This year was unusual, in the weeks leading up to the race the weather was mild which never gave the runners many opportunities for heat training. The weather throughout the day was comfortable in the shade but hot in the sun. Which sounds pretty nice compared to the previous hot years. But we saw many runners really struggle with this quick change.

This year could easily be summed up as a year about traditions and reconnecting. After 23 years, we were able to award a 1,000 mile buckle. Olivier Leblond earned his 10th buckle. There are only 6 other previous Old Dominion runners that also hold this special buckle. In addition, we had the opportunity to have Blake Benke on the course again, he ran in 2001 and returned 22 years later to get his 2nd OD buckle. Surely, the largest timespan between buckles at Old Dominion any runner has had. Another connection to our past was Andrew Palen running and getting his buckle. He is the second 2nd-generation OD runner. His father, David Palen, received his buckle in 1997. Our first 2nd-generation we saw was Jerry/Mike Jones.

The runners got the best of the best care during the day this year. Our volunteers continue to always show up for them. This year 96% of our volunteers were veteran volunteers for us. See more 2023 photos on our Facebook page.