Ultra running news, ultramarathons

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Sept. 29, 2008 -- Lawrence marathoner and mountaineer Christy Craig "went ultra," Saturday, with an 8:51:59 finish at the Flatrock 50K, Independence, Kan., one of the Midwest's toughest courses.

Temps in the mid-80s combined with Flatrock's well-known rocky, rooty trails, and scrambles up and down stone bluffs to challenge even the fastest runners in the race's 14th edition. Craig completed the course running with fellow ultrarunner Coleen Voeks.

Both women are members of the elite Mudbabes corps of the Kansas City Trail Nerds. In addition to battling the course's many obstacles, Craig also contended with a damaged right knee. She finds out Wednesday when she'll be scheduled for an outpatient surgery to fix the problem. Her doctor believes she tore something running on slippery trails.

Craig had been running in pain for several months. Her doctor told her if the pain wasn't gone by the end of September, the next step was surgery.

Pain or no pain, surgery or no surgery, Craig said she wasn't going to put off becoming an ultrarunner any longer.

"I'm ready to do more," she said, though exactly when she'll be running again after surgery isn't clear. Having got a taste of ultras, however, Craig now has her sights set on on the 2009 Pacific Crest Trail 50-miler at Mt. Hood, Oregon in July.

PHOTO: Ultra Mudbabes Christy Craig (L) and Coleen Voeks grin as they display their finisher's awards after completing the grueling Flatrock 50K in Independence, Kan.

Aug. 24, 2008 -- Sunny skies and cool starting line temperatures promise to help make the upcoming 'Run on the Sly' 50k in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada a terrific way to begin the 3-day Labor Day Weekend.

The race, in its 14th year, takes its name from its starting point in Sly Park near Placerville, and Pollock Pines, Calif. Weather.com's forecast for the race has highs about 10 degrees cooler than last year's 97 degrees. Ten percent humidity is also forecast, along with lows of 60 degrees.

Nearly 80 percent of the challenging, hilly road and trail course is shaded by towering Ponderosa Pines, which moderates temperatures further. Aid stations feature Gatorade, S! Caps, water and both sweet and salty delights, according to Race Director Ellen Crouse.

The course elevation is between 3700 and 4000 feet, so no acclimation is needed, she said. Another nice feature is something the course doesn't have -- no poison ivy or poison oak. The start is slated for 7 a.m., with check-in and race-day registration beginning at 6 a.m.

A buffet and music following the race has drawn rave reviews -- ". . .the finish line buffet is second-to-none," says ultrarunner Kathy Welch, Auburn, Calif. "Ellen goes out of her way to make this one of the best little races in Northern California."

The race is a fund raiser for Eldorado County Search and Rescue. Although the 50-miler offered in past years isn't on for 2008, the race does feature a 20-miler and an 8-miler.

Aug. 17, 2008 -- "The second-worst conditions in the race's history" at the Leadville Trail 100 put an end to Grand Slam contender Willie Lambert's try for the famed Eagle Trophy, early Sunday morning, high atop Sugarloaf Pass.

"Lightning, sleet, snow, temperatures in the 30s, hypothermia -- conditions were horrendous," said Bad Ben Holmes, Kansas City Trail Nerds, who was out to pace and crew. "They were the second-worst conditions in the race's history," he said.

Willie, Topeka, Kan., who last month completed the Vermont 100, left Fish Hatchery at 76.5 miles into the race about 2:47 a.m. He made it up the grueling climb to Sugarloaf Pass, but became hypothermic, according to race finisher Paul Schoenlaub, speaking by phone to local Missouri runner Dave Wakefield. A search party retrieved Willie from the mountain and "he's O.K. and in good care now," Dave said.

Willie is an experienced ultrarunner. He previously completed the Leadville Trail 100 course in under 30 hours in 2005. He and his spouse Karen are the proprietors of the Great Plains Running Company in Topeka, Kan., which caters to ultra and trail runners, as well as road runners.

