Todd Walker will be racing at the 2nd annual Grindstone 100 miler. Billed as the toughest 100 miler in the East, the elevation profile looks brutal with 23,200 of climb over lots of beautiful singletrack and a 38 hour cutoff. This is event #4 in the Beast Series and is an Inov-8 sponsored race that gets under way this Friday at 6pm in Swoope , VA. Team Inov-8 athlete and race director, Clark Zealand does an excellent job with all his races and has developed an outdoor organization called Eco-X sports. Check out their website.
Dwight Shuler will be back at it again this Saturday morning at the Dark Mountain Challenge in Wilkesboro, NC. A triathlon with a 3 mile lake paddle, a 4 mile trail run and a 7 mile mountain bike race.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Who's Racing this Weekend
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
100 in the Hood Race Report
Here is a link to my race report from this past weekend. The Roclite 320's and merino wool debris gaiters were nice choices for the long day and night. Happy trails...Yassine
Type rest of the post here
Monday, September 28, 2009
Checkpoint Zero/Inov-8 is the 2009 Checkpoint Tracker Adventure Racing Series National Champion
With the 100 points earned for their win at this past weekend's Bushwhack Adventure Race, the team has wracked up a perfect 400 points for the season.
They beat out over 100 other adventure racing teams from across the United States who competed in 26 different events since January.
For winning the Checkpoint Tracker Adventure Racing Series...presented by Inov-8, the team will receive the lion's share of the cash prize purse and an all expenses paid trip to compete in the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge in the United Arab Emirates in December.
They couldn't have done it with any other shoes or packs :-)
Nice work team...way to go!!!!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Inov-8 Athletes Great at Great Eastern Endurance Runs
There were 2 course records and 3 overall wins at the wet Great Eastern Endurance Runs yesterday in the George Washington National Forest. Sean Andrish took the overall win in the 50k distance posting a speedy 4:47 time on the technical and wet course. Anne Lundblad won in a time of 5:02, breaking her previous course record by over twenty minutes. This was also good for 3rd OA in the 50k race. Mark Lundblad got the 100k overall win with a 10:01 finishing time and a new course record as well. Anne wore the Roclite 260's, Sean wore the Roclite 295's and Mark wore the Roclite 305's.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Who's Racing This Weekend
Another action packed weekend for Team Inov-8. In the beautiful Mt. Hood area in Oregon, Yassine Diboun will be racing in the inaugural Hundred in the 'Hood. What looks to be a nice course with 100% single-track and 10k of climb as shown by this 3D course picture.
Emma Garrard will be at the Xterra US Championships in the Ogden/Snowbasin resort areas of Utah. The championship course is a 1.5k swim / 30k mountain bike / 10k trail run for qualifying athletes. Staying out West you'll find Dewey Peacock racing at the Homestake Pass 5 mile near Butte, MT.
Back on the East coast we have 3 athletes at the Great Eastern Endurance Run.
Anne Lundblad will be taking on the 50k course while Sean Andrish and myself will be racing the 100k distance. The race (there is also a half-marathon option) takes place in the Sherando Lake Recreation area in the George Washington National Forest with plenty of technical single-track and lots of climbing.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Ben Nephew's NF Challenge Race Report
Here is Ben's race report with all the exciting details of his dramatic finish. Ben wore the F-lite 301pk shoes and the Race Elite 3 pack for his hydration needs. Congrats again Ben.
