Massanutten 100 Report

For those brave runners who came to rocky hills of the Massanutten course looking for a challenge this weekend, well, they got exactly what they were looking for. The race started off nice enough with clear weather at 5am, but mother nature took over shortly after that. First came the thick humidity, then the sunny heat (about 85 as a high), then a few powerful rain/lightning storms through the afternoon and evening. As much as 2 inches of rain fell in just a few hours during the evening, and just about every runner was slowed considerably on the sloppy technical track of the course. I say "almost" every runner because apparently nothing stops Karl Meltzer. He came through the first Aid Station (8 miles) with reigning champ Todd Walker as company, but that was the last chance for him to exchange recipies with anyone during the day. In the end, Karl won by 2 hours and 13 minutes with an incredible time of 18:29:57 on this nasty course.
Here's Karl crewing for himself at Habron Gap (mile 24.4). He ran the race in the "Stonewall Jackson" division, meaning he had no crew or pacer during the race (although his parents did drive down from New Hampshire to cheer him on!). At this point he had opened up a 2 mile lead over Todd and Glen Redpath, and the gap only widened from there.

Todd (on right) and Glen came through Habron next looking good and working together. They hung close to each other for most of the day until Todd faded late. Glen ended up in 2nd with a time of 20:42:44 (which would have won the race last year). Mike Mason (sorry, no photo) ran great all day long and finished just 20 seconds behind Glen for third place (imagine the race for the win if Karl hadn't shown up this year!).

Fourth place was claimed by Keith Knipling, who put on a great charge in the final hours and overtook a few runners ahead of him. Of course that kind of veteran move should have been expected from Keith. Sure, he's only 33, but this was his 10th finish of the Massanutten 100. TEN! Congratulations on that huge accomplishment, Keith!

The top 5 was rounded out by a hard-charging Adam Cassaday who overtook a couple runners after mile 96 to finish in a dynamite time of 22:39:28. Great perseverence, Adam!

On the ladies side, the race was over early with Amy Sproston coming out of the gate with blazing shoes. Here she is coming in to Habron Gap early in the race. She was running in 6th place overall at this point and already had a 30 minute lead on the second female runner. In the end, the weather probably kept Amy from challenging the course record, but she stil cruised in to win the ladies' race (and finished 10th overall) with a time of 24:59:55.

As for my day crewing/pacing for Nick Pedatella, well, it ended early. Nick re-aggrivated a hamstring injury early on, and he had to drop from the race at Habron Gap (hence my pictures ending from there). I had a great time crewing with his parents Yvonne and Steve who came down from Pennsylvania for the race....it's just too bad our day had to end so soon! If Nick comes back in the future, I hope all of us can finish what we started out there. We were having a great time (aside from Nick's hammy, of course)!

With a 36 hour time limit in this race, the runners have until 5pm today to finish their race. I can't imagine the condition those still out on the course must be in after the beating they took yesterday between the course and the weather. Considering only 40 runners finished under 30 hours, my hat goes off to 100+ still out on the course. That's some serious toughness, People!

Massanutten 100 This Weekend!

No, I didn't get into the race this year, and I won't be taking my revenge on the course that beat me up last year, BUT I get to do the next best thing out in Massanutten country this weekend: Pace! Lucky for me, speedy Nick Pedatella from Colorado needed a pacer, so I have the chance to use my course knowledge and experience to help a really talented runner through the night. I'll be crewing with Nick's parents during the day, and then hopping in to run at 6pm (official start for pacing) for the last 30 miles or so. I'm super excited for this!! ...and that's not just because Nick has been named by Karl Meltzer as the "dark horse" favorite to contend this weekend!

Speaking of the favorites, this race will be a blast to watch from a fan standpoint this year. Next to Western States, this has to be the most loaded group of talent for a 100 miler this year. I see about 10 guys who could realistically win the race (Karl does a good job of listing odds in his post), and I'm psyched to have a front-row seat for the first 70 miles of watching it all unfold!
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The bummer news for the week is that there's a good chance this could be my last run for a while. My shin injury has flared up again, and I see no solution but to shut things down for a month or so to let it heal completely. Sure, I was able to fake it while training for and running the Bull Run 50 (running at 75% during training runs and during the race), but as soon as I tried to ramp it back up to normal speed this past week, the shin barked back. Frustrating, yes, but it's not the end of the world. I'll be fine for this weekend's 30 miles of pacing (Nick will already have 70 miles on his legs when I hop in, so "speed" shouldn't be an issue!), and then I'll see how it feels next week. If there's any pain at all, I'll pull the plug on running for a few weeks.

The big disappointment for me is I most likely won't be able to run the Mohican 100 in June. This was my focus race for the first part of 2009, and I really hoped to contend for the win out there. Oh well. That's what I get for opening my big mouth and saying I wanted to win the race. The Gods of Ultra Running are clearly sending me a message: Don't be greedy. I need to remember these races are more about enjoying nature and the company of similarly-crazy runners. Trying to hobble through miserable training runs on a bad leg for the sole purpose of trying to win a 100 miler really isn't what it's all about. How stupid of me to lose focus like this!

The good news about this shut-down period: Once I heal up, I'll be healthy and ready to train for the US 24 Nationals in October. ...and my training goal won't be to try and rack up insane miles, rather, I'll just focus on running smart and healthy during the summer. If I do that, I'll be in great shape to rack up some happy miles in Cleveland and let the chips fall where they may.

USA! USA!

Late last night while we were all sleeping here in the States, the US Ladies 24-Hour team, led by Jamie Donaldson's 136+ miles, were running out of their shoes to earn 2nd place (Silver Medal!!) at the World 24 Hour Championships in Italy! That's the best team performance ever!Jamie Donaldson in the zone

Jamie's total was good enough to place her 4th in the world - that's one place better for her than at last year's championship in Korea...and certainly not her ceiling! She was also the top placing American runner (male or female)...In fact, the top 4 US ladies (Jamie, Annette Bednosky, Deb Horn, and Carilyn Johnson) all finished above the top US male runner. Must have been a rough day for the guys out there w/ heat issues and injuries, but the shiny SILVER MEDAL the ladies are bringing home makes it a monumental and happy day for all of Team USA - CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Silver Medal Winners: Jen Van Allen, Annette Bednosky, Deb Horn, Jamie Donaldson, Carilyn Johnson