years, losing money on the race is a very real possibility-- particularly if the race day weather is poor and we get fewer race day entries than expected. So regardless of whether or not you can make it on race day, the race still has the same expenses to cover, and we've already spent the preregistrants' entry fee money by the time race day rolls around. Hence, no refunds and no transfers. (This is a fairly common policy at races and is generally understood by most runners; we just thought it'd be best to specify it in writing.)

As the race director is a member of many running clubs in the Washington & Baltimore metropolitan area, he thought it'd be nice to offer a dollar off to members of the clubs to which he belongs. (A list of these eligible clubs appears on the registration page.) Members of the Shenandoah Valley Runners get two dollars off because the SVR sponsors our event.

Assuming we end up with any money after the race, it will be donated to the Browntown Community Center Association. The race has never really been intended as a fundraiser, though-- it's just an excuse to share the scenery of Warren County with other runners! We've tried to keep the entry fees as low as possible while still allowing us to cover our costs (trophies, t-shirts, donuts, etc.). In recent years we've come out in the black to the tune of around $100 to $200 each year.

Right here on the Greasy-Gooney 10K Web pages! We'll also try to get 'em posted on the Web sites of the Washington Running Report, Active.com, and racePacket. The names of the top five men and women may also appear in tiny print in the Washington Post's Sports section on Sunday 28 October, assuming they have room.

Absolutely! The four words any race director loves to hear are "How can I help?" So if you want to serve as a volunteer in some capacity, send an e-mail to Karsten Brown and we'll find something for you to do.

Not anymore! Starting in 2007, the end of DST was pushed back to the first Sunday in November. And even before '07, the clock change always came after the traditional Greasy-Gooney race date (usually on the following morning). So there's no need to worry about your resetting your clocks on the night before our race!

You may have noticed that when you move from page to page, a different "Greasy-Gooney 10K" title graphic, chosen at random, loads at the top of the page (assuming I have not made any JavaScript errors). I figured this would be a good way to show off the race's scenery. You can click on the title graphic to switch to another image (although this feature doesn't work in ancient Web browsers such as Netscape 4). There are a total of sixteen different title images. If you want to see 'em all on one page, click here!

As the Greasy-Gooney 10K is always held on the fourth Saturday in October, the presumed date of the 2013 race would be Saturday 26 October. This, of course, is not set in stone until we get all the proper permissions and such... but the odds are quite good that that's when the fifteenth running will take place! We'll be aiming to have the race info & flyer available by August 2013.

Just contact race director Karsten Brown by e-mail or by telephone at (540) 635-1773.