Type rest of the post here
North Face Challenge DC 50 mile
9/19/09
7
To thoroughly understand the results of the North Face 50 miler outside of DC last weekend, I have to go into a bit of history about the three of us who were fighting for the win. Leigh Schmitt and I have been racing each other since 1999 in trail races all over New England. It started with a 15 second win for Leigh over me at the 7 Sisters Trail race. I could go on at length about our rivalry (it’s friendly, with the exception of the last few minutes of racing!), but our races at 7 Sisters are a good microcosm of the dozens of times we have raced each other. In addition to the close 1999 race, I won by 2 seconds over Leigh in 2005, and this year we finished in 2nd and 3rd with the exact same time. I had a handful of his singlet at the finish. While it would take a statistician to figure out our record for shorter trail races, Leigh moved up to ultras a few years before me, and has soundly beaten me at the 2005 JFK 50 mile, the 2006 USATF 50k road championship, and a ridiculous snowshoe marathon (he was running on hiking snowshoes!) and the North Face Bear Mountain 50 miler earlier this year. Generally speaking, he wins the vast majority of the 50 milers that he enters, no matter who is there. Michael Wardian is a 2:21 marathoner who has been very successful at ultras the last few years. His 50k pr is 2:55, and he was 6th at the World 100k championship earlier this year. He beat me by 25 minutes at the USATF 50k road championships in March. I knew Mike would be running, but was surprised to see Leigh there. I was happy to see him AT the race, but I wasn’t as happy to be racing him! Wasn’t crushing me at Bear Mountain enough?
My attitude improved a bit when they gave me my race number, 177. My birthday is 7/17/75, so I tend to think that 7 is a good number for me. I’m not superstitious at all, but I needed to focus on something positive in contrast to getting depressed about racing Mike and Leigh. So I got my number and told myself that those guys were in trouble, it was my lucky day. Right.
One of the things Leigh and I had in common at the race was that we were both guests on Michael’s home course. He is from Arlington, runs extremely well on flat runable courses, and was familiar with many of the trails on the course. The race was basically a big lollipop, with three loops of the lollipop. With only 4600 ft of climbing and runable terrain, it looked to be a fast course.
The start was much tamer than the Bear Mountain race, which made me very happy. One runner went off the front early, but a main lead pack of 6 settled into a comfortable pace over the dark singletrack trails. After a few miles, Mike and I stopped for a pit stop, and by the time I got back with the lead group, Mike was nowhere to be seen. I joked to the rest of the guys that now might be good time to pick up the pace and run away from Mike, but it was too early in the race to risk killing our legs. Malcolm Campbell, a friendly runner from Georgia, drove the pace during the dark early miles. Leigh, Malcolm, and I slowly pulled away from miles 5 to 17. Malcolm had some sort of nuclear headlamp that turned night into day, so we let him lead through the dark. He looked very strong through those early miles, and I began to think I was going to have a tough time getting into the top three.
Just as we were wondering where Mike was, he came storming up behind us somewhere around mile 17. The four of ran together comfortably from 17 to 21, back to the Great Falls aid station. At that point, Mike decided to leave Leigh and me, and quickly put time on us over the next 7 mile loop. Malcolm dropped back at the aid station, and Leigh and I settled into a sustainable pace for the final two 7 mile loops before heading back to the finish. We took turns leading, and I waited for him at the aid station, as all I was doing was switching out bottles. Every time we passed Mike, he was really rolling and continuing to pull away from us. At the same time, we were pulling away from Malcolm and the rest of the field. I seemed to be a little stronger than Leigh on the hills, which was surprising, and I began to think that maybe I’d be able to keep it close for once.
The fun started soon after we started on the 14.8 mile section back to the finish, around mile 35. Leigh started to up the pace at about mile 38, and I picked a bad time to have a rough spot. I worked hard to maintain contact, but then had to let him go to take a quick pit stop. It was reassuring to know that I was definitely drinking enough, but the timing couldn’t have been worse. I felt better after stopping, but not great. To my surprise, I then saw Mike run by me, noting that he had gotten turned around by some strange white chalk arrows on the course. I told him that Leigh was probably 1-2 minutes ahead, and I expected that to be my last Wardian sighting for the day. After a few minutes, I realized that he wasn’t really pulling away. As we started climbing the last small hill about 7 miles from the finish, I realized that I was actually catching up with Mike. I passed him at the top of the hill, and picked up the pace on the following downhill. I was definitely feeling better, but still expected that Mike would start to throw down 6 minute miles and run both Leigh and I down.
It should be mentioned that we were all passing people going both directions throughout the entire race, and it became pretty difficult over the last few miles of singletrack. I must have yelled,” On your left,” about a hundred times. At one stream crossing, three girls tried to cross over going the opposite direction without letting me across. I jumped on after the second girl crossed, ready to throw someone in the stream. The third girl actually helped me up the opposite bank, and I continued pressing the pace.
