MMTR Photo Tour

GR

Canadian's Invade Virginia!

I'll do my absolute best to keep this to a readable length here...

I was shooting for a sub 7hr run time which would have been a near 23 minute improvement over my 08 run time. The 08 race was my first ever fifty miler as I'd only started to fully concentrate on running, verses multi-sport, four months prior. The 09 version ended up being my second ever 50 miler and a much better race for me.

I obviously had to go out harder off the start verses last year but I was definitely surprised to find myself alternating the lead with Montrail U.S. runner Geoff 'The Alaskan Assassin' Roes (if no one else has referred to him by this name yet then I get to claim it when it sticks!) through the first 20 miles of the race. Lon Freeman was never more than a few steps behind and Valmir Nunes was always visible when we hit an exposed switchback area.

(Goeff Roes leading, me in second, RD Clark Zealand poaching the course!)

At the half way point of the race I was nine minutes ahead of my 08 pace and right on target for a sub 7hr effort. Geoff had managed to distance himself from me over the previous climb and he hit the mid-way aid just three minutes up. As I departed I could see Lon coming in just a minute back.

After departed the mid-way aid you venture into the longest climb of the fifty miles. In 08 I had to walk most of the climbs, this year I'd trained myself to be better on the climbs and faster on the runnable terrain. The course is 90% fire roads so I actually did some road mileage and my first road race in over 5yrs while preparing for the course. Although I did manage to run the entire course, save one section of about 200 meters, both Geoff and Lon had proved to be better up-hill runners than myself. Knowing this I had prepared for Lon to catch and pass me, which he did within about ten minutes. He managed a larger gap than I anticipated though and eventually he gained five full minutes on me. Little did we then know, Geoff was on a constant acceleration and while the rest of us just struggled to hang on Geoff simply ran the second half of the course faster than anyone had ever dreamed was even possible.

At about the 33m mark (55km) you hit the first real singletrack terrain of the course. Last year I nearly died through here, so this year I made sure to have something left in the tank for it. Once you complete this 5m/8k loop the course is predominately downhill to the finish line...which has always been my strength. I wasn't even two miles into the loop when I heard a runner from behind. Valmir was still lingering and with foot speed the likes of which I will simply never possess, he scared me enough to push my through the undulations of this loop. Thankfully and surprisingly I would not see him again until he crossed the finish line.

I exited the loop and was told Lon was four minutes up on me. I was feeling way stronger than I thought I would this late in the race and I vocalized that I thought I might still be able to close that gap over the final 10m/16k of the race. The next few aid stations told a different story though as the splits coming my way were growing, not shrinking.

As I hit the final aid station of the day, and with but 3.5 miles to go to the finish line, I was given one more split,

"Lon left here...exactly...two minutes ago."

I chugged a cup of fluid and rocketed outta there. It was almost all down till the final 1m section of road to the line. In the end this information was not accurate, as Lon had a closer to 4min lead at that point, but it was the perfect fuel to allow me to go with an all or nothing approach to end the race. Whether I cramped up and had to walk didn't matter at that point, only top two went straight into Western States and that was my primary goal at the starting line. My final km split times, gravity assisted of course but none the less my legs still had to turn over and absorb the punishment, were:

-4m17s /6.54mile
-4m27s /7.10m
-4m12s /6.45m
-3m37s /5.49m
-3m42s /5.57m
-2m44s (700m of flat road to the line) (3m48s pace /6.07m)




I crossed the line in 7h00m28s...missed out on a sub seven by under thirty seconds and an auto WS entry by two minutes...both tough pills to swallow, but by far and away this was my best performance south of the border, and my first major race that I'm truly happy with the time I laid down. Clark Zealand, David Horton, and the hundreds of others who make this race possible and can somehow convert a 50m fire road run into an incredible trail racing experience, THANK YOU SO MUCH yet again!! I might just have to return again next year and claim those missing 29 seconds.


In the women's race, the girl I've been flattered to call my girlfriend, Tamsin Anstey, in her first EVER 50 miler and just third attempt at running an ultra, laid down the 5th fastest woman's time in the 27 year history of the event!! She has promised me that she'll do a race report that I'll proudly post on here for her...till we get her up and going on her own blog in the near future.


Fellow North Vancouver runner and close friend Nicola Gildersleeve was also there to represent the Red and White. Even though she'd been battling the flu and ended up with a bloody nose and even puking on herself a few times, she really toughed it out to cross the line as the second place female finisher and claim the coveted auto entry into Western States!! I'm super proud of both of the girls and as a group who all live within a very short distance of each other I feel we did ourselves and our North Vancouver running scene proud. It was a great thing to be a part of!

Other Canadian's in top ten men were Adam Hill and Glen Redpath tied for 7th/8th!

-Special thanks to my amazing friend Hays Poole who drove 2.5hr from Raleigh, North Carolina to help support me during the race. He was a ROCK STAR who I can't thank enough!!

