I ran the Western States 100 and all I got was a gallon of vomit and a few loose toenails.
Once again, my wobbly stomach didn’t allow me the glorious finish I’d hoped for this year’s Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run. However, Alaskan Geoff Roes managed to bang out a course record 15:07 on a modified “Snow Year” course. There have been criticisms that this record should have an asterisk next to it due to the modified “snow year” course being a bit faster than the standard course. But having personally slogged through the several miles of snow before and after the “easier” section, I’m not sure the overall course was appreciably faster. Also, if we’re going to go down that road, we need to consider the fact the old course record set by Scott Jurek in 2004 was set on a modified course that was created after the devastating Star Fire of 2001.
The race was impressive in that it was really a race. Roes won, but only by a few minutes over Anton “200 miles a week” Krupicka who ran 15:13.
The top two women were also only a few minutes apart, with Tracy Garneau besting Meghan Arbogast in 19:01 and 19:15, respectively.
The top local men included Erik Skaden of Folsom (11th) and Rob Evans of Pollock Pines (12th). Top local women were 5th place finisher Caren Spore of Davis, and Jamie Frink of Folsom (16th).
The Sacramento Bee’s John Schumacher covers the event pretty well.
Nice set up on John..keep up the good work!
Tony
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