Saturday, January 8, 2000 -- Berryville, VA
SVR Treasure Hunt 5K
Story and photos by Marty Lamp

[Coverage] [Pic Set 1] [Pic Set 2] [Pic Set 3] [Results]

It was a great day for a run

The weather in Berryville, Virginia was about as nice as could be hoped for on January 8th, and everyone participating in the Shenandoah Valley Runners' Treasure Hunt 5K took full advantage. Over 70 runners of all ages and abilities convened at Clarke County High School on a brisk, but sunny, morning to take part in a race that had a few fun twists added.

This day marked the 23rd anniversary for the Shenandoah Valley Runners, with their first race being ran way back on January 8th, 1977. Also adding a little more fun to this race was the "treasure hunt"; along the course runners would encounter index cards with a number written on each. Racers were allowed to pick up one card, and after the race, whoever held the highest number could pick first from a table full of prizes.

Kickin' things off at Clarke County High School

The 3.1 mile course started directly across from Clarke County High School and took racers on a meandering run through apple orchards and on rolling gravel roads. Competitors back-tracked the final 1/2 mile on their way to the finish line, which was in the high school parking lot.

As runners crossed the finish line, they were handed a card with their overall place printed on it, plus the survey question, "What one thing in life do you treasure the most?". The number one answer was "spouse/significant other", with "health" and "family" tied for second.

Eric Chandler leads Dustin Sweeney to the finish

From the very start of the race, Eric Chandler(17:23) took the lead, and maintained a steady pace up to the finish line as he finished first overall. Clarke County High cross country runner Dustin Sweeney(17:34) was able to keep Chandler honest, as he finished just 11 seconds behind. Ryan Bayne(18:09) finished third overall.

The fastest female racing this day was Robyn Ritter(20:48), but she wasn't the only fast one. Ruth Riemenschneider(21:03) battled Ritter hard the entire race, and finished a scant 15 seconds back. Ritter and Riemenschneider finished 12th and 13th overall, respectively.

WVOutside would like to thank Nancy Specht and the Shenandoah Valley Runners for putting on such a fun race. Also, much appreciation goes out to their web master, Karsten Brown, for taking care of the results so quickly and for always proving to be a complete and constant source of information.