Monthly Archive for March, 2010

The Pony Express Trail is ON!

Published
by
Speedgoat Karl
on March 24, 2010
in Pony Express Trail and Speedgoat 50K
. 60 Comments

So much for running 100 miles at one pop!  It’s time to go big again….this time from Missouri to California.  It’s the 150th anniversary of the Pony Express Trail, so I’ll be teaming up with Red Bull to make it happen.  It’s all gonna start in mid September after I crew for my wife at the Wasatch 100.  More details to follow in the near future.

Before the mighty Pony Express 1840 miler, I’ll still run some big dances.  Here’s the list:

Zane Grey 50mi, April 24.
Jemez Mts 50mi,  May 22
Hardrock 100mi, July 9
RD Speedgoat 50k, July 31
Tour Du Mont Blanc, August 28

One might say I have a ”light schedule” this year.  Not really the case, it’s more about focusing on winning Hardrock for a 6th time and running well at Mt. Blanc.  After that it’s all gravy running across the country….well at least half of it.

This past weekend I attended the opening of the brand spankin’ new Red Bulls Soccer Stadium near NYC.  Noone else goes above and beyond like Red Bull.  First class accomodations, heli rides for athletes, Knicks game, Red Bulls Soccer game, NYC nightlife….you get the picture.  I even got in a run between events…not a bad weekend in the big apple.
The Speedgoat 50k is still continuing to fill quickly! It is approaching the 60%  full mark.  Don’t wait too long, we’re only allowed 200 runners, and at this rate the $89 rooms are gonna get snagged in a hurry.
I’ll be off to Memphis on April 2, to promote a new store opening in the Memphis area, called “Breakaway Running”.  If you are in the area, come join us for discounts, a cool trail run and perhaps a few beers afterwards.  Guaranteed to be a fun time, and you may even find that these guys at the store know what they’re talking about. :-)

 

Leor Pantilat wins Way Too Cool……by default. Joelle Vaught takes the women’s title.

Published
by
Speedgoat Karl
on March 15, 2010
in Race Updates and Speedgoat 50K
. 15 Comments

By Default?  Yah, while hanging at the Way Too Cool 50k this past weekend, it was quite entertaining to watch the race from the other side of the fence.  I made the best of it and went for a 10 mile run and put myself out on the course to watch where no other spectators were.   At the Goat Hill aid station, mile 26.8, Max King, Geoff Roes, and Leor Pantilat were all together.  It was shaping up to be a great battle the last 4 miles.  I was sitting across a meadow where I could see a few minutes back.  Once I saw all three guys, I started running towards the finish line, thinking they would catch me.  They didn’t catch me, but I waited at the last aid station where there is only 1.3 miles to go to the finish.  Leor came in first, with a 3 minute gap over Max King.  Where was Geoff Roes?…..he was running on some other trail where he got off course….OUCH!  Geoff had the race in his pocket, but only to find he had burnt a hole in it running so fast.  Wrong way, lost 15 minutes…ended up third. Leor looked good at the end, but in Leor’s words….”Geoff was gone, and would have won”.  These things happen in ultras………..I guess it’s a good thing there’s no real prize money. :-)

Joelle Vaught returned to Way Too Cool after finishing 3rd last year.  She had some stiff comp from “expected winner” Kami Semick.  Joelle turned in a stellar performance running 4:13 to make it her second win at WTC, not too far off Susannah Beck’s record pace set on the old course. Kami Semick dropped for some reason, Bev Abbs ran second around 4:26, Darcy Africa ended 3rd a few minutes behind.  Both races were great to watch.  This one always brings in strong talent, and this year was no exception.

The Speedgoat 50k is now over half full, and I can now expect it to fill up early as entries continue to trickle in.  If you are thinking about running, time to make the committment and get’ er done.  Only 97 entries available at this point. 

This weekend I will travel to NYC for the opening of the new Red Bull Stadium, in support of the “New York Red Bulls” Futbol team.  (Soccer for all you US folks! ) :-) I don’t think I’ll be moving around like the guy in the video, however, it will be an extreme honor to hang with fellow olympians, Shaun White, Lyndsey Vonn, and all the other Red Bull athletes this weekend.  I hope I can hold my own in this crowd.  I’ll just be myself and be entertained in many different ways. 

Coyote Two Moon results are up now.  For the second straight effort, I finished 4 minutes behind the “winner” in this year’s event.  Although I was easily the fastest one to complete the distance, it doesn’t really matter here, it’s who has the most fun.  Although, I can say I was right in there in the “fun” catagory. 

I will have to add that this was my 29th 100 mile win in 44 starts.  The time counts in my book!

El Nino-0, and a peak at the moon!

Published
by
Speedgoat Karl
on March 8, 2010
in Race Updates
. 12 Comments

No other run on the planet is quite like the Coyote Two Moon 100.  150 crazy mountain runners get the opportunity to run 100 miles through the beautiful mountains of Ojai, California.  Our pre-race runs at Pt. Mugu state park began the fun.  Pt. Mugu is a cool place, views of the ocean on prime singletrack….a pretty nice place to go for a run after 11 straight hours at the wheel.

This years’ weather was typical for southern California…..rainy and snowing above about 4000′.  Yah, that’s right, my second 100 mile race in a few months in So. Cal in a snowstorm.  It rained and snowed most of the event, with the summit of Topa Topa catching about 5″ of new snow during the night of the race.   Crazy stuff, but this storm was a calm one, unlike the previous at the Chimera 100 where the winds topped 50 mph.  C2M was doable….and we even got a peak at the moon at about 4:00am.  The moon was bright, and one of the many reasons to come to this event.

It all starts early with the slowest runners starting first with 40 hours to get it done.  I started last with 22 hours to make the cut-off.  There was pressure, so I had to keep the throttle down.  I managed to keep the throttle down, although I’ll have to say, it wasn’t working as well with 15 miles to go.  I was still jogging…so I guess that’s acceptable.   The stats:

32 of 150 finished between both the 100k and 100 mile races!  That’s about a 21% finish rate….pretty low.  The beauty of it was, only one guy went over Topa Topa for a few hours, and still found his way back…no worries.

Fastest guy to cover the course in real time…Me, 21:05.  Second was Jared Campbell in 23:15 ish.  My guess is Betsy Nye was the fastest lady around 29:08 ish . That’s all I have on results.  The true results will be posted here, most likely Friday sometime,  after all of our boner and bonus minutes are added/subtracted from our overall times.

Best bowling score:  I don’t know :-)

Best race: C2M, a killer course, in a class of it’s own.

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