New Hampshire and USA's

The past few weeks have been pretty interesting. After spending a few weeks in good ole' New Hampshire I have a new found respect for "The Granite State" and the home of the motto "Live Free or Die." Mountains are sprawled throughout the town and its almost as if every degree you turn you see some sort of peak or ledge. I was able to meet a local celebrity in the Conway, Madison, and Jackson area during my stay this year. Kevin Tilton, also a member of Team Inov-8 showed me around a few trails one day. I must say I envy him. He lives in a mountain running paradise and its practically in his back yard! Lots of soft trails and lots of miles of open air. Many of the trails were completely empty without worry of running into a loose dog or having to run through a bush to get around a pedestrian. Kevin is truly a celebrity, no pun was intended by that comment above. I remember being in a grocery store and talking with a couple who asked me if I was running Cranmore and if I had done Mt. Washington. When I said yes, they immediately got excited and asked, "do you know Kevin Tilton?" On another occasion, I met a guy in town and he said I looked like a runner and asked the same question if I was in town for the race. Again, he said oh you must have heard of Kevin T. then he carried on about how Kevin wins literally everything out there. So, if you are ever in the North Conway area you must not only check out the mountains or Storyland, but also Kevin ( : I eventually checked out the course serving as this years USA Mountain Running Championships while simultaneously serving as the North American and Central American Mountain Running Championships in the ski area known as Cranmore. This little pocket of land was also surrounded by some nice trails along with some technical climbing and downhills. Going into the course run through I was a bit nervous as I did not really want to see what we would have to go through the coming weekend. My fears become reality as even the pictures online of the course gave the technicality and difficulty of the ascents and descents no justice. I knew right away that as I woke up the morning after the Championship I would have Paul Kirsch, race director and White Mountain Miler team member to thank for the slight feeling of rigor mortis.

Race day came and the idea of running that long fast downhill twice still haunted me. The field of runners was pretty packed with runners from all over the States and Western Hemisphere. The main pack of runners I thought would be in medal contention included too many to name. Out of the top 10 there are probably 3-4 runners who have at one time or another won a National Championship or a few. With the tough climb on the first lap I figured Eric would really put the heat on us along with Simon who are both known for their climbing ability. Sure enough they did, however the race got even more interesting nearing the first 2k as Shiloh began to push the pack. We had a large group heading up one of the steepest sections of the course and then the race started to really come to life when Rickey took the lead dropping Shiloh and a few others that were in the pack leaving Simon, Eric, Zac, Matt and I up front. After his win at Mt. Washington I think we all got a bit nervous when he took the lead because hes a beast on the downhill as well, so definitely a wake up call in the race. Ironically this front pack was the team from the 2008 USA National Mountain Running Team that received the Bronze Medal at the World Trophy. Having raced at Worlds with them all before, I knew the whole pack was tough, so there were no dark horses or walk-overs in the front pack at this point. Behind them we still had a pack that included some experienced mountain runners such as Kevin T and John T. (AKA DT!). On the last technical climb I started to pull away. Rickey and I stayed pretty close to the top and sometime near the water stop I think the pack started to separate a bit. Heading into the second lap I felt great, but with Eric and Rickey still lurking I had to be nervous as they would most likely run the fastest 2nd uphill portion of the race and they probably did. I was shocked when I turned back near the top of the last lap to see Zac pulling in on me. From what I could see, Zac and I would most likely end up being either 1st or 2nd if we stayed trouble free on the down. That's the scary part of the downhill, anything can happen! I ended up winning the race with Zac and Matt rounding out the auto qualifiers for the National Team. Mt. Cranmore will always be embedded in my memory as this was my first National Mountain Running Championship win.

I was glad to meet some members from Team Inov-8 finally, which btw, I might add that we all did pretty damn well. I would like to send a special thank you to Paul Kirsch who put on an amazing event and one that I'm 100% positive every participant woke up feeling like they needed crutches. A special shout out to Joe F. and Suzanne A. for being super accommodating. Also, I want to thank our sponsor Team Inov-8 for all their support.

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Team Inov-8 shines at USA Mountain Champs

Joe Gray is the 2009 USA Mountain Running Champion, winning with an impressive performance at the 2009 Cranmore Hill Climb, which served as both the USA and NACAC Mountain Championships.

Joe led the race for most of the way. Also finishing in the top 10 were Aaron Saft, and Kevin Tilton. On the women's side, Gina Lucrezi was 5th while Amber Moran was 8th. Read the official press release below. See pictures at Scott Mason's site here and here.



Team USA takes NACAC Mountain Running Championships

NORTH CONWAY, N.H. - (June 28, 2009) - On a humid, overcast morning in the New England hamlet of North Conway, N.H., Washingtonian Joseph Gray, 24, Lakewood, and Californian Christine Lundy, 38, Sausalito outpaced one of the deepest U.S. mountain running fields in recent memory to become the 2009 USA Mountain Running champions at the 22nd Cranmore Hill Climb on Sunday. The pair also led Team USA to gold medal podium spots in the men's and women's division of the North American Central American Caribbean Mountain Running Championships.

The race featured two 5.5 kilometer loops and 2,400 feet of vertical gain that included a mixture of steep climbing, single track terrain, super fast descents, and flat sections across open meadows. Spectators at the base of the mountain could watch the runners as they climbed in the distance and then cheered runners on as they passed the start / finish area for the second and final loop.

A former collegiate steeplechaser, Gray, in his third season mountain racing, was with a lead pack of seven within the first kilometer which included Simon Gutierrez, 43, CO; Zac Freudenberg (MO); Eric Blake (CT), Matt Byrne (PA) and Shiloh Mielke (NC). The group stayed together up the first pitch, but at the top of the climb Gray took off. Freudenberg and Gutierrez were in second and third respectively, followed closely by Rickey Gates (CO), Byrne and Blake. Mielke didn't stick with the group on the first downhill.

After the first loop, it was Gray leading by about 40 seconds posting a 28 minute loop with Freudenberg in second, Gutierrez in third, "I was feeling confident, like I could hold third," said Gutierrez in a post-race interview, "Even going up the second climb I felt good. Then Rickey and Matt caught me about 1 kilometer into the second climb. They started pushing it. Joe was gone. I could see Rickey and Matt until the last 200 meters of the climb.

"After that I survived to get down. My legs were shot, Eric passed me and I caught up to him and we ran together for the last 2 kilometers. Shiloh blasted by us with about ½ mile to go," said Gutierrez who in a sprint-to-the-finish with Blake fell down just a few feet from the line to finish seventh.

Gray kept a solid, steady and rather blistering pace to finish in 48 minutes, 37 seconds followed by Freudenberg (49:48), Byrne (49:57), Gates (50:04), Meilke (51:38), Blake (51:50) and Gutierrez (51:54). Aaron Saft, Kevin Tilton and John Tribbia rounded out the top ten.

With his win, Gray made his second consecutive Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team. Freudenberg and Byrne also were named to the team. All three were members of last year's bronze medal winning team at the World Mountain Running Championships in Switzerland.

Lundy, with her win, becomes a four-time Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team member earning the sole team spot at Cranmore for the women. Lundy, who made her first U.S. mountain team in 2005, is the only two-time team gold medalist as a member of both the 2006 and 2007 U.S. teams at Worlds. She raced to victory posting a time of 57:16, besting her nearest competitor, Brandy Erholtz (CO), by approximately 35 seconds, and was followed by Laura Haefeli, 41, CO, in 58:30. Kasie Enman, Gina Lucrezi, Megan Lund, Abby Larson, Amber Moran, Trish Steidl and Christa Benton rounded out the top 10.

