2006 Reports
Steve Bremner's Otter Creek Marathon
Larry DeWitt's Vegas Marathon
Joe Kulak's Couch Potato 100
Ted's Arkansas Traveller 100
Steve's Big Sur Marathon
Paul DeWitt's Tsuneo Hasagawa Cup report
Lisa Bulter's Palo Duro 50
Judy DeWitt's LT100
Gordon's LT100
Ted's LT100
Gordon's San Juan 50
Ted Bidwell's WS100
Eric Gabe's San Juan 50
Andy Cullan's San Juan 50

   2005 Reports
Lisa Butler's Palo Duro 20K
Gordon's Palo Duro 20K
Cereta's Palo Duro 20K
Keith Grimes' LT00
Joe Kulak's LT100
Gordon's Lost Soul 50K
Matt Von Thun's Greenland 50K
Dan Schmidt's LT100
Larry DeWitt's LT100
Lisa Butler's LT100
Cereta Grimes' LT100
Paul DeWitt's Vermont 100
Joe Kulak's WS100
Gordon's San Juan 50M
Keith Grimes' 24 Hours of Boulder
Steve Bremner's Fargo Marathon
Eric Gabe's Quick Silver 50M
Keith Grimes' Quick Silver 50M
Paul DeWitt's Miwok 100K
Paul DeWitt's Pemberton 50K

   2004 Reports
Lisa Butler's Kentucky Arches
Gordon Barnett's Mt. Masochist 50M
Bill Ransom's Javelina Jundred
Keith Grimes' Javelina Jundred
Keith Grimes' Heartland 50M
Keith Grimes' City 5K
Lisa Butler's 04 LT100 Crew/Pacer Report
John Genet's 04 LT100 Report
Jill Case's 04 LT100 Report
Rich Muzzy's 04 LT100 Report
Paul Smith's 04 LT100 Report
Gina Harcrow's 04 LT100 Report
Tim Allison's 04 PP Marathon
Ted Bidwell's 04 LT100 Report
Paul DeWitt's 04 LT100 Report
Keith Grimes' 04 LT100 report
Steve Bremner's 04 LT100 report
Lisa Butler's 04 Hardrock Pacer report
Rick Hessek's 04 WS100
Ted Bidwell's 04 San Juan 50
Lisa Butler's 04 Leadville Trail Marathon
Tim Allison's 04 Adventure Race
Lisa Butler's 04 24 Hours of Boulder
Paul DeWitt's 04 Ice Age 50K
   2003 Reports
Chris Clarke's 03 LT100
Eric Gabe's 03 LT100
Rick's 03 LT100
Lisa's 03 LT100
Tamara's 03 PP Marathon
Tim Allison's 03 LT100
Amy's 03 LT100
Paul DeWitt's 03 LT100
Lisa's 03 San Juan 50
Lisa's 03 Manitou 50

Gordon Barnett
Lost Soul Ultra - 100 km "The Toughest Race on the Prairies"
September 14 - 15 2007
Lethbridge Alberta, Canada

Loop course (2 laps = 100.21 km)
Temperatures ranged from 5 to 32 Centigrade (41 to 88 Fahrenheit)
Start time: 8:00 AM

Pre Race
I ran the 50 km race here two years ago (2005) and enjoyed this small, well-organized race so much I vowed to go back for more fun in the coulees around Lethbridge. This area of southwestern Alberta is rich in history. Fort McLeod - the birthplace of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and Heads Smashed In Buffalo Jump are situated close by. The Lost Soul considered an "Urban Ultra" (course is entirely within city limits) runs through such descriptive points as, "Fort Whoop Up", "Peenaquim" and "Pavan" aid stations, and along the "Old Man River". The start and finish are right outside race HQ, Lethbridge Lodge, which makes it super convenient race morning, not to mention for a cold beer*, hot shower, and soft comforter just a few steps away from the finish line. As we're seeing with a lot of ultras these days, there was a ceiling (170 runners) placed on entries which filled in record time, leaving a bunch of runners on an ever expanding waiting list. Based upon my previous 50 km time on this course I went in to this years' event thinking 15 hours would be a respectable finish time. However that all went out the window when at the pre-race meeting we were informed that the course changes that went into affect in 2006 would hold for this year too. Basically the changes made were to take out some of the flatter prairie grass sections, and add more ups and downs through the coulees - a total of 28 ascents and descents on each loop. None of these were very long, however they were step, with the soft prairie soil and sand made for tough climbs and down hills. The other variable was the weather. All week coming into the race, the forecast called for ideal temperatures in the 15 - 18C range (59 - 63F), with little to no wind. I arrived in Lethbridge the afternoon before to 24C, checked the forecast for the next day to see a high of 30C (86F) predicted. No worries, we had hot dry conditions all summer… yeah right.

Race
The 100 km and 100 mile races both start Friday morning at 8:00, seems like a strange start time - but as you all know by now, Canadians do things differently! Runners meet starting at 6:00 AM for pre race instructions, weigh in, and pictures. We asked about the need for photos, and were informed that in last years' race a runner got lost and the police were notified. When asked for a description, race officials said, "not sure but most likely wearing shorts and running shoes." The police weren't amused… hence the photos this year. 8:00 start time and the sun is up and it's already warm. As we took off I thought to myself, "wish we had a 4:00 start." The course starts with a 7 km south loop from the hotel to Whoop Up Drive and into the coulees behind Fort Whoop Up. Back to the start area behind the hotel, on red shale trails, which lead under the High Level Train Bridge (an amazing expanse over the Old Man River) onto along single track, into the coulees to the first aid station at Peenaquim. Due to the length of this section they set up a self serve water station half way through. 12.7 km - this is the toughest section of the course Elevation gain 417m. From this point on the course, it's mostly single again making several climbs up and down through the coulees. This section takes you away from the city and into some beautiful reserve land. Several good climbs bring you into the Pavan Park aid station. 5.4 km - Elevation gain 123m - with steep climbs. Exiting the Pavan Aid Station you run east towards the base of the coulees on a short section of paved road. A sharp left at the base of the coulee and onto a horse trail that turns into bush, full of scratching thistles and little willows that slap you all over. This flat section is a break before heading up, up, up again into the coulees and the turn around point near the Old Man River. Back on single track paralleling the Old Man River (more thistles and willows) and back to the Pavan Aid Station. There are barbed wire fences (8 in total) to go over on this section (they constructed ladders out of 2 x 4 to climb.) 15.8 km - Elevation gain 330m - this was an flatter section two years ago, but it was here that they made a change from prairie and took us back up into the coulees. Heading out from the Pavan Aid Station, you're on red shale trails, before turning back onto single track dirt. Its here you hit two more steep leg breaking climbs on your way back to Peenaquim. At our pre race meeting the RD told us there were 15, 000 flags and markers on the course (glad I wasn't sweeping this sucker.) 6.05 km - two big climbs with flat sections in-between - Elevation Gain 138m. Exiting Peenaquim aid station you head towards the riverbank of the Old Man River, on single track and dirt road paralleling the river. There's a section here where you drop down onto the river's edge running on river rock. But no water crossings. Back up onto red shale trails under High Level Train Bridge and Whoop Up Drive until you reach one more big climb to the Lethbridge Lodge. Like the finish from the Barr Trail Mountain Race x10. 6.56 km - Elevation gain 316m. Loop one complete, just repeat, add darkness, cramping, one balloon toe blister, and stir. Running trails in Colorado we're used to creatures of all kinds, hell, we even have mountain lions downtown in Monument Valley Park. But there was some weird shit out there, especially after dark.

Post Race
So much for negative splits:
7:32 Loop 1
9:15 Loop 2
Finishing time 16:47
10th place overall, won my age group
Good swag including a tech vest and a 35 lb rock complete with race, my name, and finishing time etched in.

The idea of doing the Rocky Raccoon 100 didn't occur to me until barely two weeks before the race. However, after a weekend that consisted of a 7:46 run on Saturday followed by a 5:02 run on Sunday, I decided I was in shape to finish a 100 miler two weeks later. However, my late-breaking decision to enter meant that I'd done no training specific to the flat and fast nature of the Huntsville State Park trails (i.e., no speedwork). My interest in Rocky was piqued by the ranking of Jorge Pacheco's 13:16:56 there last year as being the year's number three ultrarunning performance, so I went into the race with the clear goal of bettering Eric Clifton's ten years old 13:16:02 course record. Finally, when a friend offered to share a free hotel room and rental car, I figured I had no real reason to not run the race. Besides, I was sick and tired of all the snow and cold here on the Front Range.

After my now customary four bagels with peanut butter and honey the night before and a Powerbar about an hour before the start, I was ready to get going. Rocky Raccoon is five laps of a 20 mile loop that contains two out and backs as it roughly circumnavigates Raven Lake. The course is primarily on soft, snaking, single-track trails through thick forest. There are also extensive sections of double- track jeep road and some boardwalk that crosses a swampy section. The climbing is minimal---this course is probably the best example of "gently rolling" that I've come across. The roots were talked about a lot, but I didn't think they were nearly as bad as everyone made them out to be; maybe I'm just used to rougher trails. The very thick forest shut out almost all direct sunshine (a plus), and there were supposed to be alligators in the park—unfortunately, I didn't see any. Altogether, it was a very enjoyable running environment. The weather would be basically perfect for running all day long (just below freezing on the first loop, in the 40s and 50s for the rest).

The race started at 6:00am at Raven Lodge on Raven Lake. Going into the race I knew that Jorge Pacheco (had won it the past two years) and Akos Konya (almost beat Scott Jurek at Badwater this year) were both very legit competitors, so they were my main concern. I spent the night before the race at the Super 8 in Huntsville with two Virginia Beachians, John Price (Pizzy) and Jenn Shelton, so I slept q uite well and we made it to the start with plenty of time for milling around, worrying about drop bags, and making several trips to the Port-a-potties.

At the start, some guy took off right away and Jorge, Akos, and I tucked in behind him for the first mile or so. It was dark despite the full moon because the forest was so thick, and Jenn had convinced me that we didn't need to carry any lights, but she was wrong. Even in the first mile or so I felt like I was pushing way faster than I would have if Jorge weren't right in front of me, and then when we ducked into the woods onto the first section of rooty, muddy singletrack trail Jorge quickly gapped me and I stuck back with Akos so that I could glom off his light. I was definitely still quite uncomfortable with how fast we were moving, but I didn't want to let Jorge get too far ahead and I didn't want to let Akos drop me because I needed his light.

At about the 2.5 mile mark of the loop we popped out onto the jeep road for the first out and back section. When we got there I was relieved to find that we could still see Jorge's light bobbing away in the distance, but just barely. However, he was far enough away that I stopped caring about keeping him in sight and concentrated on just running with Akos. The jeep double-track road was slightly rolling and very untechnical, so we were flying on this section and I was getting more and more despondent because it felt to me like I was racing a marathon, not a 100 miler—I can almost guarantee that we broke 7 minutes for a couple of the miles in there.

We hit the first aid station (I had four gels with me and a bottle in my hand, so I didn't stop at any of the stations the first loop) and then turned around and started running back, now into all the lights of the oncoming runners. Jenn whooped at me on the way back— she was in the top 10 overall running with a pack of dudes looking like she was having the time of her life—but I just sort of growled at her; I'm not joking at all when I say that the thought of dropping had already crossed my mind more than once, which is totally stupid, but it was just the way I was feeling. The thing I like about 100 milers is being able to have a lot of fun and be totally relaxed for a solid 6-7 hours before I start racing and here I was racing away right from the start. It really pissed me off. Anyways, Akos and I really started pushing it on the way back up the road until we finally hopped onto some more singletrack where he let me take the lead and I continued to use his light, but the sun was starting to come up and things were getting brighter. Akos fell two or three times in this short section of trail which I thought was funny—he was clearly a terrible technical runner. Incidentally, I never even stubbed my toe—let alone fell—the entire 100 miles. For all its reputation of being full of roots, I thought that the trail was great.

Pretty soon we came to the second aid station at about the 7 mile mark where you make a hard right turn (we were on a somewhat sandy, jeep-type road again) and begin the second out-and-back section of the loop. After a little bit we crossed a wooden bridge (with a steep ramp up to it that would kind of suck later in the race) that dumps you out onto another nice section of rolling trail. This was probably the "hilliest" part of the whole loop. I'd been needing to pee for a long time, so I stopped and ended up losing 45 seconds to Akos—I REALLY need to train myself to pee on the fly! So, from there I was running with some pretty irrational desperation to catch back up. I could see he wasn't that far ahead, but I really wanted to get up there again.

