Comrades and Western States 2016

The start and finish arch for WS100. Never thought I'd be so involved with the race I'd sponsor it. A very proud moment. Photo: Amy Sharman

Rather than a standard race report for the past couple of events, I thought it'd be more helpful to spell out what I learnt. Ultra running is about constantly improving and avoiding making past mistakes in training and racing, so that process never ends (it's one of the most fascinating aspects of ultras).

I've doubled up on two of my favorite races four times now and they're four weeks apart on totally different terrain. Comrades in South Africa is at the end of May and is the biggest and most competitive ultra in the world, then Western States 100 in California at the end of June and is generally considered to be the premier ultra in the US. Comrades is a hilly road race, WS100 is a hot, rolling trail race with a mid-range of vertical gain and loss.

This year I'd hoped to really go for it at Comrades and break six hours for the 55.5 mile course, but it didn't happen thanks to an injury in the build-up and illness right before the race while on vacation in Paris. So what did I learn from that? Mainly I learnt that just getting to run Comrades at all is still a huge thrill and that without the pressure of running hard it's more relaxed and fun. However, I'm driven by competition and seeing how well I can run so the relaxed race days will mainly have to wait til my 40s (or maybe 50s). I also learnt that with around one hour of sleep a night for the week before the race (due to coughing non-stop through the night), I was able to run fairly normally and not feel too tired. Probably good news if I ever run some multi-day, non-stop race like Tor des Geants. But that's not on the radar for the foreseeable future.

Anyway, continual coughing fits during Comrades didn't annoy me as much as I thought they would since I'd already adjusted my goals and accepted the reality for the day instead of the race I'd dreamed of having. This is a lesson I've learnt before and one that's vital to getting the most of out a given situation in a race.

So Comrades ended up being a hard training run for WS100, which gave it a useful purpose and kept my motivation up. 6h25m (Strava data here), over 24 mins slower than my best, but that's still pretty close and was at a reasonably comfy effort for the most part. Next time...

In the weeks between the races I knew that recovery was the most important and useful factor for performing well at WS100 so I let my body heal with hiking and easy running. In 2015 my heat training was inadequate so that was another area I could work on without harming my recovery. I had some dizzy, energy-sapping slow hike/runs with up to nine layers of clothing, plus another four on just my head. Not the most fun, but it paid off in a huge way on race day.

Heat training - hiking at Lake Tahoe in my winter gear. Photo: Amy Sharman

Pre-WS100 I was invited to take part in the Veteran's Panel, which was a great chance to question my own race day strategy. Here's the video, which includes some excellent info from he panel of Gunhild Swanson, Erika Lindland, Danny Westergaard and myself.



Then on to race day, which was hotter than average (a high of around 100F in Auburn compared to around 90F as a median). This was possibly the first time I was genuinely felt excited on race morning instead of a dread that I have to run a full 100 miles and that part of it will feel horrible, guaranteed.

The biggest story of the race was how aggressive Jim Walmsley ran, despite the blistering heat. It was an impressive run to get so far ahead of the course record splits for a long period, but the beauty of a 100 miler is that there's a lot more to deal with than in a shorter ultra. The three favorites (Walmsley, Sage Canaday and David Laney) all had difficulties and it ended up with many of the slower, experienced 100 milers in the top positions, plus relatively slow times for the top 10 in general. The right tactic was to avoid reacting to the fast pace of the leaders, but it takes discipline to stick to a game plan, especially when it looks like someone else is rapidly pulling away. Luckily, the same mentality that helped at Comrades also helped here - I knew I'd not run enough on trails or enough vertical to be particularly fast, so there was less pressure internally to try to move quickly and more focus on saving the legs for the latter miles so my pace wouldn't fall off a cliff. This was painfully brought home to me by four nasty falls in the high country, a personal record compared to one minor fall maximum in the previous WS100s I've run. Basically I was uncoordinated and below par on anything remotely technical. Not much I could have done to fix that, but it did force me to be more conservative, which I should have done earlier on. Again, playing the conditions and the fitness I actually faced would have been better than going for things regardless and wishing I'd been able to train differently and be more agile. But that's an easy one to fix if the next build up is injury-free.

Duncan Canyon at mile 23. A few cuts and bruises from being uncoordinated. Photo: Greg Lanctot. 

Another lesson here - always look out for the markings even when it's the seventh time you're running a race. I got lost soon after Michigan Bluff since I expected the road to go upwards and forgot it goes downwards first. A few minutes of running by someone's house and I had a group of 3 large dogs running with me. They didn't go away for miles and the detour meant that fellow Brit, Paul Giblin, caught me up. The dogs then distracted us when we were looking for the turn to Volcano Canyon and we missed it by half a mile, then doubled back due to a lack of marking meaning we clearly had gone off course.

The next lesson resulted from this - when shit happens, move on quickly and don't dwell on 'could haves' and 'should haves.' It's annoying, but adapt to the new reality. I felt I did that pretty well and tried to avoid bitching to my crew about it since dwelling on negatives doesn't help my mindset or lead to good performance.

