Grand Teton 100

With the cancellation of Western States 100 putting Josh Brimhall’s (Henderson, NV) hunger for a 100 mile race on hold, he got his taste at the Grand Teton 100 Mile in Alta, Wyoming on August 30.  Over a 25 mile course (run 2X for the 50 mile and 4X for the 100 mile) with a gain of nearly 5,000 feet per loop, the terrain features single-track trail, forest service roads, bike trails, and a short stretch of pavement per loop.

Josh reached the 5.6 mile aid station in one hour, positioning himself already with a five minute lead over the 100 mile field and ahead of all but 3 of the 50 mile competitors.  By 50 miles, Josh had overtaken all but the winner of the 50 mile race.  He continued on for another 50 very lonely miles to win in 19:59:07, nearly 3 hours ahead of second place.

Youch! That’s Hot

When Nick Whited (Raven, VA) stepped out of his hotel room Saturday morning,  August 30, in the dark, he was hit with an already intense heat and humidity.  It just so happened that just hours later Nick and thousands of others would step to the starting line of the Charleston 15 Miler in Charleston, WV.

Nick had a race plan that included going out conservative in order to not cook his legs in the first four miles (miles two, three, and four are primarily uphill) then to run the steep downhill two mile section to the six mile mark as gently as possible and then begin basically a nine mile charge to the finish.   Nick’s plan paid off as he finished in 1:38:23 for 15^th overall, as many who went out harder and led Nick early fell by the wayside as products of being too aggressive too early against a tough course and very tough race conditions. 

Making Due

After Steve Crowder (Fincastle, VA) realized he wouldn’t be able to make a race in Charleston, WV on Saturday, August 30, he was able to make it to the H.B. Thomas Memorial 5K in Little Beaver State Park in Beaver, WV.  Now, Steve didn’t learn of the race until 10PM on Friday night, and the only information he could find on the race was the 5K distance, the location, and the start time.

So, on Saturday morning, Steve showed up at the race, signed up, and looked around.  What he realized quickly was that he hadn’t come to a road race, but to a West Virginia style cross country race—complete with brutal hills, rocks, roots, mud, and gravel roads.  Steve wasn’t intimidated, as that’s much of what he trains on on the Appalachian Trail around his home.

Steve got an idea of the course layout as he ran and jogged it for a warm up.  When the trigger was pulled, Steve bailed into the lead and was never challenged as he ran to a win by 4 minutes.  Steve’s time of 18:53 reflected the difficulty of the course—with his next closest competitors timed at over 22 minutes.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 19th, 2008 at 4:06 pm and is filed under Results. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.