May 16th the Massannutten 100 will start with one of the best fields to date. No, it’s not Western, but a better course and a fun ride nonetheless.
The Men:
Speedgoat Karl 5-2. I have to put pressure on myself to perform well, I’m in great shape, know the course well and plan on ripping one off to make it ten years in a row with at least one 100 mile win. I’m slightly handicapped this year, but that won’t be revealed till I hit the start line. It has nothing to do with running without crew or those silly pacers! (no offense to pacers, just yacking). Bring it on "Stonewall"! I also have some incentive to bring home a case of 100 mile wins. Todd Walker 4-1. Todd’s experience here will help alot when the course gets ugly in the later stages. This is a race where experience helps. Todd is no rookie. Kieth Knipling 9-5. Kieth wasn’t far behind me at 50 miles a few years ago when I won just over 20 hours. He’s usually pretty fit this time of year. He’ll lead early if Mongold isn’t already ahead. Bradley Mongold 5-1. He’s probably got the best 50k speed here, but he’s gonna have to save that 50k speed for the last 50k. If he does, he’ll be near the front. And he’s a bear hunter, so I’m told. Glen Redpath 6-1. Off to a great start this year. This race will put the pressure on him to keep that good runnin’ going. Joe Kulak 13-7. How could I forget Joe? He’s textbook and will be in it if he wants in. Jeremy Ramsey 7-1. Jeremy has showed lots of promise in shorter distances, and should crack top 5 with a good,solid, smart effort. Nick Pedatella 8-1. Nick won the antelope Island 50 mile in 6:43 ish, good for a kid, if he has a great day and can figure out how to run 100, he’ll surprise some folks, including me. Adam Cassaday 9-1. He’s fast enough to be up front, he’s my sleeper to win it on a great day. He’s got experience around the Massannutten track, and speed to boot!The women:
Amy Sproston 3-2. Amy won’t pay well, she’s easily the one to beat here, and it’s hers to lose. I’d still put my cash on her if I were a betting man and take the small profit Kerry Owens 6-1. She’s won it before, so she knows what it feels like to run out front if Amy has issues.At the Jemez 50 mile:
Look for Ryan Burch and Dakota Jones to duke it out up front. Kyle Skaggs’ record is going nowhere for a long time, we’ll see if hese two boys can go sub 9 hours, close to what Nate and I ran last year. For the women: Darcy Africa is back on the scene, if she’s in decent shape, she’ll have that winning smile once again when she crosses the line. La Sportiva athlete Jean Coulter has the best speed and could certainly give Darcy a run for it, these two could duke it out like the men.
That’s it for odds now, check out gear reviews at Backcountry.com , sign up for the Speedgoat 50k!. ……. start training to run uphill, at altitude, then have a few beers when you finish! Sounds like a fine day at the office to me!
Now go run!
Enjoy the ride Karl. It would be sweet to bring back the course record to an American at this Tough 100 miler back East. Wish i could join you out there.
Jeff
Go get ‘em Karl!
Hoping the handicapp = A-Trail speed record, round 2? Best of luck at Nutten.
The AT is looking like 2011, I’ll race in Europe next year, then back to the AT. Thanks for all the good words. If I don’t bump into a Korean
at Nutten, I should do well….we’ll see
Karl,
There are two Koreans running MMT. It’s myself and my friend Caroline. You need not worry about either of us
Coochie coochie! As far as me know you da man to beat this year. I figure a bunch of ya will be in the hunt through mile 60… Adam, Bradley, Todd, Glen, Keith.. and without a doubt some horse we’ve never heard of. 13-7 odds? Non-sandbagging, 13-1 may be more like it. Just make sure you have a cold one waitin for me at the finish.
I’ll have a few cold ones waiting at the finish for you. I fit you in at 13-7 after I did the other two. I’m no bookie, just a runner! The dark horse is Nick Pedatella, he won the Antelope Island 50 mile a month ago. I ran an aid station there, and he looked solid for half of 100 miles. If he’s reading, now the pressure is on him. See you soon my man!
Go for it Karl! Here’s hoping for a great race for you. I always enjoy your odds-making for the races. Nick’s performance at Antelope was indeed impressive. It’ll be interesting to see how he does for 100 miles.
I’m happy to be running just 50 miles this Saturday down here at the Jemez. Run strong out there.
Uh, Nick Pedatella won his first ultra (the Silver Rush 50 miler) last July and won his first 100 miler in October. For 23, he runs like a veteran. If he stays on top of his food/fluids, he’ll do well with his smooth and efficient running style and very light weight over those rocky trails. If he shows up to the start line in the lime green striped shirt, watch out!
Karl rock the Nutten!
