for the last year montrail canada'sgary robbins has been storming the ultrarunning scene. he's a new comer to most, but not me. in my previous life as an adventure racer gary was a canadian staple at any major event. and just like myself, found a true passion and in gary's case a true talent for ultrarunning. he's always the most upbeat and stoked guy on the course, even when suffering like a dawg (as you'll see in the video). here is the video i took of gary on the 2009 western states 100 course. gary went out hard and was in the top 10 the first half of the race and told me the lack of heat training caught up to him. he finished in 23:07:20 for 46th place. congrats on getting that sub-24hr belt buckle gary! he also told me the next day that he plans on coming back next year.
Anita Ortiz WINS the 2009 Western States 100 Miler
anita ortiz ran a pretty amazing race to win the 2009 western states 100 mile ultramarathon. anita and bev battled early but then she took the lead for good at michigan bluff. she ran squaw valley to auburn, california in 18:24:17, 1st woman, 9th overall. i met anita at the 2008 transrockies, where she was putting on a similar display of female dominance. what makes her win so impressive is thatthree of the top women in the sport were there to compete, krissy, nikki and bev. what makes this win incredible is that it was her 1st 100 miler! - when you're good, you're good (or great i guess).
Hal Koerner WINS the 2009 Western States 100 Miler
this. is. simply. amazing.
hal koerner wins his second western states 100 miler in a row! he dominated likely the most competitive field of 100 mile ultrarunners ever assembled. as he said in his pre-race interview he wanted to "go out hard" and "put a gap on" the field. he ran from squaw to auburn, ca in 16:24:55
hal's a buddy of mine and i couldn't be more stoked for him. congrats hal! seriously incredible running. you have inspired me hal.
Brian Robinson Pre 2009 Western States 100 Interview
"In 2008 Flyin' Brian Robinson set a course record of 55hr 42min. He was the first person to hike the 3 major N-S U.S. trails in a single calendar year: Appalacian, Continental Divide, and Pacific Crest, 7400 miles in 300 days. " that is the description of flyin' brian robinson on the barkley marathon website. i am admitedly infatuated with this seemingly impossible 100 mile race in tennessee, and after hearing how he set a new course record (yes i wish i had video taped that) he was nice enough to give me a quick interview. brian finished in 45th in a time of place in 22:52:47.
Jasper Halekas Pre 2009 Western States 100 Interview
didn't have the connection to get this up before the race so it's going up now. jasper halekas ended up running an amazingly strong race for 4th place in 16:56:26 at the 2009 Western States 100 Miler.
i caught bryon powell just as the runners had started the 2009 western states 100 mile ultramarathon from squaw valley to auburn, ca. bryon has become a good buddy and he's a great guy with a very cool ultrarunning blog you should check out. powell is the ultimate ultra-geek.
montrail and nuun runner sean meissner let's us know how he's feeling before the biggest, most competitive 100 mile ultramarathon of the year, the western states 100. and gives us his top 3 predictions for the big race tomorrow from squaw valley to auburn.
i'm having trouble deciding on the 100 miler i want to run this year in june/july. sort of my "a" race for mid summer. i honestly thought i'd get into either western states 100 or the hardrock 100. now that i didn't get in i am looking around and i think i'd pick between these two races.. please comment on which one you think i should run - i need some help.
my criteria are:
tough course - at least 18,000ft of gain
competition - there has to be some other good runners
beautiful and interesting course - not too much looping or repeating
it's got to be between june 1 - july 21st - i need at least two weeks to be able to join karl on his appalachian trail assault.
it has to still have spots available to sign up!! geeze.
Option #1: June 20 - Big Horn Wild and Scenic 100 miler - Dayton, WY big horn is awesome. i ran the 50km last year and loved it. pros: i've been on the course. the race is well done. it's mountainous and bad ass. jeff browning, jamie gifford and ty draney will be there. jeff has won a couple times and before last year had the course record. also running this will be redemption for having to drop down to the "j.v. race" last year. cons: i've been to this race, seen part of this course and know how well done it all is.