Dave also spoke by phone with Leadville entrant Ryne Melcher, Vancouver, B.C., who missed the cutoff at Winfield by 30 minutes. Dave said Ryne echoed Bad Ben's assessment of the weather.

July 21, 2008 -- Kansas Ultrarunners Society member Willie Lambert, Topeka, arrived home today after beating the Vermont 100's 30-hour cutoff in 26 hours, 23 minutes and 42.4 seconds,

Saturday and Sunday.

It was Willie's first race in his quest for completion of the Grand Slam of Ultra Running. Normally, California's Western States 100 miler, in June, is the first of the Slam's 4 hundred-mile races in four months. This year, Western States was canceled because of severe forest fires in the area. Slam officials modified the schedule, adding the Arkansas Traveler 100 Mile Endurance Run in October to make up for the canceled California competition.

Willie said he battled heat -- in the 90s for much of the race -- high humidity and nausea to get his Vermont 100 finisher's belt buckle.

"I ran the last 16 miles with nothing but ginger ale in my water bottle," he said. "It was the only thing that would stay down."

"I knew the elevation change was 15,000 feet," he said. "But I have never seen so many hills. Every time you turn a corner, you're going up again. My quads are trashed, but I have four weeks until Leadville to recover."

The Leadville Trail 100, third weekend in August, is Willie's next stop on the road to the Eagle Trophy and membership in the elite group of ultra running's Grand Slammers. He's entered Leadville four times and buckled once.

"I'm just going to try to enjoy the run, focus on the positive, and not put so much pressure on myself," Willie said.

After Leadville, Willie is scheduled for the Wasatch Trail 100 in Layton, Utah, then the Arkansas Traveler 100 in Ouachita National Forest Arkansas.

Willie and spouse Karen are the proprietors of the Great Plains Running Company in Topeka. The GPRC caters to trail, ultra and road runners. The couple also puts on the Rock Creek Trail Series in Spring and Fall at nearby Perry Lake. The series culminates with a 25 and 50K trail run the last weekend in October.

PHOTO: Talk to the hand -- Willie at the Free State 100K Trail Run in Lawrence, Kan., April 26, 2008

July 14, 2008 -- The Lunar Trek, the Sunflower State's newest ultra, is set for a Friday, July 18 start at 11 p.m., in Scandia, Kansas.

The event is a benefit for the Pike Valley High School Boys and Girls Cross Country Teams. In addition to the ultras, runners can sign up for runs of 10K, and 10 and 20 miles. The courses are all out and back on dirt and gravel roads around Scandia, a small town in North-Central Kansas, near the Kansas-Nebraska state line.

Look for rolling hills, some decent ups and downs and a flat section along the Republican River, according to Lunar Trek Run -- the race website. Also, staffed aid stations every five miles. Get a preview of the course at the UltraStory.com Photos page courtesy of Dr. John Neal, RD. Race day (or night) sign up is available.

July 6, 2008 -- Triathelete and marathoner Adam Taylor met his match at the Psummer Psycho 50K July 5 at Wyandotte County Lake Park -- and it was perfect.

"I usually just run marathons and triathalons," said the 25-year-old who clocked in at a minute under nine hours on the hilly, grassy, rocky, rooty, muddy, foresty, gravelly course which also included a few short stretches of pavement. "It will not be the last though, because I had a blast.

"What other ultras are coming up?" he asked. "I try to run in every race I can. I have three triathalons coming up in the next 3 weeks, so I will do anything after that!"

Kansas ultrarunners Kyle Amos and Tony Clark and Missourian Pat Perry have returned home from Sheridan, Wyoming, each with a with Bighorn Trail 100 Mile Endurance Run finish to his credit.

The race, held June 20-21, is a scenic but grueling out and back course through the mountains and canyons of Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming.

Kyle Amos, of Olathe, Kan., finished in 23:27:53, in 10th place. Tony Clark, Wichita, Kan., clocked a 27:35:24 finish, and Pat Perry, Kansas City, Mo., beat the 34-hour cutoff by nearly six hours, crossing the finish in 28:04:57.