Then the final lesson of the day was that it ain't over til the fat lady sings (or John Medinger announces your name as you cross the finish line, at least). Despite only moving at a moderate pace, I was running a good portion of the race for the last 38 miles and the only people I caught were the leaders for most of the day, both of whom were walking - Sage then Jim. Last year it was 100-mile legend, Francois D'Haene, who I caught as he walked it in after getting food poisoning pre-race. If guys of that caliber can have things go wrong but still gut it out then the only excuses I could use for slowing down or stopping involved something like a bone sticking out my shin or an arm hanging by a thread after being ripped off by a cougar. Neither of these scenarios had occurred to sucking up the final miles was the only reasonable way forward. Final result: 16h55m for 6th. Not what I wanted back at the start of the year, but solid and not easy at all so I'm very satisfied. Strava data until the watch ran out of memory are here.

So that was a longer write-up than I'd intended, but I know I'll read this before WS100 next year and this will help me appreciate the fitness I have and the opportunity to line up for my eighth run at the storied event. Three more top 10s to be the first man to get top 10 in his first 10 attempts. But I really want one of them to be a win (or, ideally, three).

Thanks to all the organizers, volunteers, crew and pacers at both these incredible world ultras. Dave Pearse was my legendary local crew (again) at Comrades; Amy Sharman and Rob Tucker crewed expertly at WS100 and Altra's Brian Beckstead got in some pre-Hardrock miles by crawling along with me for the final 22 miles.

Gear (all worked perfectly and will be used in exactly the same way in my next ultra):

Shoes -
Comrades: Altra One 2.5
WS100: Altra Lone Peak 2.5

Nutrition -
Comrades: Clif Bar gels
WS100: Clif Bar gels, Shot Bloks and Organic Energy Food pouches

Hydration/lights -
Comrades: Water and Energy drink pouches along the course (no handheld bottles)
WS100: UltrAspire Isometric pocket bottles and Lumen 600 waist light

Socks -
Comrades: Drymax Max Protection Road Socks
WS100: Drymax Max Protection Trail Socks

Shades -
Comrades: Julbo Venturi with photochromic lenses
WS100: Julbo Venturi with photochromic lenses

Some more photos that capture the beauty and trials of WS100:

Cruising in the middle of the race. Photo: Paul Nelson.

The joyous American River crossing at mile 78. Photo: Gary Wang.

More river crossing fun. Photo: Gary Wang.

Medical tent at the end, having pieces of grit pulled out my arm. Get all the pain out the way on the same day! Photo: Rob Tucker.

Top 10 Female Ultra Performances of All Time

Given there are plenty of annual lists at this time of year for best performances and runners, it got me thinking about the very best ultra performances of all time. Obviously it's impossible to have some perfect formula to compare every aspect of one performance to another, but I used my own experience from road, track and trail racing (as well as coaching elite women) to consider the most impressive female runs ever and have included the equivalent list for men here.

I factor in the level of competition on the day, the level of competition that's attempted the world or course record at any point in history, weather (where applicable, like at Western States where it can vary significantly) and knowledge of the tactics and skill used to get such a great performance. I was lucky enough to see some of these performances in person or at least meet most of the runners mentioned below.

I include only one performance per race, unless the race has more than one format or direction (like Comrades with its Up and Down runs or the clockwise/anti-clockwise directions at Hardrock 100).  Also, how well these records stand the test of time is important, so a very well-challenged record from longer ago is deemed to be especially impressive.

I also work off the assumption that if a runner hasn't been caught doping then their results are legitimate, since unfounded accusations are spiteful. Anyone who is a confirmed doper is not part of this list (that I'm aware of).


No photo available of Tomoe Abe - anyone got one?

1. Tomoe Abe, Japan - 100k World Record at Lake Saroma, Japan (6:33:11, 2000)


She set the fastest 100k time for women by a long margin (nobody else has broken 7hrs and Ann Trason is one of the closest with a 7:00:47 best). I've heard that this record was set with a tailwind, but it's still so far ahead of any of the other road or track marks set by women at any ultra distance that it really stands out. To give an idea of Abe's caliber, she won the bronze medal in the marathon at the 1993 World Championships and her personal best time is 2:26:09. In addition, she ran a 2:28:01 in the same year as her 100k record and a 2:27:01 the following year so was very much at her peak at that point. This is equivalent to 5:16 for 50 miles (compared to the 5:40 world record by Ann Trason), or even quicker if she slowed towards the end of the 100k. Also, this record is surprisingly close to the men's record by Don Ritchie of 6:10:20 (number five on the top 10 all time ultra men's list).

Frith van der Merle. Photo: Sport.co.za

2. Frith van der Merwe, South Africa - Comrades Down Run Course Record (5:54:43, 1989)

van der Merwe destroyed the Comrades down run record in 1989 and nobody's come very close since, with just two other women breaking 6hrs - Ann Trason with a 5:58:24 in 1997 and Tatyana Zhirkova with 5:58:50 in 2005. van der Merwe's average pace was 6:23/mile, working out as around 5:19:30 through 50 miles with hills. The down run is usually won in a time around 6:10:00 and the record looks safe for the moment.

However, the up run course record of 6:09:24 (Elena Nurgalieva, 2006) isn't quite as comparably fast and doesn't make the top 10 list. It's 15 mins off the down run record while the men's up run record is only four minutes slower than the down run record (see the top 10 all time ultra men's list).

Rory Bosio. Photo: Tim Kemple

3. Rory Bosio, USA - UTMB Course Record (22:37:26, 2013)

The top ranked trail performance is by Rory Bosio, who decimated the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc field two years in a row (2013 and 2014 wins), taking over two hours off the course record and finishing seventh overall in 22:37:26, well ahead of the female competition. On top of that she made it look easy, smiling and playing in the mountains throughout the race. This is arguably the most competitive trail ultra in the world and Rory was so dominant that this could easily have been number one in the list.

