Bob Gurtler passed away in the Spring of 2022 at age 87. He was a fixture at many area races, and at age 82, he ran 120 races that year.
According to our records, Bob’s first Fredericksburg area race was the 2001 Turkey Trot. He completed 127 Coldwell Banker Elite Grand Prix races through 2917.
With my timing company, Race Timing Unlimited, he finished 204 races between 2007 and 2017. One Saturday each October, we timed an 8:30 am 5 km in Manassas, Virginia, and a separate crew timed a noon 5 km in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Bob made the trek to compete in each event.
In his last running years, he had severe pain in his right knee that finally sidelined him to recover from a knee replacement.
Bob resided in and was the mayor of The Plains, Virginia. The Plains is in northern Fauquier County on Virginia Route 55. It’s a small corporated location, not a town or city, with a population of about 250.
Until Interstate 66 was completed, Route 55 was the western part of the main road from Washington, DC, to the north end of Skyline Drive, handling many travelers escaping the city on fall weekends. The Interstate is less than a mile south of the now-sleepy village.
One of Bob’s close running friends was Duane Williamson. Over the past year, Duane has worked to develop a race in The Plains in memory of Bob. Today, the first memorial race was held.
Bab was a member of the Fredericksburg Area Running Club, the Shenandoah Valley Runners, and the Potomac Valley Track Club. Those are the ones I know about. There were probably more.
Seventy-five of Bob’s friends and I lined up at the start of the inaugural race this morning.
Today’s goals were to keep my heart rate under 150 and run the entire race. A finish time under 35 minutes would be an extra.
The race started at 8 am. I left my house at 6:15 am and arrived in the Plains around 7:10 am. Knowing the average participant’s age was north of 55, I tried to convince the staff that I was 25 when I picked up my bib number.
I started my 24-minute warmup at 7:20 am. I did eight 3-minute segments, running 30 paces in the first seven and the entire last segment. I went out onto the first 3/4 miles of the course, noticing the mostly uphill route.
It was a beautiful morning in Virginia horse country. The temperature was 47 degrees, with a 34-degree dewpoint and sunny skies. I wore shorts over compression shorts, my red FARC singlet over a long-sleeved undershirt, a ball cap, neck gaiter, gloves, and my Saucony Triumph 21 shoes.
About three minutes before the gun, I mixed into the crowd toward the back. Duane made some comments to acknowledge Bob’s accomplishments and a course description. It was simple to follow: turn right on Main, left on Loudoun, and right on Hopewell. When you get to the cone, turn around and come back. The roads were not closed to traffic, so we were to run facing traffic.
The race started on time. Main was uphill to Loudoun, which went downhill to cross the railroad track. Hopewell was uphill to the turnaround. There were a few downs and flats, but mostly climbing.
I completed mile 1 in 11:37 and continued uphill toward the turnaround. I saw a police car on an upcoming hill and hoped that was the turn. After cresting a small hill, I saw the actual turn at the bottom of a swell.
Even though I had to go uphill after reversing direction, I knew the trip home would be easier. Through the outbound journey, my heart rate stayed around 140.
On the way back, my second mile was 11:44, and the .1 miles to the one-mile mark was only 68 seconds. My 35-minute goal was within reach.
I continued to roll downhill. Crossing the railroad tracks, I worked the uphill on Loudoun without exceeding 150 bpm.
Back on Main and only downhill from there, my third mile was 10:32, and my final .1 mile was 50 seconds. My heart rate went above 150 and peaked at 159 in that last .1 mile, but it did not stay there long enough to trigger my Garmin alert.
My finish time was 34:45, and my chip time was 34:35. I finished 56th overall, 36th male, and 13th of 19 in the 60 to 69-year-old male category. 36 of the 75 finishers were 60 or older.
I was happy that I ran the entire distance.
After finishing, I walked a little cool down and stayed around for the awards ceremony that started at 8:45.
I’ve always wondered what my daughters are going to do with my race shirts and medals when I’m gone. I don’t have the number of trophies that Bob accrued. Today’s awards were recycled trophies that Bob received in his running exploits.
The race raised $2500 for the Peace and Grace Food Pantry of Grace Episcopal Church.
Talking to Duane after the race, I said, “I know why Bob ran so well. Today’s route was part of his routine training runs.”
Duane’s response was, “He did love Hopewell Road.”
On another note, two cars with JFK 50 Mile specialty plates were on site, mine and Mario Zuniga’s. I can no longer finish under 13 hours. Mario will be running his tenth in a couple of weeks.