At this point, about 44 miles into the race, I was focusing on running away from Mike. I had thought I had spotted Leigh a while earlier, but he just seemed to disappear. Soon after the aid station at 45.4, a guy on bike told me that Leigh was 150 meters ahead. I finally got another glimpse of him, and it looked more like 250 meters, and he was running strong. I thought of the final charge that Kevin and I had on our Pemi loop run, and decided to really go after Leigh. I charged through the last aid station with about 1.6 miles to go, and finally had a good view of Leigh on a long gravel path. I was gaining on him steadily until he looked back and switched it into high gear. I could tell he was tired, but my legs were starting to go as well. I think I caught him with about .75 miles to go, and he immediately passed me back. We were rolling through and around other runners, cutting the tangents, and exchanged the lead 3-4 times. He was in the lead with about a half mile left, and when I saw him unclipping his waist pack, I immediately did the same. Both our packs landed together; we literally threw down. As we hammered towards the finish, we were side by side for a while, and then I pulled ahead at the final left turn. I hit the turn, and ran for my life for 200 meters, checking to see where Leigh was every 50 meters. I thought I was going to throw up with about 100 to go, and I’ve never thrown up at a race. My calves were cramping by the time I crossed the finish (6:27:14) and Leigh finished 7 seconds later after over 6 hours and 50 miles of racing. Mike was about 4 minutes behind the two of us. I called Stephanie as soon as could hobble over to my car, and it took a while to explain how I managed to win. She understood that Mike got off course, but couldn’t figure out how I got in front of Leigh.
Mike had run out of gels during his long detour, and was done racing by the time he worked back up to me. Apparently, the Reston Road Runners had placed some markings of their own on the trail, and while Leigh and I had chosen the correct direction at the critical intersection, Mike and a few others ended up adding some mileage to their races. It’s a tough way to lose a race, and I would have been satisfied with finally beating Leigh at a longer race. Leigh actually had no idea that he had been in the lead until after the race.
The three of us talked about our fall racing plans while waiting for the awards ceremony, and it’s likely that we’ll see each other at the North Face championship race in San Francisco this December. I’m hoping to have another strong race, with a less dramatic finish!
For the non-technical DC course, I wore f-lite 301’s and the Race Elite 3 hip pack. I really appreciated the cushioning of the 301’s on the hard carriage roads, and the Race Elite 3 held my big 24 oz bottles securely. My most important fueling for the race was Friday night, though, as my friends Ellen and Peter Nicoll made me an incredible dinner of pesto pasta and chicken, followed by two desserts.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Aliza Lapierre's race report from Iroquois 50 mile
Read on for Aliza's entertaining report from her win at the Iroquois 50 this past weekend.
Iroquois trail ultra
Last Thursday as I registered for the Iroquois 50 mile race it donned on me that I had not run an ultra in almost a year due to injuries and illness. This realization instantly made my nerves swing into full force. I immediately set two goals to help calm myself. The first being to enjoy being a part of race atmosphere and my second objective was to see how my body would respond and recover.
After the prerace meeting on Friday night I was confused about the course configuration. After the meeting the race director Ian was kind enough to spend a few minutes with me going over the course again which helped immensely. The course contained three sections, the first section being a traditional loop, the second section was a lollypop and the third section was an out and back. Feeling better about the course I organized my race stuff and decided that I would race in my roclite 320’s.
The start of the race brought darkness and cool temperatures. A headlamp was a must for the first six mile loop. A half of mile road section brought the pack to the bottom of Greek Peak and then we began to climb. I tucked myself behind the four male front runners who then slowed to a walk. I was cold and wanted to keep running, but wasn’t confident with my ability to follow the course on my own in the dark. In turn this meant I walked when the others walked and I ran when they ran. This helped me follow the course, but my body was not happy. My legs and arms tightened up from the cold and from the stop go running pace. Before descending down the backside of the peak I turned back and was treated to a sunrise and a stream of headlamps filing up with slope. The four front runners pulled away on the downhill but I was able to keep them in sight and then make up ground on our way back to finish up the first section.