Option #2: July 19 - Tahoe Rim Trail 100 - Tahoe, CA USATF National Champioship pros: it's a new course (for me). i've run some of this during an adventure run years ago. as the usatf 100 mile national championship there will be great competition there for sure. tahoe is awesome. cons: it's a runners course. fast guys with real turnover will smoke me.
let me know.. comment on what you think or suggest another race!
i will not be getting one of these buckles this year. the western states 100 lottery was saturday and i did not get in. i have mixed emotions about this. for years as an adventure racer i used to dream of focusing on running and seeing how i could do in the biggest ultras, against the best out there. in my observations of the ultra scene the biggest stage seems to be western states 100 and the hardest race seems to be the hardrock 100 (with it's 32,000 feet of gain). they start accepting applications for hardrock on january 1... and i want in!
honestly the terrain and rediculousness of hardrock is more suited to my current skills.. and i know i'll enjoy the training for this more than i would for training for western states. now if the lottery gods will allow me entry! wish me luck.. i'll need it.
training: i'm enjoying the off-season. i'm coaching a lot and increasing my client list - i love this job!. i'm still healing from my double hernia surgery, so there is a bit of residual ab pain and even worse are my hips. i used to think my hip issues were related to the hernias, now i'm not so sure. i've gradually increased my volume since my surgery, 11:51; 12:13; 15:06; with this week around 19 hours and next week being my peak volume week of this meso-cycle at 25 hour-ish. got in a good 30 mile road ride today with kimberly and i'll ride 50 miles tomorrow... likely in a downpour. i've gotta be done by nuun so i can watch the seahawks with the boys.
skiing: this seattle weather is killing me! yesterday was supposed to be my first day in the backcountry on skis. the plan was to skin and ski mount rainier.. thwarted! crappy conditions had us then turn our attention to mt baker area, table mtn and ptarmigan ridge. woke up and the telemetry data said 1 inch of rain had fallen overnight and it was still raining below 6,000ft.
we hiked mailbox peak with 30 lbs backpacks instead. i'm still waiting on getting those first turns.
racing: i'm debating whether or not i'm going to do an early season 24 hour solo mtn bike race. i'm undecided partly because i really want to return to run big horn again. i won the 50k last year and would run the 50 miler in '08 if i went.. and i'd hope ty draney would run another distance! however if i did the round the clock 24hr solo i wouldn't be recovered for big horn, or even trained for it for that matter. recovery from a 24 hour mtn bike race is not joke, so i wouldn't be able to race for over a month after, maybe longer. which makes me think maybe i'll do it as two person team. when i think about local mtn bikers to race with... it would have to be my dart-nuun adv racing teammate ryan vangorder - doods a monster.
december 1st is the western states lottery. "there are a record number of entries in the Western States lottery this year (1,352!)... and a dismal 16% chance of getting selected." this is from ajw's blog, he then goes on to list the top male contenders who have signed up. it's an impressive and intimidating list. gets me all fired up to run it!
coaching: coaching has been an absolute joy lately. i've just finished a 5 week session of weekly track workouts and demand was so high i'm doing another one in december!! i've also added to the client list a couple of adventure racers getting ready for primal quest 2008 - very exciting.
quote of the day: "We have found that there is no conflict between our business model of everyday low costs and everyday low prices and being a more sustainable business," Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott said in the Wal-Mart Environmental Report.
ok, it's done. after a month of waffling (it costs $310!) i decided i'd sign up for both western states 100 (the oldest and most prestigous 100 miler) and the hardrock 100 (the hardest 100 miler) and let fate decide which one i run in 2008. there are so many entrants into both of these races that they have lottery systems in place to randomly select who gets to race. this is the case for most of the major 100 milers in the u.s.a. - kind of amazing how many crazy folks wanna run 100 trail miles. the lottery for western states is december 1st, mark your calendars. if i don't get into western states i will apply for hardrock.
