The Hatfield & McCoy Marathon

Getting Along in the Long Run

To say the first year was small potatoes would be an understatement, as there were only 15 marathon finishers and 11 in the accompanying half marathon. "But the winner came all the way from Vermont!" Hatfield exclaims. The club had virtually no budget that first year and advertising was minimal, so club members were pleased to get one race under their belts and immediately focused on ways to grow the event for 2001. The number of finishers more than tripled in the second year and then doubled for 2002, by which time Hatfield knew he was on to something good.

"We didn’t realize the Hatfield & McCoy name would intrigue people like it has, that the name would be the only advertising we’d need at first," says Hatfield. "And local people warmed up to the race and now see that it still has great potential for growth. This area is rich in history, but it’s something we really hadn’t tapped into before the festival and the marathon."

The Tug Valley Road Runners also initiated a children’s running program in 2001 and began a scholarship fund for area high school track and cross country athletes the following year. "We’ve given out $5,000 the first three years, mostly because of the marathon," notes Hatfield. "That doesn’t sound like a lot, but in an area like this it is." McCoys as well as Hatfields are eligible, I was pleased to learn, and so is everyone else.

Like most people, I’d heard of the Hatfield & McCoy feud but knew little beyond the names. I wasn’t even sure if it was a true story or just a legend. So, before traveling to the Tug River Valley, I contacted Bill Richardson, extension professor at West Virginia University and producer of an award-winning documentary on the feud. While the Hatfields and McCoys have come to symbolize the backwardness and violence of 19th-century Appalachian mountain culture, Richardson’s view is that the story is much more complex than most people realize.

The feud’s exact origins are not entirely clear and may date back to the Civil War period, but the 1882 killing of Ellison Hatfield by three McCoy brothers was a key early incident. Eventually the feud became somewhat of a battle between states, since the Hatfields mostly resided in West Virginia and the McCoys in Kentucky. When eight Hatfields were caught in Kentucky and charged with the murder of a McCoy, the State of West Virginia claimed they had been kidnapped. The case reached the United States Supreme Court on appeal, and in 1889 was decided in favor of Kentucky and the McCoys. At that point "Devil Anse" Hatfield decided to leave the Tug Valley, and the feud came to an end.

The 2004 race was set to begin at 7 a.m. on Saturday, June 12, and my family and I pulled into Williamson, WV, Friday afternoon just as torrential rains hit the area. As I peered out our third-floor window at the Sycamore Inn, Williamson’s only hotel and race HQ, I noticed a group of frantic race volunteers attempting to keep a large tent from being blown off into the surrounding hills. But despite the nasty weather, spirits were hardly dampened at the pasta dinner, which was highlighted by a humorous skit featuring "appearances" by William Anderson ("Devil Anse") Hatfield and Randolph ("Ole Ran’l") McCoy, patriarchs of the feuding families. Skillfully written by Richardson, the skit was knee-slappin’ funny but interjected enough facts to serve as a fitting prelude to the next day’s race, which would traverse many of the key feud sites.