USA Masters champion Haefeli, when interviewed about her race said, "I felt good. I was psyched that we (Team USA in the NACAC competition - Lundy, Haefeli, Enman and Erholtz) were all running together. The start was fast. Brandy, Chris and Kasie were in front of me, but we were all really close. Abby was close behind. Abby passed me on one of the steeper sections and I was fifth to the top after the first climb. On the first downhill, I knew Abby was running really hard and I passed her on the rocky section. I figured if I could get enough distance on her on the downhill I could hold her off on the uphill. I was hoping that anyone behind me on the first loop wouldn't catch me.

"I was gaining on Kasie, and I thought I was even gaining on Chris. It was definitely tougher on the second time around. I caught Kasie just before the steep climb and started to put some distance right after the climb and increased my lead. Once I crested the top, I was gone. I knew from the first lap I was running well on the downhill and didn't think anyone would catch me on the downs. By the time I crested, I didn't see Brandy or Chris. At the last part of the downhill I saw Brandy, but didn't see Chris. I wanted to minimize the gap from second place."

In the NACAC competition the top two runners for each country scored. Lundy and Erholtz scored for Team USA to earn the gold medal with Canada in silver medal position. On the men's side, Gray and Gates scored for Team USA which included Blake and Gutierrez. Final results were not available at press time for the men's NACAC competition. The top NACAC teams each won $200.

The Cranmore Hill Climb included Open runners as well as USATF members vying for national championship honors in their respective five year age groups starting at 40-years-old for Masters runners. USATF results will be posted at: www.USATF.org

"We were really excited to have such high caliber runners come to the Mount Washington Valley and the race was a great success. We had 250 registrants and nearly 40 finishers more than our previous high. I would say this is due to the national championships which attracted runners from 22 states. The White Mountain Milers are planning to submit a bid to host the Championships again in 2011," said event director Paul Kirsch.

22nd Cranmore Hill Climb: USA Mountain Running Championships
North Conway, NH, Sunday, June 28, 2009

11K
MEN
1) Joseph Gray (WA), 48:37, $200
2) Zac Freudenberg (MO), 49:48, $150
3) Matt Byrne (PA), 49:57, $100
7) Simon Gutierrez, 43, CO, 51:54, $50

WOMEN
1) Christine Lundy (CA), 57:16, $200
2) Brandy Erholtz (CO), 57:51, $150
3) Laura Haefeli, 41, 58:30, $150

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Weekend Results

A great weekend of racing for Team Inov-8 athletes. Starting off at The Western States 100 race we had Kevin Sullivan running a stellar 16:59 for a 5th OA finish. Andy Jones-Wilkins ran to an 11th OA placing with a time of 18:46. Two awesome performances with a stacked field.

Speaking of competitive fields, at The Cranmore Hill Climb we had Joe Gray take 1st OA for the National Mountain Championship and securing him a spot on the US Mountain Running Team which races in Switzerland at the World Championships in September. Also placing high was Aaron Saft in 8th OA, Kevin Tilton in 9th OA, Josh Ferenc in 11th OA, followed closely by Ben Nephew. The ladies were not be outdone as we had two fine performances. Gina Lucrezi was 5th OA and Amber Moran was 8th OA. (times were not up yet on the website as of this posting) Pictured from left to right at Cranmore- Aaron Saft, Ben Nephew, Amber Moran, Gina Lucrezi, Kevin Tilton, and Joe Gray.

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AR Navigation Supplies - NorCal Woman's AR Clinic

Last weekend baarbd.org hosted the first NorCal women's adventure Racing Clinic... AR Babes!  We had a cohesive and hearty group of women who have NEVER adventure raced  and learned a TON from our amazing partners and sponsors.

Team LUNA Chix taught the ladies how to roll down the dirt with colorful bruises to prove it!  AR Nav Supplies showed them the ropes to navigation and what all those lines mean. :)
Sea Trek took to the seas and brought on proficient paddling... no swimmers - phew.
Big Blue Adventures wrapped it up with a practice session to put it all to the test!

We had 100% up take... watch out for these women, they're going to take the AR circuit by storm!

The Breast Cancer Fund
Project Athena
Zambrano Coffee
Mikes Bikes
Zanfel
TechNiche
Ellsworth

Brunton

INOV-8

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Rocky Mountain High

As many of you may already know, ultra-marathon legend David Horton will be attempting to break the current supported Colorado Trail speed record, held by Paul Palmroy, beginning on July 4th. Due to my past experiences as a support crew as well as my knowledge of the Colorado Trail, David requested that I act as his support crew in his attempt. Because a large majority of the CT lies above 10,000 ft., David must acclimate to the high altitude environment and therefore, will spend the next 3 weeks training at high altitude in CO before beginning his attempt.

With this said, David and I left his home in Lynchburg, VA on Friday morning, June 13th and arrived at the Pikes Peak trailhead 27 hrs later. After about 1 hr of sleep at the trailhead, David and I, along with Peter Bakwin and Dan Brillon (from GoLite) began climbing the Barr Creek Trail which would eventually lead us to the summit of Pikes Peak. Since arriving in CO, just over 1 week ago, David and I, whether solo or together, have covered a substantial amount of terrain, including 5 of Colorado's 54 14ers; 1 of the 5 (Long's Peak) we did not summit due to weather moving in at approximately 500 ft of the summit. So far, David's final training and acclimating is coming along well.As with any activity involving mountain travel, having a clear understanding of the associated environment is a must in order to prepare oneself appropriately. Obviously, the gear that I choose to use and carry here in the Rocky Mtns. is quite different than what I may choose if I were training, say in Pennsylvania. Thus, through trial and error, I have refined my "must have" gear list that I carry at all times while traveling in extreme environments such as here in CO. The following is my "must have" list: pack, gloves, winter hat, rain/wind jacket and pants, sunscreen, sunglasses, ball cap or visor, short sleeve capalene top, shorts, knee-high socks, inov-8 arm sleeves. For a pack, I have found that the Inov-8 race pro 12 with the horizontal bladder system, is the best for peak-bagging as well as 3-12 hr. runs. It is the ideal size in that there is sufficient room for a winter hat, gloves, rain/wind pants and jacket, food and water, yet not too bulky to be a nuisance. On the outside of the pack, the mesh netting allows room for my Kahtoola crampons when not in use. For a jacket, I carry the Inov-8 Mistlite 210 shell which I can say has saved my ass nearly everyday here in CO. While it may not keep me dry during a torrential downpour, it does an outstanding job at keeping me warm while high on the windy ridges. Since Colorado received a large amount of snow this past winter, there is still a solid amount of snow in the high country. Therefore, I have been wearing my Roclite 390 GTX when climbing 14ers. These are the IDEAL shoe for peak-bagging in the summer. I have been RAGING in these boots and they have not let me down. They are super durable and yet the lightest boot I have ever put on my feet. The Gore-Tex shell keeps my feet warm and dry while traveling through snow. In addition, my Kahtoola KTS aluminum crampons fit perfect on the boot, transforming the combination into THE ultimate light-weight peak-bagging boot. If my goal for the day is to climb a peak, I will not even consider any other shoe. As for the crampons, the KTS aluminum crampon is, by far, the way to go when peak-bagging involves steep, snow conditions. So far this trip, I have carried and used them on all 5 14ers that I climbed and would not have wanted to attempt the climbs without them. They are extremely light-weight and never an issue to carry when not in use. Another piece of equipment that I have come to love and view as a necessity is a good pair of sunglasses. I used to never wear sunglasses mostly because I could never find a pair that fit right or that were comfortable. Before making the trip out here, I knew that I needed to find a pair of shades that would protect my eyes from the sun, especially when traveling over snow. I ordered a pair from Julbo's "mountain travel" line, the Colorado, and I don't take them off until I get into the shower. Ok, not really, but I keep them on until I go indoors. Yes, they are that comfortable and the health of my eyes are never compromised. Oh, yes, I have to give props to my 2XU long short. This is a superb hiking, running, short. They are extremely comfortable and when they get wet, they are dry in a flash...top notch. Too often I hear of or see individuals who get themselves into trouble or simply are uncomfortable because they chose not to carry certain items such as a wind/rain jacket, gloves, etc and their reason being "I don't want to carry the extra weight." Fortunately, brands such as Inov-8, Kahtoola, and Julbo offer a much lighter and durable line of gear. Stay tuned and I will do my best to update the blog in regards to our training and speed attempt.

by: Jonathan Basham

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Anticipated Epic Race Action This Weekend

The stage is set for 2 of the biggest races in the US this coming weekend. First off the Super Bowl of ultra running will start at 5 am in Squaw Valley this Saturday morning with the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run. Just getting into the field is very tough, yet alone all the preparation and then the race itself is a quad crusher. Most of the field has waited 2 long years to race the point to point course climbing 15,540 feet and descending 22,970 feet before reaching Auburn. Last year's race was unfortunately called off due to wildfires along the course.