Before long, though, Jorge was coming back at me followed by Akos, and moments later I'd hit the turnaround Farside aid station (10 miles) and was in hot pursuit. I saw that I was only about 40 seconds behind Jorge and Akos was right behind him and before I knew it I'd caught up to both of them and the three of us ran as a pack back into the Dam Road aid station (13 miles—I distinctly remember seeing 1:31 on my watch here, so, a raging 7 minute pace for that first 13 miles) at the end of the out and back. Once we'd all caught up to each other the pace slowed considerably, and when we dropped down into the short dam loop Jorge let me take the lead and I ran as easily and slowly as possible because I wanted to do as much as I could to recover from our stupidly fast first 12 miles or so.

The rest of the first loop was quite pleasant. The bridges through the swamp were frosty so I was careful not to slip, and the lakeside trail leading up to the site174 aid station were pretty sloppy and boggy, but it was all at a much more relaxed and comfortable pace. Both Akos and Jorge stopped briefly at the 174 station (17 miles) so I just ran easily on the trail leading up the hill out of it and then pulled over to pee again and lost another 30 seconds or so. It was much easier to catch back up this time, though, and the three of us ran back into the start all together in about 2:27 for the first 20 mile loop. Coming into the Lodge, Jorge said, "Wow, under 2:30, not bad for the first loop, hunh?" and I was thinking, "Yeah, no crap, thanks to your antics." But, I'm just as much at fault for going out way too fast—nobody was making me stick with Jorge and Akos. Either way, I was not happy with how fast we'd been going. My first transition at the Lodge was a bit awkward. Jenn had hooked up a crew member for us on-line (Meredith) but we'd never met so I didn't know what she looked like. But, she ended up doing great after the first loop—I was still frustrated, though, as I just stood there stuffing gels in my pockets while Jorge's impeccable crew already had him running back up the trail. Between peeing and lack of crew I lost at least 4-5 minutes in the race, but what can you do? Akos spent a long time in the station because he was shedding all his clothes (it was below freezing the first loop—I had a thick patch of ice in my beard), but I took off and caught back up to Jorge within a half-mile or so.

We ran much easier on this loop. Jorge seemed to have a tendency to really want to pick it up on the road out and back to the first aid station, but other than that I was much much much more relaxed and confident. Akos eventually caught up to us, but we all just ran very nice and easy together and I was finally really enjoying the race. Then, on the second out and back, after the Dam Road station, Jorge let me into the lead on the trail and without picking up the pace or trying at all I slowly pulled away from him and Akos. I was astonished this was happening because I felt like I was running as easily as possible, but I decided to just go with it and fully expected them to catch back up whenever they wanted. At the Farside turnaround (30 miles) I saw, much to my surprise, that I had about a 40 second lead on Jorge and a 1:30 or so on Akos. I continued to run as relaxed as I could, but knew that on the upcoming trail sections I would probably put even more time on them because they both seemed a lot more uncomfortable on the trails than me. The rest of the second loop I just concentrated on running as relaxed as possible, but it was undeniable that I was already feeling the fast start. Somewhere around 35 miles or so, the 50 mile leader (Patrick Russell) passed me on his second loop and he said that I was putting some good distance on them, but I remember thinking that it would have been tough for me to pick it up and run his pace…not a particularly comforting thought when you're only about 1/3 of the way done with the race.

Anyways, I ran into the end of the loop in 4:57ish for 40 miles (still a very quick 2:30 lap) and felt a lot better when I was around the energy of the start/finish area. Meredith and I were much smoother this time—she had a new bottle already filled with Gatorade for me and the whole thing went a lot quicker. I dropped my gloves and long-sleeve and was in and out in definitely less than a minute. On my way back out I was much heartened to see that I had a 6 minute lead on Jorge and about 8 minutes on Akos. Even so, all three of us were well under the course record split of 5:08. Starting the third loop, I was definitely tired, and for some reason I let myself think of the fact that I still had 60 miles to go (which is a terrible thing to do during a 100), but I tried to push that out of my mind and just run as smoothly as possible on the out and back to the first aid station. I saw here again that my lead was continuing to grow, but I really didn't feel that good. It helped a lot to see Jenn out there whooping and smiling away, and she was still only about 25-30 minutes behind me (she told me later that she hit 40 miles in 5:22, actually picking it up to a 2:40 after her 2:42 first lap) and running very strongly in the top five overall.

I was still taking gels every 30 minutes, but on this loop I started drinking a lot more. Then, I began to feel WAY better when I hopped on the trail over to the Dam Road station—for whatever reason (I think it has to do with varying the muscles that are being used) I always feel a lot better on trails; this was the case at Leadville, too. I stopped to refill my nearly empty bottle at the Dam Road station (very short stop, less than 10 seconds) and then took off on the out and back. The trail over to the Farside aid station was getting pretty crowded with all sorts of runners but I enjoyed it because there was a lot of positive energy and encouragement and I made it to the turnaround (approximately 50 miles) in 6:14-15ish, which would've placed me second overall in the 50 mile race. I was pretty mentally relieved to get to the half-way point, but just continued to focus my energies on doing what I could to get to the end of the 3rd loop as efficiently as possible.

My meeting with Meredith back at the lodge was very smooth and I chomped on a Powerbar as I started the 4th loop because I was getting really hungry. I was again surprised to see that I had split about a 2:38 for that loop, giving me a 60 mile time of 7:36 or so. This meant I was still running sub-8 pace and that my cumulative min/mile average was actually a lot closer to 7:30s…about 7:36/mile. None of that was very comforting, though, because I didn't care at all about trying to maintain it. After only 60 miles I was merely interested in finishing; I thought way more than I should have about what kind of time I could finish with if I walked the last 30-40 miles. Seriously, the main thing that kept me running was the simple fact that I would be finished A LOT sooner than if I walked the whole way. Plus, it would just be plain embarrassing to have started that fast and not finish—especially with Jenn having such a good race behind me. On the run back out to the interpretive center turn-off I saw that my lead over Jorge had continued to grow and was now 14 minutes.

I took it very easy on the run out to the first aid station. I actually stopped and walked while I peed before I started the first out and back. Things didn't seem to be looking up. I hated the evenness of that jeep road and stopped caring at all about pushing the pace. Right before the Highway turnaround I lapped Pizzy, and it seemed like I was barely running any quicker than he was (granted, I was 20 miles ahead of him, but still). I stopped very quickly to refill my bottle at this station (only 4 miles or so into the loop…I'd drained my bottle before the end of the 3rd loop, so I was thirsty). Worse yet, it seemed that my lead over Jorge had actually shrunk to 12 minutes! He had picked up a pacer at the beginning of the lap and I was bitter that I didn't have anyone to pace me. I was confident he wouldn't be able to catch me once we got back on the trails, though.

The rest of the run over to Farside was pretty uneventful. I saw that my pace had slipped to the 8:45-50 range, but I didn't care at all. Also, Jorge hadn't gained anymore time on me, and he was starting to look pretty rough himself. Despite all this, people were still telling me that I was looking great, which was comforting but I just assumed they were blatantly lying. The rest of the loop was pretty uneventful as I continued to chug along at what felt like a crawling pace. I just hoped that some sort of adrenaline connected with finishing would get me through the last loop. I came into the lodge at 80 miles in 10:32 or so, for a laggardly 2:56 lap. However, I picked up a pacer—Pete from Austin, TX—and we got right back out there with a longsleeve, a Powerbar, and a flashlight. Pete helped me a lot to stay positive, as did the fact that I made the turn-off at the interpretive center without even seeing Jorge! This meant that I had over a 2 mile lead and was a huge mental boost. We kept the pace fairly steady and now that the sun was going down and I was getting into "focus on the finish" mode I didn't feel the need to drink or eat nearly as much. Pete's company made the first out and back go by quickly and I was again very heartened to not see Jorge at all—I had at a least a 3 mile lead! I would find out later that he dropped at the first aid station on his 5th loop—only about 16 miles left in the race. The last lap was very uneventful. Pete and I did a fair amount of joking and I just focused on keeping running. At the Farside aid station with 10 miles to go I had a 42 minute lead over Akos, so I no longer worried about getting caught. However, it was getting dark and we had to turn on our light as we entered the deep woods of the little Dam loop. The dark proved to be a lot more of a hindrance than I'd anticipated. The flashlight was plenty bright it seemed, but a lot of my trail running ability comes from anticipating what's next in the trail and managing my literal momentum that way (knowing when to push, when to slack off, etc.) but these trails were so windy and it was so dark that this lack of this sort of anticipation killed my momentum. I was pretty much stuck at 9 minute pace until we made the turn onto the last mile and the trail widened up and smoothed out and I was able to pick it up pretty considerably for the final mile to the finish to cross the line at 13:32:20 for a 3:00 last lap (my watch actually split a 2:59:50…hahaha).

Immediately after the race my quads were completely shot (I'd felt great at the finish in Leadville), but I attribute that to the fact that there was no walking in this race. Jenn ended up losing a lot of time on her last loop, too, but she hung on to finish strong in 14:57:18. She'd run her third loop in 2:53 to bring her to 8:15 for 60 miles, which means she went through the 100k in less than the USATF Selection standard of 8:40 for a road 100k…and then ran another 40 miles in 6:42 to finish only a little over 5 minutes behind Akos' second place time of 14:51:54. Pretty impressive. On Sunday, Jenn and I went for a 30 minute "run" where we covered probably a max of 2 miles in mincing little steps, but I was definitely in a lot better condition than the day after Leadville when I could barely walk. Overall, it was a very well- organized and operated event.

Otter Creek Trail Marathon
Brandenburg, Kentucky
Dec 10th, 2006
Steve Bremner
Marathon State 43, total marathons 81

This is the first time I’ve run marathons in back to back weekends. Prior to this the closest time in between marathons has been two weeks. Recovery from trail marathons is almost instantaneous so I didn’t have much apprehension running this race one week after the Tecumseh Trail Marathon in Indiana on December 2nd. Indeed, I didn’t even find out about this race until about three days before Tecumseh, whereupon I quickly bought a plane ticket and signed up for the race since KY was a needed state in my 50-state quest and nowadays I always run trail marathons when given the choice.

I flew in to Louisville on Saturday, picked up a rental (First time driving a PT Cruiser), and cruised on down to my reservation on Fort Knox (45 minute drive). After checking in I headed on out to the commissary where I found some Amy’s organic TV dinners for the micro and a banana for the morning. Conveniently Fort Knox is right next to Otter Creek Park, so the next morning I only had a 15 minute drive to the race. As an Air Force retiree, anytime I can stay on a military installation I do so. They are as clean and quiet as any Hilton and the price is right—Fort Knox was $44/nt.

Race start was a tad on the cold side (30F), but after a couple miles I was glad I was wearing just a tech top and shorts. We started off with a 2.2 mile loop, then commenced with the first of three 8-mile loops. Though I started off in an easy lope, no one wanted to run with me so right away I opened up a 100 yard lead. At the 2.2 mile point I couldn’t see anyone behind me. Could this be the makings of a runaway race?

It didn’t take long before the slower of the 8 milers and the 16 mile racers started coming back. Though I would yell “on your left” as I passed there was contact on occasion with the IPoders. I can’t understand why people listen to music when they run. It would drive me crazy. There is enough to keep track of out there in the wilderness.

I would get to know this 8-mile loop intimately over the next three hours, but the first time through was spectacular. Rolling terrain through deciduous forest over leaf-covered single track trail, followed by a precipitous drop to Otter Creek which we followed for some time before an aide station about halfway through the loop. Then we climbed up to a bluff where we had a scenic overlook of the Ohio River which forms the border between Indiana and Kentucky. The broad bends of the river with farmland and forest were a welcome sight on the next two times around the loop. From there we had a bit more climbing before it mostly leveled off moving to the end of the loop. A Russian guy caught up to me at this point, 10.2 miles into the race and we ran together for about 5 miles after which he slowly left me in his wake. A couple miles later another guy passed me, but for the last ten or so miles I ran alone, occasionally passing the odd 16-mile racers and towards the end probably lapping some marathoners. I ran the first 8-mile lap in an hour, second in 1:05, and third in 1:16, for a total time of 3:39, and 3rd overall. Winning time was 3:32, 2nd place was 3:35. At least I didn't get "chicked".