The second loop started with a long pavement uphill in which the four front runners were pushing the pace trying to pull away from each other. I continued to run my pace and knew that it wouldn’t benefit me to play the game that I was witnessing ahead. After reaching the climax of the paved hill a sharp left hand turn put me onto the Finger Lakes trail. It was still pretty dark in the woods and right off it was clear this section was going to be technical. I had closed the gap and was now with the fourth place male runner. I was eager to chat but he was plugged into his ipod. As the single track continued I passed him on an uphill and began to slowly pull away. I still was feeling uncomfortable and had yet to settle into a rhythm but passing the fourth place runner gave me a confidence boost. After climbing some more single track the course made a left onto a gravel road. About a quarter mile down the road I saw the runner whom I had passed on the uphill single track. Confused I peaked over my shoulder to see what was looming behind me and was greeted by Glen Redpath who was running the hundred. Glen chuckled about the guy that was now in front of us and we laughed it off together. Glen and I continued to run together and eventually once again picked off the fourth place runner. We kept tabs on the three runners in front of us but discussed that it was probably best if we not worry about them this early in the race. Eventually as we ventured back into the woods for the stick part of the lollypop loop we caught the third place runner. As we hit the road we were a pack of three but then noticed that we were a pack of four. The second place runner had made a slight wrong turn and was now with us. As we all pulled into the aid station at mile 24 I had no need to stop so headed out towards the third and final portion of the course which was an out and back.
Glen continued to run with me and joked about how other hundred mile racers have pacers for the second half but he had his for the first half. If he was going to call me his pacer then I was going to nag him about eating and drinking. We were treated to a short gravel road section before turning onto a steep single track climb which lasted about two miles. It was rather slow going but we continued to stay in front of the runners we passed at the end of the second loop. As we started to get closer and closer to the end of the out and back we were eager to know how much of a lead the front runner had on us. Suddenly a female runner who looked fresh blew by us. I looked at her number to see if she was a relay runner and she was not. I was confused and asked her what distance she was running. She responded fifty and I got nervous that she looked so energized. She then divulged that she started late and that this was her first leg. I felt some relief but still did not like that she was in front. Before it could bother me too much the leader was heading towards me. Glen and I looked at our watches so we could calculate how much of a lead he had on us once we hit the turn around. A few minutes later the female flew by us and again we looked at our watches. As we hit the turn around the front runner had about twenty minutes on us and the female runner had about nine minutes. I felt like I could slowly reel her in on the way back. I still felt good and was running comfortably but my stomach was feeling empty. I was ready for a meal. At each aid station I received reports about how far behind I was and the good news was that I was closing the gap. About three miles from the finish I caught a glimpse of the female in front of me and was determined to catch her. I caught her and then chatted with her. Finally when we hit the gravel road we were within a mile from the finish. I looked at my watch and new I would have to pick up the pace to be under 8:30. I left Glen and kicked it in and finished with a few seconds to spare.
Although the Iroquois race isn’t well known yet it is an amazing course that has an impressive 38 miles of single track for the 50 mile course with and an elevation gain and loss of roughly 9,000 feet. The aid stations were well stocked and spaced and the race director and crew were incredible.
Share the love. . .
Help others fall in love with trails!
I was privileged to speak to student's in Dr. David Horton's running class this past week. And on Saturday, I took ten of them on their first trail run up in the big, bad mountains of the Blue Ridge. We had a wonderful time and they are excited to join me on other adventures. In fact, some of them will join me to work an aid station at Grindstone in two weeks as well as sweep the whole course. We also have other training runs planned. The girls have dubbed me as their "Trail Mom."
It is so exciting to me to see their excitement and new found love of running! I encourage everyone to look for opportunities to share your love of trails with newbies. You'll not only be doing them a service but it will restore your joy as well. Besides, it's a grassroots exposure for INOV-8!
Ben Nephew Wins North Face Challenge & Aliza Lapierre Wins Iroquois 50 mile OA Title
We had 2 stellar ultra running performances this past weekend. Starting with Ben Nephew who bested some very tough competition to win the North Face Endurance Challenge by mere seconds (6:27:14). I'm sure Ben's upcoming race report will give us the exciting details but it looked like a dogfight to the finish against ultra studs Leigh Schmitt and Michael Wardian over the 50 mile course. An awesome performance!
