West Virginia Mountain Trail Runners

If you are a member of WVMTR or read this site it is because you like trails. We all can agree that trails are as different as their uses.  There are rail trails for walking and biking. There are single track trails for hiking, running and mountain biking.  We search for these trails out and use them in different ways.  When we find a nice section of single track trail we cherish and use it often.

Two such trails were recently destroyed by park officials in Kanawha County’s Coonskin Park.  The Pine Trail and the Patriot Trail were both bulldozed and made 8 foot wide.  A long time trail runner and member, Joni Adams worked ten years to carve the Patriot Trail out of the forest at Coonskin.  Then with little warning it was undone in a mater of a few days.  Park Official put an legal ad in the paper and posted information at the clubhouse about their plans.  Users of the trails don’t use the club house and a ad in the paper fails to provide adequate information in today’s internet age. Continue Reading »

Adam Casseday and Bradley Mongold will run the 292 mile, or 300 mile depending on your source of information, Allegheny Trail later this summer. They have been planning the adventure for over a year. The north-south ALT extends along the eastern mountains of from the WV/PA line near Bruceton Mills to Peter’s Mt on the WV/VA border. The guys exact daily schedule is still fluid but they will start at the northern terminus on 8/28 and intend to finish in five days on 9/1. A personal blog is in the works. Watch for more details here.

Meet Zach Irelan (left) and Joel Wolpert, gingerly standing at the finish.

by Joel Wolpert

full results here

The first half of Highland Sky was uneventful. Just nice smooth running in good weather. I traded positions with Yassine Diboun and Zach Irelan over the first six or seven miles. When we hit the flat and fast trails of the Roaring Plains, I felt good and eased ahead.

The race wasn’t much of one until Aid Station 6. By the end of the Road Across the Sky, I was nursing a little bonk. I rolled into the aid station needing something. Adam was coo-ing around like a protective hen, clucking encouragement and touting my prowess. I drank some coke and filled my water bottle. Poured numerous cups of water over my head. To Zach’s credit he hammered away to close the gap over almost 20 miles. So when I was leaving Aid 6 he was just arriving. About a minute down the trail onto the North Sods I realized I hadn’t taken any gels or food. So it was just me, a bottle of water, and salt with 7 miles to the next food. Already starting to bonk, this was a mistake.

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Front Royal, VA - After a punishing 100 miles, Adam Casseday finished the rocky Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 Mile course in 3rd place behind Todd Walker and Keith Knipling. Paced by Bradley Mongold he ran the MMT circuit in 21:37:37! Randy Young also rocked the course and finished in 15th. Paced by Dan Lehmann posted a time of 27:55:06. We look forward to hearing more about the race when the boys get back the WV.

Adam Casseday

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Adam and Kadra got married this weekend in a beautiful ceremony in Beverly, WV. None other than Bradley Mongold escorted the couple through the process as groomsman and several of your clubmates were lucky enough to attend. Unfortunately, we don’t have the photo rights to post images of the bride and groom (People magazine was reported to have paid a “ridiculously large sum” for the rights to publish the first photos of the couple), but we do have a couple juicy shots from other attendees at the reception. Congratulations Adam and Kadra and all the best to you!

Click the Continue Reading for the photos … Continue Reading »