GEAR:

-Montrail Mountain Masochist shoes, rocking out their name sake race!

-Princeton Tec Eos headlamp for the first five miles in the darkness

-Carbo-Pro 1200 and Thermolytes as my primary fuel source during the race

Full results here, oh yeah, and I forgot to mention, Geoff 'The Alaskan Assassin' Roes...well he kinda destroyed the course like no one thought possible and ended up with a new course record of 6h27m!!! That's over 21min faster than the legendary Dave Mackay's run time, and in my humble opinion, solidifies Geoff as the outright U.S. Ultra Runner Of The Year for 2009...congrats Geoff, it was a pleasure and an honor to meet you this weekend!



GR

Funny Fridays (Congrats Meb!)

Well as of this posting I'm already in Lynchburg, Virginia for tomorrow's Mountain Masochist 50 miler! (I time dated this post on Wed night) Not gonna say much right now outside of the fact that I know by Friday I'll be super nervous-excited and just hoping to be able to get a few hours sleep before the race start on Sat morn.

For this weeks funny vid I decided to go with a more relevant rather than downright funny posting. Congratulations to Meb Keflezighi on an outstanding win at this years NYC Marathon.



There's also a relevant article about Meb here if you are unaware of exactly who he is and the struggles he's faced while being an American citizen since he was twelve years old.

GR

Mountain Masochist (How To Follow Along)

K, it's Wed night and I'm still way behind on my actual packing! Tamsin Anstey, Nicola Gildersleeve, and myself depart North Vancouver at 5:30am tomorrow and fly out of Seattle at noon. I think this could be a very good weekend for all three of us, and our sights are unified and set upon making our way into Western States 2010. Wish us luck!

Here's how to hopefully gather as much live info as possible as the race unfolds:

-MMTR Blogsite Updates (currently has the RD's pre-race rankings)

-MMTR Twitter Feed

-My Twitter Feed (which will hopefully be updated regularly via my awesome friend and crew member Hays Poole)

And I leave you with this...Tamsin and I enjoyed Halloween as Dimitri and Nadia, the worlds top figure skating duo who just happened to be in town early for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games...





GR

It's Official, New 100 Mile & 100km Race In B.C. Next Summer!!

Let me be one of the first to officially welcome the 'Fat Dog 100' to the ultra racing calendar!

BRAND NEW FOR 2010 and guaranteed to be a must do!! I'll go on record right now and say that by the third year this race will be selling out in a hurry, and well on its way to epic status within the ultra running community! Located in B.C.'s gorgeous park systems and easily accessible to anyone in the Pacific North West. Almost all singletrack, point to point, stunning mountain vistas, and an ass kicker of a course, The Fat Dog 100 is sure to become an instant classic.


Thanks so much to the very experienced race director Heather Macdonald for putting in the leg work to ensure this thing got off the ground and rolling. Although I somehow got an official thank you on the website I honestly did very little outside of encouraging the efforts of those behind the wheel. Special thanks should also be extended to Peter Watson of North Shore Athletics, and his girlfriend Nicola Gildersleeve (pictured above) for stepping up and helping out in every way possible.

DETAILS:

When: Friday July 23 to Saturday July 24, 2010

Why: Stunning alpine views, very runnable trails, challenging profile, sumptuous aid stations, great organization, enthusiastic volunteers, and a lake at the end for soaking.

Distances: 100 miles, 100 km, and 6 relay legs that cover 100 mile route.

Where: 100 miler and relay start near Keremeos in Cathedral Provincial Park. 100 km starts in E.C. Manning Provincial Park.

How to Get There: From Vancouver, take Highway 1 to Hope, then Highway 3 to Manning Park. Follow the signs to Lightning Lake "DAY" parking.

Here is the official thank you mention off the website. My hat goes off to each and every one of these people. Depending upon my own schedule I'll either be racing the inaugural edition of The Fat Dog, or heading up a full blown party all night aid station...where costumes will be mandatory! Either way you'll see me there in 2010.

This race could not have happened without the encouragement of three stellar individuals: Peter Watson, Gary Robbins and Glenn Pace. Some other fabulous people who helped with GPS and 'trail discovery' included: Laura Woodward, Cheryl Johnson, Mike Heiliger, Judy Sullivan, Nicola Gildersleeve, Lara Taylor, Amber Ringers and Tamsin Anstey. That great photo of Nicola on Heather Trail above was taken by Peter Watson. Another amazing person that must be included is Kelley Cook of the Ministry of Tourism, Sports and the Arts who was instrumental in helping us navigate Trapper Lake Trail

And finally, a few more teaser pics...






SWEET!!!
GR

Funny Fridays

This is just downright hilarious! Not laugh out loud hahaha, but funny in that mocumentary movie kinda way. I first saw this about three weeks back and just remembered it a few days ago. Number one piece of advice, having now tried it out for myself...

"Don't get SKOOTCH leg!!"



