We were missing a few of the mens’top seeds on the starting line, but nonetheless the competition was fierce at the front. Without Carpenter and Burell, Erik Skaggs led the odds list when the line was toed, but Todd Braje was the first to toe the finish line with a 3:32.12! Six runners finished under 3:40, making it one of the most exciting WTC races ever.
I may have not predicted the mens winner, but, Susannah Beck kept my race predictions honest…and breaking the legendary Ann Trason’s record by almost 4 minutes! Susannah has made here mark on the Ultra scene with her second win in a few weeks. Only 24 men avoided getting “chicked” with Susannnah’s time of 3:55.22! Bev Abbs and Joelle Vaught both had stellar performances as well running 4:07.08 and 4:10.14 respectively.
Results: http://www.capitalroadrace.com/results/08_WTC_OVL.HTM
Some great times indeed, but this really makes Steidl’s time that much more impressive. Making us look like tortises. Any word on why Burell and Carpenter were not running? Wasn’t that going to be his shot for getting into States? Maybe he’s doing American River?
I think either of those two could have gone sub 3:30 as could Skaggs on a better day, but it is what it is. Impressive running nonetheless.
Not sure what Matt’s deal was. I only heard from Tony that he was not going to be there. Galen Burrell I heard had been injured, but was running now, so he probably decided to bag it.
And yes Ulli’s record is most impressive. I was there that year, and when I finished my run at 3:43 I couldnt believe he was 25 minutes ahead. At the start that day he took off and was gone within 6 minutes! Suzannah Beck’s run was the most impressive of the day this year!
I was surprised to see Jurek so fast. WTC seems too short and flat for him.
Scott can be sneaky sometimes, he has the speed of most, what Scott does best is persevere and is able to hold a strong pace for a long time. Local knowledge doesn’t hurt either. We’ll see how he does at Chuckanut this weekend. I’ll post odds for that tomorrow! Thanks for the results Brennan…very greatly appreciated! -Karl
Very competitive race! Scott surprised me too (maybe his fast time should not be a surprise). Uli still rules.
Galen was dying to do this event, was looking very good this winter, got a calf injury in early Feb, couldn’t shake it, so there was no way. He is currently not running a step.
Matt might have had other reasons to enter besides to actually run; he was checking out the registration process in a hyper-intense entry situation, to see how active.com handled it, as he is in charge of registration for Pikes Peak. Active.com really blew it for that race last year, so he wanted to check out the process in advance (Matt is really thorough).