At the Iroquois 50 mile in upstate New York, Aliza Lapierre won the overall title in 8:29. Aliza won the title on a tough, technical and hilly course. Great job as well!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Scott Dunlap Wins XTerra National Masters Title in X-Talon 212's
Scott Dunlap was the first Masters Male at the 21k XTerra National Championship in Bend, OR, much in thanks to the super-fast Inov-8 X-Talon 212's. These shoes are made to go fast!
Read the full race report here.
Who's Racing This Weekend (updated 9/17)
We have a little bit of everything this weekend from short trail and road racing to ultra trail distances. Aliza Lapierre is back in the ultra game and will be at Iroquois 50 miler in Virgil, NY. This race follows The Finger Lakes Trail sections spanning the Tuller Hill and Kennedy State Forests, paired with the mountainous terrain of Greek Peak Mountain Resort. Ben Nephew will also be racing 50 miles but at the North Face Endurance Challenge in Sterling, VA outside of Washington, DC.
Dewey Peacock will be testing his climbing skills at the Mt.Helena Classic 5.6 mile in the city of Helena, MT. This urban to mountain trail race is an out and back course that climbs 1300' to the top of Mt.Helena and returns back down to Last Chance Gulch in downtown Helena. Kevin Tilton will be transitioning from mountain running to a 10k road race at the Lone Gull 10k, also serving as the New England 10k Road Championships this Sunday.
Back on the East Coast we have Anne Lundblad defending her title at the Bays Mountain Trail Race. A hilly 15 mile trail race at the beautiful Bays Mountain Park just outside of Kingsport, TN.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Basham Breaks Long Trail Speed Record
Jonathan Basham this afternoon set a new Long Trail speed record. 4 days, 12 hours, 46 minutes, & 4 seconds (4:12:46:04) Got the news from Clark Zealand via Facebook. Way to go JB!!!!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Who's Racing This Weekend
Kevin Sullivan is the lone runner this weekend that I know of who will be racing at the Mid-Mountain Marathon outside of Park City, Utah. Starting at 8,000' the trail goes from Deer Valley Resort to The Canyons Resort. Good luck Kevin.
Jonathan Basham Still Getting After It
JB is still moving along quite nicely and on schedule. He knocked out 55.2 miles on Tuesday. He started out yesterday at Appalachian Gap to try to get in 49.8 miles ending at Green Rd. I'm waiting to hear how that went. Keep on rolling JB!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Tilton & Nephew Break Pemi Loop Speed Record
Inov-8 teammates Kevin Tilton and Ben Nephew stepped outside of their normal running routine and managed to break a speed record for the Pemi Trail in the process. The Pemi Trail is a 31.5 mile loop that climbs over 9,000 feet on hiking trails in the White Mountains of New Hampshire through some quite rugged terrain. Read Ben's always entertaining report below. You can also check out Kevin's report on his blog. The shoes of choice were the Roclite 285's for Kevin and the Roclite 320's for Ben. Great work guys.
Teamwork: Pemi Loop 2009
Let me start by saying that running a timed trail loop like the Pemi makes me want to quit ultra races. For those that don’t know the Pemi loop, it’s a 31.5 mile loop that climbs over 9,000 feet on hiking trails in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (http://pbakwin.home.comcast.net/~pbakwin/fkt/pemi.html). If you are from the West, these trails are very rugged. If are from the East, these trails are very rugged. For me, this type of event avoids most of the negative attributes of ultras, and maximizes the positives. I’ve always wished that there were trail races up in the White or Green mountains, or the Adirondacks, so I was excited when I realized that people were setting fastest times on well known trails. There are a lot of outstanding races in New England and New York, but most of the truly spectacular trails are protected in state or national parks where it is difficult or impossible to organize trail races. At a timed trail run, you don’t have to pay a $100 entry fee, start way too early in the morning, or worry how long the guy who took off at 6 minute pace can hold on!
