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Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2011 9:15 PM
Subject: Incline Club News V15 LR #15 — Race Reports, PPA/M Registration is near!
Good Evening Incline Club!
February is now officially behind us. Hopefully it will take the bitter cold days with it and the ice along the trail. This week we have a plethora of race reports, a note about the upcoming online race (to get into the race) and hopefully some good weather for Sunday’s run.
--john
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NEXT RUN: Barr Camp
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Sunday, March 6, 8:00am — Memorial Park
Run to Barr Camp and back via the Barr Trail
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THIS WEEK’S QUOTE:
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The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.
--Mark Twain
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Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon Entry
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Just another reminder, entry for this year's Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon is Wed, March 16th. This is less than 2 weeks away. Full details on times, qualifications and such are at http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/entry.htm
Please review the new entry requirements for this year. The big change is that qualifiers are only good for 3 years vs 5. For those of you who remember what happened 3 years ago, you will recognize that this may have an impact on the number of folks who qualify as ‘vets’ this year.
Speaking of PPA/M vets, the results search page at http://www.skyrunner.com/search/find.asp will now directly link you to the waves and fields that you are eligible for. So for a good number of you there will be no math or guesswork required.
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Barr Trail Conditions Report:
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Last week the section after the gate on Ruxton was greatly improved over the previous week but still barely passable in two short spots. Hopefully a week of warm weather will melt more of the ice and provide an easier route through that section. After that the trail was mostly clear until the Incline Short cut above the W’s. There was some ice in this section that quickly cleared up by the open section that leads to the rock arch. Then above noname it was the usual snow and ice mixture.
Hopefully the trail will continue to improve, but with Friday’s chance of snow all bets are off.
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Weather Report:
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Expect mid 30’s to start, low 30’s when you get to noname, mid 20’s when you get to Barr Camp and mid 40’s when you finish. They are calling for a 33% chance of snow on Friday night but that system should be out of here by then.
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Race Reports:
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This week, a lot of IC’ers go south. Daniel goes for a 50k, Don goes for a 26.2. Sean throws down on Lance and wins (taking 13th overall out of 10,000+), Greg and Jennifer do a his and hers Ultra while Mike runs up a short flight of stairs.
Pemberton Trail 50K — Fountain Hills, Arizona — 02/12/2011
Cross Timbers Trail Race — Lake Texoma near Whitesboro, Tx — 02/19/2011
Live Strong Austin Half Marathon — Austin, TX — 02/20/2011
(2) Mount Mitchell Challenge — Black Mountain, NC — 02/26/2011
Fight for Air — Republic Building-Denver — 02/27/201
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Pemberton Trail 50K — Fountain Hills, Arizona — 02/12/2011
Daniel Solinski reports:
Distance: 50K
Goal: Try to complete the full distance
Results: Completed first 25K loop
Website: http://pembertontrail50k.blogspot.com
General Summary:
I went to visit some relatives in beautiful Fountain Hills, AZ and figured I’d try to run a trail race among the saguaro cacti in McDowell Mountain Park. Due to a recent illness (minor medical problem), I didn’t know how I would do in the race, but gave it the old IC try! The race is very scenic, somewhat challenging and very well organized and I wish I could have completed the full 50K, but made a wise decision to stop after the first “loop” of 25K. There is always next year.
Things Done Right:
Enjoyed the camaraderie of the runners. Breathed in all those O2 molecules at a lower altitude than I am not used to breathing as an ICer. Didn’t run into any cacti during the night portion of the race! (race started at 5:00pm this year so it got dark for me around mile 11 or so).
Things Done Wrong:
I never do anything wrong in a race. I always do exactly what I was meant to do (except for those races that I register for and don’t ever make it to the starting line for...although now that I think of it...maybe I was just meant to stay in bed and get more sleep on those occasions???).
Any Other Stuff:
I would highly recommend this race for anyone who would enjoy a beautiful trail run through a splendid desert region of our country. The race plans to alternate between a morning and an evening start time, so next year the race will be a morning start.