Ann Trason. Photo: Running Times

4. Ann Trason, USA - Grand Slam of Ultra Running Record (79:23:21, 1998)

No woman dominated ultra running like Ann Trason. 14 wins at Western States 100, including the former course record, plus wins at Comrades, the 100k World Cup and just about every major ultra you can think of in the 1990s. She also holds American and World Records at numerous distances, most of which still stand today. She generally raced the men since no women could keep up with her and the fact she has several spots in this top 10 reflects that her times are just as competitive today.

However, I judge the top-rated performance of her career as her Grand Slam of Ultra Running record, the combined time for the Western States 100, Vermont Trail 100, Leadville Trail 100 and Wasatch Front 100, all over one summer in a period of 10-11 weeks. The next best female time was nine hours back by Krissy Moehl! Ann was the female winner in each of those races, which wasn't unexpected for such a talented runner, but it speaks to her ability to not just perform well for a single target race but to manage so many other factors within ultra running to stay strong and fast through each of these races. If there was an award for the best female ultra runner of all time, it would be hard to argue against Ann as the clear winner, especially with her breadth of dominance.

Anna Frost. Photo: irunfar.com

5. Anna Frost, New Zealand - Transvulcania Course Record (8:10:41, 2014)

Anna's had numerous spectacular performances and is undoubtedly one of the best female mountain runners of all time. Her course record at the hyper competitive Transvulcania ultra on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands is something that stands out. When Anna's on top form she's like a steam train uphill and most of the very fastest mountain women of the modern era have tackled this course and not come close to this time. Only Anna herself (8:11:31 in 2012) and Skyrunning star, Emelie Forsberg (8:13:22 in 2013), have come close to this performance.

Ellie Greenwood. Photo: irunfar

6. Ellie Greenwood, Great Britain/Canada - Western States 100 Course Record (16:47:19, 2012)

When someone breaks the record by a large margin at the oldest 100-mile trail race in the world and the former record was the result of 14 wins by Ann Trason, you know it's a special performance. Yes, the weather was very mild and that made it quicker, but it was 50 mins faster than Ann's best. It may take another colder year and a group of the quickest women ever in the world to break this record. Several of the other women in this list have tried, many on more than one occasion, but Ann and Ellie are the only women to break 18hrs.

Nicole Studer. Photo: Jason Bryant

7. Nicole Studer, USA - Rocky Raccoon 100 Record and Trail World Best (14:22:18, 2015)

The 100 mile record for trails has been less tested by the quickest women in history, but is still a very solid mark. Nicole took 35 mins off the course record at Rocky Raccoon 100 in a mind-blowing performance and took 20 mins off the existing world trail best from Tunnel Hill 100, a flatter course that's arguably easier. Nicole started fast and held on for an astounding win that doubled as the USATF National Championship and not far off the 100 mile record for any type of terrain, which stands at 13:47:41 by (you guessed it) Ann Trason, dating back to 1991.

8. Ann Trason, USA - Leadville Trail 100 Record (18:06:24, 1994)

Ann's Western States wins were clearly excellent, as were many of her road and track records, but her 1994 winning time at Leadville is far ahead of any other woman at that race. The high altitude course sits between 9,200ft and 12,600ft, with around 15,000ft of vertical gain and the same descent. It includes a lot of fast, flat running but that altitude slows it significantly and many fast women have raced it, with only a handful breaking 20hrs.

Stick with me for a minute here for some back of the cigarette packet calculations...Using my own rough comparison of the Western States 100 and Leadville Trail 100 courses (from running both numerous times) I'd estimate that the male course record times (14:46 for WS100 and 15:42 for LT100) are roughly equivalent in terms of difficulty, giving the nod to Matt Carpenter's LT100 as being marginally more impressive. So I think of them as having a one hour difference for that pace, meaning around 1:10 at Ann's pace, i.e. her 18:06 at LT100 is equivalent to a sub 17hr WS100. So, pretty damned quick, then.

9. Ann Trason, USA - American River 50 Record (6:09:08, 1993)

You could pick any number of Ann's records as being amongst the best runs in the world, but the only other one I choose for the top 10 is her American River 50 record from 1993 - a race that's been competitive since it's inception in 1980. That older course was quicker than the current course and involved about 50% bike path and 50% rolling trail, but this is a record that's been tested over the years, not least by Ann herself within her five wins. The only other woman under 6:30 is Ellie Greenwood, who's career mimics many of the elements and highlights of Ann's.

10. Anna Frost, New Zealand - The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 San Francisco Record (6:56:07, 2011)

Anna's second appearance in the top 10 is at the season-ending TNFEC50 in the Marin Headlands. The large prize purse and reputation of the race means it's always got a deep field and the aggressive running for the men's record by Zach Miller from 2015 was also spectacular, narrowly missing out on inclusion in the men's top 10. It's often muddy and the rolling hills add up to around 10,000ft of vertical gain, so sub-7hrs is extremely fast and involves beating the quickest women in the world on runnable, hilly trails. In comparison, the similarly difficult Lake Sonoma 50, which also attracts a stellar field and has 10,000ft of vert, has a female course record of 7:08:23 by Steph Howe, which narrowly missed a place in this top 10.

