June 25, 2009

Forecast 103F, 115F In Canyons! How To Follow The Carnage...



Well so much for my pipe dream of this being a 'cooler' year for Western States. The latest forecast is for it to jump up an additional 15 degrees tomorrow and to hit 103f by Saturday! That should push the canyon temps up over 115 and will basically ensure a much slower winning time than normal. I spoke with Erik Skaden at 'The Montrail House' earlier. He has finished 2nd the previous two years and his take is that the winning time will be over 17hr for sure and maybe up towards 17.5. It was fun to pick his brain a bit and to drink a few beers with the rest of the Montrail U.S. running team.

Oh yeah, before I forget, thanks so much for all the comments on the Princeton Tec giveaway, it's awesome and as promised I'll do the draw in a few days time. Still about 30hr to get your name in on it if you haven't already. Just scroll down to the next posting.

If you are looking to follow along live as all the action unfolds at 5am on Saturday, here are the easiest ways to do so:

-The Western States Webcast will update runners positions throughout the race.

-Right here on my blog you may have noticed a new twitter update bar just to the right. You can scroll through these updates by clicking on the arrows and anything in orange links to a pic or a website. My crew will be doing live updates throughout the day, including pics and text as to how I'm really doing out there!

-My twitter page, although as mentioned you can find all the info right here if you prefer

-Matt Hart will also be twittering and videoing throughout the day. You can find his twitter links on his blog (you have to scroll down about half way to find them), or his twitter page

And with that, I'm out, it's after midnight and I won't be getting much sleep tomorrow night!

Here are a few pics of the trip so far:





GR

11 comments:

mo said...

I am thrilled for you!

Deb said...

Good luck Gary and kick butt! I'm so excited for you!!

Sibylle said...

Gary, I wish you all the best and a great run tomorrow. Hugs!

Anonymous said...

Good Luck Gary!!!

Joy (Luke's sister)

King Arthur said...

Good Luck aye! I wish I was there watching. It sounds like Hal is going to play king of the hill up the Escarpment!

Enjoy the ride.

Christine said...

Go Gary go! I can't wait for you to kill it out there!

Tom Craik said...

Hot dogs cook at 115F, don't they?
Kick it's ass Sea Bass!

MJ said...

Thanks for the links...

Let 'er rip!!

Derrick said...

Congrats Gary on a great race. Way to gut it out at the end. The heat must have been brutal, but you were smokin' early on. Look out next year!

Sarah said...

Congrats on finishing your epic race Gary! Sounds like there were many challenges along the way but you stuck it out and persevered:)

Not sure if you will get this note but if you do...

I am fastpacking the JDF trail on Saturday and would love any advice you may have!

Cheers,
Sarah
www.elmhealth.blogspot.com

garobbins said...

Hey guys, thanks once again for the continued support, sorry I did not respond to this earlier.
Sarah, sorry I missed this before your JDF adventure, hope it went well for you!
GR