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Cross Timbers Trail Race — Lake Texoma near Whitesboro, Tx — 02/19/2011
Don Solberg reports:
Distance: 26.2
Goal: Under 4hrs
Results: 3:53:48
Website: http://crosstimberstrailruns.com/
General Summary:
Trail race run on the shore of Lake Texoma near Whitesboro,Tx. A lot of short steep hills and great singletrack. Stated the oldest trail race in Texas, this was the 30th anniversary. Great little race with great trails, aid stations, and the course was well marked. Race director grills burgers for all finishers. Race offered 50mile, marathon, half marathon and 5 mile run.
Things Done Right:
Ran the hills good due to all the runs this year up Long’s Ranch Road.
Things Done Wrong:
Not enough fluids
Any Other Stuff:
I won marathon and my wife who recently took up running, took overall female in 5 mile race.
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Live Strong Austin Half Marathon — Austin, TX — 02/20/2011
Sean O’Day reports:
Distance: 13.1
Goal: Start the year with a road PR, see a new town, and throw down on Lance
Results: 1:18:35 — PR by 65 seconds. Beat Lance by 4 minutes.
Website: http://results.active.com/pages/searchform.jsp?rsID=105148
General Summary:
Warm, humid, and hilly. Kinda cool to have a pre-sunrise start.
Things Done Right:
Ran smart — 5k split was within a few seconds of my finishing pace. Moved up from 19th at the 5k to 13th at the finish.
Things Done Wrong:
Running on pavement — NOT used to it, and it really beat me up. 13.1 on concrete tore up my feet in a way that never happens on the trails.
I didn’t smile pretty for the cameras.
Any Other Stuff:
Austin definitely doesn’t feel like the rest of Texas. If you’re looking to put down a blazing time on the roads, Austin is NOT the place to go. However, if you’re looking for a fairly well-run, large-race experience in a fun town, sign up and hook ‘em horns.
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Mount Mitchell Challenge — Black Mountain, NC — 02/26/2011
Gregory Stock reports:
Distance: 40 Miles
Goal: Finish
Results: 8:15:35
Website: http://www.blackmountainmarathon.com
General Summary:
Long, difficult race up to the highest summit east of the Mississippi River (and back down). The course includes some of everything: pavement, dirt and gravel roads, single-track, rocks, roots, mud, snow, and ice. And spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Things Done Right:
Finished. Ran pretty well the last seven or eight miles.
Things Done Wrong:
Ran out of gas too soon in the last two or three miles to the summit and chewed up a lot of time there. I stayed on the summit a little too long to look at the views and probably spent too much time at the aid stations. I also probably started too fast and probably didn’t have long enough training runs on rough terrain. After running in Colorado for the past two and a half years, I thought I would be better prepared. I’m actually not exactly sure what went wrong. Maybe it was the fact that this was my first run longer than a 50K.
Any Other Stuff:
The course is tough (at least for me — a lot of ultra runners around here would probably think it’s not too hard). The net elevation gain to the top is 4200 feet, but my Garmin recorded 7400 feet of climbing, so it wasn’t a steady uphill. It’s a well organized race, with great volunteers. The weather was close to perfect this year, but in the past it has been very cold, snowy, and icy.
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Mount Mitchell Challenge — Black Mountain, NC — 02/26/2011
Jennifer Stock reports:
Distance: 40 miles
Goal: finish by 10 hour cut off
Results: 8:26.25
Website: http://www.blackmountainmarathon.com
General Summary:
This is a 40 mile race that begins in Black Mountain, NC, and eventually runs to the summit of Mt. Mitchell which is the highest mountain east of the Mississippi River. Most of the race is trail, but there are about a total of 7-9 miles run on pavement broken up through the beginning, middle and end.
Lots of beautiful scenery. There is also a marathon that runs with the Challenge until the marathon turn around at about 13.75 miles. It’s not an exact out and back for either race. The Challenge runs down from the summit on a different route than it ran up. The last 4 or 5 miles of the race are a bit different as well.
The race is generally well organized with good aid stations with lots of great volunteers. There are no drop bags allowed, and runners are expected to carry all provisions themselves. Since I never have a drop bag during my training runs, this was not a big deal. Aid stations had chips, m&m’s, chex mix, water, Gatorade or heed, and I did hear that there was soup at the summit.
Things Done Right:
Trained on inclines at a greater grade than the race, so the course, for the most part, did not seem that difficult. Long runs were on Rampart Range Road Saturdays, with shorter runs with the club on Sundays.