Little did I know that I should have held something in reserve for my airport connection in Chicago. They had delayed our flight due to a back up of planes in the air over Chicago and by the time I got off the plane and was in the terminal it was 7:33 PM. My flight to COS was on time and leaving at 7:50 (doors close 10 minutes before). That meant I had 7 minutes to make it from terminal 1 to terminal 3 – normally a 20-minute walk or more. With a heavy pack I did my best to simulate a jog arriving at the gate at 7:42. Flight closed, door locked, no sympathy. I was forced to spend the night in Chicago.

First it was a blast! The start was chaotic and since I wasn't seeded I had to find a place among the 16,000+ somewhere in the middle. I did get to move up a little when I followed a guy in a wheelchair making his way through the crowd to get the wheelchair section. I was stopped at the 4+ hour line and not allowed to go any further. Before the start, the Blue Man Group performed a song on some funky looking drums, then the fireworks started and we were off. Kinda, we waited a little bit before we actually started moving then walked for a bit, then slow jog etc. The first mile was pretty crazy and you had to really be careful you didn't trip over anyone. After a couple of miles things opened up and I could start opening up the pace. A funny thing happened before the race. A front moved in and the wind was very strong with some brutal gusts. The winds were out of the Southwest, mostly South. The first 10 miles of the course was pretty much North and the last 16 were predominantly West and South, which made it kind of tough. I notice after 2 miles (I never saw the 1st mile marker) that I hadn't started my watch so I left it off until the 1/2 way mark. There was every kind of band you could think of playing all along the course from "Unauthorized Ozzie" (which sounded really good) to a church choir. I was feeling really good the entire time and since I hadn't started my watch I didn't really know what kind of pace I was running. For the 1st 10 miles or so it seemed like all I was doing was passing people. At the 13.1 miles I started my watch and hit 14 miles at 4:20. I KNEW that wasn't right. We were now heading West against the wind so I ducked behind a group and we all agreed the mile markers were not accurate. As an Australian in the group put it, "They're all over the fuckin place mate". For the rest of the race I just focused on staying relaxed and drafting as much as I could when we hit really windy sections. Sometimes people were drafting off me sometimes the other way around. When I was in front I tried to pretend I was a knife cutting through the wind. Sometimes I felt it was better to run a little slower draft off a group then latch on to another group as we were being passed. I only had one bad patch during the race and that was at 24 miles. For some reason I thought I was approaching 25 miles and for the first time realized that I might be able to break 3 hours. I really picked up the pace thinking I had around 9 minutes to run 1.2 miles, then I saw I was passing 24 miles not 25. For some reason my legs started tightening up and I started getting tired in the flick of switch. It didn't take long to convince myself that it was not a big deal, my goal coming into the race was 3:30 and I would definitely make that. I started feeling better and just started picking people ahead of me to pass. The next guy, the next group of 5, the next two after that, and pretty much did that all the way to the finish.

I was really happy with this race and felt like I ran the fastest I could go. My time was 3:08:15 and I ran the second half in 1:34:36, so my splits were pretty even. I enjoyed this run so much, I'm back to the dilemma of do I quit running and start up cycling again, or stick with running. I thought I had made my decision before the race. Hmmmm

The Couch Potato 100' International Distance Run

The day was finally upon us. A classic for sure. I spent months designing the out-and-back course, obtaining the necessary permits and insurance, lining up volunteers and setting up a website. Hyped on ESPN, ABC Sports, CNN, Howard Stern, and other major media outlets such as the local smack-talking-ultrarunning-group, the national anticipation for this event soon reached a feverish pitch. Race day conditions were nearly perfect: cold and rainy outside, while temps on the course were precisely set at 67F via my Honeywell thermostat.

The crowd gathered in nervous anticipation. My neighbors, daughters and wife looked on as I hit "pause" on the DVD (Eagles vs. Cowboys Monday Night Football re-run), lowered my beer and raised my slovenly self from the couch and toward the starting line. No competition this year. My superiority at this event simply gave all no hope. As the endless list of world-class DNF competition (Brian Fischer, Scott Jamie, Paul Dewitt, Keith Grimes, etc.) folded and were out of sight, my oldest daughter Amanda started the countdown. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…. Elmo!

I didn't want to go out too hard, so I started at a leisurely pace, walking around the Barbie dolls, across the carpet, and kicking some noisy play toy across the room. Nothing was to get in the way. I owned this course.

I turned the sharp bend into the living room and hit The Coffee Table Aid Station. It was plentifully stocked with peanuts and cashews. I took a seat on the living room couch and dug into the treats while my crew massaged my neck and feet. Delicious. Well-needed break. Well carbo'd for the next leg of my journey, I rolled off the couch and powered on.

I felt good, so I picked up the pace, only to be interrupted by our orange Tabby cat, Shoobie. Crossing my path midway through the living room, the warped cat gazed into my eyes. One look at the fierce determination in my eyes was all he needed to turn and run. Hide as you may, pussy cat. No messing with me today.

I started to hit my stride as I left the living room and moved into the dining room. Peanuts fully digested now and feeling strong, I picked up the pace. WHAMO!. Cat #2, Pali, ran straight into my foot so rudely interrupting my stride. The wiry feline flipped around like it saw the devil himself and darted off. She knew better then to mess with this man on a mission.

I rounded the next bend into the kitchen, feeling low on energy. It had been a tough race so far. Well, well, well what do we have here? All kinds of tasty treats awaited me at The Kitchen Counter Aid Station, Doritos, gummy bears, TastyKakes and the grandest treat of all … a fat Philly Delesandro's Mushroom Cheesesteak. Oh my ... food of the gods. Cognizant of conserving energy, I found a seat, devoured the 18" cheeseteak, picked at the other life replenishing food groups, stood up and waddled on.

As I left the kitchen's comfy confines, the midway point was in sight. I could smell the barn, so I started to sprint. BANGO! Right into my daughter's Emily's high chair. I lay sprawled out on the 1960's linoleum floor, dizzy, delerious, famished. Could I go on? Almost halfway there and I was looking at a potential DNF. My family and cats looked on. Pali walked over and licked my face. Shoobie jumped on my belly and started to claw me. My daughters screamed for me. My wife, Kristen looked on with eye-rolling concern. A belch inspired me, and I told myself that I couldn't let them down. I pulled myself up and marched on.

I crawled to the infamous midway point, Aid Station #4, "The Refrigerator". I tried to regain my composure. I was suffering, hungry, thirsty and needed sustenance. I opened the fridge and my eyes widened with glee. I was the Grinch on Christmas. Mouth-watering nutrition was before me, and mine to take. Not one to waste time at such a critical stage, I loaded up. I piled on the sandwiches, dip, pumpkin pie and even the leftover roast. WAIT! BEER! Must have BEER! I quickly turned around, grabbed the ice-cold 12-pack of Schlitz, and left Aid Station #4 behind, quickly making up for lost ground.

I concentrated on my pace as I waddled through the kitchen. Feeling steady with a lot of distance to go, I focused. 'OK Joe. You can do this. Yes you can. You feel good. First half down and second half to go.' I heard noise in the distance. What is that? The Eagles CRUSHING Dallas. Is that scoreless T.O. really crying? Impossible. I covered the second half of the course in two seconds flat, crossing the finish line into the waiting arms of my loving family. I was ecstatic. I WON. Everyone congratulated me and told me how proud they were. They told me I'm an inspiration. Howard Stern called to congratulate me. Exhausted, I fell into the couch to watch what was left of the miracle game on T.V. Dallas lost big time. I cracked open a cold one, plowed into the roast and reveled in the moment. Life is good.

Coures Terrain:   Creaky wood floors, carpet rugs, linoleum flooring
Distance: 100 feet
Weather: Precisely 67F

Runner            Physical Age	Mental Age	Finishing Time 		

Joe Kulak	38		12 years old	15 minutes and 2 seconds
						(out split - 15:00: in split 00:02)

I headed out early Thursday morning east into Kansas and Oklahoma, stopping in Muskogee, OK for the evening. The morning drive to Lake Sylvia in the Ouachita National Forest, 35 miles west of Little Rock took just under 3 hours so the entire ride was about 14 hours and just less than 1000 miles.

I was one of the early arrivals and ran into “Old Coot” Mickey Rollins from Texas that use to direct the Rocky Raccoon series, prior to retiring to Bandera, TX. He was manning the Smith Mountain aid station.

I checked in and spoke with Stan and Chrissy Ferguson the race directors. I hadn’t seen Stan since the Pikes Peak Marathon in 02 and Chrissy is a frequent runner at Leadville and Palo Duro among her many races.

The pre-race briefing was at 2 and Chrissy, although not a Norm Klein, gave a no non-sense rules and regulation speech, mixed with some good humor.

The pre-race pasta dinner at 4 was the best meal at a 100-miler event!

I tucked myself into the back of the Element for the night about 8 and slept pretty good till mother nature called at 2am. The temperature had dropped into the 40’s. It was a quick pit stop!

Runners started gathering around 5:30 for the 6am start, and Chrissy starts on time. It was still dark, but soon the sunrise came and the rest of the day was cloudless, deep blue skies with highs in the mid-70s and lows in the upper 40s.

The first couple of miles are on pavement prior to turning on to forest service road, then from 8-16 the Ouachita Trail (single track). When we returned to the Lake Sylvia aid station at 16, the course is a 44 mile out and back along all forest service roads that are either well, somewhat or not maintained (maybe someone had driven a ATV recently through it).

The aid stations were frequent and well stocked. The longest between stations is from Chili Pepper to the Turnaround, about 6 miles and the last station from 93.7 to the finish.

At the Lake Winona station, miles 32 and 84, I met Maurice from Arkansas that has a vacation home in the Springs and really helped with advice of the trail ahead and getting me some food.

I continued to remain conservative in my early approach to the pace, surprised I was on a sub-20 hour pace, way to fast! I ran along the early section with a first-timer at 100-miles and he had his split times all written down and wanted to go all out or bust. I think he ended up busting at 29+ hours.

Coming into the turnaround I was able to see Jim Mussleman and Steve Noone, both 30-40 minutes ahead. Jim parked next to me in the lot and spoke of his many running adventures, most recently the Bear 100, a couple of weeks ago. Steve was running his first 100.

I think I counted 20+ folks ahead and 3 of those were women. As I headed back it started to get dark prior to getting back to the Powerline aid station. There I changed socks, shoes, glasses and picked up my headlamp. Thanks to Renata Noone, Steve’s wife that allowed me some comfort in the chair to change shoes and get some nourishment for me.

I had been running along with the 3rd place woman from 64 to 76 and caught Steve at 76, the Flamingo aid station. I took off from the aid and Laurel from Maine and Steve continued to re-fuel.

The section from Flamingo to Pig Tail is really littered with rocks, so I moved to the left side of the road, hoping to avoid a spill from tripping over the rocks that seem to grow between the daylight time and the return at night. Well, instead of a rock, I caught a weed reed that had died and fallen to the ground facing oncoming runners. I hit it head on with my left foot, feeling it had gone through my shoe and like torture gone below the nail, then tripping and done a chest, knee and elbow plant. I gave some precious blood to the trail! I walked for a bit to get my wits back.

Soon I was running again and passing some runners struggling. At Lake Winona, Maurice and Renata were there to assist and let Renata know Steve was just a few minutes behind. Continuing on to Rocky Gap, Electronic and Pumpkin Patch aid stations I was able to maintain a steady pace, particularly on the downhill section. Just 3 miles from the finish I rolled my right ankle and walked and jogged for a bit, allowing the runner that I had passed a mile back to go by me. Once I hit the final 2 miles the road was rather smooth and downhill so I pushed in to the finish. Each time a runner comes in they play music and congratulate you for finishing the Arkansas Traveler 100.

After my normal 2 beers and some conversation with some finishers, which when I said former AT100 winner Joe Kulak runs with CRUD eastern division, said how much everyone at AT100 loves Joe. Joe you need to go back again! I walked over to the warm showers, cleaned up and jumped in the back of the Element for a nap.

The morning post-race breakfast was the best I’ve had, pancakes, juice, grits, ham, sausage coffee and tea. The award ceremonies are at 12:30pm and everyone under 24 hours receives a gold buckle and those under 30 a brass buckle. Top woman and man and masters receive free Vasque shoes. Age group winner, 5-year divisions chose from a variety of gifts. I won the 55-59 male division, but it only had 2 in it.

