Dear Runwv staff,

This is Lary Garrett, junior high coach at East Hardy High School and former varsity coach. I have coached athletes two years each at both the Elkins and Williamstown course. I would say that I prefer Elkins over Williamstown because it is more challenging and centrally located. However, I cannot really say whether moving the site back to Elkins is the total solution because there are many pros and cons. The biggest pro is that Elkins is centrally located in the state. Also, it is the most challenging course our state, or any state for that matter, has to offer. Finally, Elkins has been the site for many previous years, so it has the history, mystique, memories, and the times of the runners of different eras can be compared to one another.

However, there are also drawbacks to Elkins. The most prominent is that for the runners who plan to run at the collegiate level, the times that these participants run at Elkins are not comparable to times that participants from other states run. Therefore, our runners do not look as good on paper as other runners and have more difficulty attaining recognition from other states' coaches. Actually, the course at Williamstown would still be considered hilly by some states. I think this is a bigger issue for the elite runners than the average ones.

I think the state has two options. We can decide to have it at a centrally located place like Elkins (or even a place like Fairmont, Buchannon, etc.) every year and not change the site. Or, we can rotate it every year to courses around the particular regions. For example, you have four sites-the Northern Panhandle, the Eastern Panhandle, the western part near the Ohio River (like Williamstown), and the southern part. With this option, there is bound to be some flat courses for the elite runners, and some hilly courses for everyone to be challenged. Also, everyone would be able to appreciate the beauty of the state when they drive to the different area each year. I know that I would not mind driving five hours to Fayette County or Williamstown one year if I knew that in the next year or two we would be running at a place like Hampshire County, which is a 30 minute drive from our school.

Sincerely,

Lary Garrett