Yea ha! Gotta love how this sport is evolvng. Ten years ago who would have thought MMT 100 would be a track meet like it will be in a few days. My $$$ is still on you but I’m sure you’ll have company those first 50 - 60 miles. I think I’ll chomp on some aid station food while getting updates.
It’s gonna be a burner no doubt, I’m psyched for it, and hope it’s a repeat Meltzer-Duk Sim, only this time Meltzer in front!
Meltzer-Duk Sim was a classic. Would love to see a repeat, from the comfortable 22-hour running back seat, at least… Godspeed
Just googled Pedatella. Says he’s a Graduate Student in Aerospace Engineering at Boulder. Um, that means, I think, he’s a freakin’ rocket scientist! Wonder what that’ll be good for on Saturday?
Rockets are fast!
Ah, ha! He is also a Penn State grad. So I’m confident he’ll be able to hoist a brewski afterwards.
Pedatella ran fast (somewhat fast) at Antelope. He was 12 inutes ahead at mile 39, then Hiroki almost caught him at the end. Only 2.5 minutes back. It was a pretty flat course, but 6:43 tells me he’s got speed, we’ll see how the hills and rocks treat him.
Karl,
Kerry Owens has never won MMT, for the record. She has come in First Masters Woman 3 times, but never First Overall Woman.
Thanks Kirstin! I was mistaken’
Mongold…..he loves rocks. My money is on him (no offense Karl).
Sounds like a local hero! :-). Doesn’t he hunt bears too?
He hunts bears and Amy has a big crush on him.
face it. Ther will be at least six guys up front within 10 minutes of each other through mile 60. I’ll enjoy my aid station time catching up on what is happening up there.
Out, Thursday morning, see you guys soon!
I’m with Kulak on this one. There will be 5-7 guys within 10-15 minutes of one another. I think the race will start to be broke upon on the descent from Bird’s Knob. The weather looks to be warm/humid. I’d say the winning time will be no faster than 18:45 - with more likely an 18:58 or so. I’m calling it:
1- Mongold - the boy eats rocks, it’s his backyard; he’s tough and crazy.
2 - Toss up between Meltzer and Pedatella
4 - Knipling or Casseday (Both right at 20:00 hours or a tad under)
6- Walker or Redpath
Mike Mason, are you in junior high school or just a misogynist? Hopefully Sproston will forgive you by the time she passes you on Short Mountain.
Looking forward to the WS100 odds. I’m placing Canadian Gary Robbins at 3-1….calling my shot.
Ah Dom! The Western odds will be tough! But let’s focus on this rockfest first eh?
I just freakin’ twisted my ankle at the airport, I guess I’ll try and pull a Jurek at Hardrock, whoops! damn curb.
The full case has arrived!
Nice run!
Nice race….it looks like the AT “base training” this fall is going to pay off huge this summer.
Way to ‘rock’ it Karl! Hope your tunes survived all the rain!
way to go Karl!!! Another win!!! (i just want to finish a 100 miler)
Nice run Karl…I’m drinking an extra beer in honor of your W
Congratulations Karl on your win! The fact that you have at least one 100 win each year for the past 10 years is a magnificient feat.
Maybe you will be written up in one of the running magazines! We are proud of you.
EVERYONE please ignore Dom Repta, kid has been dropped on his head one to many times!
Huge congrats to Karl for winning a 100m for the tenth straight year, legendary!!
GR
Congrats on an awesome race Karl!
Nice to finally meet you in person..
Congrats on the Big Win Karl! It was a blast watching you rock the Massanuttens!
Rock, rox, roc, rok… u rocked it!
Great race, Karl. I was bummed not to see a Mongold-Meltzer rock dual, but maybe another year. Hope you got that cast cut off–I know from past experience that they can get pretty rank and I’m imagining after being wet for that many hours, that hand was anxious to get out of that thing.
trench hand! It comes off in a week, and it’s actually ok to get wet underneath….it’s a special material that dries from inside…….ahhh the technology. Next time Mongold and I will duke it. I think I surprised a few locals running that time. It actually felt kind of easy, and could have been faster!
did Mongold race? Nice work goatboy.
Mongold did not race, apparently he got sick that week. I was bummed, he might have helped me run faster, cuz’ it felt easy…sort of. Everyone says he was the man to beat, but I’m not so sure about that.
yah, was sick and am still sick.
there is a vague but interesting discussion of this over on my buddy Grossman’s blog.
Karl, well done… and thank you for coming East and showing the world that there is old school ultrarunning outside of California.
most years i spend time in your country, and the next time i am out we should go running. if there is snow, we will run a lion. i’d love to see the look in his eyes when he realizes he’s been treed by a goat.
Way to dominate Karl! If that felt easy, I would hate to see what your definition of hard is :)! Congrats!
way to haul it dude!
greetings from san francisco … wondering if there is still lots of snow in LC …
Yah, but melting fast…wanna write a book?