Mt. Taylor 50k

Congratulations to Shane and Josh at the Mt. Taylor 50k today. They both ran great on this high altitude course. They ran together all day, except the last 100 yards, Shane finished 4th and Josh 5th finishing right around 4 hours 50 minutes. Bootlegger course director Ian Torrance also ran the race finishing in 5 hours 15 minutes.

Congrats again, apparently the course scenery is stunning. Race link below for more information

http://mttaylor50k.com/home.php

Bishop High Sierra Ultras

Las Vegas was well represented at the 19th Bishop High Sierra Ultras this past weekend. Casey Harney and Doug Donovan ran the 50 mile while Shad Mickelberry, Matt Koppenheffer, Ashlee Homan, and Paul Daly were running the 50k.

L to R: Casey, Ashlee, Paul, Matt, Shad (photo by Rose Daly)

The races are run on 4x4 roads with constant views of Mt. Tom, Mt. Humphrey's and other peaks to the west of Bishop. After some up and downs for several miles the runners have a 13 mile climb. From there the 50k runners turn around for 15 miles of mostly downhill (50k course is 33.25 miles). The 50 mile runners continue for a couple of loops above 8500' elevation.

 Typical View Heading West (Photo Dr. Ben Jones)

Everyone had a good race with Casey finishing 10th in the 50 mile in 10:09 and Doug finished right behind him in 10:26. Shad won the 50K in 4:48, Matt was third overall in 5:15, Ashlee was 11th overall in 5:59, and Paul finished well in 7:52.

Shad at finish line (Photo Lambert Timmermans)

Matt apparently had some extra energy on climb (Photo Dr. Ben Jones)

Steady Casey (Photo Dr. Ben Jones)

Ashlee enjoying her training run for Bighorn (Photo Dr. Ben Jones)

Paul around mile 11 (Photo Dr. Ben Jones)

Congratulations to everyone on their well run races.

April 21-22 Results

There was a lot of action this weekend with runners racing all over the place.

Matt Koppenheffer placed 9th in the Ouchita Trail 50 miler in Arkansas. He finished in 9 hrs 11 minutes in his first 50 miler.

Josh and Hillary Brimhall were up in Salt Lake City for the Salt Lake Half Marathon. Josh finished in 1:15 minutes and Hillary in 1:41. Josh was sixth overall (nearly 3500 participants) and first out of state taking home some cash.

Paula had a great race at the Labor of Love 50k. She beat her previous 50k PR by an hour finishing in 6:14. Paula felt this was her best race yet.

Ian Torrance finished the Zane Gray 50 miler for the tenth time in 10:53. 

Zion Rim to Rim to Rim

On March 31st Shane Peterson, Matt Koppenheffer, Ashlee Homan, and Shad Mickelberry went up to Zion National Park for an adventure run. The plan was to start from the east entrance and travel the East Rim Trail to main canyon and then take the West Rim Trail to its terminus at Lava Point. 

Normally we would head to Grand Canyon this time of year for a double crossing but I wanted to try something a bit different without the hordes of people. Zion was a natural choice with its combination of lower visitation in the high country, beautiful scenery, and extensive trail system.

We turned around 2-3 miles short than planned because we had a set turn around time and the terrain on that part of the Kolob Plateau wasn't all that scenic. The weather was completely perfect all day and we finished up right at dusk after 13 hours on the trail which included a great deal of picture taking and goofing off.

This sort of trip is best told through pictures. 

Enjoy.

Taking a break near Stave Springs

Slickrock along East Rim Trail

Echo Canyon

Flying down switchbacks to Weeping Rock

Starting up West Rim Trail beneath Angel's Landing

Matt near top of West Rim main climb

Angel's Landing

Jolly Gulch

Aftermath of Telephone Canyon Trail debacle

March 10-11 Results

This was another busy weekend for SMUT with runners racing at four different events.

Pioneer Saloon Trail Races

Dirt roads from Goodsprings to Sandy Valley and back

Shad Mickelberry   50K    4:25    1st Overall 

Ron Hammett         50K    4:41    2nd Overall

David Campbell     50K    6:13

(Results not up yet for the following. Will post when up.)
Debbie Myers

Terry Mauer

Jennifer Mich

Mesquite Canyon 50k Waddel, AZ

Rugged trails at White Tanks Park near Phoenix

Nick Kollar ran a very impressive 5:17 placing 13th out of 76  starters.

Desert Dash Malibu Trail Runs:

Paul Daly:    Daytime Half      2:20   Night Half     2:37

Rose Daly:   Daytime Half      4:37

Calico Red Rock Half Marathon:

Road hilly half marathon on the Red Rock Loop

Paula Raimondi      2:08

Tami Stefanatos      2:17

Peggy and Randy also ran but waiting for results.

Ultrarunner Podcast interview with Ian Torrance. Many of us know Ian but this interview contains some great information on the physical and mental approach to ultras.

http://ultrarunnerpodcast.com/archives/category/podcasts

Big Weekend Results

Josh cranking on first loop (photo Ian Torrence)

Well this certainly was a big weekend with runners at several different races this past weekend. First, Josh Brimhall, Shad Mickelberry, and Casey Flanagan made the trip down to Fountain Hills, AZ for the Pemberton Trail 50K. This is a two loop fast course. Although it only has about 1500 feet of elevation change, less than a third of Bootlegger, don't get the impression this race is easy. Running a hard constant pace is a killer and I swear the course grows hills for the second lap.

