Leadville and a little love
First, the little love:
I gotta thank First Endurance for supporting our Speedgoat 50k. We went through 16 cannisters of EFS drink on the course, and a whopping 10 cannisters of Ultragen at the finish line! My only complaint is that too many people said a few days later that they are already recovered. I guess when you give 80% of the field some recovery gold at the finish line, you’re gonna hear that. I guess next year I’ll make the course tougher, if I can find another nice, steep hill.
We had 134 prizes to give out, some were not given due to 47 folks not showing up on race morning, I hope I didn’t scare them away. These prizes will go back in the prize pool for next year.
Drymax gave everyone a pair of socks. That alone is a sweet deal!
Ultraspire donated 50 handhelds, and 250 Speedgoat 50k bottles to fill with Ultragen at the finish.
Ryders Eyewear donated 30 pairs of Sunglasses. Most sunglass companies might donate a couple pair.
Needless to say, I thnk we’re on to something here…..
Back to Business..In short summary, the Leadville 100 has a strong enough field to make it competitive up front on the mens side, the womens side has a few fast women, but it’ll end up being a 2-3 woman race. For the men, it’ll be 4-5 guys after mile 50 still in it. And they would be:
1. Timmy Parr. Fastest of the bunch on shorter stuff, and has won it before in mid 17’s
2. Jeff Browning. He’s textbook, and will run strong to the finish.
3. Ryan Burch. If he’s fresh, and feels good, he could steal it.
4. Mike Arnstein. I think he won Vermont recently, his only deal will be the altitude which he’s not really used to, depends when he arrived in Leadville.
5. Neal Gorman. He’s got the textbook in his pocket too, but not quite as fast as Browning.
6. Dan Barger. Close, but not close enough.
7. Oz Pearlman. Yah, he’s fast, but better at shorter stuff. Altitude could play a factor.
8. Allen Bellshaw. Can he rekindle the speed?
9. Kevin Koch. He’s due.
10. Jason Schlarb. He’s easily due to run top 5
Women:
1. Liz Howard. Definately the one to beat, but will the altitude affect this Texan?
2 & 3. Ronda Sundermeier and Jenny Capel should duke it out for 2nd and 3rd.
4. Megan Morrissey. Looking to pick up a podium spot, and I believe from Colorado which could ultimately work very much in her favor.
That’s all I got on the race, and as I said before, my site is currently under construction, and will be all new soon, it’s getting closer. Hey, these things take time. 🙂
How am I doing? How’s my back? (as if I haven’t heard that before) My report is simple. I am not running yet. I am not going to France for UTMB :-(. I am likely not running a race this fall. Sure, it sounds bleak, but it’s not as bad as one may think.
For the past week and a half, I’ve been hiking around Alta and Snowbird at a clip of almost 4mph. It’s all been walking with a few short sections of what one may call a jog. I did get a cortisone shot 11 days ago and it seems to be helping somewhat, it has not been the miracle cure, but has helped some. I have been using my Black Diamond Z-Poles for stability and that really helps me move along pretty quick. For the next 2-3 months, I would not expect to be seen at a race….but who knows, in 2000 I had a bulging disc in June, didn’t run all summer, then this happened. I guess I’ll just keep walking and walking some more.
