There are two distinct and totally different types of races in the Williamsburg area. With several exceptions, the two dozen annual Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix races are mostly on roads, or use the well-maintained Greensprings Nature Trail, and are usually relatively flat and fast, with distances of 5K to 10K, conducive to fast times and personal records. The exceptions include the very hilly and challenging Colonial Half Marathon in February, and the challenging surface and hills of the Warhill Nature Trail for the Run for Mental Strength 6K in May.
Then there are the Happy Cat Events races directed by Ellen Alexander. Her purpose is to get road racers out of their comfort zone, to have races at a variety of longer distances utilizing beautiful local parks such as the York River State Park and Freedom Park, with very challenging singletrack or main trails with plenty of roots, twists, turns, uphills and downhills. Her easier courses (the 24-hour and 7-hour runs) use the Greensprings Trail.
Once a year, the two groups merge with the fifth annual Night Owl 9K run, an evening Happy Cats Event race at Freedom Park that is part of the CRR Grand Prix series. This year, more of the regular CRR road racers have tested themselves at Alexander’s races, and they have enjoyed the new experiences, in particular the Arbor Day 15K at the end of April, and the Taskinas Creek Half Marathon at the beginning of June, both on the difficult and very challenging trails of York River State Park.
The Night Owl race offers a variety of challenging surfaces, starting and finishing in the large meadow by the park’s Interpretive Center, using the asphalt backbone trail before encountering first wide trails, then 1 ½ miles of the most challenging singletrack trails B and A. Back on the wide trails, then the asphalt backbone trail, the challenges don’t end, as there is a very long uphill stretch on the asphalt, going to Jolly Pond Road, then on the return a very steep shorter hill, before a flat final half mile to the finish.
The June 29 race started at 6 p.m., so there was time for all to finish with plenty of daylight left to enjoy the post-race party and awards ceremony, with pizza and beer. Plagued by evening storms in recent years, this year’s race moved from late July to late June, and the weather cooperated without any rain. However, the final challenge for the runners was the temperature, about 91 degrees at the start, with a heat index of around 100. There were 167 entrants, and 147 finishers.
The race name comes from the race beneficiary, Nature’s Nanny Wildlife Rehabilitation, which brings a selection of owls for the race entrants to observe, learn about, and interact with inside the Interpretive Center.
Despite the tough course conditions, and the summer heat, two men’s and six women’s age group records were broken. The top three overall for the men were Roger Hopper, 33, of Chesapeake (32:52), Adam Otstot, 42, of Williamsburg (33:59) and Erik Stauderman, 24, of Williamsburg (35:25). Otstot broke the men’s 40-44 race record by more than three minutes, while Hopper owns the race overall record at 31:55 from his 2022 win.
For the women, the top three all broke age group records. Winner Randi Marie Dyrkolbotn, 43, of Mandal, Norway won in 42:01 to break the women’s 40-44 record by more than seven minutes. Runnerup Svitlana Honcharova, 26, of Williamsburg (45:03) broke the 25-29 record by 37 seconds, and Marjorie Friedrichs, 57, of Williamsburg ran 45:34 to break Deelyn Robinson’s previous 55-59 record, also by 37 seconds.
Dyrkolbotn was in Virginia to visit her sister, who works for NATO in Norfolk. The typical high temperatures in Norway during the summer are in the 60s, quite the contrast to Saturday’s 91 degrees. The women’s race record is 38:39 by Bethany Spector, 32, of Virginia Beach in 2021.
Also breaking race age group records were Jim Duffy, 72, of Poquoson (men 70-74, 52:43), Connie Glueck, 60, of Williamsburg (women 60-64, 53:37), Carol Hansen-Vessa, 70, of Williamsburg (women 70-74, 1:06:47), and Tracy Freeman, 75, of Williamsburg (women 75-and-over, 1:52:28).