Overall, this was a really well organized run and I’d recommend it to everyone, just be prepared for some beautiful country, nice folks and good running. Did I mention all the oxygen they bring in for the runners?

I ended finishing 8th overall, not “chicked” for a change, in a time of 20:41.

http://www.runarkansas.com/AT100res2006.htm

After some serious "flip-flopping" from coast to coast (Seattle-Cocoa Beach, FL--LAX over 9days) old friend and former director of PPLD, Jose Aponte (now San Diego library director) picked me up at LAX, from where we proceeded another five hours north to Carmel. Saturday, Oct 7th we ran the Big Sur Trail Marathon -- 5700' elevation gain and loss over the old coast road -- all dirt.

I took off as if I were running the 5-mile course and led to the top of the first 2.5 mile hill, which I reached in just over 20 minutes... faster than I ran it down hill on the last stretch to the finish line!! One half marathon racer caught me shortly after the hill crest 2.5 miles into the course. At his turnaround on the next hill at 6.5 miles he led me by about a minute.

10.5 miles into the race we reached the famous bridge you see in photos of the more famous Big Sur Marathon. We would return to this point one more time. Here I was able to get an assessment on my lead in the race, which I estimated at about four minutes. We retraced our steps for 2.5 miles at which point we turned around to return to the bridge. At the second time around to the bridge I led by maybe a minute and a half. He caught me at the second turnaround point about 18 miles into the race. I lost track of him as we climbed the second to the last of seven hills. Once on top of the hill I espied him and got a bead on him. He was about a minute ahead. I turned on the guns -- rumbling downhill now. He was definitely coming back.

When I caught him he was barely moving -- seemed like he was running sideways. What a gift! I thought he was broken. I opened up and drove downhill, cutting corners, thinking I was burying him. At the bottom of the hill I heard something behind me. There he was at my shoulder!! He had only been temporarily slowed by cramps -- he made the mistake of drinking the course provided Gatorade. I couldn't track with him up the last hill. At the top I didn't see him. I drifted down for second place in 3:42. 79th marathon.

2006 Tsuneo Hasagawa Cup Trail Race
1:00 PM Oct 8, 2006 in Okutama, Japan
Commonly called the "Hasetune"
71.5 KM trail race, loop course with approx 4500 meters of
climb/descent. For the metrically challenged, that works out to about
15000 feet of climbing in 44 miles!
No Aid, but you can get 1.5 Liters of water halfway through.
24 Hour cutoff
2250 starters / 1500 finishers

When the worst of summer has past and the glory of fall is in full swing, that is the time to travel to one of the most beautiful places in Texas for Palo Duro 50. This year was no exception. The trees glowed yellow and green with splashes of orange against the red rocks of the canyon walls. We descended into the beauty of autumn in the canyon, into the depths of peace that fill it, and into the waiting arms of the festivities of the PD50.

PD 50 is a special race to me. One of my dearest friends is the race director and over the years I’ve had the distinct pleasure of getting to know most of the race volunteers and many of the regular racers. It is a thrill to pull into a campsite beside friends and prepare for a grueling weekend of fun and exertion on some of the most beautiful trails in Texas. Packet pickup is like “old home week” meeting and greeting friends, lots of hugs, and a bit of pasta to top it all off.

Upon arriving, I quickly did a very basic setup of camp. I was to camp in my Element (as usual) so I couldn’t completely set up and still go to packet pickup. Theresa camped in with the Crownover crew and the Teaster family for a brief preview of our next trip in two weeks. I got to visit with a few folks and headed off to packet pickup to round up packets for a dozen or so of the campers who were already under the spell of the canyon and wouldn’t leave. Handing out packets is a true Joy Job. You get to meet loads of new people you haven’t met and welcome the people you have. I had a terrific time hanging out with my Amarillo friends who hadn’t made the trail weekend last month.

I made a quick detour to the Amarillo Airport to pick up Antje before heading back to the Canyon. Our little campsite was filling up quickly. Nips (aka Bruce) parked his truck/camper beside my Element. Mike and Chris pulled their Element in behind and Brownie (JT) filled in the remaining spot. Tents began sprouting up all over. I set up my cabana (sadly sans Cabana Boy) and plugged in an electric blanket to make sure the toaster would be toasty. I made the rounds to say hello to Primo and the cooking crew partying in the next campsite and delivered a large cup of Monica’s green salsa for their breakfast burritos. Then I had my moment with Sponge Bob (my Sponge Bob toothbrush) and turned in for a good night’s rest.

The morning came quickly… long before sunrise. We all awakened to find it warmer than expected but still cool. Gathering at the start line was another chance to visit with folks I hadn’t seen yet. Good wishes, smack talkin’ and hugs were exchanged. The challenges were on… I would have loved a chance to “chick” Brownie but he’s too fast even if he doesn’t train… The bagpiper finished playing his call to the start, the co-director said a prayer over everyone from the top of his ladder and we surged forward into the chilly darkness.

Paseo Del Rio is the first trail on the course. It runs low along the creek and is often flooded. Today it had a few tacky spots but no standing water. It was dark down in the trees but my little keychain LED Flashlight lit it all up well (thanks for that idea Paul Tidmore). Barely a mile of jostling each other and laughing away the initial nervousness that accompanies any race we popped out onto the road and across the dry water crossing into the first aid station (Phil’s aid station). The Race Director, Red, was standing at the turn to direct us and after giving him a kiss, Theresa and I headed left with the 50 milers while the 50K runners went right for a short loop.

Theresa and I were in high spirits as we headed down Rojo Grande to Sunflower. We barely touched the bridges at Turkey Roost Bridge and Toad Suck Bog. We lightly dashed up the small hills and forced ourselves to walk the larger ones. The turn to Juniper creekside came up quickly and we came around to Tassajillo Aid station as the sun was creating a watercolor worthy of framing. At this aid station, we turned back toward Phil’s along Juniper Cliffside. Usually this is the section of trail that works on me the most. It’s got lots of rolling hills, many of them larger than the rest of the course. But today Cliffside held some special charm. Perhaps it was the signs that Eric Broussard so carefully put out along the course. When I arrived at the one that said “It’s not a real trail run unless someone gets lost. Are you lost?” I nearly had to stop because I was laughing. Perhaps it was the beautiful fall trees against the red rocks and the bright green of the grasses. Perhaps it was just a good day.

The sun was beating down fully now and T-Bone was commenting on how nice it would be if the clouds would start building. We were already getting warm and it was barely 8:00. Through Phil’s and onward toward the lighthouse we had to restrain ourselves and make each other walk up the long hill. About halfway up, we ran into Matt Crownover who was supposed to be on his way out on the long loop of the 50K. In an effort to pull away from Buddy Teaster, he made a wrong turn and started the short loop again. So he decided to run in with us. We gave him unmerciful hell and he gave it right back. We talked about our upcoming Grand Canyon adventure and pointed out the beauty of the scenery to each other. We stopped to chat for a brief second with Dos Locos Senoritas, completed our out-and-back and headed in for the end of the first loop around the bottom of the Spanish skirts.

Theresa and I headed back out immediately for our next loop, lingering only long enough to kiss the race director (again) for luck. We passed a talking head stuck to a tree and it spooked Theresa briefly as this disembodied voice asked “Where are you Going?” Somewhere around Toad Suck Bog, Theresa announced that I’d drop her soon. I said I didn’t think so and that if I did she’d catch me soon enough. Within minutes, I looked around and found myself running on alone. I was feeling terrific, the course was in terrific shape, and the weather was still cool enough to enjoy the run. I decided not to slow down to save anything but to go until the wheels fell off and then just try to keep it all together.

I love running in the canyon alone. Well, I love running in the canyon with people too but there is something about the canyon that lends itself to interesting reflections and self discovery. I started thinking about how terrific I felt, how my hypnosis CD my friend Julia made had filled me with positive thoughts about this run. I know that I am blessed with an amazing life and these are the kind of moments that bring them to consciousness. I thought of the wonderful people who fill my days and nights. I thought about running 50 miles and why I do it. I was struck by a thought about stretching myself beyond my limits, beyond that comfort zone, to the point where the hard shell on the outside cracks just enough to let the light through. I never really arrived at whether the light gets through from the outside in or from the inside out… but I suspect it’s both.

Often when I run I get a song stuck in my head and if I’m lucky it’s not some annoying Hash song or something someone else was singing. Today, between the reflections I had a medley going. A little Dixie Chicks “Ready to Run” mixed with Willy Porter’s “Watercolor” and JD Martin’s “Red Rock Canyon” topped off by Carrie Newcomer’s “Earthquakes.” A hug for Revelle at Phil’s aid station and I was off up the Lighthouse Trail to GSL and toward those welcoming smiles of Dos Locos Senoritas. I ran well for the loop and stopped long enough to change my shoes and socks. I’d forgotten to put socks at the start/finish line but George Hitzfield did me the favor of running to my campsite to grab some from my bag, Thanks George! Those socks were a lifesaver as I was starting to form hotspots under a couple callouses. Dawn was also there to get me whatever I wanted but I was so pumped up that I didn’t need much.

Back out on loop 3 I realized that I’d forgotten a few things. The most important was my chapstick (glamour gloss) but surely they would have Vaseline at one of the aid stations, they didn’t. What they did have was these incredible date bars, boiled potatoes with salt, potato chips, coke, Gatorade, water, and anything else I could want. By now, it had clouded over and the wind was blowing with a lot of force. It was keeping things cool but could stand you up as you came over a hill. I just kept thinking that at some point it HAD to be behind me pushing me along. I don’t think it ever did but the thought helped. By now I was walking most of the bigger up hills and some of the smaller ones too. I watched as the touristas who had finally awakened were exploring the caves and rocks. I listened to the equestrian types hoo-rahing in their campsites. And somehow I just kept running well. The thought occurred to me about ½ way through the loop that if the wheels fell off and I slowed down and IF Brownie was having a good day, he could lap me. I couldn’t let that happen. Thanks for the motivation Brownie.

I finished the loop feeling great. Half of a bottle of Boost, a few good mouthfuls of cold mac and cheese from my cooler, lip balm, and electrolytes and I was ready to roll into the fourth and final lap. I conned Nips into meeting me at Phil’s for the last 5 miles… I love having something to look forward to toward the end of a run. I took off feeling terrific and still running strong. I thought about just picking them up and laying them down… keeping the feet moving and light as I dashed along Paseo Del Rio. When I got to Shaliko’s Cairn (about ¾) of a mile into it, I realized that I was blazing along relatively well. I walked up the hill into the aid station and then headed out onto the long loop. Somehow Rojo Grande went by very quickly and I suddenly found myself at Toad Suck Bog, I realized that I had just run almost all of the first 3 miles of the loop. I kept on my pace as best I could, wishing I had just a little more oomph to get me to a 10 hour finish but realizing that I could probably easily make 10:30 if I kept on it. Knowing Nips would be at the lighthouse pushed me a little, I told him to give me 1.5 hours for that 7 + miles and I was dead on my prediction. He and I chatted and lied to each other for the next 5.5 miles. As we came into the Senorita’s station he told them I was feeling depressed. After the out and back I explained that it was because it was my last time through their station that day.

After the downhill into the start finish area there is a row of flags running to the finish line. On the right, a row of Texas flags and on the left, the flags of each state and country represented. I saw the beautiful new finish line clock ticking away. I thought it said 10:29:56 just as someone stepped in front of it. I wanted that 10:30… so I sprinted the last 50 meters across the line as it read 10:26:01. I was elated.

TBone came right over with a hug as I finished and then hit me with the news that I was 3rd female. I really didn’t believe her but several others confirmed it. Wow! Much better than I had though I’d do. TBone had opted for 50K to save something for the Grand Canyon adventure in two weeks. Matt had accompanied Buddy on his second loop. Brownie had run about 9:30 for a very respectable time (and brought me a cold beer). Antje completed the 20K AND found the HOT showers (also brought me a delicious veggie burger with freshly grilled jalepenos). Nips finished the 50K and ran the last 5.5 with me. Dawn and Janna had great runs on the 20K… and a good time was had by all.