Top 10 Male Ultra Performances of All Time

Given there are plenty of annual lists at this time of year for best performances and runners, it got me thinking about the very best ultra performances of all time. Obviously it's impossible to have some perfect formula to compare every aspect of one performance to another, but I used my own experience from road, track and trail racing to consider the most impressive male runs ever and have done the same for female performances here.

I factor in the level of competition on the day, the level of competition that's attempted the world or course record at any point in history, weather (where applicable, like at Western States where it can vary significantly) and knowledge of the tactics and skill used to get such a great performance. I was lucky enough to see some of these performances in person or at least meet most of the runners mentioned below.

I include only one performance per race, unless the race has more than one format or direction (like Comrades with its Up and Down runs or the clockwise/anti-clockwise directions at Hardrock 100). Otherwise, many of the best performances would be at Comrades due to the depth of the field at the world's largest ultra both currently and for almost 100 years in the past and it would dominate the list. Also, how well these records stand the test of time is important, so a very well-challenged record (not all have faced much competition) from longer ago is deemed to be especially impressive.

I also work off the assumption that if a runner hasn't been caught doping then their results are legitimate, since unfounded accusations are spiteful. Anyone who is a confirmed doper is not part of this list (that I'm aware of, despite allegations against some of the runners below).

Numbers 1 and 2 are Leonid Shvetsov. Photo: Comrades Marathon

1. Leonid Shvetsov, Russia - Comrades Up Run Course Record 87kms (5:24:47, 2008)

Shvetsov has a marathon best of 2:09:16 from 1997 and is a two-time Olympic Marathoner for Russia. His Comrades wins in South Africa were back-to-back and I rate his up run record from Durban to Pietermaritzburg as the better of the two, especially since very few runners can win both directions. Despite it being marginally shorter than the down run (54 miles compared to 55.5 miles), it has around 6,000ft of ascent and 4,000ft of descent and is usually much slower than the down run. The women's records are 15 minutes apart compared to just four minutes difference for the men. This race has up to 20,000 runners and just getting in the top 10 in the up run requires a 50-mile split around 5:20 with all that uphill.


2. Leonid Shvetsov, Russia - Comrades Down Run Course Record 89kms (5:20:41, 2007)

The down run at Comrades is quicker with around 4,000ft of ascent and 6,000ft of descent and this course record required an average pace of 5:46/mile or 2:31 marathon pace for more than two marathons...with hills. This record had inched down over the years and Bruce Fordyce deserves a mention here for his nine wins at Comrades and for holding the record at both the up and the down - Shvetsov broke his 5:24:07 record from 1986! The back end of the top 10 at the down run requires running around 2:40-2:45 marathon pace for this distance, with hills, something that's just plain astounding in terms of the depth of the field.

Yiannis Kouros. Photo: complex.com

3. Yiannis Kouros, Greece - 24hr World Record at a track in Adelaide, Australia (188.63 miles, 1997)

Kouros is the Lionel Messi of running with a list of world and age group world records that goes on forever. He focuses on roads and track running and dominated even into his 50s. However, many of the areas he got records in are not tested by as deep a field of runners as the other performances in this list and his stand out performance is his 24hr world record, the race format where the top 11 times ever are all by Kouros and barely anyone can even reach 90% of his mark. He also has the record for the Spartathlon race in Greece, which nobody has come close to, but this top 10 list is based on the factors mentioned at the top of the page, and even that record is not as impressive as his 24hr record. If this was a top 100 ranking, Kouros would make up a lot of the places. However, trails weren't to is liking, as shown by his sole Western States 100 run in 1988 where he was 24th overall in 20:12:54.

Matt Carpenter. Photo: Marathon & Beyond Magazine

4. Matt Carpenter, USA - Leadville Trail 100 (15:42:59, 2005)

Of all the trail records, I think this one stands out as the most impressive. Despite minor changes to the course over time, nobody has come close to Carpenter's 2005 time, where he had a level of dedication and scientific focus that I've rarely seen or heard about in any sport. The Colorado course varies between 9,200ft and 12,600ft and that altitude slows most runners considerably, but Carpenter has an ability to run at altitude that may be the best ever seen within racing globally. Over the years a lot of top level ultra runners have tested his record but none have even broken 16hrs. To back up his credentials, his seemingly untouchable Pike's Peak Marathon record is testament to this too, another record that nobody has come close to.

Don Ritchie (right). Photo: RRC

5. Don Ritchie, Great Britain - 100k World Record at a track in London, UK (6:10:20, 1978)

Don holds numerous records, including the British 100 mile record (11:30:51 in 1977), which was the world record when he ran it. He's the only person to break 6 minute/miling in the 100k and his record is older than I am (just).

Kilian Jornet. Photo: Strava

6. Kilian Jornet, Spain - Hardrock 100 Clockwise Course Record (22:41:00, 2014)

Kilian's won nearly everything, set records everywhere and is the only real global megastar in the sport ever. However, many of his most impressive performances are at sub-ultra distances and I suspect he rarely goes to 100% effort in ultras, especially given how frequently he races and how easy he looks even at finish lines. Again, he'd probably have a lot of entries in the top 100 performances, but his astounding Hardrock 100 clockwise record in Colorado's San Juans shattered the previous best and led to another win and anti-clockwise record the following year. Most amazingly is that he didn't seem to go all-out for this record and could probably go a fair bit faster. Nobody is able to touch this performance this race even through the extremely tough lottery has yielded some of the best mountain 100-milers to have a try.