"Kyle Amos just stepped up about 10 notches on the stud ladder with his sub- 24 this weekend," Tony said. "Make no mistake, this event was not forgiving at any point. I have run entire 50s and 100s with Kyle and could not have kept up with him on my best day the way he ran Friday and Saturday."

Kyle, of the Kansas City Trail Nerds, was one of only 12 to finish under 24 hours. Only 100 out of 146 entrants finished this year's 100-mile race.

Pat is a member of the Kansas Ultrarunners Society, and Tony is claimed by both Trail Nerds and KUS.

PHOTO: Big Horn Boys -- (L to R) Tony Clark, Pat Perry, Kyle Amos. Photo courtesy Pat Perry

Trail Nerds Colleen Voek and Sophia Wharton said bye-bye to Marathonville as they ran 35 and 33 miles respectively in an unofficial ultra celebrating Colleen's 35th birthday, June 1. Sophia, a Boston Marathoner, had to bail two miles before the 35-mile finish because she had to work.

Colleen, who had completed her first marathon just 5 weeks before, completed the run in 7:45:44. Her husband, Erik, who is a non-runner, finished the the last 3.5 miles with her.

The run took place on the rocky, rooty, muddy, but not too hilly North Shore trails of Clinton Lake, Lawrence, Kan.

"I was feeling quite a bit cocky after the marathon and this run definitely cured me of that," Colleen commented after the run. She added that she "can't wait to do a 'real' ultra," and is signed up for the Psummer Psycho 50k July 5, at nearby Wyandotte County Lake.

"Sophia and her cheerful attitude was my saving grace," Colleen said. "I hit a low point at about 27 miles and she kept me going." About half-a-dozen Trail Nerds accompanied the pair for distances of up to 20 miles throughout the run

Mud Babes Colleen and Sophia got their nickname from other members of their running club, the Kansas City Trail Nerds, because of their fondness for muddy trails.

Colleen is the daughter of noted ultrarunner Bob Shaw of Colorado Springs. Bob is a veteran finisher of multiple Western States, as well as the Leadville Trail 100 and other mountain hundreds.

A two-day track-trot, hosted by leading Hungarian ultrarunning club UNIX TSE hs been set for a 9 a.m., July 25 start at Petofi Island, Baja, Hungary.

The venue is a 400-meter, 6-lane cinder track. The race features chip timing and change of direction every six hours. Register online at http://unixtse.echt.hu/entryform

The official results aren't up yet, but Trail Nerds Tony Clark and Rick Mayo took 1 and 2 respectively at the Berryman 50-mile Trail Run (and marathon) Saturday, May 17, in Mark Twain National Forest in Southeast Missouri.

Tony is a former Marine, and Rick is a part-time personal trainer with a ticket to Western States in June. The Big Horn Trail 100-mile Endurance Run in Dayton, Wyoming is coming up for Tony, June 20, along with the Cactus Rose 100, in Bandera, Texas in November. Tony is also a member of the Kansas Ultrarunners Society.

Kansas City Trail Nerd and marathoner Colleen "Cynical Mud Babe" Voek is stepping up to ultras in personal way with a 35-mile run on her 35th birthday, June 1.

The birthday run is planned for the north shore trails at Clinton Lake, Lawrence (home of the mighty Jayhawks), Kansas, though time has not been been set. Colleen says everyone is invited to run part or all with her.

Colleen is the daughter of noted ultrarunner Bob Shaw of Colorado Springs. Bob is a veteran finisher of multiple Western States, as well as the Leadville Trail 100 and other mountain hundreds.

Colleen plans to start her first official ultra July 5, at the Trail Nerd's Psycho Psummer 50k at Wyandotte County Lake in Northeastern Kansas. She also has her sights set on the Rocky Raccoon 100-miler in February, Huntsville, Texas. Her Dad plans to crew.