This Week In Running (Week of October 3 & October 4)

Is October almost here already, or are we dreaming? The recent accomplishments of ultrarunner Geoff Roes of Douglas, Alaska are most certainly NOT a dream. Roes, just two weeks after setting a course record at the Wasatch 100, was at it again last weekend, setting another course record – this time at the Bear 100. When it comes to 100-mile races, Roes has been unstoppable, winning all 6 of the 100s he has entered (including 5 course records). Congrats Geoff !

Prior to taking a look at some (and only some) of the events taking place on the weekend of October 3 and October 4, let’s take a quick look at the results from 2 of the races featured in last week’s edition of TWIR.

Bear 100
1. Geoff Roes (18:43:37) *
2. Nick Pedatella (20:49:11)
3. Troy Howard (21:47:02)

1. Katherine Dowson (27:04:59)
2. Emily Mitzel (28:51:57)
3. Jamie Williams (29:00:08)

Vermont 50
1. Brian Rusiecki (7:12:29
2. Glen Redpath (7:19:06)
3. William Hibler (7:51:13)

1. Devon Crosby-Helms (8:06:16)
2. Sarah Dolven (8:41:39)
3. Serena Wilcox (9:00:49)

Moving right along, we kick things off this week with what is dubbed “without a doubt, the hardest 100 miler east of the 100th meridian,” the Grindstone 100 (Friday, October 2 in Swoope, Virginia). Event #4 in the Beast Series, Grindstone offers “grit, endurance and temporary loss of sanity” over 100.73 miles and 23,200 feet of elevation gain and loss. Limited to just 100 runners, the course is an out-and-back, beginning with an ascent and descent of Little North Mountain before climbing 2,400 feet in 4 miles to the summit of Elliot Knob. After summitting Elliot Knob, runners head north following the ridge line of Great North Mountain, crossing over to and following the Wild Oak National recreation Trail before hitting the summit of Reddish Knob. Then it is north to Briery Branch Gap, the last stop before heading back along the course to Camp Shenandoah. The race offers a live webcast starting at 6:00 PM on Friday, October 2nd at https://www.eco-xsports.com/.

The Arkansas Traveller 100 is also taking place this weekend (Saturday, October 3-4 in Ouachita National Forest, Arkansas). The race covers quite a bit of surface alternatives – pavement, best gravel road (smooth), maintained gravel road, unmaintained gravel road, old road (4-wheeler trail) and the Ouachita Trail. In its 19th year, AT100 has a 66.2% finisher rate. Course records are held by James Kerby (15:37:26 in 2004) and Ann Trason (17:13:10 in 2002).

The Tussey mOUnTaiNBACK 50 Mile Relay and Ultramarathon again hosts the USA 50 Mile Championships (October 3, 2009 in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania) during peak foliage season in Rothrock State Forest. The course consists of fire roads (74% dirt and 26% paved) in Rothrock State Forsest, with terrain that includes, uphill, level and downhill grades, with shaded and open segments, and some overlook vistas. The course takes in Whipple Dam State Park, Alan Seeger Natural Area, Penn Roosevelt State Park, Colyer Lake and Bear Meadows Natural Area. The total elevation gain is 5,035 feet.

Tussey mOUnTaiNBACK Elevation Profile

Many ultrarunning eyes will be on Cleveland, Ohio and the 2009 US National 24 Hour Championship, the NorthCoast 24-Hour Endurance Run. Held at the scenic Edgewater Park in Cleveland directly adjacent to Lake Erie, the course travels around a loop of just under one mile. The top 3 American men and women finishers will be automatically selected to the national 24-hour team if they achieve certain minimum distances (135 miles for men, 120 for women). There are plenty of elite runners registered, including (and in no particular order) Dan Rose, Debra Horn, Connie Gardner, Jill Perry, Annette Bednosky, Serge Arbona, Phil McCarthy, Byron Lane, Akos Konya, Scott Jurek and Dave James.

There are several other ultra events taking place this weekend, including: Baker Lake 50k (Concrete, WA), StumpJump 50k Trail Run (Chattanooga, TN), Triple Lakes 40 Mile (Greensboro, NC), Table Mt. 50k Smart Ass / Poker Run (Gifford Pinchot Forest, WA), FATS Forty 40/50 (North Augusta, SC), Man Against Horse Race (Prescott, AZ), Blues Cruise 50k (Reading, PA), and Blue Sky 50k (Fort Collins, CO). You can check out the specific web-site of each of these events for more information.

That will wrap things up for this week. Come back next week for a look at some events scheduled for the weekend of October 10th and 11th, and let us know if there are any events happening that you would like featured in an edition of TWIR. Happy running !