We have some strong contenders from Team Inov-8 for this year's race. Veteran Andy Jones-Wilkins will be tough once again as he eats, sleeps and breathes about this race. Brian Morrison will be right up there with the contenders, as will Kevin Sullivan and Scott Dunlap. With the usual pre-race attrition the men's field is a little more wide open. Perennial favorite and 7 time champ Scott Jurek will be tough to beat though. Good luck boys!


On the East Coast this Sunday morning we have the Cranmore Hill Climb which is Race #4 in the Inov-8 USATF-NE Series. The 2009 Cranmore Hill Climb will serve as the USA Mountain Running Championships and as the NACAC (North American-Central American-Caribbean) Mountain Running Championships. This is a coveted prize for mountain runners everywhere as the top three American men and top American woman at the 2009 Cranmore Hill Climb will receive automatic berths on the Teva US Mountain Running Team that will compete in September at the World Mountain Running Championships in Italy. The 2009 Cranmore Hill Climb will consist of two 5.8 km laps, up and down the ski mountain and each lap has 1200' of gain. Last week's 3rd place finisher at Mt.Washington, Joe Gray will be a strong contender for a spot on the team. Also Aaron Saft will be in the mix as well up front and look for Kevin Tilton and Ben Nephew to be a force this Sunday. Team Inov-8 has a strong group of ladies toeing the line as well. Amber Moran, Gina Lucrezi, and Kelli Lusk are all good climbers and speedy enough to be contending for that top spot. Good luck everyone!

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USA Mountain Running Champs - Saturday at the Cranmore Hill Climb

Race 4 in the Inov-8 USATF-NE Mountain Circuit also has a position on the National stage as it serves as a qualifier for the USA Mountain Running Team, as well a contest between the USA, Canada and Mexico in the 5th Annual NACAC Mountain Championships. Team Inov-8 members Joe Gray, Kevin Tilton, Gina Lucrezi and Amber Moran will all be there to take their shot at making the 2009 Team. Below is the official press release about the race.


Cranmore Hill Climb offers Triple Mountain Challenge this Sunday

Up for grabs: USA Mountain Running Championship Title, NACAC Mountain Championship Title, and team slots on the 2009 Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team

NORTH CONWAY, NH --- Top U.S. mountain runners will compete in New England this Sunday, June 28, at the Cranmore Hill Climb to earn the title of USA Mountain Champion. This is the second time the five-year-old Championships (held since 2003, but not in 2005) have come to North Conway; the first was in 2007 where Coloradoans Rickey Gates and Anita Ortiz were victorious.

Gates is in stellar form coming off a sub-one hour time to win this year’s Mount Washington Road Race on June 20. He will face challengers to include two-time mountain champ (on uphill years in ’06 and ‘08) Eric Blake who was runner-up to Gates at Mount Washington this year, and Joe Gray, third at Mount Washington and second at the Teva Mountain Games 10km on June 6 in Vail (where Gates finished third), top masters runner Simon Gutierrez, fifth at Mount Washington and fourth in Vail.

These four men will make up Team USA in this year’s North American Central American Caribbean (NACAC) Mountain Running Championships and will compete against athletes from Mexico and Canada for team honors. They will also vie for a spot on this year’s Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team which will compete in Campodolcino, Italy, September 6.

Matt Byrne, fourth at Mount Washington this year and a member of last year’s bronze medal winning squad at the World Mountain Championships (along with Gates, Gray, Gutierrez, and Zac Freudenberg) would like to earn a spot on his second mountain team. Freudenberg, Aaron Saft, Jason Bryant, Kevin Tilton, and Shiloh Mielke are all hoping for a top finish at Cranmore where the top three U.S. men a spot on this year’s squad.

The women’s field boasts as much depth as the men’s. Starting with the four women on Team USA in the NACAC competition which includes last year’s NACAC Mountain Champion Kasie Enman, 2007 USA Mountain Champion and last week’s runaway winner at Mount Washington Brandy Erholtz who was the top U.S. woman at Worlds last year, Christine Lundy, second in 2007 at Cranmore and the 2007 NACAC Mountain Champion as well as a member of the two-time gold medal winning women’s team at World’s (’06, ’07), and Laura Haefeli, individual bronze medalist at Worlds 2007 and a four-time USA Trail Running Champion.

Ready to challenge these veteran mountain runners and hoping to earn the sole spot on the mountain team for women at Cranmore will be Coloradoans Megan Lund and Gina Lucrezi, both 25 years old and having recently finished third and fifth respectively in the Teva 10km in Vai (Erholtz and Haefeli went one-two at Vail). Also in the hunt for a top finish, Trish Steidl, 32, Seattle, and North Carolinian Amber Moran, 30, Arden. Cranmore women’s champion in 2007, and a five-time mountain team member, Anita Ortiz has been training for ultra distance events this year and will be competing in her first 100 mile event at Western States this weekend.

“Paul Kirsch has done a great job with the event adding all of the components we requested this year and has created a course that will closely mirror the Worlds’ course in Italy. After hosting the USA Mountain Championships in 2007 Paul tweaked the course a bit and it will surely test the athletes’ strength, speed, and endurance,” said Nancy Hobbs, USATF Mountain Ultra Trail Running chairperson and manager of the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team. “Like everyone else, I’m excited to see so many of our top mountain runners compete at Cranmore this weekend and look forward to a super event.”

Race entries for Cranmore currently represent 22 states, along with Mexico and Canada. The course at Cranmore Mountain resort is an up/down two-lap route featuring approximately 2,400 feet of vertical gain over 11 kilometers.

Although the race features elite athletes, it is open to competitors of all ages who are looking for a challenging course. Finishers at past Cranmore Hill Climbs have included runners as young as seven and as old as 75. USATF will award medals to the top ten open competitors in both the men’s and women’s divisions, medals to the top three in masters’ age groups in five year increments starting at age 40, and prize money as follows (equal for men and women): $200 first place $150 second place; $100 third place; $50 first place master. There is also USATF team competition.

Race sponsors include Inov-8, Cranmore Mountain Resort, USATF-New England, Hammer Nutrition, Julbo Eyewear, CW-X Conditioning Wear, Tech-4o sports watches, Fuel Belt, OrthoLite insoles, and the White Mountain Milers. To learn more about the race or to register, visit www.whitemountainmilers.com/cranmore.

The second and final Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team selection race will be held in Colorado Springs at the July 26 Cheyenne Canon Mountain Race presented by Walmart where the top two U.S. women and the top two U.S. men will earn a berth on this year’s team.

Elite athlete bios for the Cranmore Hill Climb follow.

On the men's side:

Eric Blake, 29, New Britain, CT, is a four-time Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team member finishing third for the U.S. men last year in Switzerland. He represented the U.S. at the NACAC Mountain Running Championships in 2007 on the gold-medal squad. He won the USA National Mountain Running Championships in 2006 and 2008. On June 24, 2006 Blake set the treadmill marathon world record of 2:21:40 in Farmington, CT at Malibu Fitness.

