Ashe County - Ashe Dash 5k - May 5, 2018

Chad beat me to Ashe County back in 2011 when he ran the New River Half-Marathon, but with that race now moved to Watauga County, my best shot for checking off Ashe County was the Ashe Dash 5k, which had been held in the fall a few times but had been moved to spring.

Ashe County is the most northwestern of North Carolina's counties, tucked way up in the corner where Tennessee and Virginia come together.  As you might imagine, the mountains are everywhere and it's hard to find a level route, even for a 5k, so we went in knowing there were going to be some hills.  But the Ashe County Middle School Top Dog Clinic (a school-based health center for kids, not a veterinarian clinic) set up a very scenic route, with plenty of views of the mountains and hopefully not too many to run up.  Packet pickup on race morning was at the Ashe County Health Department in Jefferson, which offered great views of the surrounding hills and plenty of room for parking and organizations, and they had plenty of pre-race water and fruit to get the runners set to run.  However, with the start/finish being at the top of a hill, we knew we were going to have to finish uphill one direction or another.
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The race organizers gave a great introduction and invocation, lined us up, and we were off charging down the first hill.  (Kathy gave me permission to run on my own to test my pacing while she followed with the boy in the stroller.)  Unfortunately, at the very first turn a course volunteer directed us the wrong way, with the result that we continued straight and eventually were going to be on a short course.  From my vantage point safe near the back of the pack, you could see the runners following each other like bees -- do we turn?  do we not turn? -- but eventually someone knew the course and got us back where we were supposed to be, albeit a little short.


Other than those issues, though, the course was very pretty and the spring morning in the mountains made for excellent running conditions.  We saw lots of houses with gardens blooming, and then we turned onto Main Street, where the majority of the race was run, except that we missed two other turns that would have diverted us through some other parts of the Jefferson downtown area.  Eventually, we reached a little park between Main Street and Highway 221, where we followed (not kidding) Naked Creek and did a little turnaround before heading back the way we came.  I got to see Kathy with the stroller, and the boy had a wide grin across his face as he enjoyed the motion and hollering to the other runners.  The return trip had some hills of its own, but running through a different part of Jefferson downtown, plus the folks out in the early morning to see the runners, made it a very enjoyable route, even when we made the last turn and had to run back up the hill to the Health Department.  Fortunately, we were rewarded with a great vista of the mountains upon crossing the finish line, and the provided food made for a great post-run breakfast while we cheered for Kathy and the other runners coming up the hill.

Even with the missed turns, everyone had run the same route, so the 5k was official at a distance of only 2.84 miles by my Garmin.  The organizers went ahead with the awards, and the competition was very keen between the 70 recorded finishers.  (Kathy and I each finished sixth in our age groups.)  We enjoyed the trip up to the mountains and our beautiful tour around Jefferson.  With a few more course volunteers and maybe some turn markings on the road, the return of the Ashe Dash 5k has a chance to be a spring highlight of the mountains, and hopefully we'll make it up there to run it again another spring.