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MMTR 50 Miler Overall Stats: Starters, Finishers & Overall Finishing Percentage for 29 years

2011-11-10T13:51:00.001-05:00

	Starters	Finishers	Sub-12
1983	21	13	12
1984	41	35	32
1985	55	50	49
1986	79	65	64
1987	83	71	69
1988	132	115	115
1989	122	107	104
1990	160	135	128
1991	213	183	181
1992	181	155	150
1993	185	153	151
1994	182	152	145
1995	163	138	135
1996	145	119	118
1997	169	153	148
1998	221	175	168
1999	196	160	155
2000	193	151	147
2001	242	194	191
2002	278	244	239
2003	249	208	207
2004	262	215	214
2005	251	198	194
2006	284	232	220
2007	268	226	221
2008	229	186	183
2009	266	227	225
2010	269	219	215
2011	264	231	229
TOTAL	5403	4510=83%	4337=80%

2011 MMTR 50 Miler Special Category Awards

2011-11-10T13:40:00.001-05:00

This year we had three runners receive their 10-time finisher jacket and one receive their 20-time finisher jacket.

2011 10-time finishers

Dorothy Hunter

Jay Finkle

Kevin Townsend

2011 20-time finisher

Jeff McGonnell

2011 MMTR 50 Miler Updated Top 10 Performers

2011-11-10T13:33:00.001-05:00

This year, Brian Rusiecki & Sandi Nypaver made the top 10 performers lists – congrats!

		Top Ten Performers-Men
1	2009	Geoff Roes	6:27:55
2	2003	Dave Mackey	6:48:31
3	2001	Clark Zealand	6:52:11
4	2006	Eric Grossman	6:53:18
5	2004	Sean Andrish	6:56:09
6	1997	Josh Cox	6:57:10
7	2009	Lon Freeman	6:58:25
8	1996	Courtney Campbell	6:59:26
9	2005	Paul DeWitt	6:59:52
10	2011	Brian Rusiecki	6:59:34
		Top Ten Performers-Women
1	2006	Nikki Kimball	7:47:05
2	2005	Anne Lundblad	7:49:48
3	2005	Annette Bednosky	7:55:52
4	2006	Jenn Shelton	7:58:11
5	2011	Sandi Nypaver	8:05:11
6	2009	Tamsin Anstey	8:09:07
7	2005	Cat Phillips	8:13:15
8	2003	Bethany Hunter	8:14:47
9	2003	Jenny Capel	8:23:35
10	1994	Janice Anderson	8:27:01

2011 MMTR 50 Miler Updated Top 10 Times

2011-11-10T13:18:00.001-05:00

This year, Sandi Nypaver made women’s the top 10 times list and Eric Grossman joins Dave Mackey & Sean Andrish with more than one spot on the men’s top 10 times list…

Top Ten Times-Men
1.2009	Geoff Roes	6:27:55
2.2003	Dave Mackey	6:48:31
3.2001	Clark Zealand	6:52:11
4.2004	Dave Mackey	6:52:18
5.2006	Eric Grossman	6:53:18
6.2005	Dave Mackey	6:54:11
7.2004	Sean Andrish	6:56:09
8.1997	Josh Cox	6:57:10
9.2003	Sean Andrish	6:58:16
10.2011	Eric Grossman	6:58:22

Top 10 Times-Women
1.2006	Nikki Kimball	7:47:05
2.2005	Anne Lundblad	7:49:48
3.2005	Annette Bednosky	7:55:52
4.2004	Nikki Kimball	7:55:57
5.2006	Jenn Shelton	7:58:11
6. 2011	Sandi Nypaver	8:05:11
7. 2009	Tamsin Anstey	8:09:07
8.2005	Cat Phillips	8:13:15
9.2003	Bethany Hunter	8:14:47
10.2003	Jenny Capel	8:23:35

2011 MMTR 50 Miler Photos

2011-11-10T07:41:00.001-05:00

By Jade Wei:

https://picasaweb.google.com/108771775414013262171/2011_11_04MtnMasochist50Miler?authkey=Gv1sRgCIC60rOMwq2nVQ#