Matthew Byrne, 34, Scranton, PA, was a member of the 2008 Mountain Running Team and finished sixth at the 2008 Mount Washington Road Race. Byrne has a strong road race resume. In the past two years he posted a 2:25:48 (Boston Marathon), 1:06:01 (Houston Half Marathon), and 2:21:50 (Steamtown Marathon). He is a two-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier (2004 & 2006). His 10 km track PR is 29:49, and his 5 km PR is 14:31. Byrne is a graduate of St. Joseph’s University where he earned his degree in Marketing. He is employed full time at the Philadelphia Runner.

Zac Freudenberg, 30, St. Louis, MO, was a member of the 2008 bronze medal winning Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team. He finished seventh at the 2008 Mt. Washington Road Race. His 1500 m PR is 3:58, his 3000 m steeplechase PR is 9:12, his 5 km PR is 14:48 and his 10 km PR is 30:35. In 2008, his times include 24:30 (5 miles) and 2:24:46 (marathon). He ran 3:56:00 to finish third overall at the Pikes Peak Marathon in 2006, and ran the 2007 Jungfrau Marathon in 3:14:48 to finish eighth. He competed at Division III indoor and outdoor track and cross country for Beloit College and was a two-time national qualifier in cross country and once in track in the 3000 m steeplechase.

Rickey Gates, 28, Boulder, CO, made his third consecutive Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team in 2008 with his third place finish at Mount Washington. He was the first American at the World Mountain Running Trophy in Switzerland leading the men to a bronze-medal finish. Gates raced in Europe for most of the summer and fall garnering several wins and top finishes in Austria, Norway, Italy, and Slovenia. In 2007 he had back-to-back weekend wins at the USA Mountain Running Championships and the USA 10 km Trail Championships and was also named the 2007 USATF Mountain Runner of the Year. Gates once won America’s Uphill (held annually in March) on Aspen Mountain racing in a clown suit.

Joseph Gray, 24, Lakewood, WA, placed fourth at the USA Mountain Running Championships earning a spot on his first Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team. He was the second U.S. finisher at the World Mountain Trophy – 16th place – in Sierre Crans Montana, Switzerland, and a scoring member of the U.S. bronze medal team. He was the top U.S. finisher at Challenge Stellina in Susa, Italy, Kitzbuhelerhorn in Kitzbuehel, Austria, and Skaala Uphill Challenge in Loen, Norway. He also was the first finisher in the Canadian Mountain Running National Championship at Mt Seymour, Canada, and won the Northwest Mountain Running Championship, in Mt Hood, OR.

Simon Gutierrez, 43, Alamosa, CO, was the 2008 USA Mountain Running National Master Champion setting a masters’ course record at Mount Washington and finishing in fifth place just behind Gray. Gutierrez won the La Sportiva Berry Picker in July 2008, the second and final Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team selection race where he made his seventh consecutive team. He won the World Masters Mountain Running Championships in the Czech Republic (his third consecutive win) and was the fourth U.S. finisher at the World Mountain Trophy finishing in 25th place. He is a three-time USATF masters’ mountain runner of the year and a two-time winner of the USATF open mountain runner of the year award. He is a three-time USA world cross country team member and a 1983 High School cross country All American. He is the 2008 USATF Club Cross Country Masters Champion and the 2009 USATF Masters Cross Country Champion. At age 17 Gutierrez set the still standing road 10km record of 29.45.

Shiloh Mielke 29, Asheville, NC is a two-time member of the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team and multi-time winner of the 17.8 mile Shut In Ridge Trail Race in his hometown. His PRs include a 29:48 10 km and a 14:35 5 km. Mielke won the 1997 and 1998 NCHSSA Men’s Cross Country State Championships, the State Championships in the 2 mile in 1997, 1998, 1999 and the mile state championship in 1999.

Kevin Tilton, 27, Conway, NH is a two-time member of the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team and has finished as high as fifth at Mount Washington. He is a multi-time winner of the Jackson 10km and White Mountain Milers Half Marathon. Tilton won the Cranmore Hill Climb the last time it was an uphill-only race. He finished in the top three in 2005 at Cranmore and was second in 2008.

Other elite runners on the men’s side include Justin Fyffe, (East Dummerston, VT), John Tribbia (Boulder, CO), Jesse Armijo (Albuquerque, NM), Kris Haughton (Albuquerque, NM), Juan Ortega (Albuquerque, NM), Tommy Manning, (Colorado Springs, CO), and Aaron Saft (Asheville, NC)

On the women's side:

Brandy Erholtz, 31, Bailey, CO, was the 2008 USATF Mountain Runner of the Year in only her second year as a “mountain runner” and recently won the Native Eyewear Spring Runoff 10km trail race at the Teva Mountain Games in Vail, CO. She finished third at the LaraBar 10km and was the USA National Mountain Running Champion at Mt. Washington where she made her first Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team. She finished third at both the USA 8km Trail Running Championships and the La Sportiva Berry Picker. Erholtz was the Pikes Peak Ascent champion and also posted wins at the final La Sportiva Mountain Cup Race in Vail and the Black Canyon Ascent setting a course record. She was the top U.S. finisher at the World Mountain Running Trophy finishing in 11th place. Erholtz is employed as a schoolteacher.

Laura Haefeli, 41, Del Norte, CO, was the 2004 and 2005 USATF Mountain Runner of the Year and was the 2008 USATF Masters Mountain Runner of the Year. She won the LaraBar 10km and the USA 8km Trail Championships. She was the USA National Mountain Running Masters champion in 2008 at Mt. Washington, setting a masters course record and finishing in third place. She earned a spot on the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team with her second-place finish at the La Sportiva Berry Picker. She finished in 44th place at the World Mountain Running Trophy which was her fourth U.S. team appearance at a Trophy event (’04, ’05, ’07, and ‘08). Laura and her husband Tom are beekeepers and sell honey and wax. She is the mother of three young children and is also a high school cross country coach.

Megan Lund, 25, Basalt, CO is coming off a fourth place finish at the Native Eyewear Spring Runoff and also competed in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in 2008. She is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and holds personal bests of 2:41:59 (Marathon), 35:51 (10km), 17:26 (5km) and 5:22 in the mile. She graces the cover of Trail Runner magazine’s August 2009 issue.

Christine Lundy, 38, Sausalito, CA is a three-time member of the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team. She was on the two gold-medal squads at the World Mountain Running Trophy races in 2006 and 2007. Lundy was the second American at Cranmore in 2007 when it last served as a Mountain Team qualifying race. She went on to win the USA 10km Trail Championships in Steamboat Springs, CO, just a week later. Lundy has represented the U.S. in the Pan American games in the marathon, and is a two-time qualifier for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trails in 2004 and 2008. A graduate of the University Pennsylvania, Lundy is a member of the Impala Racing Team and is employed as a veterinarian.

Amber Moran, 31, Arden, NC is an accomplished trail, ultra, mountain and road runner who is a multi-time winner of the Shut-In Ridge 17.8 Mile Trail Race, finished 12th in the USATF 10 Mile Road Championships, 5th at the USATF 25kn Championships and holds personal bests of 17:15 in the 5km, 35:13 in the 10km. Amber works as a Public Health Nurse and is a volunteer coach for Girls On the Run.

Trish Steidl, 33, Seattle, WA is a an experienced marathon and ultra runner who is multi-time winner of the Seattle Marathon, a top-three finisher at the US 50 Mile Trail Championships, and barely missed qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Marathon trials in 2004 and 2008. She is also the head cross country coach at Seattle University and rowed for the University of Washington winning three NCAA Division I National Championships between 1995 and 1999.

Other women competing at Cranmore include Gina Lucrezi (Colorado Springs, CO), 2006 U.S. Olympic Ski Team member Abby Larson (Salt Lake City, UT), Marie Elliot (Bennington, Ontario), and Sarah Burger (Montreal, Quebec).