There are so many more of my dear friends that enjoyed the run and helped with it… wish I could mention them all. Primo really pulled out all the stops for the runners with the burgers, dogs, and veggie burgers. After the runners had all hobbled back to their campsites he and his crew put on a feast for the volunteers (which we were privileged to enjoy) with stir-fried chicken, veggies, and pineapple topped off with wonderful peach and blackberry cobbler! Ah! A nice bonfire to sit around and then a peaceful night in the hug of Sage (the Element) and my electric blanket.

In the morning, TBone, Dawn, and I saddled up for the ride back to Colorado and a Quest for Ice Cream! We got lousy pizza and good coffee in Amarillo to fuel ourselves for the quest. Dalhart had no ice cream and the shoppe in Clayton was closed. As we neared Raton we could nearly taste the ice cream but had to sit in construction for what seemed like forever only to find that they, too, were closed on Sunday. Trinidad was more successful however and we found a tiny shop that had good ice cream. Our quest had given us many opportunities to stretch and laugh at each other’s hobbling. Now we made the final push home with plenty of time to stiffen up!

I spent my evening and the afterglow of the race enjoying the large amounts of Thai food, a terrific leg massage, and the best company I know of (Thanks). This morning my legs were working much better so I went to the gym to spin them on the bike and stretch in the steam room. And thus begins my training for the Rim to Rim to Rim in two weeks. Wahoo! I love my life!

Ever since our first experience at Leadville back in 2001, I’ve said the thing that has stuck with me most about the race and about watching the finish is that every one of the people crossing the finish line has their story or unique perspective of what the race was about for them. It could be what compelled them to sign up, what sacrifices they made to train, or what adventures they endured along the way. Here’s my perspective:

It was a day of emotional extremes from excitement and exhilaration to despair and back again. It was as much mental as physical, perhaps even more mental than physical. Only a few years ago I could never have imagined myself participating in this event, but there I was. I couldn’t clearly remember the me that wouldn’t have considered doing this event. The event and my preparation for it were a journey through a lot of questioning and doubt about my own abilities to realizing that I was capable of completing the race. Even so I didn’t let myself assume I was going to make it until we passed the dam and were headed down that last steep downhill about 5.5 miles from the finish. I tearfully said to Jim, my father-in-law and pacer, “I finally really believe I’m going to finish.” He said, “Of course you’re going to finish.” I suppose it was then that I realized how much the belief and encouragement of others played a role in my getting to this point.

Things that occurred to me throughout the day:

All along the way from my pre-race meal, which I wasn’t hungry for and forced myself to eat, through every gel, Twinkie, PB&J, Pretzel, Potato Chip, and Frito, every ounce of Gatorade, water, Sprite, Coke, hot chocolate, Chicken broth and Coffee, I reminded myself of all I’d done to prepare to get there, and all the support I had from friends and family. I wasn’t about to let dehydration, or lack of nourishment derail the effort.

I continually reminded myself this was one day out of a lifetime and that I could probably tolerate just about anything for one day or one portion of a day. (Thanks for that, Owen and Natalie.)

I’d heard about people hallucinating, or sleep walking, or just being so out of it that they didn’t remember parts of the race. I wished a couple of times that that would happen, but I was lucid the whole way.

The camaraderie among the runners we know is priceless. The encouragement offered and shared is something I won’t forget.

How do you thank friends who did things like repeatedly massaging my dirty legs knowing exactly what needed loosening to get me through the next section, offer quiet encouragement, offer up a menu of food choices at each aid stop, jump in to help Paul drain a blister on my heel? I haven’t quite found a way to thank Dana and Sean for all of that.

I’m amazed even more by those who do these races with no crew or pacer. I know I couldn’t have gotten through without mine. I was only on the verge of truly breaking once, and they wouldn’t stand for that. I was finishing. I was capable and they knew that even if I was doubting it. Even when I was feeling good they bolstered me. I looked forward to seeing their smiling faces and their excitement. Their enthusiasm was contagious and made me want to continue on.

Paul seemed truly excited by the whole crewing experience. He’s spent a lot of time and effort helping me prepare, planning workouts, races, etc. and now he was finally getting to see how that all would pan out. He told Merilee at the finish that it was more exciting to see me finish than it was for him to win the race two times. What more can I say about a husband like that?

Jim, my father-in-law paced me the entire 50 miles. First, how many people have a father-in-law who could do that? Second, how many of those would volunteer for that duty? The previous year he’d carried me to the car after I had dropped out of the race because of injury. This year he ensured my safe journey through the entire last 50 miles of the race.

How is it that Mom’s really do always know just what you need? Who’d have thought that hot coffee and Fritos would be the perfect combination to get me up and out of Mayqueen on the way back to Leadville? Linda, my mother-in-law, literally fed them to me. She then packed up a Ziploc bag with some more Fritos and a water bottle with coffee and off we went with a new attitude and energy to get me through the finish.

Afterward, Linda said something along the lines of, it must be a good feeling to know that you do have a reserve (physical and mental) you can draw from even when you feel like you can’t go on. In a lot of ways that sums up the whole experience very nicely.

I’ve been asked by a few people what it was like to have my father-in-law pace me. Here are answers to some of the questions I’ve gotten:

No, it wasn’t awkward to have to pee with him around. After running 50 miles, I didn’t really care who saw me pee and we worked out a good system of simultaneously bathroom breaks a few feet apart.

Yes, he’s a former Marine Corps Drill Instructor, but he wasn’t barking commands or lecturing me along the way. He knew my goal and let me make the choices about how to achieve it. He offered much needed advice and encouragement and made me eat and drink until I was convinced he really just wanted to see me puke. Of course, he really just wanted to see me finish.

Traditional Race Report:
For me, half the battle was getting to the Start of the race. I’d managed to finally get relief for a chronic hamstring problem through a combination of A.R.T. and massage therapy over a period of months. Learning to deal with nervousness was another challenge, though I won’t say I’ve conquered that, I’ve made improvements. Accepting that there are things that I can’t control, like the weather, was another component. Fortunately, the rain decided to come mostly the night before the race. So at 3:45 am on race morning, I stood with my crew and pacer near the start being thankful for the support and that things were about to get underway.

Throughout the day, things mostly went according to plan. The biggest frustration I had was running around the lake on the way to Mayqueen. I kept getting stuck behind large groups of runners moving more slowly than I would have liked. In actuality I think it probably ended up helping me save energy for later in the day. During the first 2 legs I kept listening to those talking around me and they sounded like experienced 100 milers who had finished Leadville multiple times. I figured I was doing okay.

I felt okay for the first 24 miles or so. My hamstring felt tight and achy and I had some groin pain that I’ve not ever experienced before (sympathy pain for Paul, perhaps!). My friend, Dana, suggested at Fish Hatchery that it was probably because of the cool damp weather. It seemed to fade as the day wore on. There also, Paul pointed out that I was very near Hans-Dieter Weisshaar, a prolific 100-miler. He said Hans always finishes, stick near him and you’ll be fine.

Right after Fish Hatchery, my crew passed me and yelled at me for not having drunk enough in the last leg. From then on I became very focused on drinking and continuing to eat well. I’d say I credit that alone with my being able to finish and feel as good as I did for as long as I did.

Through Treeline up into Halfmoon, I began feeling much better. It sprinkled on us a bit, but then the sun started coming out. I was slightly apprehensive about the next leg because that’s where I’d started having real problems with my lower legs in 2005. Paul Smith and I ran together a lot in this section and it really made the time go by quickly. Before I knew it I was running down the steep hill into the Twin Lakes aid station and seeing Paul’s and Jim’s cheerful smiles. Paul directed me to the crew vehicle where Dana worked on my legs and everyone prepared me and my gear for my first trip over Hope Pass. I guzzled most of a bottle of Linda’s magic flat Coke, and went on my way with a PB&J.

Somehow or other I missed the trail markings at the river crossing directing the runners to a new shallower crossing. I didn’t realize my mistake until I was waist-deep in the river. I got out onto a sandbar and found my way back to the actual crossing which had a rope and was only about knee-deep at its deepest.

Going up over Hope Pass, the best part was seeing Rick and Jill about 1 mile or so from Hopeless aid station. Friendly faces always perk me up. It is beautiful and idyllic in that meadow near Hopeless with all the llamas, and dogs, and the gorgeous scenery. It’s hard to describe the feeling of getting to the top of Hope Pass. I tried to ignore the fact that I had to climb back up there one more time.

My crew was really excited and enthusiastic when I arrived into Winfield. There, and every time I saw them, they really got me eager to continue on. I really looked forward to seeing them at each aid station. I now knew I would have company for the rest of the adventure. Jim was ready to roll.

We got up to Hope Pass pretty smoothly despite the rain-slicked trail. We felt worse for the folks still coming down in the mud. Along the way, we admired the scenery more than once. What a beautiful place. At Hopeless we refueled, stretched near the fire, petted a dog or two, and continued on our way down.

We were pleased to see how light it still was as we approached the river and felt that would be an advantage for us as we headed up out of Twin Lakes. At Twin Lakes, my crew changed me into some tights and a long sleeve shirt, packed up some warm clothes for me and hustled me through the aid station. Paul was very excited about how well I was doing, but I never really asked for my splits or time. I just confirmed that I was still on track to finish under the cutoff.

Going up out of Twin Lakes, we marveled at how warm it was and how lucky we were that the weather was holding for us. I have to admit that I was anxious about how I would respond to nightfall. Jim was really upbeat about it though and told me about how he and his brothers had hiked around in the woods at night as kids. It made it seem like an adventure and soon I forgot that I was supposed to be tired. We turned on our lights a few miles from Halfmoon, tripped down the steep slopes leading to the Halfmoon Road and quickly arrived at the Halfmoon aid station. There we saw Keith with the medical staff . Cereta was on the way to pick him up.

The stars and night sky were incredible. People camped in tents along the road made a cozy scene. As we approached Treeline someone with a big green headlight was coming toward us. Jim was just remarking about how bright the darned light was when we realized it was Paul. He’d asked permission to come meet us. So we hurried on down the road to the rest of the crew. After icing sore shins briefly, a minor blister procedure and change of socks, some Boost, and Advil, they got me up and going again. I’d gotten pretty cold, but warmed up quickly after we started moving again.

At Fish Hatchery, Paul whisked me through the aid station, got some hot soup, stretched and took me back to the crew vehicle. There Dana worked on my legs again to help get me over Sugarloaf. Before she worked on me I was having serious concerns about how long it would take me to get to Mayqueen. Now I felt I could make a decent attempt at it. Going up over Sugarloaf seemed to take forever, and going down the other side didn’t seem much better because the blister on my heel was preventing me from running. We made our way across the Colorado Trail section and on into Mayqueen. For those last couple of miles, I must admit, I was convinced there was no way I could finish with the blister that had developed on my heel.

A medical person worked on my blister, which amounted to smearing a bunch of Vaseline on it. Amazingly, that worked very well. My crew wasn’t at the aid station yet because I’d gotten there way earlier than I’d predicted I would. I felt very dizzy, cold, and unsure whether I could continue on. Finally, I looked up and saw Paul peeking into the tent. After we got over the shock of seeing each other, he took off to get my stuff. My crew came in and denied every attempt I made to talk them into letting me stop there. They force fed me potatoes, Fritos and coffee. They massaged my legs, layered clothes on me to warm me up, and convinced me that I wasn’t really going to die. Within a few minutes I felt well enough to continue on.

The stretch between Mayqueen and Tabor Boat Ramp is endless. It was made better by Larry DeWitt and Bruce passing me and giving me loads of encouragement. Jim and I talked our way along the lake. Jim proved he actually is a mule in this section. He juggled 10 things and never complained once. As we got near the dam, Paul appeared to let us know how close we were and that it would be light within minutes. We passed by the dam and headed on toward Leadville. My crew convinced me to put gloves on to cover up the “man hands” I’d developed over the course of the race. They’d swollen massively and looked really disgusting.

Shortly after we got onto the Boulevard, Jim said if we kept the pace we were going I’d break 27:30. I had thought I was closer to being just under 28:00 so, I was very energized to hear that. We hurried up the Boulevard and saw my crew waiting at the top of the hill. We all walked together up the final hill and down toward the finish. They let me run through the finish on my own. Hugs and kisses from Merilee and Ken and Paul and my crew. 27:20:30 after leaving that very spot I was done.

