Rob rounds into form at Bash Dash mile

June 29, 2013

Hovermale, Mann take 4th annual downhill mile titles

* Complete results
* Race-day photo gallery (download them at no cost)
* Bash Dash mile run event page (Bookmark it!)
* PHDC Facebook page
* A special and sincere “thank you” to event volunteers Noah, Stephanie, Stephen, Chief Buskirk (Hancock Police Department), the Washington County Fire Police Association and the Morgan County (W.Va.) Deputy Reserves in addition to support from Hancock Mayor Dan Murphy.

HANCOCK, Md., June 29, 2013 — Upon inquiry, Rob Hovermale said before the start of the 4th annual Bash Dash mile run that he shouldn’t be perceived as the favorite. The 49-year-old Smithsburg resident said he was working his way back into shape after rehabbing an unspecified injury.

Hovermale’s recovery took a nice step forward on Saturday as he led a 29-runner field in the downhill mile run in Hancock, from the high school to the finish line at Joseph Hancok Primitive Park.The race began in the Hancock High School parking lot and, in a straight line, crossed Main Street and around the median at Hancock Elementary School to complete the course’s only ascent — a climb of 35 feet in elevation.

Runners then headed east on Main Street to downtown Hancock, with the finish line in front of the weekly Farmers Market. The event was sponsored by the Potomac Highlands Distance Club, an RRCA affiliate active in Maryland’s four westernmost counties, West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle as well as various communities in Pennsylvania.

Hovermale, sporting a Cumberland Valley Athletic Club singlet, stopped the clock in 4 minutes and 46.6 seconds, the fastest time on the course, which has a net elevation drop of approximately 225 feet, since 2010. Sean P. McGahuey, 28, of Berkeley Springs, W.Va., was second for the second consecutive year. McGahuey cut more than six seconds from his 2012 performance, finishing in 5:01.3 to last year’s 5:07.9. Mike Meadows, 56, of Martinsburg, was third overall. Meadows, a Potomac Highlands Distance Club member and last year’s Bash Dash champion, earned a 5:14.1 this year.

Sarah Mann, 16, of Hancock, was the first female to cross the line. Mann, an incoming senior for the Hancock High School Panthers, finished in 6:10.3 — 20.2 seconds ahead of runner-up (and PHDC member) Willow Weir, 36, of State Line, Pa.

PHDC member Jalene Hummer, 13, of State Line, rounded out the women’s top three performers with a time of 7:01.4.

All participants had access to ice-cold water and popsicles at the finish of the low-key, low-cost affair. The top male and female finishers were each awarded $10 Sheetz gift cards — double the entry fee for the event. In addition, four Sheetz gift cards, each with a $5 value, were randomly awarded among participants.