For additional information on the USA Mountain Running Program visit www.usmrt.com, www.trailrunner.com, and www.usatf.org. For information on the World Champs visit www.wmra.info.

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What have those YogaSlackers been up to?

After the Costa Rica race and the Raineir expedition, and the Teva Games (where we saw other Inov-8 runners) the team started on the YES tour. rather than try to explain it - we made a video of the first 12 days. The music is by our new favorite band - barefoot truth. The biking has been amazing, but the shoes....when is Inov-8 making bike shoes???

For daily blogs, video, pictures and live tracking - visit www.yogaslackers.com
YES sustainable Yogic bike tour : day 1-12 at SpotAdventures

Map created by SpotAdventures:GPS Geotagging

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Strong Finishing Times for Team Inov-8 @ Mt.Washington

Congrats to Joe Gray for his 3rd place OA finish at the Mt.Washington Road Race. Joe's time was 1:02:35. Kevin Tilton was 19th OA in 1:08:59 and Ben Nephew was 24th OA in 1:11:28. Great performances in an always stacked field.

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Who's Racing This Weekend

We have several athletes toeing the line at the brutally tough Mt. Washington Road Race. A 7.6 uphill road race that climbs almost 5,000 feet and will challenge the best of any runner. Ben Nephew, Kelli Lusk, Joe Gray, and Kevin Tilton all will give it a go this Saturday morning at 10 am. They will be reminded by the RD just prior to the start that "there is only one hill".

Ben Nephew
Kelli Lusk
Joe Gray
Kevin Tilton

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50 Trails/50 States: Florida Trail

In this addition of 50 Trails / 50 States we head southeast to gator country. A state that is typically more known for their sandy beaches azure blue ocean. That being said explore a little further and you would be surprised by the amount of trails Florida has to offer. Florida is pancake flat, with its highest point reaching a mere 345 feet. However this slight elevation change combined with a temperate, year-round climate brings a unique and ubiquitous ecosystem (81 different plan species),that makes the Florida National Scenic Trail a must do!
The Florida trail is one of the 9 National Scenic Trails in the Unites States and spans nearly 1,800 miles. Similar to the North Country Trail (4,500 miles) the Florida trail has since linked to a variety of other trails such as the Pinhoti, and Appalacian to create one continuous trail from the tip of Florida (Keys) all the way to Canada. Together this system is named the Eastern Continental Trail (ECT).
Listed below are the four separate regions, which the Florida trail is classified. After communicating with some folks at the Floridatrail, they pointed me toward some of the ideal spots. I then broke each region down to one particular section that outdoor enthusiasts recommend. READ MORE below

Since 1997, an increasing number of long distance hikers have utilized the Florida Trail as part of a route dubbed the Eastern Continental Trail by thru-hiker Nimblewill Nomad. This route strings together the Florida Trail with the Pinhoti National Recreation Trail and the Benton MacKaye Trail, to reach the Appalachian Trail. (The northern extent of the Pinhoti Trail in Alabama has been completed. The Alabama Pinhoti Trail and the Georgia Pinhoti Trail are now collectively known as the Pinhoti National Recreation Trail.) Hikers then continue north from the Appalachian Trail on the International Appalachian Trail to reach Cap Gaspé, Québec, and more recently, Belle Isle Newfoundland/Labrador Trail . This 5,400+ mile trek takes most of a year to complete.

Panhandle Section
FT Blackwater South
Encompassing 206,000 acres of pine flatwoods and clay hills along the scenic Blackwater River and its tributaries, this beautiful forest brings together Atlantic white cedar and longleaf pine forests, pitcher plant bogs and titi swamps. Once a major lumber and turpentine area, it’s now devoted to conservation and recreation, with a handful of private leases to farmers growing cotton and corn. The Florida Trail utilizes parts of two existing hiking trails (both in the Florida State Forest Trailwalker program) to head north: the Juniper Creek Trail and the Jackson Red Ground Trail. There are additional day hiking opportunities scattered throughout the forest at its developed recreation areas. Although there are developed campgrounds, designated campsites, and shelters, you may camp anywhere you like along the trail. For your safety, try to avoid camping near any forest roads.
The Blackwater River and the Coldwater, Sweetwater, and Juniper Creeks are clean, sandy-bottom, spring-fed waters, despite the dark coloring imparted by tannin from the trees along the bank. A wide range of flora and fauna flourishes along the trail. Pines and junipers predominate, but oak, cypress, ash, live oak, tupelo, bay, and wax myrtle trees, holly, pyracantha, titi and yaupon shrubs can be found. Rare mountain laurel, rhododendron, and pitcher plant bogs may also be seen. Blueberries and blackberries can be picked in early summer. In the fall, the hardwood foliage changes color, and although the hues are not as brilliant as on the Appalachian Trail, the display is well worth seeing. Wildlife that may be seen include raccoons, beaver, deer, rabbits, panthers, foxes, and bobcats as well as osprey, wood ducks, herons, eagles, and red-cockaded woodpeckers. Places to swim can be found along this trail.

North Florida Section:
Ocala
Stretching from the Ocala National Forest to the Suwannee River, the Florida Trail through North Florida exists in bits and pieces open to the public while we work to obtain trail corridor to create an unbroken footpath. Hikers headed north from Buckman Lock must be Florida Trail members to cross private timberlands en route to one of the region’s true gems, Rice Creek Sanctuary, where haunting ancient cypresses guard the remains of a 1700s indigo and rice plantation. Bridges and boardwalks carry visitors over the wetlands. In Etoniah Creek State Forest, enjoy a walk along one of the deepest ravines in the region, ablaze with dogwood and azalea in the spring. Gold Head Branch State Park contains fern-filled ravines and the Devil’s Washbasin, an eerie sinkhole in the sandhills, while Camp Blanding guards pristine lakeshores. West of Camp Crystal Lake and the Keystone Airport, the Palatka-Lake Butler Trail is a rails-to-trails corridor that the Florida Trail newly follows to connect this region with the town of Lake Butler.
At Lake Butler, hikers head north into Lake Butler Forest along private corridor opened for public use thanks to the generosity of the Plum Creek Timber Company. Watch for clay potsherds, the remains of turpentine cups used while turpentine camps were in operation in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Day hikers will appreciate the short Nice Wander loop at the Olustee Battlefield Trailhead, a natural surface portion of the Florida Trail that is accessible to wheelchairs with assistance. It circles a red-cockaded woodpecker colony, best visited in the morning. Backpackers appreciate the numerous campsites and trailheads through the Osceola National Forest, a land of dense pine forests, cypress swamps, and bayheads. One highlight is a stop at Ocean Pond Campground, a must for sunset seekers. Another is the open-air Osceola Shelter, a popular camping spot near Turkey Run.

Central Florida Section:
Kissimmee
Meandering nearly 103 miles within its 56 mile floodplain, flowing southward from the open prairies of Osceola County towards Lake Okeechobee, the Kissimmee River was straightened into a long, broad ditch by the Army Corps of Engineers back in the 1940s in the name of flood control. As time proved, the straightening of the river eliminated its natural filtration of silt and pollutants through its many oxbow wetlands, causing harm to Lake Okeechobee. Authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1992, the Kissimmee River Restoration Project calls for the restoration of more than 43 miles of meandering river channel through 40 square miles of land. It is along this corridor that the Florida Trail follows the newly freed river, along a historic route used by settlers in the 1800s as they moved south into the interior. Once a cattle drover’s route, the Florida Trail along the Kissimmee River winds through the ghost town of Kicco (named for the Kissimmee Island Cattle Company), where wooden sidewalks and a graveyard attest to settlers long gone, and past the sites of Fort Kissimmee and Fort Bassinger, erected during Colonel Zachary Taylor’s 1837 march to the shores of Okeechobee and into battle with the Seminole.

