Timmy Parr takes the dance at 17:27! A fast start weeded out the field, but a few guys hung tough to the end. Nick Lewis from Memphis, TN placed a strong second in his first 100 mile adventure and paid 13-1. He plans on spending his winnings on prep for next year. I had the pleasure of running the last 13 miles with this year’s bride’s maid, running the fastest split of the day for the last 13 miles. Tony K had issues at roughly mile 70 and had to bail after the Fish Hatchery. Never underestimate the distance.
Darcy Africa was leading early with all smiles thru Twin Lakes. I’ll do my best to report the women’s winner….if I can stay awake. Watch the race live at: www.leadvilletrail100.com
It’s about that time again to see if I can pick’em at the Leadville 100. The guys and gals I have listed here are straight off of the current runners list. One guy who we all know may or may not be running. Tony K is not on the list right now, so I won’t put him on top where he belongs. If he is running, it’s his to lose. I’ll be in Leadville for the race watching, spectating and enjoying this great 100 mile race from the sidelines. I’m waiting for Wasatch in a few weeks.
The Men:
Tony Krupicka 1-2. Not a good bet if you are trying to make money….he’ll be gone once he gets down the road! Great to see he is in. I bet Mr. Carpenter is watching!
Duncan Callahan 4-1. Duncan ran a great race last year winning around 18 hours. A great time. No doubt he’ll be thinking about breaking that 18 hour barrier and even pushing 17. He gets the nod as the favorite for now.
Andy Jones-Wilkins 5-1. This year’s field is really tight. Andy probably is the best in the field at keeping it together for long distances. He’s proven that with the great run at Hardrock around 28 hours only two weeks after Western. He’s been rested now and should be in the thing to win it if noone really steps up and runs sub 17.
Nick Pedatella 6-1. Nick ran great in the early season at Antelope Island. He had a rough run at Massannutten, but probably has a little redemption on his mind, not to mention he’s back on some familiar turf in Leadville.
Ryan Burch 7-1. Ryan has all the tools necessary but lacks a little 100 mile experience. He also ran fast early season and a good run at the San Juan Solstice 50 in June. If he nails the day, look for him to be near the front at the end.
Harry Harcrow 8-1. Harry kind of flys under the radar, is not really fast enough to win it, but is strong and should crack top 5 on his home turf. He’s got good experience here, he knows the track.
Dink Taylor 10-1. He would love to do well here. He lacks some altitude experience, but still has speed. Leadville is a speedsters course at altitude, so he’ll need to find some extra oxygen somewhere to be near the front. He might, he’s quite talented.
Nick Lewis 13-1. He’s the sleeper from Memphis. He’s super fast, but lacks a little 100 mile experience. He’ll have good advice and help from Billy Simpson…he’s the mystery man in the field.
Aaron Schwartzbard 16-1. Another east coaster hoping to crack top 10. If he runs smart he could crack top 5.
Garrett Graubins 20-1. I’d love to see Garrett kill it here. Another sleeper to crack top 10.
Other fast guys to watch: Ryan Cooper, Jeff Beuche, Timmy Parr, Zack Tiernan, Bryon Powell, Jason Koop, Todd Gangelhoff. ( Thanks Garrett! )
The women:
Jamie Donaldson 3-1. Jamie proved last year that she’s for real. If she runs textbook style it should be a good race with the smiley girl below.
Darcy Africa 4-1. Darcy is always the cheeriest runner in the field. If she stays happy, she can certainly outrun Jamie. She always runs pretty well, it’s just a matter if being a mom has taken over some of her training time. She also knows Leadville as well as anyone in the field.
Julie Fingar 6-1. Somewhat of a mystery for me to predict, but she should make top 3, probably in 3rd behind the two above. She’s just a little slower…she’ll run 3rd.
Susan Brozik, Jen Foster and Michelle Barton should duke it for the top 5 positions.