Rob Krar. Photo: Competitor Magazine

7. Rob Krar, USA - Western States 100 (14:48:59, 2015)

Rob is probably the best ultra runner currently competing at a high level not named Kilian and those two have only raced once, with Rob taking the win at the 2013 UROC 100k to Kilian's 4th. When he's in race mode he could probably run through a brick wall without noticing and this level of focus and toughness got him wins at California's Western States 100 in 2014 and 2015. He's the only man to break 15hrs twice and narrowly missed the course record by two minutes, despite temperatures around 30 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the record-setting year of 2012 (by Timmy Olson). His tactics were perfectly executed on the day for one of the finest ultra races ever.

Xavier Thévenard. Photo: nordicmag.info

8. Xavier Thévenard, France - UTMB Course Record For New Longer Course 170kms (21:09:15, 2015)

Even though the UTMB course around Mt Blanc has been getting slightly longer over the last few years and the level of competition is arguably the highest at any trail ultra globally, Thévenard repeated his previous victory and decimated the field with a tactically perfect race with a 48-minute margin of victory at the finish.


No photo available - anyone got a picture of Magawana?

9. Thompson Magawana, South Africa - Two Oceans Course Record 56kms and 50k World Record (3:03:44, 1988, with the 50k WR set as a split at 2:43:38)

Raced in Cape Town in South Africa, this is another long-standing record and included the 50k world record as well, even more impressive since the 50k mark is at the top of the largest climb in the race before a fast 6k to the finish. This record includes 2:18 marathon pace for an extra third of a marathon, with two significant hills, plus the 50k record is at 2:17 pace, suggesting that Magawama had to hammer that hill to break from his competitors then held on for the win in the easier final kms. The combination of speed and competitiveness in this event makes it the fastest ultra in the world, as well as the second biggest after Comrades.

Alastair J Wood. Photo: scottishrunninghistory.co.uk

10. Alastair J Wood, Great Britain - London to Brighton Course Record 54 miles (5:11:00, 1972)

The 'other AJW' was a Scot and a 2:13 marathoner who held the European Record for the marathon. London to Brighton was started in 1952 through the inspiration of Comrades champion, Arthur Newton, who moved to the UK from South Africa and wanted to recreate his home country's banner race with a similar distance, hilly, point-to-point course. Several winning times were very close to the 1972 record, including Bruce Fordyce in the third of his three wins in 1983 (5:12:32, which includes the official 50-mile road world record of 4:50:21). However, Wood's win suggests a split of 4:48 for 50 miles, which is around the same split as for Leonid Shvetsov in his Comrades down run record. This race was the first ultra I ever ran and it was also the final running of this classic event (2005), so it holds a special place in my heart and if you've never heard of it, have a read about it's insanely fast history here.

Western States 100 2015 - Crazy As Ever

Top of the first climb. Photo: Matt Trappe

Every year I've lived in the US I've been lucky enough to run Western States 100 from Squaw Valley to Auburn. It's the most famous US ultra and the one that means the most to people in general. That also applies to me and I want to keep going back to it many more times to get at least 10 finishes.

Why does it mean so much?

I think it's a combination of several factors:

1. The history - it's the original 100-miler that started the entire concept in the '70s.
2. The variation of the terrain - mountains, canyons, a run to the river then gentler trails to Auburn.
3. The competition - it's certainly the most competitive 100 in the US and I'd argue it's more competitive than any other US ultra due to the fact every single competitor treats it as an 'A' race and it's mid-season instead of at the end when many runners are tired. I think this year's event is probably a deeper field than UTMB, despite a smaller number of racers.
4. It's damned hard - the course is very runnable, meaning there's less chance to have any kind of break, even the hiking has to be at a really fast pace and time can't be wasted at aid stations at all. The extreme heat also makes it very interesting and hugely affects the race dynamics.

Pre-race briefing with the introduction of some of the elites. Jesse Haynes next to me, who unfortunately had to drop. Photo: Matt Trappe

It also means a lot to me personally because it's like a big reunion every year. Many friends from around the world and US turn up and I sometimes only see them this one time per year to catch up away from the virtual world.

Thursday before the race - group photo at the top of Emigrant's Pass. Photo: Ian Sharman

Hike/jog with Magda a week before the race on Mt Rose. Photo: Ian Sharman

Race report:

It was very warm at the start, despite the 5am time and 6,200ft altitude. The classic initial climb up to the Escarpment was very pleasant and I was with Brett Rivers and Chris Denucci for much of it, chatting about the fast pace ahead of us. We crested the four miles in 48 mins, around four mins off the leaders, but at least a minute quicker than I've done it in previous years (yet it felt more relaxed). For once I didn't zoom downhill and tried to cruise and keep things easy. For the first time I had a Heart Rate Monitor to keep myself from going too hard (a LifeBeam hat-based HRM which was way more comfy than a strap, hence why I had this option for the first time). However, my HR was surprisingly high for the comfy effort, probably related to the altitude.

