Ted Janusz's Staging Area

Our family has been participating for three decades. It started when my daughters (who are not runners) and I would run the 1-mile downhill race on the evening before my half marathon. One year, my daughter won a cash prize of $150 in the race! When the Friday race was discontinued a few years ago, I said nothing about that year’s race to my daughters, didn’t want them to have the pressure of making the long trip to West Virginia just to see me run the half marathon. I was surprised to see that my daughter and her husband drove in the middle of the night just so that they could see me run the half marathon on Saturday morning! The weekend has become that special to my family! The 2-mile straight uphill in the half at the 3.5 mile marker is a killer, but not so bad when you know where it is and how long it will be. The reward is the 2-mile straight downhill that follows. By then you are delirious and it feels like you are flying! Have never experienced anything like it in any other race. A few more rolling hills, the toughest is a half-mile hill that comes right before the final mile, which is straight downhill (the site of the former Friday night race), and a finish in downtown Wheeling. Tough, challenging, and special. Our family would not start our summer without this race! Participation has dropped in recent years, but I hope the race can continue to be run until I no longer can.