The only way to get lost on the 5K course is if you try very hard! The out-and-back course is run entirely on Lockes Mill Road (Route 621), so there are no turns other than the turnaround at the halfway point. Just keep running along the river! It's a pretty course, and perhaps best of all, it's rather flat. There are maybe a couple of minor rises, but nothing that could even remotely be called a "hill".

The 10 miler, also an out-and-back course, starts in the same direction as the 5K, but obviously it goes about 3½ miles further. The course has three left turns on the way to the turnaround, and three right turns on the way back. It's very easy to remember!

The turns, in detail: At mile 1.8 (just past the old mill) you'll bear left onto Briggs Road, and at mile 2.9 (at the top of a pretty good hill) you'll take another left onto Ellerslie Road. Just before the halfway point & turnaround, Ellerslie Road runs into Clay Hill Road and Tilthammer Mill Road, and you'll be bearing left onto Tilthammer Mill Road for maybe a tenth of a mile before turning around. On the way back, you'll retrace your steps, turning right onto Ellerslie Road at mile 5.1, turning right again onto Briggs Road at mile 7.1, and bearing right yet again at Lockes Mill Road at mile 8.2.

The race director is well known for his course marking prowess, so do not worry! Although there probably won't be any course marshals stationed at any of the turns, the turns will be well marked with both surveyor's flags and arrows drawn in flour. We're expecting to have volunteers stationed at the 10 miler and 5K turnaround points. Each mile will be marked with an easy-to-spot blue sign stuck in a traffic cone.

While there won't be any water stops in the 5K, the 10 miler will offer at least one water stop-- which, since the course is an out-and-back route, runners will pass twice. If we have enough volunteers, we will add a second water stop to the 10 miler. (If we have just one water stop, it'll fall near the 3 & 7 mile marks; if we have two, they'll be at 2, 3.8, 6.2, and 8.) Because this event is not a big operation, our water stop (or stops) may be somewhat undermanned, with only one or two volunteers there to hand out cups. So you might have to grab your own cup if you pass the water stop with a large pack of runners.

There are two hilly sections in the 10 miler, coming at mile 2½ and again at mile 6¼. Hey, this is the Shenandoah Valley-- we couldn't avoid a few hills! The hills come during the middle section of the course as it strays from the river. Here's a look at the 10 miler elevation profile (and keep in mind that the elevation is rather exaggerated):

Regardless of which race you're running, you'll be running mostly on gravel and dirt. There are two paved sections. The first section stretches for a half-mile between Parshall Road and Lockes Landing (mile 0.8 to 1.3 in both races; 5Kers will pass back over this section from about mile 1.8 to 2.3, while 10 milers will pass it again from mile 8.7 to 9.2). The other paved section is on Tilthammer Mill Road, just before and after the 10 mile turnaround (mile 4.85 to 5.15).

The rest of the course is unpaved. The runnability (is that a word?) of the unpaved sections will depend on how recently they have been raked by road crews. At the time of the 2006 race, the roads had been recently raked and reshaped, and they were gravelly, soft, and uneven. In other years, the roads were worn down to smooth dirt but were prone to having ruts and occasional washboarding. Either way, the unpaved sections are not very fast... but this isn't exactly out of the ordinary for gravel roads, is it?

The two courses are just a stone's throw away from the Shenandoah River, and we did have some concerns about flooding prior to the 2005 event. The last mile before the 10 mile turnaround in particular is quite close to the river level, and a week before the '05 race, parts of that mile were underwater! The river level receded by race day, though. We're not expecting to see any flooding problems this year, but if we do, we would likely reroute the 10 mile course and relocate the turnaround point to higher ground. And if there's major flooding-- say, enough to cover Lockes Mill Road-- we'd have to cancel the race. We'll post updates here on the site if such a situation arises.

UPDATE: The river level is fine and there will be no flooding concerns this year.