The Wind River expedition this past week was simply epic. 5 days backpacking in the Bridger Wilderness is simply the best around. One comment from Mr. Belzz was simply…”No place can possibly be better than this”. Classic quote!
I caught a total of 14 trout, the largest being about 14″. We only ate a few as we decided to eat that wonderful dry food to take off some weight in our packs. We got snowed on Friday night with 2″ on our tents in the early AM. It killed off the mosquitos. The first two days, 20,000 mosquitos carried me out of my tent. We had a taste of it all! I was only heckled a few times on day one as the distance creeped up to 12 miles of essentially all uphill miles. Sometimes I get a little out of hand and forget about distance 
!
Gear Reviews at Backcountry.com
Hey Karl -
Fun list … with a few omissions. There are so many super-talented runners in the field this year, that it’d be impossible to catch all of them!
The darkhorse everybody’s abuzz about is Tim Parr. Tim’s a 2:20 marathoner and past U.S. Mountain Running Team member. He’s been training with Duncan in Gunnison and even paced him last year. I believe he also beat Mackey at the Moab Red Hot last year. Look for him to hang with Anton. The big question: can he go the full 100?
Also: Ryan Cooper, Bryon Powell, Jason Koop, Zeke Tiernan (3rd last year), Jeff Beuche (3rd a few years ago), Todd Gangelhoff.
20 to 1 for me? I think that’s roughly the same odds that the Cubs got to win the World Series this year. So I guess that sounds ’bout right, seeing that they’re now 6 games back of the Cardinals.
Hope the Wasatch training’s going well.
- Garett
Leadville is tough for me to predict. Lots of guys that have it in them. Unfortunately I don’t know everyone.
Tim Parr was just behind Mackey at Moab. Tim is probably the fastest guy in the field at shorter distances…but you are right, can he go the distance. That is yet to be determined.
Zeke Tiernan is that other really fast guy that we’re not sure can go the distance. It’ll be fun to watch these guys go through 40 miles and see what they look like.
I missed Jeff Beuche! He’ll get some love in a moment.
Billy filled you in on Nick Lewis I see Mr. Karl. I’m pulling for him to place right up there - wish i could join the fun to crew. And, I’m still suffering from post-AT assault withdrawal disorder after following you last summer. When’s attempt #2 ??
Looks like Tony is running LT 100
http://antonkrupicka.blogspot.com/
J
Don’t discount Andy Henshaw. Up and comer.
One other ommision. If I may. Andrew Henshaw from Kansas. Just took 6TH overall with a 7:18 there. He beat some really strong runners in that field. He lacks the 100 mile expierience but definitely has the tools required. He’s also been camping out at Twin Lakes for three weeks now. So he should be ready. Heard he was shooting for a sub 18 hr performance. That would be great if he did. I think though that he’ll crack the top 10. Also you left out Charles Corfield who for some reason always finds his way into the top ten there.
Sorry I forgot to mention that the race he finished 6TH O/A in was the White River 50 miler. Hope to see you at one of the aide stations Karl. Take care.
I am really excited to see how Bruce Labelle does. Ia m pretty sure this is Bruce’s first 100-miler since Western States in the 80’s and he ran some crazy-sick times back then.
Bryon Powell has some great interviews on his blog: http://blog.irunfar.com/
Cheers, Paul
this is gonna be a good one to watch. i think mr. dylan might have had this one in mind. if tony runs well there will be blood on the tracks for 2nd……….billy
Andy is ready and WILL be running. He seems confident. See his latest blog: http://antonkrupicka.blogspot.com/2009/08/ready.html
I meant Tony K:)
2 words, Timmy Parr.
HE will be in the thick of it. Go Gunny
Timmy killed it!
hey karl….thanks for coming out and hanging out with the memphis boys. thanks for all the encouragement and support for nick and the rest of the boys. nick is definately on cloud 9. it was great to see you man and hope to see you sooner rather than later. give binger a hug….