The Mighty Elk River Fest 2018 is now in the history books, and if you weren’t there or didn’t participate, you missed out. Not as many people came out for the event as was hoped for, but as the years roll on it will be one of the go to events in the state as it will only get bigger.
The festival triathlon, which encompassed a grueling 22 mile course of biking, running, and kayaking, wasn’t for the faint of heart athlete. It was more like an Ironman challenge. One athlete said that he had run in many events and none was as difficult as the Elk River Fest challenge. In fact, there was only four athletes from Clay with the intestinal fortitude to take on other athletes who came to compete – Geoff Hamrick, Grayson Hamrick, David Tanner and John Ross Carroll. The toughness of the course is evident by the number of participants in this year’s event. Although there were more than last year, only 12 had the guts to compete this go around.
Rounding out the top four in the men’s division started with first place being earned by PJ Donovan from Hurricane with a time of 3:14:12.8. Second place went to David Tanner from Nebo with a time of 3:15:55.6. Coming in third was Geoff Hamrick from Maysel with a time of 3:27:02.9. Fourth place went to Grayson Hamrick, also from Maysel, with a time of 4:5:19.9.
Rounding out the top four in the women’s division were Katelyn Golinsky from Frametown taking first with a time of 3:52:09.0. Laura Phillips from Roanoke took second with a time of 3:52:41.4. Third place was Jennifer Ballard from Hansford with a time of 3:57:28.2. Fourth place was Lauri Spencer, also from Frametown, with a time of 4:01:40.5.
Next year, it would be great to see more people compete, especially from CCHS and surrounding schools. It would be a great opportunity for any of the sports teams to get a team together and show whether or not they have what it takes to compete at a different level. It takes a lot of guts and intestinal fortitude to finish this race; out of the 12 who competed, all finished it. It’s nice to win but just to finish is a feat in and of itself. The results were timed by the TSR Timing Group.
The event went on all day and through most of the evening. The music started around noon, and if you love music, it was the place to be for rock and rollers. The Dow Jones rolling stage was set up, and the tunes filled the river banks. It was a time you could let your hair down and cut the rusty in the grass, if you had a mind to. There was music ranging from easy listening to metal music and all points in between; it was a mini Woodstock kind of day. Some of the best talent in the state were on hand to crank out the tunes. Some were local boys who could hold their own against any top bands. Bands like Buzzurdz, The Dooges, Non Friction, The High Incident project, The Davis Creek Boys, John Richards, and last, but certainly not least, was a band called 5 Star Rebellion. Know this, they will go places in the world of music. They were the feature band this year, and their hard pounding music mixed with a little easy going stuff was some good therapy for the ear drums. With such a great line up of music talent, it’s truly a shame that only a few people took the time to enjoy it. All in all, it was a great event, and next year there is hope that more people in the county and from surrounding counties and beyond will come and enjoy great music along with all the events that take place.
Thanks to the Clay BDA for getting the ball rolling, to all the business and individuals who donated time and money for the occasion, and to all who volunteered for their time. Chris Reed was the Festival Director, and without his lead, the Mighty Elk River Festival may have died on the drawing table. It was a good time! Let’s go people; it’s a good time to get involved.
