The “Desert Halloween Party” up next
The Javelina Jundred happens this weekend. A few fast guys out front should make this one to watch. Will Jorge finally break my record?, or will Paul DeWitt and Josh Brimhall get the best of the fast starter….we’ll see. Here’s my picks:
Jorge Pacheco 3-1. Jorge gets the nod because he’s the previous winner, but he’ll have to run smart to outdual the other two right below him. Last year he was on record pace, but fell off on the 5th lap. We’ll see if he holds it this year. Paul DeWitt 7-2. When Paul is on, he’s tough to beat, he’s certainly got the speed to run under the record too, if his legs hang on that long. He’s got a plan mentioned on his site...something about 14:30. Pretty ambitious with the current record at 15:25. His conservative start plan looks good on paper, we’ll see how it pans out on dirt. Josh Brimhall 5-1. Josh is real fit right now, but may have other plans with the “dream team” at JFK next month, so he may not show up, but if he does, he’s no rookie on the Pemberton trail, and can certainly hang with Paul and Jorge. 100s aren’t really his specialty, but he’s due for a fast one. David James 7-1. Tough call on David. He ran some fast times early this year at the Pocatello 50 in May, but had a hard day at Western. It’s his time to shine now. He’ll be the “darkhorse” for the men. The rest of the field below won’t contend for the win, but look for these guys to battle it out for 5th, and two steps off of the podium unless those up front call it a day early and go trick or treating. Alan Abbs, Sandy Baker, Mark Matyazic, Dean “the bowling machine” Dobberteen, Logan Beaulieau, and John Ticer should round out the rest, as well as a few others I’ve missed.The Ladies race is a two women battle + some darkhorse who may show up.
Bev Abbs gets the nod at 3-1. Bev has more 100 mile experience and is always tough to the end, so without any real issues, she’ll be the first women done by an hour. Michelle Barton 5-1. Close, but not quite as quick as Bev. She’ll go out a bit easier too, and will hope to chase down Bev later once the wolves start howling at the moon. Darkhorse #1 7-1. Don’t know who that is yet, but tune in during race day to find out, cuz’ there’s always a few in the field, and this race always puts a few fast ones from the Phoenix area on the starting line.My next race is the Pinhoti 100 down in Alabama, I’ll be looking for win #28 at 100 miles. This race looks sweet as 85% of it is singletrack deep in the woods. I’ll do odds on that one early next week, so stay tuned. The race looks like some good comp too, so it should be interesting to see if I can bang out one more to make it 5 100 mile wins this year.
The Speedgoat 50k applications are going online January 1st this time, one month later than last year to avoid the tax man. Put it on your calendar for July 31st. It’s the toughest one in town! Chances are it’ll fill up this year at 200 runners after that sweet spread in Ultrarunning mag in the October issue. If you want a cool shirt with that silly goatman on it, sign up on Jan 1st to assure a position in the herd.
If anyone local here in SLC is interested in some very cool “brain mapping”, contact Dr. Aharon Shumlinson for more details at aharon@xmission.com. He’s been doing extensive research on why us crazy people in ultrarunning can keep on going for 100s of miles at a time. He helps us at the Big Mountain aid station being the captain, why not help him with some cool research. It only takes about an hour.
Along with the Pinhoti odds next week, the Mountain Masochist 50 odds will also be attempted. Word is out that along with a few fast guys officially on the list, Anton Krupicka, Geoff Roes, and Brazilian star, Valmir Nunez is in the field. These guys will take a crack at earning the spot at Western next year thru that silly cup thing. Check back next week for my mildly entertaining write-up.
And don’t forget to click the goatman in the upper right corner for random deals at Backcountry.com. They constantly run specials, so always good to check back occasionally, especially with Christmas coming.
