This weekend I’ll be at the Pinhoti Trail 100 down in Alabama. Roch Horton are running for team Utah. My wife Cheryl will be crewing, keeping us efficient throughout. It should be a pretty good race with about 5 of us thinking about winning the thing. I have some periformis issues, but hope for that to get numb by mile 40 so I can start running. It’s been a little shifty after a short 5 mile run about a week ago. But I’m not gonna sandbag….I know I’m the favorite. 
Also check out the Mountain Masochist 50 mile in Virginia this weekend as the field seems to be real competitive. Through the grapevine (but not confirmed) Geoff Roes, Anton Krupicka, and Valmir Nunes should be on the list. Jasper Halekas should also give these three some problems. I was gonna do odds, but because these three aren’t on the runners list, I decided to bag it and think about Alabama. If I were to pick anyone, I’d pick Anton, then Geoff right behind. Valmir is probably the fastest guy in there, but his trail experience is nothing compared to Anton, Geoff and Jasper. We’ll see if Mr. Badwater can hang with some trail junkies.
Gotta go, cuz’ I got a flight to catch.
We’ll see you down here for Pinhoti. Myself, the Youngren’s and Blake Thompson are heading up the Mile 85 a/s at Bulls Gap, with homemade waffles planned for weary runners.
You Pinhoti mostly right in your description, tons of single track deep in the woods. Think Sleepy Hollow-Ichabod Crame-Headless Horseman sppoky; all the Pinhoti Trail in the dark is just plain rough. Tons of rocks and holes, all covered by fallend leaves (its gorgeous here now), with dozens of downed trees to boot. We’ll be looking for ya!
Josh Kennedy
Huntsville, AL
Horton did the seedings for MMTR this year…
http://eco-xsports.blogspot.com/
Good luck to the Utes in Bama! Looks like a great course to tackle this time of the year. Well, at least there won’t be snow .
I pick Roes for the win.
And, of course, 3 Canadians in the top 10…Robbins, Redpath and Hill.
I’m not sure why I’m still on the MMT entrants list - I withdrew a month ago. The whole not being able to run three miles pain-free and all, you know… I doubt I would pose much of a threat to Anton and Geoff and Valmir on the best of days, anyway. Watch out for Gary Robbins - he’ll be gunning for a WS spot as well.
-J
If anyone is interested here is a current list of seeded runners for MMTR
http://www.eco-xsports.blogspot.com/
Good luck this weekend! When the race is over, i’d be interested to hear about your piriformis issues and what you’ve done to try to fix it. I’ve had it since May, ran a marathon with it,but the damn thing won’t leave me even with a good amount of rest. Thanks!
See you at AS4! (GUTS aid station).
Congrats Karl on your record breaking performance at Pinhoti. I followed what I could on twitter and saw that you were tearing it up. Was the course everything you imagined it would be? Of course it isn’t the mountains of the West.
Pinhoti is a great course, somewhat “repetitive”, making it a mental game out there. I had a decent run, but still, there is room for improvement. I backed off the throttle around mile 60 once I knew I had over an hour lead. The record could be in the high 15’s on a good day. 7:52 split at mile 50 gives me that idea. And the second half was easier because of less singletrack and more dirt road. Great course, well marked and comes highly recommended. At least the record is no longer “soft”.
Congrats to Geoff for killing it at Masochist. I think at this point I vote for him for UROY. Less performances than I, but all of his were awesome, with the exception of Miwok. Good stuff.
Back to the couch!
Great Job, inspiring year actually. At 50 y.o., I am not playing baseball pretending to be Mickey Mantle but I am trail running pretending to be the speedgoat. Maybe (big) you are not the UROY, but there is no question about you are a first ballot hall of famer.
Maybe while you are on the couch, you can work on some odds for the NF 50 coming up. If the field has all the talents from last year, plus some additional top runners, this could be one of the best 50s ever. I like Matt Carpenter to defend(if he’s in)but Geoff seems unbeatable. Then again, Matt almost never loses. And there are going to be many others in it. Wide open??
I still think Matt will win. He won’t enter till later most likely. Geoff is on fire too. I’d love to see Geoff win it, but think Matt’s still a little better.
First hall of famer? I like it!
Don’t I get some bonus points for being 42 years old? For UROY?
I think Geoff is 10 years younger than I am. At least I have the “Masters Division” locked up! 