My Inov-8 and CMS teammate Kevin Tilton is lucky enough to live in the middle of some of the best trail running anywhere, and had run the Pemi loop in 2005. The recent record of 7:05:32 by Ryan Welts was over an hour faster than Kevin’s initial attempt, and I knew he could run faster. Although I typically train by myself, Kevin and I have always had a good time on occasional training runs, so I asked him if he was interested in taking another shot at the record. For this type of event, Kevin is the ultimate tour guide.
We took our time getting ready at Lincoln, and then made our way up Flume Peak, which entails a 1.5m warmup, followed by a 3,000’ climb over four miles. I wasn’t really ready for the climb, and suffered more than expected. I knew that I would have a hard time staying with Kevin on the climbs, as his Mt. Washington PR is 4 minutes faster than my 1.0-slow, but he was just killing me. We still got to the top in a quick 1:09, had a snack, and headed out over the Franconia Ridge at a good pace. The weather and views in all directions were absolutely fantastic. I was somewhat in race mode at that point, but Kevin stopped to take a few pics, and I figured the stops would keep us from going too fast too soon.
The descent off of Lafayette over Garfield wasn’t bad until we got down into the trees, and then it become difficult to maintain any sort of steady pace over the uneven terrain. It was just hard to find a solid spot to place your foot, necessitating constant pace changes, which is taxing mentally and physically. On the climb up Mt. Garfield, I backed off a bit due to my fear of the South Twin climb in a few miles. We finally got up and over Garfield, and back into the boulderfest of the Garfield ridge. It actually got easier as we climbed up to the Galehead hut. Kevin was pretty relaxed as we refilled our water supply and refueled at the hut, but I was already thinking that we going to have a hard time finishing in under 7 hours, as we were already over 4 hours at 16.5 miles into the loop. I have to thank the hut croo for the wicked lemonade. Mixed with lemon-line Nuun tabs, that stuff is rocket fuel!
The climb up South twin, about 1100’ in 0.8 miles, wasn’t as bad as I thought. With a consistent grade and decent footing we settled into a steady rhythym and made it up in about 20 minutes. The other side is just as steep on the upper section, and we lost time crawling down the waterfall section. As the trail leveled out, I took over the lead, and started to push the pace through the runable downhill. Although I seemed to be running the downhills faster than Kevin, he had no problems staying with me whenever I was leading. We cruised by Guyot and ran most of the way up Mt. Bond, which I was pleased with considering how long we had been running by that point.
Kevin led down to the final climb up Bondcliff, where I managed to keep pace with him on the first half of the short climb. My legs couldn’t handle running all of the last 100’, but I was able to stay reasonably close. We both agree the last big downhill to the Wilderness trail could have been run faster, but I didn’t realize that Kevin had his only watch on his bag, and didn’t know that we were running out of time in a hurry.
The Wilderness trail is listed at 5 miles, but may be a bit less. However long it is, we were rolling. We finally got onto the trail at about 6:35 into the run, and Kevin stopped to get his watch off his bag. I looked at him like he was crazy, and just took off. I figured he would catch on, and I was going to be extremely annoyed if we missed the record by a few seconds. When we had realized we were going to be close to 7 hours we actually discussed drafting on this last section of the trail that is very runable, and after Kevin caught up with me, he took over the leading duties. After about 10 minutes, I was just hanging on; jealous of Kevin’s 285’s. My 320’s did great on the rest of the loop, but they aren’t the best shoe for running 6 minute pace on tired legs. I felt like I was going to fall over at any second, and was going crazy trying to figure out how far we were from the end of the trail. We appeared to be scaring small animals and children with our sprint to the death, despite Kevin’s numerous attempts at friendly greetings. I was too exhausted to even make the effort.
With about 1.5 miles to go at the Osseo trail junction, Kevin said we had 10 minutes left, which would have put us well outside the record time, and I almost stopped running. At the last second, I decided to give it an unrealistic shot. Kevin stuck right with me, and we flew down the last few hundred meters to stop the clock at 7:04:47. We ran the Wilderness trail at 6:21 pace, after running for over 6 hours. While Kevin doesn’t think that anyone will break 7 hours anytime soon, I don’t think he gives himself enough credit. He hasn’t been doing ultra training very long, and he’ll certainly improve over the next several years. We probably could have saved some time by having handlers on the trail, but I like how we were able to run to carry all our supplies, with a fluid refill at the Galehead hut. One of the biggest challenges in running a fast Pemi Loop is certainly weather. We had absolutely perfect weather, and put it to good use.