Other leading men were Jason Bridges, 40, of Williamsburg (37:31), Lauritz Dyrkolbotn, 15, of Mandal, Norway (37:45), Kalle Jahn, 32, of Williamsburg (39:26), Timothy Suhr, 53, of Williamsburg (39:50), Jason Wahr, 40, of Virginia Beach (40:00) and Joe Calkins, 53, of Lanexa (40:35). Other leading women were Caitlyn Sylvester, 25, of Virginia Beach (46:19), Connie Cassidy, 42, of Williamsburg (48:52), Katherine Wease, 34, of Williamsburg (49:14) and Jessica Anderson, 42, of Williamsburg (51:36).
On an age-graded basis, as compiled by CRR statistician Jim Gullo, four runners bettered the national-class standard of 80%, led by Otstot (81.89%), Pete Gibson, 68, of Murfreesboro, NC (43:15, 81.00%), Hopper (80.59%) and Friedrichs (80.26%). Above 75% were Suhr (76.52%), Calkins (75.11%) and Randi Marie Dyrkolbotn (75.01%). Five more were above the regional-class level of 70%, Stauderman (74.54%), J.P. Murphy, 60, of Virginia Beach (44:12, 73.41%), Bridges (73.03%), Lauritz Dyrkolbotn (72.25%) and Glueck (70.80%).
Randi Marie Dyrkolbotn emailed, “It was an amazing race, but the temperature was a lot higher than what we are used to in Norway (64 degrees in the summer) and I felt like I was being cooked already after 1km. The trail part was challenging, especially since we don’t run that much on trails, and in the forest. I had to slow down quite a bit for the sharp corners on the trail, and couldn’t get into a good flow there, but it was still really fun. We were so tired when we got off the trail that it was difficult to run as fast as we wanted to on the road.” She has a marathon best of 2:59:29, while her 15-year-old son has run 16:17 (5K), 33:48 (10K) and 1:14:48 (half marathon).
Stauderman emailed, “I ran the Snowy Owl 10 miler in January which was hosted by Ellen and I absolutely loved it. Even though I’m not a big trail runner I love the events she puts on and plan on continuing running in her events. Adam and I went for a test run on Thursday to get a sense of the course and what was coming with all the turns so we didn’t get lost. I enjoyed the change from paved to dirt to straight single trail. I thought it brought out the best in a runner, most versatile and adapting to change throughout the course.”
Stauderman has moved past Jonathan Grimm into third place in the 2024 CRR Grand Prix, behind Otstot and Hopper. “For me, I’m not going to lie, I love coming in the top three, but being an athlete and competing in different sports my whole life [mainly golf for which he competed in college], my goal is to win. I feel like I’m getting faster and adapting to this new sport and I’m enjoying every aspect of it, and will be able to compete with Roger and Adam in the near future. I really want to get my 5K time under 16 minutes in August and by next year competing for the win at DOG Street which would be closer to 15 minutes. I plan on trying to run as many Grand Prix races as I can by the end of the year while also pursuing my passion of training for the Chicago and Boston marathons this upcoming year!”
Calkins emailed, “I love Happy Cat races. Always unique, and difficult. This was my fourth time doing the Night Owl, and I got a PR by 30 seconds from my last run in 2022. I was expecting to be slower due to the heat and being 2 years older, but started fast and just hung on. Now I have another Happy Cat race shirt to add to my wardrobe… which is mostly Happy Cat shirts.”
Friedrichs emailed, “This was only my second trail race, with the first being last year’s Night Owl, and I must say I enjoy them! The hills are a challenge I always enjoy, and the shade in the woods and the volunteers at the water stops were certainly much appreciated. After overcoming several injuries last year I’m finally feeling like I can put my all into running, and have been thrilled to be able to break 80% [age graded] during my last two CRR races. After my higher mileage preparing for the London marathon this spring, I’ve been training more for shorter 5K/10K races this summer and am hoping to be able to PR once the temperatures are a bit cooler this fall. Or at least get another 80+% age graded time!”
Rick Platt is president of Colonial Road Runners.
