around and around we go

speedracers here it is...
this past weekend i did my first timed run at Pacific Rim One Day Run. this race is hard to even know about if you don't live in oregon or washington. heck i didn't hear about it until i joined the nw listserv. then at best you get one notice from the rd fred willet. low and behold it is one of the longest ultra events around oregon. maybe autumn leaves 50 miler has been around longer. i don't know how long that has been but, mckenzie river 50 miler / 50k has been around 2o years so those two races have been around close to or more than 25 years. it also used to be one of the largest timed races said by a local ultra runner.

i called fred the tuesday before the run to see if i could get in. i didn't care if i got a t-shirt, i didn't care if anybody even recorded my laps. i didn't care if i had my miles recorded in the results, which are hard to find also. i just wanted to run.

the plan was to run 50 or so miles. run easy, but just run. i didn't know if i would enjoy this one mile loop frenzie. my brother has done it. he logged 116 miles (?) in '05, running 3 minutes and walking 1 minute from the get go. he did it to build confidence to be able to complete 100 miles and run for 24 hrs. you see he was getting ready to run states that year for his first 100. mmm, let me see at states, he finished 19th in 20:08, yea i think he did o.k.

there were many of us new to ultra's that were there and then others that have been doing this race for over a dozen years. it was fun to see Rob, and Steve. Michelle and Jenny were doing their first 50 mile run, very cool. Steve completed his first 24hr event by knocking off 105 miles. T.C. did 101. Tim England (former winner of Plain 100) took honors with 121 miles. Lisa Bliss, last years winner of badwater, was there getting ready for umstead.

the plan was to run easy. walk the hills. run the flats and downs. so loop after loop i ran the flats, hammered the technical downhills, and did a solid hike up the monster climbs. i practiced eating on the climbs. i drank 20ozs an hour. i ate about 300 calories an hour. it went well. my quads got worked on the downs. my hiking still has some work but that was good practice.

so all went well. got a few hours of running and a few miles in for the day. a total of 247 ft of gain was had. boy that was a monster day. i hope that was good training for the rumble in a few weeks.

here are some pictures taken by bob, "the beast", lynes here

i will consider this next year. it was fun. i never thought i would do this kind of thing but it went pretty darn well. now i am ready for some single track.

fast times at cool

well the pacific northwest did pretty well at cool this year. dan olmstead doing what is probably his second ultra had a good day taking third. erik skaggs ran another fast 50k coming in second. then todd braje came in a first. man he was off my radar. i knew he was fast but i just didn't see his name. i've seen some pretty fast marathon times from him and he won McDonald Forest 50k last year.

the womens field was equally impressive... Susannah Beck taking honors. Bev came in second. and Joelle Vaught came flying in at third.

rumor is not all the top three men are going to be doing states. one may sit out. we will have to see about that.

lewis will just have to bring it at american river 50 april 5th. but that field is stacked too.

me, just training. on a last minute thing i decided to do Pacific Rim One Day Run. i'm not going to do the whole 24hrs. just run 50 or so miles. why not the whole thing? worried about recovery. oh, i know many use this to build confidence for doing a 100 or staying up 24 hours. they all did fine when they showed up to the big dance in june. but for me, at least this year, i'll just use it as a long training run. just take it easy, practice the eating drinking thing.

kinda glad i'm doing pac rim now. kinda nice to join others for a day. sure will make time go by faster i'm sure. plus, i didn't have anything going for this month. breaks up the usual weekend training i figure. it should be fun. too bad we are going to get rained on, bummer.

way too cool guesses

well speedracers, Way Too Cool 50k is Saturday. Boy, the field is deep for both men and women.

i don't know all the names but here is my guess in order of finish

men:

matt carpenter--he might have some company for a while but he should prevail

erik skaggs-- i think he rocks at this distance

galen burrell-- fast. don't know much about this speedy devil

dan olmstead-- ok, he's running with the big boys now. a little inexperienced but maybe

craig has helped him since winning McKenzie last year. TAKE YOUR S-CAPS DAN!!!

lewis taylor-- won it last year. he better bring his "A" game saturday if he wants top three.

bring "it" chickenhawk

lewis.

AJW, Skaden, Hal, they all could be near the front but i don't think any of them are gearing up for this particular race. yes, rich hanna should be up there someplace, just don't know where. Scott Wolfe will run fast but my guess he is in the same boat as AJW, skaden, and Hal. and there are about 10 other fast dudes that will jump at the chance if somebody faulters. it will be fun to watch.

ajw

hal

also, i hope bili has a better race than last year. i think the last little bit of the race kinda fell apart if i remember right. there is a certain female that "chicked" him last year for the first time. my guess is he doesn't want that to happen again.

sean will be there, but boston is the priority. go get 2:40 colonal.

jeff browning will bring his best.

craig will see old friends

now the ladies

newer to ultra's, Susannah Beck is my pick hands down. she has run something like a 1:15 half and a 2:35-36 marathon. yikes. and a win at moab 50k isn't too bad. not sure why she didn't do the mcKenzie invitational last year but did run what looks like to be a easy 4:33 in saturday's race (injury?). just don't think anybody else has this kind of leg speed. wicked leg speed that is...

nikki--what, something like only two losses in 8 years, nuff said

nikki

bev-- she'll give it a go no matter what. way to go french kiss

craig, bev, and alan

annette bednosky-- could finish in front of bev if she has a good day and bev faulters

meghan--running really well at multiple distances but she has the trials coming up. this is not a focus right now. have fun G.M.

there are others both men and women that i am forgeting. since i am a mid packer at best, i just don't know all these folks. sorry if i missed someone.

but i will be calling bili after my saturday slog.

on a side note, Waldo has 49 entrants after just thursday, less than a week since the mail in application came on line. already i see a few fast folks for the USTAF OPEN AND MASTERS 100K TRAIL CHAMPIONSHIP already registered. almost half full, cool. at least i can toe the line with the fast boys in august.