Took plenty of electrolyte tablets during the race which really helped prevent leg cramps.
Things Done Wrong:
Not that I could help it, but I caught a nasty bug the week before the race, had a fever over 100 the Sunday and Monday before. I managed to rest a lot the entire week so I was mostly recovered by race day.
Should have trained more on trails. There were about 9 miles of the course that ran on trail that was just shale and rock. The unevenness of this really hurt my knees which had sharp pain shooting through them the last 7 miles. I’m not aware of any trail around here that I could have run on to prepare for those rocky conditions.
Any Other Stuff:
The race had a 3:00 cut off time for Challenge runners to get to the marathon turn around. I barely made it, getting there in 2:57. The cut off for the entire race was 10 hours, and my overall finish time was an hour and a half in front of that. Based on this the 3:00 cut off seems to be a bit shorter than necessary. I wonder how many Challenge runners were prevented from moving on who would have made the overall 10 hour cut off.
We were very lucky with the weather this year. We started out around 30 degrees, and it warmed up to the 50’s by the end of the race. Past years have seen much colder and wetter race conditions. Last year there was so much snow on the course that they had to alter the route, shortening the race. This year there were a couple of sections of sheer ice as you approached the end of the trail to the summit. I carried my yaktrax the entire way based on the reports of the trail conditions. In the end, I didn’t bother putting them on, and was able to get around the ice okay, although I’m sure it would have been a bit quicker if I had put them on.
This is the longest distance that I have ever run, and I think this was a good course on which to venture beyond 50K.
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Fight for Air — Republic Building-Denver — 02/27/2011
Michael Everson reports:
Distance: 56 floors
Goal: Sub 9:00
Results: 9:28
Website: http://www.lungusa.org/pledge-events/co/denver-climb/
General Summary:
This is a run up the Republic Building in Denver, Colorado--The tallest building in the city. It’s a short run, but it’s difficult.
The air in the stair is crappy and rare. I started out real sick, and the air was getting thick. It’s stale and crusty and generally pretty dusty. On the 33rd floor, a spit a loogie out the door. I hacked up a lung by the time I was done(g). It was over in a flash, and I didn’t win any cash. The Fanatics won the race because we set a torrid pace.
Things Done Right:
Trained as much as I could in downtown CS, but the tallest building I could run in was 14 stories. I did this 2X per week for 5 weeks where I ran up 5 X for a total of 70 stories. Ran with COS Incline Fanatics who are really great group of people.
Things Done Wrong:
Got really sick the week of the race. Could not train or run at all for 9 days leading up to the race. Almost bailed on the race entirely.
Any Other Stuff:
I raised over $400.00 for Lung Association of Colorado--Thanks to those who donated!! It’s not too late to don
ate. Go to the website above and donate to me if you wish. Pretty good cause.
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IC BIRTHDAYS: 3/2/2011 — 3/8/2011
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Adam Feerst:
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Andy Wooten:
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Anthony Surage:
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Carl Langley:
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Carl Olson:
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Chandra Lloyd:
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Chris Alvarez:
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Christa Lloyd:
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Connilee Walter:
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Craig Aeschliman:
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Doug Powell:
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Gahlen Crawford:
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Jason Romero:
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Jessica Grisham:
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Jim Heidelberg:
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Joseph Edgecombe:
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Kelli Lusk:
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Kelly Simshauser:
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Lauren Bynum:
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Lisa Franz:
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Michele Coleman:
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Norman Rosentreter:
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Paul Kirsch:
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Peter Cummings:
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Randy Lindsey:
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Shawn Erchinger:
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Suzanne Smith:
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Teri Pitman:
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Tim Bergsten:
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NEW IC MEMBERS: 2/23/2011 — 3/1/2011
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Ashley Schmidt:
(About Me page was not filled out)
Domenick D’Amico:
http://www.inclineclub.com/show.asp?name=Domenick%20D'Amico
Ruth Darcy:
(About Me page was not filled out)
Scott Wescott:
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UPDATED ABOUT ME PAGES: 2/23/2011 — 3/1/2011
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Carl Olson:
http://www.inclineclub.com/show.asp?name=Carl%20Olson
Jim Heidelberg:
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Sean O’Day:
http://www.inclineclub.com/show.asp?name=Sean%20O'Day
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