I have to thank Kevin for keeping me going on the climbs, and keeping us on the actual Pemi loop most of the run, despite progressive fatigue. Kevin may now be the “Fastest Tour Guide in NH!” His more numerically detailed GPS facilitated post can be found at: http://kltilton.livejournal.com/.
As for our Inov-8’s, Kevin was happy with his 285’s, and my 320’s were dependable as always. Both pair survived the Pemi loop without any battle scars, and neither of us had any blister or hot spot issues at all.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The Continental Divide Trail Race...aka 10K Trail National Championships
Here is Gina Lucrezi's race report form the US 10k National Trail Championships. Good stuff.
I arrived in the rolling mountains of Laurel Springs, NC at 4:00pm on Thursday the 27th. The trail race was being held at a remote campsite tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I crept down the desolate road in my rented Pontiac G6; there were no signs of life. A bit concerned, thoughts of the horror flick "Friday the 13th" began to enter my mind. Eek!! After convincing myself the movie was fiction, I hopped out of my car, laced up the X-Talons, and took off in search of the starting line. After some wrong turns and a little back tracking, I finally found my way. The course was littered with high-set roots and moss covered rocks (a true trail course). This terrain was a bit new to me considering I train on scree found in the Rockies. The damp mud created a "slip n' slide" effect on the steep winding turns within the woods. Right away I knew the trail would be forgiving to aggressive soled trail shoes. I was kicking myself for not bringing my Mud Claws...grrr. Friday I rolled in along with the other trail runners. I caught up with Aaron Saft and Amber Moran at the elite housing cabin. We discussed a few strategies on how to attack the course. Later that evening, our friendly game of Skip-O was disturbed by the violent sound of raindrops rapidly pelting the cabin roof. We looked outside and decided that tomorrow (Sat.) was going to be a mud bath (Yay!). Race day! As I stood on the starting line, all I could think was that it was "now or never." This was the last race of my season, and there was no reason to hold back. After "flaking out" at my last race (Cheyenne Canyon Mountain Race), I wanted to take revenge on the trail. I knew I was more fit than my resulted performance. Most of all, I wanted to end my season on a good note. With all of these thoughts blowing through my mind, I was pumped and ready to run. I knew Brany Erholtz was going to take off fast. From a trail runner perspective, she was the favorite for 1st. The pistol went off, and so did we. I hopped on Brandy's heels and stuck with her for the first mile. Kristen Price had eventually caught us after the mile mark, and then we all worked together through the 5k. I was feeling terrific in the woods...I was totally confident with my footing and agility on the troubling terrain. Unfortunately, I lost pace with Brandy and Kristen at about the 3.5 mile mark. I was fatiguing a bit faster than expected. I toughed it out the next few miles, trying to keep the girls in striking distance. Needless to say, by the end...that did not happen. The last 3/4 of a mile were brutal for me. My calfs started to seize and the fear of them locking up with cramps overwhelmed me. I just kept my pace and prayed that I wouldn't cramp (those of you who have gotten a charlie horse while racing...can definitely sympathize with me). Usually I avoid any issues with cramping because I hydrate multiple days before hand. I also am a HUGE fan of Nuun tablets...they have totally saved me many times over. Apparently, I didn't do enough hydrating, etc. this time around...boo. The last half mile was a scramble straight up hill. I had to use my hands at times so that I wouldn't slip on the wet vertical rocks. After finally making it to the top, I could see the finish chute. I just had to make it 50 meters and it would all be finished. With every step I took, I could feel the cramping getting worse and worse. I hit the finish line with a knot locking up my right calf. Ignoring the pain, I stretched with a smile because I had just finished in 3rd place. For my first full trail season...3rd place sounded pretty good to me. I would have liked to finish with a better time compared to 2nd and 1st...but with the cramping, that was impossible. Overall I had a really good season. Of course there are things that I would have liked to come out a bit differently, but for a first full season...I can't ask for too much more. Having the right gear and the right training really took me a long way. Thanks to all that have supported me and who have made it all possible! Sidenote: Now that my trail season is over...I've decide to try my legs at a longer distance...a half marathon. Coming from a miler background, this is a stretch. I plan on racing the Philadelphia Half Marathon on November 22nd. I'm curious to see how trail strength translates to the roads :)
Joe Gray 16th OA at Worlds! Jonathan Basham Tearing up the Long Trail!
