This year marks the “innaugural” UROC 100k “race of champions”.  It should be a decent race up front, hopefully the race will go off without any snags, wrong turns, horrible weather, or anything else that can happen.  The race has previously existed as the GEER 100k, but with limited entrants.  The course is now different, so essentially it’s a different race.   Wintergreen Resort looks to be a great place to have the start/finish, and should accomodate all the “champions”.

So below is are my Speedgoat Odds:

1.  Dave Mackey  3-2.  Dave gets the nod for sure.  He’s the leading candidate for UROY, and could seal the deal now if he takes home the whopping $2500 to the kiddos.   Dave rarely is beaten at any race below 100k. Miwok, Waldo, the list goes on.  Dave will win.

2. Geoff Roes  3-1.  One of the few that can hang with Dave in the mountains, and after reading his blog, it seems he’s coming back and feeling pretty good.  Not sure how much his head is in the game, but I hope it’s ready to rip.  It would shut up “cloud” for once.  I’m sure we’d all like to see that.

3.  Mike Wardian  7-2.   Mike is coming off the world 100k and should be a bit tired.  Depending on how technical the course is will determine how far behind Dave and Geoff he finishes.  He’s fast, no doubt, and would probably be ranked #1, but it’s a trail race, and they claim it to be “technical”.  Not sure how technical it really is.  Hopefully next year I”ll find out and have a better idea.

4.  Dave James  6-1.  Sounds like Dave is a bit tired from “life” right now, but he’s not afraid to go out hard and see what happens.  He’s one of those guys that has it in him to run up front, it just has to click all day. 4th is just about right in my book.

5.  Ian Sharman  7-1.  Ian ran 12:44 for 100 miles last February, that alone, you would think, could put him on top.  However, he hasn’t dominated anything lately.  He’s run great all year, and should be able to hang for a while.

The rest of the “elite” field will follow this group of 5, cuz anyone who thinks they will run away from Mac Daddy in his Hokas, is only fooling themselves……

THE WOMEN:

Uhhhhhh, not much talk about the ladies in this race.  And if you go to the website, I can’t just pull up a runners list.  What’s up with that?

Thanks Bryon Powell at Irunfar.com for showing us the mens field. 

I”m sure it’s gotta be out there, but you would think we could view it easily.

I know Devon Crosby-Helms and Krissy Moehl should be running, not sure on the rest.  Should be easy money for them.

How am I doing?  Good question.   After running the Wasatch 100 10 days ago, my back has decided to piss me off again.  It’s not horrible, but I’m not running, and won’t run a race for a while. I need to get this thing back in check.  What it is doing for me is an “engine recharge”.  Once I get going again, I can feel the fire coming back, much like it did at Wasatch.  I”ll be back at it soon enough,  unless the snow flies early and I”m shoveling out the track.

Good luck to all at UROC!  I know I’ll be watching.  Hopefully coverage will be stellar.  We all know Irunfar will have it dialed.

Need a pair of Hokas?   Fleet Feet in Bend Oregon,  is offering 10% off and free shipping…and no tax!.  Now all you folks in Bend and the sorrounding area can try em’ on first, then it’s time to fly.