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Warrenton's Mark Nesfeder gets a kick out of running really long distances
Running mountain races and ultramarathons sounds like it would take years off a person’s life.
Not Mark Nesfeder’s, though. In fact, this year, a race will take some candles off his cake.
The Warrenton resident plans to compete in the Masters World Mountain Running Championships next month for a second consecutive year. In 2007, at age 49, he was an old man in the 45-49 age group and finished 119th out of 151. This year he’ll move to the 50-55 age group and become a spry youngster relative to his competitors.
“I’m going to be kind of the baby of the age group, which is nice…I’m especially excited,” Nesfeder said. “It’s weird to think you’re looking forward to getting older, but as far running [Masters races] that helps a lot.”
Nesfeder turns 50 on Sept. 3, just in time for the Sept. 6 race at Dolni Morava, a mountain resort in the Czech Republic town of Jeseniky.
Nesfeder has run 26 marathons and seven ultramarathons over the past 25 years, but he got involved in Masters races only last year at the Championships in Bludenz, Austria. This year’s race in the Czech Republic will span 11.3 kilometers, slightly more than seven miles, with 7.8 kilometers winding uphill and at least 75 runners in the 50-55 age group race alone.
Nesfeder’s training has included running the hills of Bear Wallow Road near his Warrenton home and monthly work in the Shenandoah mountains, which he said have an elevation gain similar to the 3,000-foot gain of those in Jeseniky.
“I have a few courses out there where I run the fire roads for training,” Nesfeder said. “The hill running is important, and then I try to race every other weekend with more intense speed training. I’ll look for any races around. It doesn’t matter the distance.”
Nesfeder has been distance running competitively since graduating in 1980 from Mount Saint Mary’s College (Emmitsburg, Md.), where he played for the tennis team...
See the Friday print edition of the Fauquier Weekend for the complete story.
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