Duncan Canyon aid station with Quicksilver RC (my club) at mile 23. Photo: Jeff Clowers

The lead pack was about 15 deep and once I caught the back of it I held back to avoid running their race and instead focus on my own plan. So far, so good - a decent pace and nothing feeling too tough. Then through the mountains I kept things chilled and ended up getting to Robinson Flat at mile 29.7 in 4:42, a few mins slower than 2014 and 13 mins off the lead. I was in 16th just before the aid station then 11th as I left it, partly due to drops from the super speedy Ryan Bak and Alex Varner. I expected those guys to run fast and was disappointed they wouldn't get a chance to see what they could achieve. This was the first chance to see Amy and she crewed expertly to hand over new food, drink and headgear.

Things were certainly heating up, but didn't feel bad yet and I was very positive about the outlook of the race. Then I had the first of several emergency pit-stops by the trail, a sign that I maybe had a minor bug from food the day before or even from earlier in the race. Luckily that didn't get much worse and had a minimal effect on the day.

Then the long downhill section starts, which always feels great at first but tends to coincide with a low patch most years for me around 35-40 miles. I was running around David Laney, who looked comfy too. So we chatted briefly but he was going uphill faster while I moved downhill quicker. Given it was mainly downhill I ended up staying ahead through the steep canyon and up Devil's Thumb - the steepest, sharpest climb of the day.

DBo was sat in a chair in the burning heat at the aid station and his day ended soon afterwards unfortunately. Yet another favorite was out and the brutal course claimed another victim, a recurring theme on a day when only 253 people finished (compared to 277 at the extremely hot 2013 race). I was very tempted to join him in a seat but kept moving.

Somewhere in the first half. Photo: Matt Trappe

The next section through two more canyons was hot and felt a little tougher than usual so by Foresthill at mile 62 I was mainly focused on survival rather than racing hard down to the river. I used ice at every single aid station from mile 23 onwards, putting it in my bandana and filling one of my water bottles completely with ice then topping up with water so I could keep pouring it over my head, neck and body throughout the next few miles. Most aid stations were around an hour apart and the ice always fully melted within 20-30 mins. However, I can only imagine that's harder to deal with for runners farther back in the field since their ice would last for a shorter proportion of the time they're out in the sun.

Matt Laye joined me for pacing and it was a fairly slow pace for the next 16 miles as I felt gradually more and more sorry for myself. My energy was low, legs were tired and things felt generally worse than the last few years at WS. I seriously considered dropping, but reminded myself that so many people want to run this race and I have the chance to keep going with no valid reason to stop other than I felt bad. I wasn't injured, I wasn't even walking, plus I was in the top 10 (8th at this point) and REALLY wanted to continue that streak for another year to make it six in a row. In fact that was the main motivation I clung on to.

Just after picking up my pacer, Matt Laye, at Foresthill. Photo: Stephen Ingalls

In long ultras it's vitally important to know why you want to finish and to have extremely good reasons why you'll push rather than fade, why you'll still care about the race when you feel like death. In general, a couple of good reasons for me to keep trying are that moving faster means the suffering ends sooner and that if I give less than my best I'll have to live with it for months or even years. It's a character test - are you as tough as you'd like to believe?

The river was heavenly since I was falling apart mentally and was extremely hot. It took me five minutes to cross from one side to the other since I lay there with just my face above the water multiple times to cool down. For the first time all day I was a little cold...but after about two minutes of hiking up the other side I was hot again. One year I'd like to stay there for ages and just hang out before moving on.

The river crossing. Could have stayed there hours. Photo: Matt Trappe

This is how most of the river crossing went. Photo: iRunFar

Matt was feeling the heat too and I was mainly silent, but he also wasn't talking much through the fast, flatter single-track from miles 80-90. We passed Francois d'Haene with his pacer, Frosty, just before Hall Koerner's Oregon-manned aid station at Brown's Bar (mile 89.9) and he was walking, looking demoralized and lifeless. I shouted encouragement and told them the next aid was virtually around the corner, but he'd dropped from the lead at halfway to 8th after I passed him and clearly was having a bad day.

Matt mentioned he had some vertigo at this point from getting water in his ears in the river, plus the heat was affecting him. He hadn't done heat training and after running a marathon in those temperatures he was fading. So just before the climb up to Highway 49 (mile 93.5) he slowed and walked it in while I kept chugging along at steady ultra shuffle.

By this stage the proximity of the finish is motivation enough and I was able to rally enough to keep pushing, albeit at a slower pace than previous years. I hadn't planned on needing a headlamp but did include it in my crew bag so Amy passed me that so I'd be able to see the final miles. I turned it on around mile 95 on the run downhill in the trees towards No Hands Bridge, now secure that I'd end up top 10 but not sure if anyone right behind was surging or if someone ahead was fading.

I've never enjoyed the final 20 miles of the race since it takes such a huge effort to avoid slowing, but at least this time I knew it'd feel especially good to finish because I'd come so close to giving up multiple times. I was paranoid that someone would catch me and I'd have to sprint to the end, but luckily I had enough of a gap behind me that I was able to finish the final couple of miles at a more relaxed pace without really digging in - at that point saving a couple of minutes didn't make much difference and there was nobody ahead within the next 10 mins or so who I had any realistic chance of getting close to.