Joe Gray ran a strong race Sunday in Italy at the World Mountain Running Championships. Joe finished 16th OA with a time of 58:43 and was the 2nd US finisher on this year's team. Awesome job!
Jonathan Basham had a great 1st day in his Long Trail speed record attempt. He covered 53.6 miles in a little over 15 hours. JB camped at Bear Hollow last night and today he is tackling another 50+ miles with 17k in elevation gain. Keep it up JB!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
See results of World Mt. Running Championship via team Twitter Feed
Team Inov-8 member Joe Gray is racing at the World Mountain Running Championship today at about 6:30 EDT. To get the up to date live postings of how he does, check out the team twitter feed. Go to http://www.twitter.com/usmrt
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Who's Racing This Weekend
The 25th World Mountain Running Championships in Campodolcino, Italy are on September 6 and Team Inov-8 athlete Joe Gray will be racing for the US Team on the biggest stage against the best mountain runners in the world. This year it is an up and down course over 13k for the men (3 loops) and over 8k (2 loops) for the ladies.
Also this Sunday, Kelli Lusk will be at The Breck Crest Mountain Marathon in Breckenridge, CO. A very tough course offering some beautiful scenery above the tree line at times in the Ten Mile Range. On Monday September 7th, Jonathan Basham will begin his Long Trail speed record attempt. The Long Trail follows the main ridge of the Green Mountains from the Massachusetts-Vermont line to the Canadian border as it crosses Vermont's highest peaks covering 270 miles of rugged territory.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Checkpoint Zero / Inov-8 wins the YMCA Strong AR
Team Checkpoint Zero / Inov-8 members Jenn Rinderle, Jon Barker, and Peter Jolles, lined up against some of the strongest teams in the southeast at the recent YMCA Strong Adventure Race and pulled off a win and captured a berth at the 2009 USARA National Championship race.
The rogaine style race started with the option of paddling, cycling, or a trek/swim combination. With the weather looking to hot, we opted to start with the paddle section and get off the water before the sun became a factor. Having procured one of the faster boats around, we made short work of the paddle and got off the water several minutes before CLXI. They turned out to be one of the few teams chosing to do the legs in the same order we did.
After a short transition to the bikes, we set out on what was to be the hottest leg of the race. With the sun beating down on us, our pace slowed considerably, and CXLI came by us less than halfway through the bike leg. Fearing a foot race to the finish, we concentrated on keeping our navigation sharp, and our down time to a minimum. As luck would have it, near the end of the bike leg we popped out on the road back to the transition area just behind CXLI, and rode in together.
Not wanting to play follow the leader on the last 6 mile trek/swim, we again made a fast transition and jumped in the water with our fins on and proceeded across the lake. As we looked back, we saw other teams getting in and out of the water, but really couldn't tell who was on what leg, and where they were headed. We had asked about the other top teams, including ROAM Inov-8, but no one could give a definitive answer as teams were all over the place.
We made a few small navigational errors while trekking, but managed to make decent time collecting all the checkpoints on the course. At the last one, we knew we had the option of turning back and swimming/trekking the same way we had just come, or running the roads back. Three miles vs six. Decisions like that win or lose races. Not knowing where the competition was we decided to swim for it and hope for the best.
As we waded out of the water and up onto the beach for the last time we were greeted by a small crowd of race fans cheering us in. We learned that we weren't the first team to finish, but we were the first to clear the course. The victory for Checkpoint Zero / Inov-8 secured a spot for the team in the upcoming 2009 USARA National Championships where we will go head to head with the best teams in the country for the title of National Champion.
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