Hikers enjoy long unbroken stretches of trail for backpacking, with the river as their near-constant companion. Hickory Hammock, off US 98, is popular for day hikes and easy overnight trips, while the Avon Park and Kicco sections appeal to backpackers ready for a three to four day trek along marshes and prairies alive with wildlife. Prairie Lakes provides an overnight backpacking loop and great day hiking. You are in the midst of Florida’s ranch country, so expect encounters with cattle. As restoration progresses, the river sometimes floods parts of the trail.

South Florida Section:
Okeechobee
Circling the second largest freshwater lake in the continental United States, the Florida Trail follows the top of the Herbert Hoover Dike, providing the only accessible panoramas of Lake Okeechobee. Thirty feet above lake level, the Florida Trail offers unparalleled vistas of the ocean-like expanse of blue, surrounding sugar cane fields and cattle ranches, and the many small towns that make up life along this 730 square mile lake. Built in the 1930s as a flood control project, the dike “holds back the waters” of Lake Okeechobee, which drowned thousands when the lake spilled into the towns of Pahokee and Belle Glade during the 1928 hurricane. This scenic 113-mile loop in the Florida Trail is highly accessible for day hiking and a popular destination for backpackers headed south waterfront views to savor, and trail towns to visit along the way. While the walking may seem easy, the lack of shade and exposure to the elements makes this a challenging hike. Yet the trail has drummed up a steady stream of hikers who return every year to participate in the longest-running ‘endurance’ event on the Florida Trail, the Big O Hike. Since 1991, the Loxahatchee Chapter has led this 9-day circuit of day hikes around the lake, attracting participants from all over North America.

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Women of the SB6k Finish Conquest

Rebekah Trittipoe, Jenny Anderson and Anne Lundblad finished The South Beyond 6k yesterday afternoon at 5:14 pm on the summit of Grassy Ridge Bald in the Roan Highlands.

Total time = 6 days, 13 hours, and 31 minutes

Total mileage = 261.6

Average daily mileage = 37.2

Check out their blog for more info and pictures plus the extreme ultrarunning link with pictures by Rebekah's talented son Seth Trittipoe.

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Weekend Results

Congrats to Sean Andrish who won the Laurel Highlands 70 mile ultra in a fast 11:41, fellow teammate Todd Walker was 2nd OA in 12:22 for a 1-2 showing for Inov-8! Dewey Peacock won the Jim Bridger 10 mile trail race in Bozeman bettering his previous winning time by more than 6 minutes. Finally Amber Moran won the China Grove 5k near Charlotte, NC in a speedy 17:39.

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AR Navigation Supplies Mari Chandler is now National Long Course Duathlon Champion

Team AR Navigation Supplies/Inov-8 would like to congratulate Mari Chandler on becoming the women's 2009 Long Course Dualtlon Champion with a time of 4:48:59.6 to beat the existing course record by 10 minutes. 

Here is a quote from Mari when I asked how the race went.  "The first 3k was an easy trail run, and then we hopped on the bikes for 56 miles of decent rolling hills with a few steep climbs.  Supposedly there was 6000' of climbing, but I don't believe it.   The 1/2 marathon was a very slow coarse with lots of turns and a few hills with a mix of fire road, single track, and pavement.  I ran the first 10k at a good clip, and then when I was comfortable that no one could catch me, I settled in for a comfortable pace to the finish."

Congratulations Mari!

Next up for Team AR Navigation Supplies will be the Ocean Blue Adventure Race in Half Moon Bay, CA on July 11th.

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Women of the SB6k Rolling Along

Days 1 and 2 are in the bag for Anne Lundblad, Jenny Anderson, and Rebekah Trittipoe. Their quest to conquer all 40 of the 6k+ peaks and higher here in WNC is on schedule. The first day was 41.3 miles with 9,540' of ascent. We also had some crazy moments at the shelter that involved a big black bear (details of that on the SB6k blog here). Day 1 had 9 peaks bagged most of them tough bushwhacks.

Day 2, the women made the long trek out of the Smokies and into the Plott Balsam range. This day was also a success with 37.1 miles covered and 5,687' of ascent and 4 more peaks conquered. Even with a monster of a t-storm that lasted over a couple hours the ladies stayed strong and did not miss a beat as they charged towards the Plotts along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The day ended in cold windy conditions after bagging Mt. Yellow Face.

This morning they have set out again early to bag the 3 remaining 6k peaks in the Plotts and if all goes well they will go after Richland Balsam, Reinhart Knob, and Mt. Hardy before calling it a day. I'll be back out there crewing again so for quicker updates keep an eye on their blog.

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Inov-8 USATF-NE Mountain Circuit Race 3 - Northfield Mountain

The Inov-8 USATF-NE Mountain Running Circuit next moves to Northfield, MA for the first "all trail" race in the series. This is the 9th running of Northfield and the race always proves to be a good time with a great course and fun atmosphere courtesy of Race Director Dave Dunham and his crew.

Northfield begins the crazy 5 weeks in a row busy season for those hearty New England souls who find running up and down mountains to be their idea of fun. After Northfield, the Mountain Goats will get a week off from the Mountain Circuit where they get to rest by, um, running up Mt. Washington in the 49th annual running of that race. That's followed by the USA Mountain Champs at Mount Cranmore and then by the Loon Mountain Race, where competitors will again challenge the 40-45% grade of the Upper Walking Boss trail. Things finish up at Mt. Ascutney in mid-July.


Inov-8 USATF-NE Mountain Circuit standings
After two races, the competition for points leaders in the Mountain Circuit is pretty tight. On the men's side, Andy McCarron is in the lead with 191.36 points, followed closely behind by Jim Pawlicki (187.72 points) and Todd Callaghan (184.89). Not to be outdone by "the kids", masters runners Dave Dunham (184.14 points) and Tim Van Orden (182.57) are in 4th and 5th place in the overall standings, renewing their battle from last year.

On the women's side, Abby Mahoney has is the lead with a perfect 200 points, followed by Dawn Roberts with 184.37 points and masters standout Donna Smyth with 175.83 points.

Dunham and Smyth are also the all time male and female points leaders in the 13 year mountain series. Dunham has an incredible 52 finishes and Smyth 43.

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Who's Racing This Weekend

Todd Walker will be at the Laurel Highlands 70.5 mile ultra race. This year is the thirtieth running of the point to point along the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail in southwestern, PA. Dewey Peacock will be at the Jim Bridger 10 mile trail race in Bozeman, Mt. Good luck to both Todd and Dewey!

Todd Walker - Laurel Highlands 70.5
Dewey Peacock - Jim Bridger 10 mile

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Teva Mountain Games 2009

This past Sunday was a great progression tester for me.  I was curious to see where my uphill running abilities were at, and the Teva Mountain Games 10k definitely set the stage.  

I had run the 10k in 2008 as my first real mountain race...and never forgot about the pain I experienced. I was hoping that this year would be (or at least seem) easier, but boy was I wrong. The course this year had many more climbs than the year prior.  Climbing is the toughest part for me. I'm still developing my "mountain legs" so I find it tough to keep a steady cadence when climbing different grades. As for the downhill pieces...that is where I make up for my climbs :) Side note: If I wasn't wearing my X-Talon 212's, I definitely would have "ate it" multiple times...those shoes saved my race!

I ended up taking 5th place, where as last year I was 12th or 13th.  I was really hoping to be in the top four, but it just didn't pan out.  At first I was a bit upset with my results, but after analyzing my progress from the previous year, I ended up having a really good race. Last year I was approx. eight minutes off of the winning time. This year I was approx. two and half minutes off. Not to mention, this year the course was a bit longer (by about a half mile) and also harder. 

Going into the race, I knew it would be the hardest course I would encounter this year...so I'm glad to have it over with. My next competition is at Mt. Cranmore in NH, where I will have to climb up/down another ski resort...but this time I will be enjoying the benefits of extra oxygen! I'm excited to see how it goes, and will hopefully be a candidate for one of the top spots.  