Done and done. Photo: Matt Trappe

Ultra Running Magazine's Erika Lindland was the smiliest person of the day and ran herself into 9th to earn another entry for next year. Photo: apologies, I'm not sure where I got this but it epitomized the event

Unlike previous years where I sprinted around the track, this time I jogged and gave high fives to kids. The finish line couldn't come soon enough but another epic day on the trails was over. It was an hour slower than last year, yet I got 7th in 16:44. At this rate it's technically feasible to do 10 races with 10 different top 10 places - so far I've got 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 10th...so mainly the podium left to aim for :)

Before the race I knew it'd be a really memorable day for many reasons. My own race is one small part of the overall story and there are hundreds of people who overcame incredible challenges through the 30 hours of the entire event. Rob Krar's 14:48 was frankly superhuman in that heat and with the pressure of being the defending champ. Gunhild Swanson's finish with six seconds to spare under the cut-off was incredible too, especially since she's 70 years old!

Tim Twietmeyer cheers for Gunhild Swanson as she finishes and the crowd goes wild. Photo: Ian Sharman

However, my favorite memory comes from seeing Magda Boulet win her debut 100-miler, despite going two miles off course in the first half. I've really enjoyed coaching her and getting to know her over the past six months - a real star of the running world, an Olympian and a super fun person to call my friend. Seeing her cross the line was fantastic after dominating her ultra races for the past seven months (six straight wins!). I had five other clients running too, so seeing them afterwards was very rewarding, despite one of them not having a good day and having to drop due to the heat.

High Fiving Magda at the finish. Photo: Nate Dunn

I'm tired now, but with each day that passes I get progressively happier with how the race went. Perfect days in 100-milers are rare and I know I can learn more from the imperfect ones, especially when I aim to make the best of it. My fitness was higher than ever before pre-race so I'm just a little disappointed I couldn't improve on last year's time or position, but I got to run Western States and I also get to do it again. Full results here. Plus my incomplete Strava data before the watch died.

The memories of pain fade and the shiny silver buckle remains. Thanks everyone at the race, the volunteers, organizers, runners and supporters.

Gear:

Shoes - Altra Lone Peak 2.5
Socks - Drymax Maximum Protection Trail
Eyewear - Julbo Venturi
Nutrition - mainly a mix of Clif Bar Organic Energy Food pouches, gels and Shot Bloks
HRM - LifeBeam smart hat
Hydration - UltrAspire Isometric handhelds and Alpha pack
Keeping the ice cool for my crew (Amy) - Hydro Flask 64oz growlers

Catch-up and looking ahead to Western States

Snow-shoeing up Mt Bachelor - that's what I call fun training!

I haven't blogged for a while partly due to moving house and partly because a lot of other things related to coaching and Skyrunning have been keeping me on my toes. So here's a quick catch-up.

The year started off well and I'm fully past the foot fracture from last year, so that was my main concern through Rocky Raccoon 100 in Jan and the following months. I then switched to getting in plenty of fun, hilly runs in California and Mt Diablo before moving back to Bend, Oregon, in April.

Lake Sonoma 50 was a disappointment for me since it's about the most competitive 50-miler of the year in the US (I'd argue it's harder to win than TNFEC50 in San Francisco since a lot of runners are worn down at the end of the season and don't race near their abilities). It was a few days before I moved to Oregon and I just felt tired and 'out of it' but a lot of other runs in the build up had felt amazing. So I dropped at halfway since 50 grinding, slow miles wouldn't have done me any favors for the rest of the season. The very first climb felt odd with a complete lack of energy, which wasn't a good sign, but it didn't improve. It was still a very fun trip to Sonoma and I really want to come back next year to give it my best effort.

That fatigue followed me through the next couple of weeks and moving was annoyingly stressful, but well worth it now we're all set up in the new house and feel truly at home. After a week of being in Bend I ran the inaugural Bend Half, a hilly road race at which I expected to have a lot of local speedsters to race. Despite the fact I seemed to be stuck in 2nd gear I led a pack of four guys, two in the marathon and one other in the half with me. The marathoners forged ahead a little when I dropped off 6-min/mile pace but it came down to a sprint finish in the half (the races split at mile 10.5), which I narrowly won by two seconds in 1h19m31s. That was a surprise, but not nearly quick enough to go for a marathon PR two weeks later at the Eugene Marathon (the target was to break 2h30m).

Then Eugene was a fun, hard day out and felt much more encouraging. I knew I wouldn't break 2h30m, but I hoped I could get fairly close. The early miles went about to plan and I felt much better than at Sonoma or the Bend Half. I went through 13.1 in 1h18m flat then hung on for the second half to avoid slowing too much (still didn't quite feel at 100%) to run 2h38m39s.

The last few months have really been focused on preparing for Western States and it's just over five weeks til race day. The races mentioned above had an upward trend and things feel on track now to hammer some vertical and turn up to the Big Dance ready and raring to go. I feel back to normal and the speed work on flat terrain should help with cruising at much slower speeds on the trail to Auburn. Getting into the mountains is helping too, plus it's very motivating (see the photo above).

It's always tough to accept some sub-par results, but WS100 is the main event for me and I can't wait to get there. Speaking of which, in two days I'm heading to the Memorial Day Weekend training weekend that covers 70 miles of the race course. That should get the blood pumping!

#seeyouinsquaw

Team Scoring for the US Skyrunner Series - Worked Example Using Western States

Recently I posted an outline of team scoring for the 2015 US Skyrunner Series here, allowing runners to identify with both the elite and mass participation teams through geography (US States or foreign countries). The main aim is to add an extra dimension to ultras and make it more interesting to follow a given race. We'll soon have some very exciting news about live tracking of every runner at every 2015 event, which should include real-time team scoring...not just from aid stations but at any point in the race. That should be much more exciting to follow, plus it gives added depth and detail to following individual runners.