This race report actually starts two nights out from the 20-guage shotgun blast that sends ~400 runners off into the 4:00 A.M. night… and 100 miles.
Two words: No Sleep
Great. I knew that it’s customary not to sleep the night before a ‘big’ race… but two nights? Carole and I rented the ‘pink house’ on west 2nd where Ted housed his crew last year. After our customary carbo-load we all set our watch alarms. We weren’t concerned as we heard a continual barrage of rain drops rat-tat-tat off the roof. Here we are at the start, the Court House on Harrison in downtown Leadville – from this point on referred to as Pbville. I want to say here and now, as my daughter whispered in my ear, “no matter the outcome – I am SO proud of you”… this isn’t only about the “runner” but the love and support that gets you to the finish line. My first attempt at completing 100 miles in the high country of Colorado would be shared with my family and close friends.

Meanwhile, back to the start line at the Pbville Court House. Ted and I looked about for other CRUD runners – but our headlamps picked out no familiar faces. We knew that Paul Smith, Judy DeWitt, Keith Grimes, John Genet, Larry DeWitt, Harry Harcrow, Dan Vega, and Anita Bower were there and ready to go.

5-4-3-2-1... The mayor of Pbville fired a 20-guage shotgun into the cool dark morning air BLAM! I Love Ultra starts, the 2006 Pbville 100 Race Across the Sky was under way. It was amazing turning around to see the wave of lights bobbing weaving their way down the boulevard as we made our way out and up the cutline under the powerline to the single track that edged along Turquoise Lake. The night’s rain had stopped as I gazed at the stars, and settled into a steady pace that I hoped I could sustain. The sun started to rise reflecting in Turquoise Lake, it was going to be a great day.

Reached Mayqueen in 2:33. Not bad, my pace strategy was to come in at 2:30. My amazing crew made up of Carole (best support person ever), daughters Carly and Katie, my son-in-law Jason Frank, Katie’s boyfriend Peter Chapman, and buddy Jonathan Veteto, had everything ready. I was out of the aid station in 4 minutes. Not exactly Matt’s time – but I made every attempt to get out quickly – not sitting unless I needed a shoe change. My strategy was to take on about 500 calories at each aid station, walking if necessary to make sure I was refueling properly. Peter would describe what lay ahead – total miles, run/walk ratio, and projected arrival time at the next aid station. Next “up” Fish Hatchery, to get there we connect to the Colorado Trail and the climb (1,200 feet) over Sugarloaf pass. We came off the Colorado Trail and turned up Hagerman Pass Road. This section held some very cool memories. A few short weeks previously I had joined Doug, Bob, Sarah, Jim & Rick on my first Kenyan High Altitude Training Camp. We spent 5 days above treeline in two huts – part of the 10th Mountain Division hut system. The training camp must have worked as I was able to combine running and a good power walk pace to the top of the pass. You’re at the summit of the pass when you cross under the powerlines, from here it’s a fairly steep downhill. It felt good to run, picking my line through the wash out ruts knowing this was a quad thrasher I let gravity take over.

I came into the Fish Hatchery aid station in 4:55, out two minutes later. I had hoped to be out around 4:45, I had wanted to build a buffer to stay ahead of cut-off – and would have to pick it up some. Heading out of Fish, trying to find some runnable shoulder sections away from the pavement, Carole’s MDX passed with hoots of encouragement. A short time later, I saw her approaching, telling me she had dropped Peter and Katie at Treeline, and was heading back to town to pick up Jason and Jonathan – my two pacers who were back at the house grabbing some zzzs for the long night ahead. Basically blew through Treeline, saying bye to Katie and Peter, as a few rain drops started to fall. Out I went onto Halfmoon road which is a dirt road that leads up past the Mt. Elbert and Mt. Massive trailheads. I mixed running and walking, continuing my strategy to walk the ups which were some pretty decent climbs. Some oncoming vehicle traffic from the plentiful camp spots in the area. It was here is where my crew and I had our only mix-up. The aid station at Halfmoon is not accessible to crew! Later I kicked myself for not paying attention to the course description – which plainly stated this fact. I think it was harder on my crew – as they had no way of knowing if I needed anything or the shape I was in. What they didn’t know was I hit Halfmoon in 6:30 feeling great.

The remaining 9 miles into Twin Lakes is a mixture of significant climbs, followed by some decent down hill. There is a long downhill section (3.5 miles) into Twin Lakes. I was feeling a slight tightness in the quads – but no worries – as I had my timer set to pop S-Caps (capsules containing sodium, magnesium, and potassium) every hour. Just to make things interesting, there’s a short steep rocky stretch coming into the aid station, last year while crewing for Ted I saw a number of runners crash in front of cheering crews and spectators. I made it to Twin Lakes in 8:40. I quickly made my way through the aid station to pick up my choice of refueling calories – boiled potatoes and salt. Carole and the rest of the crew had everything laid out, first time to sit as I changed socks and shoes. Katie swapped out my Camelback bladder, while Peter calmly told me I was about 12 minutes off my target pace – and to pick it up where possible. From here it was on up over Hope Pass and down into Winfield. It was about to get interesting. It’s here where Leadville really starts!

This was the one section I was most familiar with, having paced Ted the 10.5 miles in from Winfield to Twin Lakes in 2005. The first 1.5 miles or so are fairly flat, with several creek crossings. One in particular was about mid-thigh with climbing rope stretched across. The cold water felt good. Running out of the flats and into the trees, I began the climb up Hope Pass.

I settled into a steady cadence, a power walking pace that I could sustain. Not too far into the 3,400 climb I saw some familiar faces coming down the trail towards me – Rick and his fiancé Jill who had hiked Hope earlier in the day to cheer on the members of Team CRUD. A few final strategic words from Rick, then keeping my momentum it was onwards and upwards. A short distance later running down came the race leader Anton (Tony) Krupicka. Tony is 23 and one a hell of a runner. He joined in on the Wednesday night social runs out of the Colorado Running Company, today looked as he always does; racing flats, no socks, no shirt – no water! He looked strong, thoughts of Matt’s 15:42:59 record crossed my mind. Tony had at least 1 hour on second place at that point. He was cleaning up at Pbville this year, previously winning a 50 km and the Pbville Marathon a few weeks before.

I passed a sign that read 2 miles to the llamas at Hopeless – the pack animals and the Aid station approximately ½ mile from the summit. This was soon followed by the 1mile and ½ mile to go signs. I kept a strong steady pace into Hopeless, yelling hello to Frenando the llama… I found out that all 18 or 20 of the grazing llamas are named Fernando. The people volunteering at Hopeless are absolutely the best. Entering the aid station I was behind a certain runner who when asked if his refueling requirements were being met – yelled “NO! I need my Camelback filled!” I looked straight at him and said, “Please?” The volunteer that this jerk screamed at, reached out touched my shoulder and said, “thank you”. Coming out of the tent I almost ran into Harry Harcrow (the first CRUD guy) who looked a bit dazed. Harry told me later that after seeing me had to go for a lie down. With a wave to the llamas and again thanking all the volunteers I started up to the summit.

The skies were clear, I remember thinking to myself, wow how lucky is this? – good weather over Hope. As I crested the summit I saw dark and somewhat ominous clouds building to the southwest. It was here I saw Dan Vega (CRUD #2) looking quite strong and easily in the top ten. We said hi to each other, and it was up and over the top. The first section of the descent is switchbacks on loose decomposing granite. The footing gradually got better, with the exception of a couple of skree sections. I tried not to look at the rapidly approaching clouds. The skies continued to darken. From 100 yards down the trail I saw a friendly face moving upwards – Mr. Bidwell. Ted was looking exceptionally strong, I was hoping the very best for him this year, wanting him to wipe last years painful DNF from his memory. He had a great 100 at Western in June, and was running this one ‘relaxed’ having decided to run Pbville a few days prior to the entry cutoff. Following Ted was Keith Grimes, looking a little bit taxed. Keith had battled injury all year and a very recent stomach ailment, but he’s tough. A few minutes behind Keith was Paul Smith – smiling as usual. It was Paul that gave me the encouragement to enter Pbville. Months before, on a cold Thursday winter morning run in Cheyenne Canyon, he convinced that I was ready and it was “time”. Thanks Paul!

Nearing Winfield Road the clouds opened and it started to rain. Then hail. Then bright flashes of lightning – too closely followed by loud cracks of thunder. The footing turned to a slippery slick mud. I thought of my son-in-law Jason waiting for me the aid station, he was pacing me back up over Hope Pass and into Twin Lakes. On a mountain bike trip with Carly earlier in the summer he did a real number on his ankle – severely damaging ligaments. His ankle was still swollen, and it had hampered his training – but Jason is strong and was ready to go. It started to come down harder, not too concerned as I knew I had a warm change of clothes and poncho waiting for me about 40 minutes away at Winfield. I then saw a runner approaching I was anxious to see, Judy DeWitt. There was no way she was going to be the CRUD DNF pink dress Poster Child this year. To make sure was Jim – Paul’s dad who was pacing her whole 50. I called to her across the road giving a thumbs up – telling Jim to bring her “home” safe. Soon after Judy came Anita with her pacer – looking confident and strong. I made Winfield in 12:38, 8 minutes off the pace I had set. I ran into the tent where a rather attractive female said, you look good! I had to return the compliment and said, so do you!

Rain was still falling but there were bright skies in the south giving us encouragement for the second attack on Hope. Jason was ready to go! A change into warm dry clothes and we were off. The road back is a gradual downhill so we were able to run – feeling great. The rain stopped before getting off Winfield road, and soon we were stripping layers. Thank goodness for mules …er pacers. Pbville is the only 100 I know where you can have your pacer carry stuff for the runner (more on that later.) As quickly as the storm moved in – it had moved out leaving clear skies all the way up and over Hope. Even the footing improved. When I asked Jason to pace me on this section I had hoped the summit would be clear. Being a trail runner, climber, and mountain biker from Calgary, Alberta I knew he would love the 360 degree vista… did he ever! Jason was stoked by the whole experience; we may have another ultra guy in the family. Down into Hopeless, we both slurped down Ramen Noodles by the fire. One of the volunteers – who had the same sly grin as on the way up – ­petted Luke a Golden Retriever an awful lot like our Brewster. I asked him why so happy. His response, “because I’m not doing what you are!” A farewell wave to Luke, the Fernandos, and we continued our descent. I love this section; although the soft pine needle trail was muddy we were still able to maintain a good pace. To divert our attention we had the rushing mountain creek paralleling the trail and the mountain wild flowers. When we came out of the trees into the flats before Twin Lakes, the evening skies were upon us. As the night approached we brought out the headlamps as we saw the twinkling lights of the Twin Lake aid station off in the distance. We got wet going through the creek crossings, before we knew it our lamps picked up Carly and Katie (Team Gordon) patiently waiting at the Twin Lakes aid station. Time in 16:47, over one hour ahead of cutoff – but 17 minutes off strategy pace – Peter calmly pointed out.

Much to his disappointment, Jason’s pacing challenge was over (Thank you Jason!) Jonathan’s adventure was now beginning. A few months earlier running buddy Jonathan Veteto volunteered to be my pacer – for 50 miles if I needed him! He’s planning on running his first 50 soon and wanted to know what it felt like! We tried not to spend too much time here. Another change into dry shoes, and we were off – up the 1,400 feet climb on the trail to Halfmoon. I have heard that this is where the atmosphere of the race changes, it is now totally dark and other runners becoming more and more scarce. A fact is that close to 50% of the starting runners have dropped by this point, with the remaining runners spread out all over the remaining 40 miles. Jonathan kept pushing me where necessary, earlier he had threatened to dangle a beer in front of me and use a cattle prod behind to keep me moving. We headed up, flashlights pointing the way. Every so often we’d see pinpoints of light looking back at us through the trees. At one point hearing runners behind us, we stepped to the side to let them by. As it was pitch black I didn’t realize the ledge where I had stepped actually dropped away from the trail, I started to fall sideways but felt a hand grab my arm and pull me back to the trail. I thanked the Good Samaritan, and realized it was Jenn Shelton (ultra racer extraordinaire) who we had seen earlier at the aid station tent in Twin Lakes. Turned out she was pacing a friend, we “heard” her for the next few miles whopping and hollering… seemed to be really enjoying herself!