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Weekend Results

Some great performances this past weekend. Headlined by Wynn Davis setting a new CR (9:00:33) at the Kettle Moraine 100k by over 40 minutes! (picture of Wynn hoisting his 1st place hardware) Ben Nephew won the Nipmuck Trail Marathon coming very close to the CR as well. (race report from Ben below). Gina Lucrezi bagged 5th OA (58:06) in a stacked field at the Teva Mountain Games 10k Spring Runoff. Yassine Diboun was back at it, racing the Tortoise and Hare Trail race (6.7 miles) in beautiful Buttermilk Falls State Park (Ithaca, NY). Yassine won with a winning time of 44:44. Dewey Peacock was 3rd OA (17:10) at the Governor's Cup 5k in Helena , MT. Kevin Tilton won the Jackson Covered Bridge 10k breaking his own CR in 34:09. Great job everyone.

Nipmuck Trail Marathon 2009
Ashford, CT

You lose a few, you win one.

Poor races usually don’t get reported. I ran a particularly poor Pack Monadnock (8th and 3 minutes slower than last time) race last weekend, and was actually going to post my race account, but my work was rather insane (no, really). My other excuse is that there just wasn’t much to write about, which is somewhat true. This past weekend I won the Nipmuck trail marathon, which I’m happy to write about. However, my poor race at Pack was partially responsible for my win at Nipmuck.

The reason I ran poorly at Pack was because I was in good shape. I’ve been having solid races, and my workouts are getting better and better with each week. I’m in such good shape; I can do workouts the day after races, do 3-4 workouts a week, and not have to taper for races. I can now start with guys much faster than me. At least, that’s what I thought. My training is going well, and I enjoy training hard, to point that my easy days turn into hard runs if I feel rested. I had a hard two weeks of training prior to Pack, and didn’t back off much for the race. I felt pretty good on race day, so I decided to stay up front for the first uphill mile. That was where my race ended. It didn’t feel too hard, but by the second mile, my legs were starting to get heavy. Pack basically rolls for 8 miles, and then climbs a small mountain over the last two miles. My legs got worse with each hill, and I dropped from 4th to 8th place. The only thing I can be pleased about is that I ran hard the entire race, despite feeling absolutely miserable. The icing on the cake was having to fight off Dave Dunham over the last mile, which including the 0.1 mile at 30% grade at the finish. I almost went to my knees.

After such a fine performance, I thought I might want to back off on my training prior to the marathon this weekend. I did a hill workout on Tuesday, and then ran easy for a few days, and took two days off. My legs were definitely fresh at the start, but I was a little unsure of my pace given last week’s disaster. I decided to just see how it felt.

I felt pretty good over the first few miles, and was soon all alone. Jack Pilla settled into second, and I knew that if I went out too hard and died, he would be along to pass me by. The first half consists of a 12.4 mile out and back, and I hit the turn right around 43 minutes. Nipmuck is like Cheers for me, and I received a lot of support on my way back to the start. Jack was about 2 minutes behind me at the turn, and then there was a pretty good gap to the rest of the field. I tried to stay relaxed during the first half, as the last 14 miles is considerably hillier.

At halfway in 1:27, I grabbed my water bottle holder and hoped that my race last weekend was not indicative of my training. The second half of the course is also an out and back, but covers 14 miles. The aid stations seemed to come quicker than usual, and the weather was great for running. I was a little frustrated as I neared the second turn around, as my time was 52:30 and I had hoped for something closer to 50 minutes. I spent about 30 seconds getting my bottle filled, and headed back over the last 7 miles. Although my legs were starting to tire from the cumulative effect of the miles and the small hills, I was still holding a good pace. I started the push harder with about 5 miles left, and again with about 2 miles left. Despite having to run through the traffic on the way back to the finish, my time for the last 7 miles was about 30 seconds faster. My time was 3:12:08, which is the fastest winning time since 2001, when Leigh Schmitt won in 3:11:57, and I was second in 3:14:10. That was my previous best time on the course. So, after three 3rd’s, a 2nd, and an 8th, I finally managed to get a trail win this year, thanks to my stellar run at Pack Monadnock!

After my positive experiment with the 230pk’s at the Soapstone 14.5 mile trail race, I tried them at Nipmuck. They were great on the rocky, but runable trails of eastern CT, and it now appears that the 230’s have great range both on and off the roads. I do have to make a special note of the fact that this is the first year I haven’t fallen at Nipmuck. I don’t fall very often, especially not in races, but I’ve had two of my worst falls at this marathon.

Full results at:

http://runwmac.com/gt2009/nipmuck2009.html

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YogaSlackers Kick off YES Tour @ the Teva Games in Vail, CO

When the answer was "yes", we were all a bit mortified. Like when you ask for something jokingly or sarcastically and then end up with it. (Like when I asked for an elephant for christmas and then spent the next year cleaning up 25 pound terds)

Team YogaSlackers

Down River Sprint Jason Magness 22:37.2 (In his PackRaft)
Mountain Bike Scott Turpin 2:08:50.0(First ever Race, 1st time on a bike in 8 months)
Mountain Run Chelsey Gribbon 1:21:44.0 (Avg Grade 10%)
Road Bike Hill Climb Sam Salwei 44:20.9 ( on his Mtn Bike)

We'd been brought to the Teva games by prAna to teach slackline yoga, acroyoga, and generally have a presence. We'd just finished a 30 hr adventure race style trip with Stephen Regenold of the New York Times just hours before the games started. On a whim of sorts, we asked if we could get a comped entry into the GNC Mountain Challenge.

When the answer was "yes", we were all a bit mortified. Like when you ask for something jokingly or sarcastically and then end up with it. (Like when I asked for an elephant for christmas and then spent the next year cleaning up 25 pound terds)

So one of us was commited to racing each event. As a further fun, we decided to all enter our weakest event. Daniel Staudigel was sick, so we roped our friend and fellow yogaslacker extrordinaire, Scott Turpin, to race with us. He'dnever raced before, and hadn't been on his bike in8 months - so he was the natural candidate for the Mountain bike. We slated Sam for the 9.8 mile road bike hill climb, which would put him up against the likes of Lance Armstrong in an intense time trial format. To make things more fun, he'd ride his mountain bike. Chelsey signed up for the 10k trail run, largely regarded as the hardest 10k on the circuit - going strait up the Vail ski hill 3 times....

I was left with the DownRiver sprint - racing 4 miles down a class II/III river. Most competitors had to drop off their boats the night before to get transported to the race start, I showed up with my packraft in my backpack, blew it up, put on my inflatable PFD and sidled up to the start line.

Needless to say, none of us won our respective fields. But we had a great time, and couldn't help getting super competetive, despite the limitations.

In addition to our racing, we spent 8 hours a day slacklining and performing Acrobatics.

Do we get to rest now?

Ummm.....no, that was all yesterday, and today we leave on our YES tour - biking with all our gear to Leadville (all uphill) and then climbing to the highest point in the state (Mt. ELbert - 14,400). Just another day as a slacker.

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New Faces, Familiar Places

This year in preparation for mountain season I chose to go to a familiar place. Vail, Colorado has been one of my favorite places in Colorado so far so I definitely had to head back there this year. The tough part about racing here however, is the simple fact that Vail has a base altitude of about 8,150 feet! So for a sea level guy like myself, I had a huge disadvantage toeing up against the likes of Rickey Gates, Simon Gutierrez, and the legendary Matt Carpenter. Carpenter also knows every mountain running course in Colorado so that doesn’t hurt either on top of being a complete animal at high altitude. When I decided to compete in both the 13.7 Vail Pass climb and the 6.5 mile up/down race this year I had to question myself, “Have you gone insane Joe”?