After discussions with a lot of interested parties I decided to create a worked example to show how the team scoring looks in practice. Given I don't have enough data from the 2014 US Skyrunner Series races to hand, I opted for an international race with all the information required already in the public domain - Western States 2014.

In looking through the numbers I made one change to my original proposed structure for scoring - to make the penalty for not having enough runners be 50 points per runners, not 25 points. So this is how the scoring works:

Elite team scoring:

Every runner counts for the State or Country they enter under originally for their residence, even if they move before race day. Otherwise the manual changes take forever when compiling results.

Cross-country scoring with the top two men and one woman from a team counting by adding their gender positions. For example, a team with men in 2nd and 3rd plus the 1st woman would score 6 points (2+3+1). If there are not enough finishers of the correct sexes for a team to complete their three finishers then each missing runner scores 50 points, so the previously mentioned team score without a female finisher would score 55 points (2+3+50). The most an elite team can score is 150 and if a team's runner is lower than 50th place for their gender then they still score 50 points at worst. This is important for scoring throughout a season in a league, otherwise one bad result can add so much to a competitive team that they lose any chance of doing well over the entire Series.

Full team scoring:

Every runner counts for the State or Country they enter under originally  for their residence even if they move before race day, including elites. Otherwise the manual changes take forever when compiling results, especially with hundreds or thousands of entrants.

The average position of the runners in their gender is the number that counts for scoring, with a bonus for the more runners they have. A minimum of 3 finishers is required to score, otherwise a team scores 1 point below the lowest team with 3 finishers.

The State or country with the most runners in a race gets a 5 point deduction from their score, second largest gets 4 points off, third largest gets 3 points off, fourth largest gets 2 points off and the 5th largest gets a single point off their score.

For example, if Colorado has the most runners in a race and the average finisher's position in their gender is 42.567 then we round to one decimal place then deduct the 5 point bonus to give a score of 37.6.

Single race v entire Series:

I aim to include scoring for every distance at every event to give a result for the individual race plus a league table over the season. I guess I'll get comments about how all the scoring favors the States that hold more races since it's easier to get locals to turn up, but the bonus points' system only gives a slight advantage to big numbers. Regarding the elite races, 2015 should see some high-level competition across the entire Series, meaning that the States with the best mountain runners should do better in the elite rankings and they aren't punished too much if they can't get a full scoring team out given it only requires two men and one woman and there's only so many points that can be added as a penalty.

Worked example - WS100 2014

Linked to this article is the full set of results here. But below I also include the top 10 for the elite and mass participation races. California has by far the most entrants (it's almost certainly always the case that the home State or country will have the most runners), but it doesn't win the mass participation team competition. Australia benefits from a perfect storm for the mass participation race in this case since it has exactly 3 finishers, all relatively near the front of the race.

Elite team scoring:

Elite Team Place	State/Country	Abbreviation	Finishers	Elite score
1	California	CA	119	17
2	Oregon	OR	18	20
3	Australia	AUS	3	54
4	Montana	MT	2	57
5	Colorado	CO	10	70
6	Texas	TX	11	72
7	Wisconsin	WI	3	100
8	Arizona	AZ	7	101
9	New Hampshire	NH	1	102
10	France	FRA	1	103

Full elite scores here. It reflects what we would expect at WS, in that the top teams are generally from the States with the biggest populations of elite 100-milers. Note that the competitiveness doesn't go very deeply and that only 29 of 64 States or countries managed to get under the lowest possible score of 150.

Mass participation team scoring:

Mass Team Place	State/Country	Abbreviation	Finishers	Total Score	Average Score	Adj Score for <3 finishers="" td="">	Point deduction for high finisher numbers	Final score
1	Australia	AUS	3	54	18	18	0	18
2	New Jersey	NJ	3	98	32.7	32.7	0	32.7
3	Wisconsin	WI	3	187	62.3	62.3	0	62.3
4	Oregon	OR	18	1257	69.8	69.8	-4	65.8
5	Colorado	CO	10	706	70.6	70.6	-2	68.6
6	New York	NY	5	350	70	70	0	70
7	Canada	CAN	8	615	76.9	76.9	-1	75.9
8	Minnesota	MN	4	328	82	82	0	82
9	Connecticut	CT	3	260	86.7	86.7	0	86.7
10	Japan	JPN	3	266	88.7	88.7	0	88.7

For the mass participation team scoring the top 10 is dramatically different. California is down in 14th after winning the elite race, despite getting the 5 point deduction for having the most finishers. 

Call for comment

Ultimately, this is only worthwhile if it creates more excitement around the US Skyrunner Series races, both for fans and for following friends and relatives. I know that as I worked out the tables above I was rooting for the places I personally have an affiliation to, so I hope others get that same buzz.

Whatever form of team scoring is ultimately decided on is likely to apply to all Skyrunning events globally, not just the US Series, so it will have slight differences from country to country in terms of how magnetism there are (e.g. UK races could be split into England, Wales, Scotland, North Ireland and all other countries...or broken down into smaller areas).

Does this form of point scoring make sense and is there a better way to score? For example, is the 50-point penalty for not having a scoring elite runner fair? I think it's about right so that an elite team can't do really well without 3 scorers but isn't penalized too heavily. Note that Montana fell into this gap since they had the 2nd man and 5th woman, then had no other finishers so had 50 points added for that and still finished 4th in the elite table.