As we made it over the inclines and started down to the trail head and Halfmoon road, several strange occurrences took place. A runner came up fast behind us and flew past, we called out great job – but he yelled back saying, “no praise I’m a pacer.” Odd we thought, where’s his runner? A short while later we came upon a runner who was piggy-backing his pacer down the trail! We found out the female pacer had broken or sprained her ankle, the runner who we assumed was her husband or boyfriend was actually keeping a pretty good pace moving down hill. I asked if we could help in any way, holding out a Camelback the runner asked if we could carry it down the hill and drop it at the trail head. “Sure” I said, taking the Camelback which seemed to weigh 10 pounds, promptly handing it to Jonathan. (Thank you for everything Jonathan.) As we approached the trail head an EMT crew complete with stretcher was making its way uphill. We asked what the problem was, only to be yelled at by the crew lead to move out! (Yes sir!)

Coming into the aid station at Halfmoon, we came upon another strange sight. In the ditch was a Range Rover, its front wheels embedded into the soft wet clay while the rear wheels were elevated off the road. We saw several girls sitting adjacent to the vehicle. Thinking they were from the stranded vehicle, we asked if they were okay or needed help. We discovered they were part of the Halfmoon Aid Station Crew, nonchalantly saying the driver ran “that way” pointing down a dirt road at right angles to us. We made the aid station at 19:54, I was shooting for 19:45 – we had picked up 8 minutes in the last 9 miles! We spent 5 minutes in the aid station, eating more Ramman noodles and potatoes with salt in a baggie before heading off down the road to Fish Hatchery.

Feeling jazzed by picking up some time, we decided to run through Treeline and told Team Gordon to meet us at Fish Hatchery – I felt bad as they had everything spread out and waiting for us…. what a crew! Carole tossed me a Boost as we ran past. We headed back along the flat highway section to Fish Hatcheries; I didn’t care for these 4 miles any more than I did on the outbound journey. We arrived at Fish at 21:43 – picking up more time – now just 3 minutes over my strategy pace.

Jonathan told me as we headed up the paved road out of the Fish Hatchery aid station that we just had a marathon to go to the finish line… the only time I thought that 23 miles was a short manageable distance. Now was not the time to get too confident as we still had the climb back up Sugarloaf. I had heard all kinds of horror stories from fellow CRUDers about this section, disembodied floating green glow sticks, false summits, and the climb… did I mention false summits? We spotted and caught up to headlights in front of us, just as we were thinking Sugarloaf wasn’t so bad we’d hit another false summit – another climb and another false summit! The night sky was filled with millions of stars and a sliver moon, as we made it to the top of Sugarloaf we had an incredible view of the Milky Way. We could also see the lights at May Queen, and off to the right in the distance the Lights of Leadville – and the finish. We knew the worst was behind us. Down we walked/ran on the jeep road until the right turn at the T onto Hagerman Road. My quads were tightening, which made for short sustained periods of running followed by power walking. We continued to catch and pass runners, including one gentleman from California with a bad cough sounding like he had fluid in his lungs who wished us well.

Soon we could see flashlights pointing the way off Hagerman and onto the downhill slop of the Colorado Trail. This section was tough, it became very rocky and muddy trying not to slip as we saw the lights through the trees from the Mayqueen aid station which still seemed so far away. We continued to pick our way down the trail, feeling confident. I had a bottle of No Doz caffeine pills, but we just didn’t need them I was pumped with the whole adventure and what we were accomplishing. Off the trail and onto the pavement, I knew we were about to come into the Mayqueen aid station. This was bittersweet for me as this was where Ted pulled himself out of the 2005 race. We came in feeling happy and strong at 25:18, one hour and 18 minutes ahead of the cut-off time, and 22 minutes ahead of my pace time – I felt incredible. We stayed 6 minutes, having a little stomach trouble I spent most of that time in a porta-potty. I wanted to change into a CRUD shirt for the finish line, but they had all gotten dirty or wet and Carole didn’t have one with my stuff. After running for over 24 hours, emotions were on edge and I got short with Carole and Team Gordon – sorry crew and crew chief – you guys are the very best and I wouldn’t have been able to get this far without your love and support!

Out we went, next stop – the FINISH LINE!

13.5 miles to go, and for the first time – knowing we had picked up so much time in the last section (thank you Jonathan!) I knew I was going to finish. The first section is almost 7 miles of rolling single track around the north shore of Turquoise Lake. We ran and walked this section following a group of runners as it was too difficult to pass on the single track. It started getting light as the sun was coming up over the lake, there was broken cloud keeping the temperature low. As Keith would say, this was now a “multi-day” event. We really lucked out with the weather, even with the rain and hail coming off Hope. As we approached the Boat Ramp, I picked out someone walking her way towards us ­– it was Carole – with a clean CRUD shirt. After leaving Mayqueen she had gone back into town to the pink house, she washed and dried the shirt and walked in on the course 2 miles so I could cross the finish line in a CRUD shirt. What can I say, Carole you are the best, thank you for all your love and support. We said goodbye to Carole, telling her we’d see her soon at the finish… I was speechless, blown away by Carole’s actions.

Coming off the lake trail and across the road, we dropped down the cutline under the powerline which emptied out onto a wide dirt road known as the Boulevard and 3.25 miles to go. This section seemed to go on forever; slightly uphill we walked for the most part. After what seemed like an eternity, passing runners bent over vomiting, we were at pavement again, 1 mile to go we knew we were almost there. You could start to feel the energy, we turned the corner and up at the top of the street we saw it – the FINISH line banner. A most incredible sight, but nothing as sweet as seeing the smiling faces of Carly, Jason, Katie, Peter and Carole, standing on the curb, still yelling and screaming support. The “best crew ever” came down the street to meet us and with Jonathan we all made our way together towards the finish. I ran in the last few yards breaking the tape in 29:20:32 in 156th place under the 30 hour cutoff, getting a hug from race director Marilee and hand shake from Pbville Race President Ken. Ted was there to congratulate me. The only thing left to do now was to get checked out in the medical tent, and find the cold beer.

Post Race:
387 Starters
199 Finishers

I finally decided to run Leadville 8 days prior to the race. I had completed Western States in late June and had never run two 100-milers in a year, much less 8 weeks. I had rested and my long run was a 50K in Leadville 5 weeks prior to Leadville.

I arranged to stay with Gordon and his family that weekend and really felt relaxed knowing my only goal was to finish. I slept well the three nights leading up to Saturday morning and felt ready to run and finish the 100 miles.

I ran the first sections into May Queen and Fish Hatchery very conservatively and felt strong. I was 171st in MQ and 107th into FH. Both of my IT bands seemed to be acting up, but not like they had the previous year. After Half Moon the pain went away, or I just forgot about it.

I arrived 67th at Winfield in exactly 11 hours. The climb over and down Hope had gone well. On the return, we encountered rain, sleet, hail and some very cold wind the last 2 miles. I hustled down the mountain to get back into Twin Lakes to warm up at the lower altitude. I kept saying to myself, you’re going to hurt, but from TL into HM and beyond I was moving right along getting into FH 42nd at a little over 18 hours.

Once I got to the trail head at the road to go up the power line and over Sugarloaf, I reminded my self that it would take 90 minutes and forget about how many false summits were in store going up. From the trail head to the summit was a little over 70 minutes and into MQ I felt really good taking less than 3 hours to go from FH to MQ and be 42nd in.

My run into Leadville went really good as my time from MQ was 11 minutes faster than any previous finish. I look back to the conservative first half as the reason for my PB at Leadville and my strong finish 24:19 and 37th

I got the monkey off my back of last years DNF and look forward to some easy running for a few months.

See you on the trails!

San Juan Summer Solstice 50 Miles – Lake City Colorado 17-June-2006

This years’ San Juan 50 Mile Summer Solstice race was everything I expected – and more! I laughed, I cried, I even gave birth... actually no – but I did get a Sonogram.

Everything was fine and went as expected for the first half. Less snow pack this winter meant the many creek crossings weren’t as high and treacherous, but they were still freakin’ cold! Ran Alpine Gulch and up above tree line with Judy and Andy. Judy took off looking real strong on the downhill into Williams – never saw her again. (Hell of a race Judy – look out Leadville!) I gained a little distance on Andy, and didn’t see him again until later.

Just about the 1/2 way point, up past the Carson aid station, I started get really sharp lower back pains. With images of Keith doing the renal failure dance at Leadville, I increased my rate of hydrating – drinking probably faster than I should have. My hydration (2-20 ounce hand-held bottles) was gone and I still had about 2 miles to the next aid station at mile 31. I wasn’t in panic mode – but close. Just before the aid station came into site, I doubled over… doing my best impersonation of Ted’s Crooked Man. By the time I made it into the aid station, I couldn't talk. I sat down in the aid station for a while – longer than I should have – getting re-hydrated by alternating cups of water and Mountain Dew. I slurped down hot Raman Noodles that Eric was nice enough to leave. Andy caught up, so I took off again when I started to feel better, popped a few more Sodium Chloride pills, and tried to ignore the sharp back pain that was still there.

As I started that long, long descent into to Slumgullion Pass, my confidence level increased with each sip. I was becoming concerned that I didn’t even have the slightest sensation of having to pee. I love coming into Slum, seeing the people who have trudged up the rocky road to watch the runners coming in. I was surprised to see Paul D cheering me on, heading down ahead of me to alert Carole I was on my way. (Paul – if you don’t succeed as a runner you’ll make great CREW!) Told Carole (best support crew ever) a little white lie, “I feel great… could crawl in from here!” before heading off across the highway and the ascent on Vickers.

I slogged through, finishing 1 minute + slower than my time in 2005. I looked like the Michelin Man, my hands and feet were so swollen. My CRUD team mates and the crews were all there cheering me on. (I originally thought I PR’d by “14 seconds”, thinking I finished in 14:33 last year. It wasn’t until this morning when I checked the official 2005 results that I saw I was actually 1:14 slower.) After a few high fives – Carole & I went right over to the EMT and ambulance - didn't even have the cold beer that Carole had ready for me! (Ted – that was a first.) The EMT ran a couple of tests, hooked me up to an IV, called the doctor and the next thing I knew I was strapped to a gurney heading for the Emergency Clinic. I wanted the siren – but didn't get it.

Long story short, even though I was drinking all day I hadn't peed since before the start of the race – suffering from a form of Hyponatremia. Once in the ER I was given 2 more IV bags of solution, and force-fed water. Paul D came in to the examination room with Carole, giving encouragement like; "I had 7 bags after my win in Leadville". At one point, they thought it may be kidney stones, but all those tests proved negative. They did a Sonogram ("Better not find a fetus" – more encouragement from Paul… to which Carole said “it’s not mine!”) to make sure my bladder and kidneys were functioning – they were. Even had an EKG because my respiration rate was high and my blood pressure was elevated and wouldn't come down. I kept telling them it was because I didn't have a beer at the finish line! Finally after about 3 hours in the ER I was able to pee in cup, they ran more analysis which showed high levels of concentrated nastiness. Confident I was on the road to recovery I was discharged, with the promise to check back with them Sunday to let them know how I was doing. They gave me a diuretic to cleanse out my system – which really worked (with beer*) – every hour on the hour all night long! The doctor sought me out yesterday at the awards ceremony to make sure I was doing OK. I want to say a huge thank you to Michele, Doc, and the great medical team for their care and attention… can’t wait to see the bill.

* I have it on sound Medical advice (with a witness – right Carole?) beer is a natural diuretic, and was told to go back to the cabin and drink up! My Momma always told me to do what the doctor says so…

So after all that here are my results:

San Juan 2006 14:32:36 (Unofficial)

San Juan 2005 14:31:22

The Western States 100 Endurance Run….the “Run”

I arrived by plane, train and automobile. Judy and Paul Dewitt and I carpooled to DIA, took the bus from the outside parking facility, rode the train to the gate and flew an Airbus directly into Sacramento, CA.

What hit us next as we met Paul Smith, my crew and pacer, was heat, heat and more heat!

We drove to Auburn to check out the finish line at the local high school. Finding the school was an adventure in itself and I thought I hope I do not have this much trouble finding it on Sunday. The temperature on the local bank read 101.

We continued on to the Olympic Village at Squaw Valley, close to Lake Tahoe and checked into the condo I rented within a minute of the starting line. It also turned out to be a perfect spot as the pre-race meetings were held directly outside the attached patio.

Smitty and I walked over to the village and checked out the starting area. I went back to the room and Smitty walked up the first 4 miles of the course to the top of the escarpment. He reported a good ¼ mile of snow at the top to traverse through on race morning. I’d find out Saturday morning that we would run in and out of snowfields all the way to Robinson Flat at mile 29.

