In the early 1990s, Bill Brooks lived off Route 17 in Hartwood. At that time, Hartwood only had many large farms.
Bill did his long runs on a 10-mile loop on roads surrounding Curtis Park.
Stafford County Parks and Rec managed a fall 5-mile race from Curtis Park using Hartwood Road. The race only had a few participants. In 1996, Bill approached the County and asked to manage a FARC-hosted 10-mile race instead of the County 5-mile event.
Using Curtis Park as the start/finish venue, Bill picked the fourth Sunday in August as the race date using the roads he ran.
The late August date was intended to help runners prepare for a fall marathon. That time of year could be hot in Virginia. Bill picked an early 7:45 am start time to mitigate the heat and sun exposure. It was still pitch dark while we set up at 6 am. In later years, the start was moved to 7:15 am.
The actual mileage of the loop was less than 10 miles, even using the access road into the park. So, we needed to use a loop of the parking lot to add the extra distance,
With this course, runners went clockwise, and the little traffic in the area was routed counterclockwise, effectively giving runners a safe route. More cows were near the course then than cars on that road. Inside the loop, there were no housing developments, only farms. There were no developments outside the loop either.
Most of Curtis Park is well above lake level. Progressing from the park, the first five miles were a gentle downhill. The lowest point on the course was mile 5 at Long Branch Road. The next mile was a constant stepping climb, recovering most of the lost elevation.
Exhausted at mile 6, runners enjoyed the shade on Shackelford Well Road, which allowed time for recovery until turning onto Hartwood Road in full sunlight and a slight uphill.
The final half mile was back in the shade of Curtis Park.
Bill managed the race for many years, bringing in Wawa as the title sponsor. Wawa entered the Fredericksburg market in the late 1990s with its first store in Central Park. Bill modified the race name from Hartwood 10 Mile to Wawa 10 Mile at Hartwood.
In 2000, the Countryside subdivision was under construction off Stoney Hill Road. For 2001, we replaced the loop through the parking lot with a route through the Countryside roads.
Still, traffic was reasonable, and the route continued clockwise.
By 2011, Bill turned over race management to Lynne Millholland. Traffic increased in the area, and subdivisions were planned inside the loop.
For safety, the runner’s direction had to be changed to counterclockwise.
Runners stayed in the inside lane facing traffic. Traffic was still detoured off Poplar and Hartwood Roads.
The Hartwood Rosd section was used at the start before the sun broke above the treeline. The steep uphill on Poplar Road was now a downhill. However, the last 5 miles were a constant slight uphill.
Lynne dropped the loop through the Countryside subdivision so that runners would not need to cross Stoney Hill Road twice.
Running on the south side of Stoney Hill Road kept runners in the shade for most of the final four miles.
To compensate for the distance lost in Countryside, the route went to a single-track trail in the woods after the park entrance.
Silly road runners revolted against the trail portion of the course, and the first subdivisions inside the loop were completed before the 2012 race. Using Estate Drive, a short out and back eliminated the dirt portion of the course.
Matt Boyd and Chris Koehler took over race management.
After the 2016 race, Stafford County determined the traffic in the Curtis Park area was too significant, even on a Sunday morning, and told Matt and Chris they would need to find another location for the race.
Matt and Chris exhausted all possible locations in Stafford County from Celebrate Virginia North to Hollywood Farm Road.
Chris lived in Orange County and rode a nine-mile loop on roads east of Culpeper with cycling friends. One of those toads was Culpeper County Route 666, changing the race name to Devil’s Den 10 Mile.
A winery at the southeast corner of the loop declined to be the host venue, and the nearby Linn Park lacked sufficient facilities. The developing Culpeper Sports Complex had enough parking to host the race.
A clockwise loop was developed from the Complex.
The course has the same characteristics as Hartwood. It is in farm country with no housing projects. The low point is at mile 3, and most of the uphill is between miles 5 and 6.
Even with a start in the Complex, a spur to Brandy Station is required to complete the 10-mile distance.
For safety, runners must stay on the left of the center line on the entire course, facing traffic.
Just before mile 7, the route turns onto Greens Corner Road, Route 666. For the next two-plus miles, the course is in direct sunlight to the runners’ backs.
There is a church between miles 8 and 9. Their traffic from Culpeper picks up around 8:45 to make this course section more challenging.
Even with the 7:15 am start, slower runners can be hit with the blazing sun and car dodging, an appropriate ending to the race’s namesake.
This race was one of the few held in 2020. Even COVID could not give the devil his due.
The 29th FARC-hosted ten-mile race will be held on August 18 in Culpeper. Just a thought: Chris could change the start time from 7:15 am to 7:06 (6:66).