Both races started out above 8,000 feet and both tallied up a huge amount of climbing.The first day I ran the 13.7 miler and that went a little rough nearing the 9,000 foot point. The pack stayed together for quite a while, maybe 8 or 9 miles. The majority of the climbing began above 9,000 feet so around that point is where poor old sea level runners started to hurt. I ran strong and eventually ended up 3rd not too far off of Carpenter. The next day, I woke up feeling tight, tired with aches all over my body. I wasn’t too sure about competing in the 6.5 miles up and down some of Vail‘s most technical trails. To add to the drama, the fresh legs of two star runners showed up featuring Clint Wells and Payton Batliner. If the fans were looking for an exciting race they definitely had the lineup and the lineup definitely gave them their moneys worth.From the gun the field went out bunched together.

The course was a bit different this year featuring a scramble section early on. It was around there that the field started to scatter and where thoughts of dropping out started to be pondered. I couldn’t help but think back to my first trail race and how ugly things got, FAST. So, I almost thought it would be better to save the embarrassment. I realized I couldn’t afford dropping out at this point as I glanced down to see how far we had climbed with a picturesque view of the city of Vail. I figured I would have a long walk down “this damn mountain” so at least if I’m gonna drop out I will wait till we descend and I get a little closer to the finish. I decided to stick through it and found myself running with Mr. Gates with Carpenter putting in work up ahead. I eventually went ahead of Gates and started my challenge of Mr. Carpenter.

Little did I know, with the new course changes from last year, there was also a 3rd climb I did not expect. So, though I may have caught up to Matt, I made a rookie mistake. He poured the heat on me leaving me to settle for 2nd this day. Carpenter later rubbed it in a bit at the awards ceremony wearing a shirt that said, “Old Guys Rule.” Losing to a guy like Matt definitely does not leave you with feelings of disappointment. With a long list of accomplishments in mountain running, especially at altitude he is someone you can‘t be too upset you lost to. Coincidentally, the top 4 from the 13.7 mile race all finished top 4 in the second race as well. I was a bit surprised by everyone’s performances today and I realized one other fact that yes, I think I have gone insane.....

This is a small clip of the 8 ball competition. From what I understood after watching a while, it kinda reminded me of an offensive line blocking linebackers in football, except kayaking down a creek while doing so

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Inov-8 Women Take on the SB6K

Rebekah Trittipoe, Jenny Anderson and Anne Lundblad will start their assault on all forty 6,000+ foot peaks in the Southeast on Wednesday morning. They will begin at Clingman's Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and cover six mountain ranges, finishing up at the Roan Highlands some 300+ miles later. This will be a supported effort, following the rules of this challenge set forth by Ted "Cavedog" Kaiser who holds the record in just under 5 days. To hear more about their adventure and read daily updates check out their blog.

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PCT Speed Record

type your summary here 2655 Mile PCT speed record attempt begins this coming week

Type rest of the post here This coming week Adam Bradly, Garret Christensen and myself will be starting at the US/Mexcan border and will be attempting to break David Horton's 66 day 7 hour 16 min, 2655.4 mile 2005 assisted Pacific Crest Trail speed record. This past summer Joe Kisner and I broke the "unassisted" record by nearly eight days, doing the trail in 71 d 2h 41m. Our goal this summer will be to hike the trail without any outside assistance, that means walking into towns to pick up our resupply food packages, carrying all of gear food and water with the additional goal of not riding in any vehicles for the duration of the hike. This will add a number of miles walking into and out of towns to pick up our resupply boxes. It is our goal to try to break Horton's Impressive 2005 record but without any assistance, essentially doing the trail as backpackers. To do this we will have to average 40+ miles a day. Last summer Joe and I averaged about 37.6 a day, so this hike will be significantly more difficult. I will be using the Flyrock 310's for this hike, my favorite shoe and one used last year, sometimes modifying them in the hotter areas to allow for the swelling of my feet. Updating will be difficult, but I will try to get word out on how things are going, hoping to get my wife to pot updates here as we go. It is with only the utmost respect that we are trying for David's record. I feel that had David done his run in a normal snow year he most likely would have gone sub- 60 days. All three of us have put in a lot of training, myself having snowshoed hundreds of miles this past winter wearing a pack near my home in Truckee, CA. Because of the nature of this hike if ANYTHING goes wrong with feet or legs it can mean the end of the record attempt. The longest period of time I would be off my feet on any given day during last summers hike was the 6-7 hours a night we were sleeping, there are no rest days. All of the blisters I had on my feet in the beginning were still not fully healed by the time we reached Canada last summer. So I will not pretend that we are going to go out and smash this record but we intend to try and have fun while doing it. Wish us luck! Scott

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Who's Racing This Weekend

Wynn Davis in prep for the Vermont 100 will be running the Kettle Moraine 100k this Saturday, set in the beautiful Ice Age National Scenic Trail in Wisconsin’s Kettle Moraine State Forest. One of the co-RD's Tim Yanacheck does an excellent job with ultra races and you can all but guarantee yourself a top notch experience at any of his races.

In Vail Co, the Teva Mountain Games are this weekend and we have 2 super strong ladies tackling the 10k Spring Runoff course with Gina Lucrezi and Kelli Lusk. Dewey Peacock will be racing the Governor's Cup 5k in Helena , MT and Kevin Tilton will be at the Jackson Covered Bridge 10k in Jackson, NH. This 10k is billed as New England's toughest road 10k. Kevin owns the current CR.

Wynn Davis - Kettle Moraine 100k
Gina Lucrezi - Spring Runoff 10k
Kelli Lusk - Spring Runoff 10k
Dewey Peacock - Governor's Cup 5k
Kevin Tilton - Jackson Covered Bridge 10k

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Pack Monadnock Results- Race 2 of the Inov-8 USATF-NE Series

A record crowd of 330 runners came out to challenge the course at the Pack Monadnock 10 Mile race, the second race in the Inov-8 USATF-NE Mountain Series. The race was won by Brendan Callaghan of West Hartford, CT in a time of 1:02:37. On the women's side, Abby Woods won in a time of 1:17:27.

There are currently almost 60 runners who are still eligible for the coveted Mountain Goat status that will allow them to bypass the 2010 Mt. Washington Road Race Lottery.

Complete results for Pack Monadnock are here

Read Jim Johnson's Race Report here

Read Dave Dunham's race Report here

See Kristen's Photos here

See current Inov-8 USATF-NE Mt. Circuit standings here

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Winter Ultra lovers

For adventure teams and/or solo ultra runners who love winter ultras, the Northshore of Duluth/Lake Superior will launch their inaugural North Shore Winter Ultra. Athletes can choose to travel by way of foot or bike. There are solo and team divisions as well. The course has options for a 1/2 (43mile) point to point from Duluth to Two Harbors or the full 87, which is an out and back finishing at Lester Park. Two other inaugural races this fall also include the Wild Duluth 100km/50km and Duluth Trail Running Festival. Of course there is also the ridiculously challenging Arrowhead 135 miler for the hardcore winter folks.

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Weekend Results

This past Friday night at the Rock 2 Rock 10k Trail Race, Meadow Tarves went under her own CR and battled hard for a well earned 2nd OA finish (56:10) for the ladies. Both the men's and women's field had quite an elite group of mountain runners from across the country. Aaron Saft took issue with a slick log laying across the trail on the steep descent and the subsequent spill took him out of contention this year. I managed 8th OA. (photo of Meadow Tarves at the summit courtesy of Chris Brown)

At the Sweet H2O 50k in GA, Jeremy Ramsey took top honors shattering the CR in 4:20 and Sean Andrish was right behind in 2nd OA, also breaking the CR with a 4:27 time. A nice 1-2 OA finish for Team Inov-8. At the Shadow of the Giants 50k in CA, Clark Zealand looks to be back in form by taking the overall victory. (no time as of this posting)

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