A Runners Paradise
Nov. 6, 2022 – The Kernstown Battlefield continues to be a favorite venue for runners in the Old Dominion.
Two major events occurred within the past week – On Saturday, October 29th, the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) cross-country races were hosted by Shenandoah University; and then on Saturday, November 5th, the annual Battlefield Half Marathon occurred which is sponsored by Frederick County Parks & Recreation.
The unique and popular thing about races at Kernstown Battlefield is that each individual race is started with a blast from the KBA's mountain howitzer seen in the photos below.
Old Dominion Athletic Conference:
October 29th, 2022. This was the second time Shenandoah University & Kernstown Battlefield has hosted these championships, the last being in 2018. There are 13 colleges and universities who are members of the ODAC, an all Virginia private college conference. In the women's 6,000-meter race, there were 98 competitors, while the men's 8,000-meter race had 119 athletes compete in the championship.
University of Lynchburg won both the men's and women's races, in historic fashion, with both of their team's winning with a perfect 15-point score, finishing 1st-2-3-4-5th places overall. Washington & Lee University took second place in both the men's and women's. Home host Shenandoah University finished 3rd overall in the women's race, with sophomore Madeline Lotts (Warren County HS graduate 2021) leading SU's women in her career best time 23:41 for 6,000-meters for 16th place overall.
Battlefield Half Marathon:
November 5, 2022. This annual event, sponsored by Frederick County Parks & Recreation attracts several hundred runners from around the region each year with both individual and team entries. The race begins and ends on the battlefield with the course running through country roads and neighborhoods. Here again, the race is started with a blast from KBA's mountain howitzer.