Karl, hope you enjoyed Pinhoti. It was cool to ask around at aid stations how quickly you had come in - I guessed you pre-race at a sub-16, and still think it’s there - especially after that 50 split.
Good job, man - it’s fun to watch you rippers …rip.
Cheers!
Christian
karl, get yourself entered in that NF race if you’re not already. it’s filling up fast.
What if Krupicka decides to show up! Can’t count him out. How about Wardian as well. Man. If Steidl and all these guys showed up it would be a real barn burner.
I’m thinking of bagging it. The runners list shows only 201 on it, and the limit is 250. Maybe NF should have someone update the entrants list instead of waiting for the last 49 to enter. I have another idea up my sleeve right now, and deciding on that. So we’ll give it a few more days before I decide. Funny how all those fast guys that ran last year aren’t on the list yet. ???
According to Twitter, it’s closed. I wonder how this will play out!
http://twitter.com/thenorthfaceECS
Steidl is on the list
I found a website that shows, clear as a bell, what some of the more famous races look like. Therunscout.com Miwok, Wasatch Front, …… so cool!
How can NF call it a championship with elites shut out? Lotteries and caps are understandable but not if you are calling the race a championship. I hope what’s “up your sleeve” is a solution. There is a race in NY where only credentials will get you in called the Enscarpment. Nothing would be better to see than a completely stacked field! This from a guy who runs far, far , far back in the pack.
Hello Tim, I would be willing to bet North Face lets in more elite athletes at the end. But we’ll see. With $10,000 on the line, they should most definately let in anyone who can break at least 8 hours at the race in to run it. No, 8 hours would not be close, but would provide many runners to constantly come in one after the other with fast times.
Only Western shuts down runners and calls it a “Championship”. Although I haven’t seen that “title” this year, so I may be jumping the gun on that a bit.
As I did not enter WS into the lottery because I was not sure what I was doing next year, I tried to wiggle my way on the “lottery list”. It was my fault 100% for not entering, so I will not criticize anyone on the WS board for not letting me on that list. I totally understand rules are rules. But I wasn’t asking for free entry, I just asked to pay my 310 bucks and get on the list. It was a no-go and I was told to go run some other races to qualify. I just think it’s funny that WS does not have a 100 mile qualifier when Way Too Cool is a qualifier. It’s wrong, do they think elite athletes can only run 1, 100 miler in a year. I think Geoff and I prove that it’s possible to run more than one! Anyway, I won’t dwell on it, it was my fault to begin with. Oh well, another year Westernless…perhaps that stellar course in Colorado is calling me again. We’ll see.
What’s up my sleeve? I’ll tell but not yet, it’s not too wierd, just an idea. I’ts not a solution for everyone, just me.
What is funny is that they “will not allow elite entries” at NF but, like you pointed out, none of the “fast guys” are on the list. Seems fishy to me…
Maybe NF should sponsor WS and call it “The Elitist 100″ and not actually have an entry process…just let the RD pick who is “good enough” to run.
How’s Binger?? You need to come to Ashland and visit!!
Wouldn’t it be cool if about 40 of the best 100 mile runners would each throw down 200 bucks apiece and race a 100 across somewhere in Colorado? All under the radar, we all go scope the course out first, then winner takes all. That would be cool.
Binger is hanging tough, sitting here waiting for his next “bark n’ bacon” biscuit.
They smell so good, I could eat one.
I’ll make it to Ashland, maybe even on NF weekend. I’ll just stop there instead. We’ll see.
Karl - Great idea! I’ll help out where ever you need! Hey man - even if only 10 guys show up that’s a chunk o change. None of this flat shit either - make it gnarly!
Sounds good on paper, and I’d be in, in a heartbeat. No Trans-Rockies type course, only cool singletrack. How about around Crested Butte? That would be sick.
Help out? You need to enter Mr. FastED!!! Same as an entry fee, right?
The course should be runnable though. If there is a lot of power hiking and technical shit, then you may not see as many fast guys show up. The course should be trail, but a good mix of service roads, single-track, XC ski trail and technical. That way folks can exploit their strengths. Make the race at 5,000 feet.
Mt. Blanc would be the prime location and type of course. But chances are it won’t happen. It was a good thought. Mt. Blanc is actually quite runnable.
It should be a mountain race in my eyes. Yah, I’m biased, but it is what it is.
I know one thing, I won’t be the organizer. It would be too hard to make it happen. It just sounds good on paper.
Hmmm, maybe we could do the championship course in norther Utah? Karl, what time of the year where you thinking?