As promised, we’re giving you the scoop on the 2010-11 Montrail Ultra Cup just as soon as we got it. There are four noteworthy changes for the upcoming season. Each change will add to the calender, competition, and cold, hard cash.
2010-11 Montrail Ultra Cup Schedule
Regular readers will know the first update. Montrail added the Run Rabbit Run 50 miler in Steamboat Springs to the schedule. Otherwise, the schedule remains unchanged.
- 8/21/10 – Where’s Waldo 100k (Willamette Pass, OR) [Entry open until August 1, but only 9 slots left as of July 27]
- 9/18/10 – Run Rabbit Run 50 mile (Steamboat Springs, CO) [FULL]
- 9/26/10 – Vermont 50 Mile/50k (Ascutney Mtn Resort, VT)
- 11/6/10 – Mountain Masochist 50 Mile (Lynchburg, VA) [Full, but waitlist]
- 11/20/10 – JFK 50 (Washington County, MD) [FULL]
- 1/8/11 – Bandera 100k/50k (Bandera, TX)
- 2/26/11 – Mt. Cheaha 50k (Cheaha State Park, AL)
- 3/12/11 – Way Too Cool 50k (Cool, CA)
- 4/9/11 – American River 50 (Sacramento, CA)
- 5/7/11 – Miwok 100k (Marin Headlands, CA)
- 5/14/11 – Ice Age Trail 50 Mile/50k (LaGrange, WI)
- 6/25/11 – Western States 100 (Squaw Valley, CA)
Rules Update
If a runner wins Run Rabbit Run or any other race in the series, he or she will receive 15 bonus points. The 15 points is big deal in this series. As a quick reminder, points are award based on race distance at a rate of a point per mile and the ratio of the gender winning time to a person’s time. (In other words, if Geoff Roes wins Western States again next year and takes 80% of the time it takes me to finish, I would receive 80 points from the race while he’d earn 100 points.) For a full explanation of series’ rules and scoring, see our preview of the 2009-10 Montrail Ultra Cup.
While winners benefit from the first rule change, other top runners will benefit from the institution of a more flexible Western States entry criteria. This past season, the top two men and women at each MUC race of 50 miles or longer earned the right to run in this year’s Western States 100. If they already had an entry into Western States or didn’t except the MUC entry, no one else was eligible to receive that slot. However, for the upcoming MUC season an unaccepted Western States slot not needed or accepted by the top two finishers at a particular race will slide down to the third place finisher, but no further.
Prize Update
Some will find it hard to believe, but this will already be the 10th Montrail Ultra Cup. In honor of this occurrence, Montrail is digging deep and doubling the cash purse to a total of $16,000 with men’s and women’s winners grabbing $5,000 each. Here’s the full prize breakdown.
- $5,000, Montrail shoes, Mountain Hardwear Fluid pack, nuun tablets
- $2,000, Montrail shoes, Mountain Hardwear Fluid pack, nuun tablets
- $1,000, Montrail shoes, Mountain Hardwear Fluid pack, nuun tablets
- Montrail shoes, Mountain Hardwear Fluid pack, nuun tablets
- Montrail sandals, Mountain Hardwear Fluid pack, nuun tablets
Call for Comments and Questions
So what do y’all think of the changes for the next Montrail Ultra Cup?