I figured I'd add this one on as well. You may have already seen it...apparently 3.385 million others have! It's a quick three minute recap of the top 100 YouTube vids...funny, amazing, shocking...



Have a great weekend!!

GR

MMTR Ramblings

Since I just realized that I'm about to post back to back Funny Friday clips I figured I should throw something else up here in between. Trouble is I can't say a hell of a lot of interest has been going down lately, yet life is really good and I find myself in a very positive place right now! That is not to say that life is boring, far from it, there's just more of a routine to things these days. Oh yeah, worth mentioning is that I just completed my schooling towards becoming a Can-Fit-Pro certified Personal Trainer! Less than a month till my written exam and just over a month till my practical...which means I should be in those books and not presently stuck on here!! I'll be looking to roll out some running specific circuit training courses and run analysis programs by about mid-Jan if all goes well!

The last few weeks were trying as I experienced a calf injury after my half marathon road run. I was stressed over if I'd recover in time for Mountain Masochist next weekend, and I lost out on the final week of mileage I was hoping to log.

After coming away from the running and focusing on the biking and active recovery my calf slowly came around. I had my second sports massage today and am happy and relieved to report that I am/will be 100% for next weekends race...and lucky that with the field of runners who will be showing up! It's top two or nothing this time round and with four established speedsters toeing the line, along with last years third place overall and local runner Jeremy Ramsey, which means it's going to be INTENSE!!

The advantage I have going into the race is that I now know the course and I have an actual game plan around it this year. My prediction is that at least one of the top three favorites (Nunes, Krupicka, Roes) will blow up...and I'll just have to be faster than one other man...which isn't entirely fair since I've just passed over Freeman and Ramsey without mention. Lon dropped last year at the mid-way point due to injuries, and I have not followed Lon enough this year to even know if he's on top of his game right now or not?

I know what I'm shooting for and that's a sub 7hr run time. There have only been seven guys in the 26 year history of the event who have accomplished this, and not once has someone run a sub seven and not finished top two...who knows, maybe that won't even be enough this time around!!

What I do know however is that I have that in me. I'm good to go, I'm prepared for this race, and right now I just can't wait for it to be here already!!

Oh yeah, and watch out for the two local North Shore girls I'll be accompanied by along the way. I think they could both be sitting on their big breakout U.S. race in just eight days time!!

GR

Funny Fridays

Thank GOD I found this clip this morning cause the funniest thing I'd seen in the last seven days prior to this was just slightly disturbing and I wasn't really sure about posting it on here...instead...MONKEYS!!



Have a GREAT WEEKEND!
GR

NEW Montrail Shoes + Mtn Mas 50m Field Update

AHH, I LOVE new gear!!

Just got my brand new Montrail Rockridge and 2010 Mountain Masochist (no changes from 09 version), and CAN'T WAIT TO TEST DRIVE EM!!

Unfortunately I have to stay smart and rest my calf. It feels much better today with the tightness not setting in until mid-day. I'm out the door shortly to test it on the road bike, which I haven't touched in over a month...Stanley Park here I come!

Oh yeah, and just got word from the Race Director for Mountain Masochist 50 Miler in under three weeks time...the race where you have to finish top two to go directly into the 2010 version of Western States...Last Minute Additions To The Field:

-Anton Krupicka, if ya don't know ya ain't into the sport!

-Geoff Roes, currently up for U.S. ultra runner of the year after some spectacular performances!

-Valmir Nunes, from Brazil. Short bio, 3rd fastest EVER 100k at 6h16m, winner of Badwater, Spartathlon, and Sunmart 50 miler in 5h30m!!

-Lon Freeman, former C.R. holder for Miwok 100k

OUCH, it's gonna be a BARN BURNER!! All I know is that outside of my recent injury I've never felt better or fitter and I'm ready to go up against the best of the best. I'd rather finish 5th in this field than 1st in a weak field. Bring it on!!

GR

Running Barefoot Across US (not me)

Had to post this real quick, check out these links, and here's the info off his site:

Marathon running is not easy at the best of times. Running a marathon every day for 99 days is mindblowing. Throw in running barefoot and you have a distance running challenge of epic proportions. This video is about Tellman Knudson, a novice ultra marathon runner who is 33 days into a 99 day barefoot run across continental america. Hats off to the man. I really hope he makes it. He is raising money for homeless youth so please support him.

Video

Website

Twitter

Video with Sir Richard Branson

Best of luck Tellman, keep on keepin on!!

GR

Funny Fridays

Although I'm sure funny clips are better served on a Monday, the alliteration just isn't the same!

I'm gonna try to post a quick clip each Friday that has made me laugh throughout the week. I love the creativity and spontaneity of this one. Never worked in an office but I would have guessed most days started off like this!



Have a great weekend! I'm actually back in school tomorrow as I'm taking the 'Can-Fit-Pro' personal training certification courses throughout Oct and Nov, hopefully I still know how to actually read and write...on paper!

GR