Friday was the pre-race weigh-in and medical check. I’m always concerned about my blood pressure (white coat syndrome & hereditary hypertension). Vitals were good, 140 pounds, 122/80 BP and pulse of 50.

Prior to the mandatory meeting, Smitty and I drove over to Tahoe City to pick up some things at the Albertson’s and fill up on petro. We went down to the lake and enjoyed the scenery. I forgot how beautiful it is around the Lake, although I had been there in 1998 and 1978 and as a small boy in 1958, it just is beautiful.

We sat out on the patio for the pre-race meeting as the final instructions and introductions of all the top runners from last year were introduced.

I hit the bed about 8pm hoping to get 6 hours of good sleep. Turns out I slept to about 2 and finally got up at 3 for the 5am start. After I got ready and ate I walked over to check-in and pick up my race number. We also wore a chip in order for the updates to the web site as to “where is my runner” link.

The gun went off right at 5am. The first 3.5 - 4 miles is basically up, up and up. Not high, just to 8750 ft or so, but it really strung out the 398 starters. I walked the majority of it, but found a few places to run. Smitty was right, the top had a quarter mile of snow that was very difficult to run through, just slip and slide. Once to the top I found a nice downhill, but hit many short snowfields that many of us slid onto our bottoms.

We ran Duncan Canyon this year for the first time since the Star Fire destroyed the area back in 2000 or 2001. It still smelled like smoke and it looked like a war zone, completely destroyed. Volunteers had dynamited the standing trees and cut them up and this allowed the Forest Service to allow the run back in the canyon.

I arrived at Duncan Canyon aid station and ask who knew Keith Grimes and only a few wanted to admit it and told me per his instructions I was second woman. I wish! There were lots of outstanding ladies out a head of me.

After descending down the canyon, I came across the first of many streams and creeks. I would stop at everyone and pour the ice cold water all over my body to try to keep my body temperature down. It also felt so good.

The first chance to meet up with my crew was Robinson Flat at mile 29. Smitty and Judy D were there and Paul D had gone through earlier in 6th place. After changing socks, shoes and eating I was off to Miller’s Defeat aid station, were Arlene Bidwell was the aid station captain. I introduced myself and her husband was the “Bidwell” and he was working the table checking the runners out of the station, so I stopped and chatted a little with him.

The first major climb after the Escarpment was up to Devil’s Thumb in Deadwood Canyon at Mile 46. It was right at the time the heat of the day seemed hottest. I thought to myself how much it reminded me of the steep part of Section 16, however it just kept going on and on and on, never seeming to get to top out. I took some extra time at the aid station to refuel before heading out to El Dorado Canyon and Michigan Bluff.

El Dorado Canyon was another challenging climb, just as long as Deadwood, but not as steep. Once to Michigan Bluff at mile 55, I got a little testy with Smitty, but his support was so much appreciated. After changing socks, downing the last of my “green machine” drink and puking up some of the melon I had been eating and feeling so much better, I was off to Foresthill at mile 62. During this part of the run, I ran along with Matt from Auburn Running Company and he provided me some valuable trail information for the rest of the run.

At Foresthill arriving at around 8pm, Smitty met me again with another sock change, a Boost drink and I switched to Coke and grapes for nutrition. Everyone had said if you make it to Foresthill and feel good the rest is very run able and down to Ruchy Chuck Crossing at mile 78. There are a lot more climbs between Foresthill and the crossing then I expected, but I still felt pretty good.

I met Smitty on the far side of the river crossing just past midnight, as he was going to pace me in from there. We power walked and ran up the 2 miles to Green Gate and started the run to mile 85 station at Auburn Lakes. We were making some good time here, until I notice I had not seen a trail marker for some time and I asked Smitty if he had seen any. He said he could see some footprints, so we continued on to the top of the climb to find NOTHING! We’d been off trail according to the sign for about 2 miles, although running back down didn’t seem like 2 miles. We saw some headlamp lights to our right and thought we’d missed the trail that way, but they were the lamps of the Japanese runner and her pacer coming back to the main trail as they had gone the wrong way. The trail made hard right going up, with no glow stick and just one yellow streamer someone out of sight. DAMN. We probably lost 20-30 minutes, but at least had gotten back on trail.

At Brown’s Bar, the HASH aid station, I asked for a beer and they had one ready for me, although I declined, knowing there were a couple waiting for me at the finish line. On the way to Highway 49 station the sun was coming back up and we started to see the second sunrise of the run. We were running back and forth with a few other runners and there pacers and Smitty mentioned were had put some time on a few of them, but I said it was me against the finish line, not other runners. Later, after NO Hands Bridge, we had past a few runners and a couple passed us. I said to Smitty, I was tired of getting passed and we were going to pick up the pace running and power walking. I think just one younger runner went by at mile 98.9 and we actually ran the rest of the way in to the track at the high school. Hitting the track, I unbuckled my hydration pack so my CRUD shirt was visible to the crowd. I crossed the finish line with a big smile on my face and a sense of accomplishment that I finished strong and standing straight up.

Paul and I relaxed with a beer and walked over to shower at the gym. We were able to share some shade with some folks from southern California, and actually took over a couple of their chairs when they wandered off. The post-race breakfast just wasn’t very tasty, so as Paul D, Judy and I left for the airport, they offered to stop at In N Out Burger, my favorite burger joint in California, Arizona and Nevada. Oh, so good and Paul and Judy shared a burger and shake and I had a cheeseburger and chocolate shake and we shared some fries, that Paul D really seemed to enjoy!

Paul and I hobbled through the airport and ran into Smitty just before his flight took off. I think I was able to finally sleep for a few minutes on the flight to Denver and hobbled through the terminal in Denver, although Judy seemed to carry all the heavy baggage. Thanks Judy! We got back to the DeWitt’s after 8 and I was home by 9, what a very long, but rewarding day.

My feet were pretty beat up with blisters and damaged toenails, taking quite a few days to be able to walk normally, but the rest of my body felt pretty good by Tuesday.

Thanks to Paul Smith for putting up with me during a few moments and being my crew and pacer. Thanks to Judy and Paul DeWitt for sharing the trip with me.

My summer is now running free, but you never know were I might show up on the starting line.

See you on the trails.

Well another year at Lake City has come and gone. What a wonderful place to run, I am always humbled by the beauty of that area. If you have not done it, you should next year. The forcast was definately in our favor. As we toed the start line I had a very calm feeling for the first time in three previous starts. The gun went off! The leaders went the wrong way, probably Paul Smith with his annual lead of the race. The pace was slow and I was going to go out conservative this year but felt really good, so I decided to run the first several miles. Paul D. caught up to me as he was out for a short training run. So I ran with him until the single track....So much for the easy part of the race. Up we went I was able to run the first several river crossing which were very mild. Of course as in every year before I watched as a guy tried to keep his feet wet, which he pretty much succeeded in doing however his body wasn't so lucky(it was classic)! I accually ended up running with him for a while along with Helen from Breck(eventual female winner), who was nursing her 5 month old at the aid stations. As we approached the first aid I was on my goal time and feeling great. We reached the top of the first climb and it felt good to go down, too bad the feeling didn't last to long. I slumped for the first time right before the next aid, my down hill running sucked all day. I arrived into aid and as always felt much better when I saw my family, it gave me the rush I needed to keep pushing. Paul D. was there stressing because I was in no hurry to leave. My bad, but there were so many people to say hi too. I was also not in a hurry to climb the next freakin mountain. Paul wasn't having any of that so he pushed me out and on my way, he said Stave Bremner was up ahead. Sorry Steve but you didn't look good. As I passed him going up to Camp Carson, all I could think was welcome to San Juan..But one hell of a job Steve hanging in and finishing!! I had a awesome climb to the next aid which always feels like it is straight up. I knew at this point that if my main nemesis (Paul Smith) was gonna catch me he was gonna have to throw it down. I kept feeling good until about a mile from the top. I was having major stomach problems, my food or water was not digesting and I was feeling sick. I looked back to see if there was anyone comming and there were plenty, the funny thing is the didnt appear like they were gonna wait on me to feel better. So I topped the summit and started to try to get my shit together and finally after a few arguments with myself I felt better. I ran most of the divide and played damage control until 31 miles when I felt alot better after downing some of the best Ramon noodles I have ever had. I wasnt wearing a watch but knew I was moving pretty good, my habit of looking for Paul and David Wilcox over my shoulder was become a annoying twitch every ten minutes or so. THe run across the jeep road was uneventful except the almost paralizing fear I had about the last climb coming up..I was in so much pain that I couldn't imagine climbing that biotch. The pain in my feet only got worse as I ran the three miles straight down to slumgulion, like I said my down hill was pitiful all day and it was worse here. I hit the aid and Kati said I was a mitute ahead of my goal and all I could say was " I am in pain and don't wanna climb this last hill!" Once again Paul D. pushed me out which I am glad he did , because I needed it. He gave me some strong words and off I went. For the next mile I had to convince myself I could make this climb. As I went back onto the road, and Rich drove by in his car and gave me some words of encouragement. Up Up and a way I put my head down and made it to the top at this point I knew I had made it. 4 miles to the finish down hill. The twitch was still there but know one passed me. I saw Rich with my daughter Autumn and one more look back. I ran the last 3 blocks with her and finished in 11:17:and some cha cha change! 35 minutes faster than my previous best. Everyone did well Harry blew it out! Paul Sullivan proved again he is better than me at 50 miles, but I still own him at 100. Dan ran well....As for Paul Smith well I think we know who the "DADDY is" and he has another blue hat to prove it. I wanna thank everyone out there for the support especially Kati, Autumn and Briana! Also Paul D and "Moaping" Rich Muzzy! Looking forward to next year.

This was my first sojourn over 31 miles and what I feel is my real first true ultramarathon. Three weeks ago, I was comptemplating not running due to a really painful IT/patella tendonitis problem. But I got some nice therapy and got to where I could at least keep moving. My race plan was to: 1 - finish, and 2 - run my own race. Race day started around 2:30 or so as I could not sleep and my stomach was a little wound up. I stayed back in the pack and DIDN'T miss the first turn. Hitting the trail felt so nice, just being off of the road was a treat. The water crossings didn't turn out to be as bad as I anticipated - thanks for the advice Eric - but I think they really don't know how many there really are. That aside, the views going up the first climb were first rate, everything from the mountains to the columbines next to the trail to the frost covered cinquefoil in the meadows.

Beer - beer at the first aid station, made for a nice distraction, but also made me want to sit down and have one. Anyway, after hitting the highest section, my stomach started to settle down and I could actually run. Up to this point, I had been pacing along with Judy and Gordon, when we hit some downhill, they just pulled away, normally move pretty good downhill, but the IT decided in wanted attention and it stayed annoyed for the race. That being said, it may have been a good thing, because it kept me from going too hard early in the race and I may have overdone it.

For the most part, the rest of the course I spent passing people on the hills and then having them catch me on the down hill sections. I really got a huge kick out of the aid stations - the people crewing them were so nice and willing to help out, it kind of overwhelmed me.

We (my crew and myself) learned a few things, like the difference between salt and buffered salt, that Katy doesn't mind stinky socks, my blisters were no comparison to Judy's, and that Paul doesn't like you to get comfortable in an aid station.

Apparently, Eric's kids think I must be the slowest racer around, I heard that they thought I would be the last runner in - Ha.

What an awesome race to be my first 50!!! I already have plans to do it again next year - Steph doesn't mind as long as we find a cabin with less allergens

Thanks again for everyones support and encouragement during the race, it was a wonderful experience.

It's virtually impossible to not have a terrific time on an Ultra Road trip and when you add road tripping with TBone, hanging with Team CRUD and the NTTR, seeing Big Red Spicer, and getting to eat Primo's cooking.. Well, it's just over the top.

Theresa Bone and I left Colorado Springs at about 5 p.m. on Thursday night after my most disorganized packing spree ever. Of course, I had packed far too little but I had the essentials: running shoes, jog bra, shorts, flashlight, water bottle, tent, electric blanket, air mattress, etc. Well, except that I hadn't packed the stopper for the air mattress (no telling where that ended up). Rats! We arrived at Casa de Red about midnight and after several doorbell rings and phone calls were let in by a sleepy Big Red Spicer.

Friday morning after breakfast, Theresa and I headed to the Canyon to claim our campsites. Then we headed out to mark three miles of the course along