my training will be vastly different this year depending on which one i get in to (if any)... either way i'm excited about 2008! the hardrock 100 as a race really speaks to me. it starts in silverton, co at 10,000 feet elevation and over the course of 100 miles it climbs 32,000 feet - it is rediculous, and i like that.
hal koerner wins western states 100 miler - bev abbs takes 2nd place
just now back from western states 100 mile endurance run. as i said two posts ago i was cheering for my buddy hal koerner to win this year... and he did! the guy ran an amazing race and led from start to finish.. congrats hal! just incredible.
i paced bev abbs the last 38 from forest hill into the finish. we had a blast, and she ran super strong placing 2nd female and 13th overall in 19:31:18. we were not able to catch that nikki kimball who is, well, probably the best female ultrarunner in the world and ran 18:12:38. bev was happy with her race, and stoked to take 40 mins off her best western time - see the results here.
seattle runners to note; greg crowther (50/100k national road champion) - before the race greg announced on his blog he'd finish top 3.. at western.. running his first 100 - bold. he dropped at mile 62; brian morrison (who was my second hope for the win - after hal) also had to drop. he mentioned to me the day before he was getting over a cold, but thought he was past it.. he wasn't and dropped at mile 38. i'll be blogging an update on this whole wild road trip asap.. until then enjoy this photo of one of my heal blisters from big horn last weekend. montrail runner and amazing photog luis escobar has updated his site with some pretty shots from western - check 'em out!
today at squaw valley it's gorgeous sun, amazing weather for the race and considerably cooler than last year where many racers suffered from the heat.
sean meaisner, ashley idema (who won angeles crest 100 last year) and i tried to head out early for a run up to squaw peak. with camera crews everywhere i got caught up in the mix. the film crew interviewed me, and then bev and i for 20 min or so. that was kind of cool... but i wanted to run! after a couple hours and more running and downclimbing scree than we originally planned we were back to the promo area where all the action was. great run, and it was long over due for my legs to get out and run again. thurs i just rode 32 miles, and yesterday i took completely off - so running felt great.
bev and i went over splits, the course, expectations, etc. i am to motivate her to move fast by all means necessary. if that means swearing at her i have the green light.. although i hope it doesn't come to that. i am so excited for this run!
3am breakfast tomorrow. 5am start of the 2007 western states (they will have live updates so follow along!) i'll be joining bev's crew before i start my packing at forest hill (mile 62 for bev). with that schedule i won't be able to blog until after the race most likely.
the race hasn't even started and i already want to run western sooner rather than later.
sean and i arrived in tahoe today. after big horn we spent two days running in grand teton national park - my favorite place on earth. then one day with ty draney in afton, wy.. where they ran ty's 50k course and i "took it easy" with a 32 mile road ride - i am pacing bev 40 miles afterall on saturday. from there we spent a night in salt lake city with the wasatch speedgoat karl meltzer and cheryl.
today we drove 9hrs from slc to tahoe. i met up with bev and alan abbs. i'll be pacing bev the last 38 miles of western states. there is a lot of talk about the woman's race. nikki kimball won last year, kami semik is "more fit than ever", and bev as i've seen is super focused. it's going to be very exciting.
today we visited the montrail house. it was quite a production with annette bednosky, bev and andy jone-wilkes all being interviewd by nbc sports tv crew. this is "the show"!
i'm hoping for hal koerner and bev to win. follow along real time on the western states 100 website - i hear they do a great job.
"Unfortunately I don't know the meaning of the word moderation." For endurance athlete Matt Hart this fact has thus far worked out alright. Matt is a member of the Montrail National Ultrarunning Team. He is also a member of nationally ranked adventure racing team DART-nuun. As a solo athlete Matt challenges himself with endurance mountain biking, ski mountaineering, and ultrarunning events. In December of 2005 Matt left his job at Microsoft to pursue his dream and race full time.
i will not be getting one of these buckles this year. the 
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