From the WS webcast pageJust sitting here, feeling extra lazy for not wanting to run today (and only doing 6!) when such an awesome race is going on right now. Last year, I don't think I was really aware at all of when it actually took place. I'm having fun with the live updates on the runners, checking out eric and a few other peoples, as well as the frontrunners. As of now (12:40) Hal Koerner is doing awesome in first, Lon Freeman has moved up to 2nd (Winner of Miwok 100k this year), from something significantly lower that he was at last time I checked. Graham Cooper (last year's winner and Oakland resident!) is in 7th place. Nikki Kimbell is in 10th overall and is first woman, yet again :) and Beverly Anderson-Abbs is 2nd woman again, and 19th overall.
Eric is doing awesome, with what seems to be 3 miles to Miller's defeat. His pace has been never more than 15 minute miles, which is great :)
Wendell Doman (of PCTR) is doing really well, with a pace between 11.8 and 13.5 so far. That's so awesome
Gordy Ansleigh is keeping a 13 to 14 minute pace, and doesn't seem to be that much ahead of Eric. Michelle Barton (amazing so cal ultra runner) is planning to pace him later :)
Phil's recommendation for watching is Karsten Solheim, a guy who's 70 and still doing great out there. May we all be in such great shape when we reach that age!
(now, all of you probably already know all this, since I'm sure most of us are all following along, but I still thought it would be fun to post!) The links will go to the live update pages to show where the are when you check.
For now, I can conceptualize running 50k no problem, 50 miles fairly well, and even 100k without too much difficulty. 100 miles still seems pretty far away. But with reading Josh's account of his first 100 last weekend, Kim's first 100 mile finish a few months agao, and following the amazing accomplishments of the ultrarunners in blogworld, it continues to become just a bit more tangible. It's amazing to think about all the brave and strong individuals out there right now, some for their first 100 ever. I'm excited to think about the day in the hopefully not too distant future when I can be one of those first time finishers of this incredibly respectable distance.
But for now, I'll enjoy from the side lines and cheer on everyone out there accomplishing something that I can only imagine for now.
Let me know if there are any other fun runners to add to the 'watch list' :D
(edit- so far 11 people have missed cut-offs, 6 have voluntarily dropped, 2 have been injured-hopefully they're okay!-, 2 are unknown for why they dropped, and 1 is metabolic- I'm guessing that means they lost too much weight? I'm figuring that if I everyone at some point gets a DNF, especially when tackling a 100, so its good to figure out why certain people don't finish. Looks like it's mostly from missing cut-offs, which I'm guessing will be one of my biggest problems when I tackle that distance)
3 comments:
It's such a small running community, I think I really like it that way. When we're all excited about Western States and not even running it.
Once you get the 50 miles down, you will be thinking about the 100 miler...you have so many options out your way to chose from!
It has been fun "watching" the race. I expect we'll see you out there next year. The only person I semi-know out there Karsten Solheim ... the guy's 70 and still ahead of the cut off as off the "Miller's Defeat" check point (34 miles into the race).
I don't know how these folks do it.
Like you, Addy, I had much trouble conceptualizing the fact of running 100 miles in one stretch. One month before WS I was even tired of running 100 miles over 4 days. What I found out, again, is that pacing and eating are the key factors of success. Mental counts too, but won't give you much if your physical abilities are too diminished.
The good thing with WS is that the frequent medical checkpoints force you to resolve the electrolyte and weight equations.
Still amazing how people of so different abilities complete this tough course under 30 hours. To me, running for 30 hours straight seems a much bigger challenge than running the same distance in 20 hours. Oh well, you are free to pick the goal you want! ;-)
I wish you manage to do it when you feel ready.
FartherFaster.
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