Shad all smiles lap #1 (photo Ian Torrence)

Shad not smiling lap #2 (photo Ian Torrence)

It was a bit of a bitter sweet day for Josh. He took the overall victory in 3:28 but was short of his time goal. This was Josh's 10th running of Pemberton and his sixth victory including five in a row. He has the most finishes and wins in the race's 12 year history.

I (Shad) wanted to run under 4 hours and it was a good thing ran a good first lap because I needed just about all of the cushion I built finishing 7th place in 3:58. This was my third Pemberton and a 37 minute PR.

Casey looking good with 5 miles to go (photo I.T.)

Casey Flanagan ran an impressive race finishing 12th in 4:15. This was his first running of the race and set a PR for the distance. 

Full results available on ultrasignup

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Locally Desert Dash had their Blood Sweat and Beers trail races at Bootleg Canyon. This consisted of several distances in day and night runs. 

In the 30K daytime distance Nick Kollar ran 2:44 finishing second. Paula Raimondi was able to get under her long awaited four hour goal finishing in 3:54. Joe Baumgarte also ran the 30K in 3:32.

Mrs. "All Smiles" Rose Daly finished the daytime half in 4:57. For 10K daytime Jennifer finished in 1:22.

Several also ran double duty running both day and night races James Wedekind ran the 30K in 2:57:04 and night half in 2:27:16. David Campbell ran the 30K in 3:54:26 and night half in 2:53:53. 

Paul Daly ran the 30K 4:12:04 and night 5k in 36:59. Steven Pinkerton ran the daytime 10K in 58:19 and night 10K 1:04:13. 

Full results on this link 

I also saw photos posted on the Desert Dash Facebook page. 

That was a heck of a lot of running last weekend. Congratulations to everyone and we'll see you all soon. 

Big Weekend

There is quite a bit going on this weekend for SMUT. Three runners are headed down to the Phoenix area for the Pemberton 50K. Josh, Shad, and Flanagan are all looking for 50k PRs on the fast but sneakishly difficult course.

Locally the Desert Dash Bootleg day and night trail runs are also taking place Saturday. I know David was talking about doing at least one of the 30k events and quite a few others are going to be out there too. Looking forward to seeing the results.

Lastly, Jesse invited anyone not racing to this secret place that he and Jeff go. Just kidding, the8y are meeting at 8 am and carpooling for a 12 mile trail run. Check the calendar for details.

Good luck to everybody and be sure to email or message your results on FB if you are racing.

Calico Trail Runs Results

We had several local area runners head west for the Calico 50K and Calico 30K which takes place in and around Calico Ghost Town (that weird place you've probably driven by before entering Barstow, CA but probably never stopped at.) Info on the race can be found at http://www.calicotrailrun.org/ and at realendurance.com

In the 50K event James Wedekind finished in 4:48 which I believe is a PR for him. David Campbell also ran the 50K and improved greatly over his fat ass time running 5:57.

Dana Clark ran a great race finishing second in the 30K distance running 3:31:59 edging third place by just 41 seconds. Debbie Meyers ran 4:19 and Terry Maurer finished in 5:12.

Congratulations to everyone on their respective races, nice work.

Weekend Results

We had several runners competing this weekend and all put up some impressive times in fast road races. 

Steven Dean ran the Las Vegas Track Club 10k in 39:58. He was 14th overall and needless to say destroyed his age group. I think what's more impressive is he had the second fastest time in the 40 and over and the third fastest 30 and over. By the way Mr. Dean is 62.

Hillary Brimhall ran the Phoenix Rock and Roll Marathon in 3:48. Unfortunately missed some training due to injury and missed her Boston qualifying time but had a great early season race.

Matt Koppenheffer must have been inspired by the Olympic Marathon Trials the day before the Houston Marathon because he cranked out a 2:59:13 for a big PR. Prior to the race Matt was a bit worried after realizing his Boston qualifying time was reduced by 5 minutes this year for his age group. In the end these concerns were unfounded as he flew in well below.

Congratulations to everyone on their races.

 

RR Fat Ass 2012

Beautiful weather and great company were the themes for the 15th year of the Red Rock Fat Ass. About 20 people came out to partake in and watch this annual celebration of running. It was an all locals day and it was great to have all the old guard out.

Seven runners made it the entire distance with Josh Brimhall finishing first followed by Shad about 20 minutes later. Although the RRFA course is more difficult, Jared Wicks managed to improve on his Bootlegger 50k time by over 30 minutes. Eric Swenson wasn't far behind at just over six hours. James Wedekind, David Cambell, and Paula Raimondi (only woman finisher) also toughed it out and finished together to make the distance.

Long time Las Vegas ultra runners Dennis Jensen and James Rapp got in their fix on the familiar trails. While Jan Kendrick and Peggy Paas also logged over 20 miles. Terry Maurer, Imelda Suppe, Paul Daly, and Randy Bell were all in effect and each covered about half the course. Special thanks to Britty for coming out and manning the self service station. None of us would have liked to carry all the water we would have needed for the entire day.

Results: