As the old “Saturday Night Live” sketch with Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken decreed, there are times in life … when you’ve just gotta have more cowbell.
Especially if you’re running in the 2019 Morgantown Marathon on Sunday.
But that’s getting ahead of the pace.
First, an overview: This will be the fifth edition of the run that snakes, swoops and soars through the University City and its seven wards.
Proceeds go to Operation Welcome Home, the veterans outreach organization in Mylan Park that is there for soldiers returning from war zones and transitioning to civilian life, including jobs and school.
Some 250 entrants will lace up and carb up for the race that organizers have billed, “26.2 Almost Heavenly Miles.”
Those who have run it before will shake their heads and give rueful chuckles over the marketing wordplay.
The almost heavenly course, they’ll tell you, is definitely hell on hamstrings, arches and ankles.
All that geography, they say. All that up and down.
“Morgantown has great neighborhoods and West Virginia is known for its scenery and terrain,” said Jamie Summerlin, the race director and former Operation Welcome Home CEO who originally mapped out the marathon six years ago.
“I wanted a challenging course that showcases all that.”
And, he wanted to celebrate and support his fellow veterans.
In 2012, Summerlin, a marathoner and veteran who served six years in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Gulf War, did an oorah, on a grand scale.
That’s when he laced up his running shoes and paced it off from Oregon to Delaware, notching 3,452 miles in 100 days. His own personal “Freedom Run” benefited veterans groups nationwide.
The Morgantown Marathon, he said, is a geographic microcosm of his American map endeavor.
“The feature that makes us famous is that last leg up to the Coliseum from downtown,” he said.
Which means Monongahela Boulevard — and that’s all uphill.
“You climb 187 feet in seven-tenths of a mile,” he said. “The runners have a name for it. They didn’t get the street right, but it still works. They call it, ‘Son of a Beechurst Hill.’ ”
Running, and much more
People who have followed the Morgantown Marathon over the years will be watching for Bryan Morseman, who has won the last three years and holds the course record.
He conquered Morgantown’s 26.2 miles last year in 2:33:27.
That time was just a touch off his 2017 mark of 2:32:36, which still stands as the record for the run.
Will 2019 be a four-peat?
“I’ll come back down and we’ll see what happens,” he said, after crossing the finish line last year.
What always happens for Morseman, 33, of Bath, N.Y., is that he’s always running — for family.
He’s finished first in 66 marathons in recent years, and every purse he wins goes to pay the medical costs for his 5-year-old son, Leeim, who was born with spina bifida, the result of his spinal column not forming properly while in the womb.
Of competitors, cars … and cowbells
Sunday will dawn early for the runners. Registration for those yet to enter begins at 5:45 a.m., and the marathon gets underway at 7 a.m.
The Mon Health Half-Marathon follows at 7:15 a.m., and 7:30 a.m. is the start of the Mylan Mountain Mama 8K.
Look for more than 1,000 runners out for all three races, Summerlin said.
While various city streets and traffic lanes will be closed at various times during the race, police will be out to help you safely drive to and from, he added. Visit morgantownmarathon.com for a complete list of road closures.
It will be a hot, sweaty day for the runners. AccuWeather is calling for a high of 86 under partly sunny skies for the day.
“That’s why I’m hoping everybody comes out to cheer the runners on,” Summerlin said. “Get out in your front yard and yell for them. It’s going to be hot. They’ll need that.”
Patricia Feldmeier was a mobile cheering section last year.
She drove to various spots along the route so she could wield her trusty cowbell — which she called, “the great motivator.”
“Gets ‘em going every time,” she said.
One runner hung up on the Hogback Turn near Sabraton was particularly motivated.
When he heard the pep rally-rattle, he smiled and gave Hogback hell.
“Thank you, ma’am,” he said, tossing a peace sign as he chugged past.
“I’m loving that cowbell.”
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