2011 MMTR 50 Miler Race Reports

2011-11-09T11:07:00.001-05:00

http://peake-performance.blogspot.com/2011/11/2011-mountain-masochist-50-race-report.html

http://trailslesstraveled.blogspot.com/2011/11/mountain-masochist-trail-run-my-first.html

http://mikedonahue82.blogspot.com/2011/11/mountain-masochist-50-miler-race-report.html

http://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/blue-ridge-sports/running/simple-math-the-50-mile-footrace/

http://timebersole.blogspot.com/2011/11/my-first-50-miler.html

http://mrbimble.com/WordPress/2011/11/mount-masochist-50-more-virginia-hills/

http://morethanpaceandstride.blogspot.com/2011/11/mountain-masochist-trail-run-sweeping.html

http://charlottesvilleareatrailrunners.blogspot.com/2011/11/cats-at-masochist.html

2011 MMTR – New Records by Age

2011-11-09T10:02:00.001-05:00

AGE	NAME	TIME
43	Eric Grossman	6:58:22
32	Brian Rusiecki	6:59:34
23	Sandi Nypaver	8:05:11
17	Rachel Corrigan	10:20:04
60	Maria Shields	11:22:32

Mountain Masochist Trail Run “MMTR” 2011

2011-11-09T07:28:00.001-05:00

THE 29^th year –Pre Race and Post Race epilogue

Once in a lifetime runners will put their names on the Application for their first time (the man in yellow) to run the MMTR50. Fools on the other hand - return often #90!

This is the” Tale of the Trail” - “elation and disappointment” and the untold stories behind the scenes we want to share. This is intended to be a light hearted account of running, crewing , the joy of victory and the agony of defeat.

With high hopes, pre-race jitters and excitement, hopes of new records set and old ones broken, new PR’s achieved, new memories to share, runners, both new and returning listened as Clark Zealand and David Horton spoke of the challenges the MMTR faces for 2011. With changes on the horizon the future of the race course in jeopardy and unknown, this promised to evoke a lasting memory for those who have challenged themselves in the past and those first time runners stepping on virgin soil attempting this epic and historical race to put their names in the journals of Mountain Masochist Trail Run finishers.

We were crewing for three people for this 29^th year of the MMTR. Dorothy (Buffalo Butt) Hunter Bib 142, vying for her 10^th Masochist finish, John Billy Goat Cooper (Bib 90) going for #6 finish and our newbie going for his first finish , Rob Carbaugh, (aka Hot chili pepper man) bib #275.

Our friend Rob has completed several marathons, ½ marathons and helped pace our Beast runners, John Cooper and Jason Nuss in the past. After Rob successfully completed Promise Land 2011, he decided to sign up for the MM50 2011. Dr. Pain (aka Horty) made a special presentation of Hot Chili Pepper running shorts, to a speechless, stoic Rob, who is usually a chatty never slows down to breath kind of guy was in a vapor lock. A gift from his long time friends seated at the table Friday night the flamboyant shorts were intended to motivate and encourage Rob to succeed in accomplishing this soon to be toughest athletic event ever of Rob’s life. Rob’s look was one of shock and disbelief. The normal chatty fellow was speechless. From here the story unfolds.

A Van was rented to carry the entourage and capture all the camaraderie and adventure. We soon discovered that we carried more gear and baggage both emotionally and physically than the Kardashians ever could. Awakening early , our party of 11 departed our Evington house , race ready at 4:45 a.m. Indelible etched memories were sure to follow, capturing all the awe and exhilaration we could ever pack into one day….. with the start of the 29^th running of the MMTR.

Jason Nuss , Chief Driver by default of drawing the short straw with navigation skills diminishing, was too often told he was driving to close to the edge, however in retrospect we spent all day literally “on the edge”.. You may have viewed us singing and hollering words of motivation and encouragement while cruising by in a large white Chevy van. How successfully can one drive a large white Chevy van crewing with two motion sick people in it on the MMTR course one might ask? Or how do you turn a big white 12 person Chevy van around on single lane roads? Or with steep drop offs on one side and two vehicles attempting to pass each other at the same time? With Sheer determination and fortitude, Jason Nuss took charge maneuvering the van like a driver at a Nascar event… despite only running off the road one time, throwing gravel and sand while going in reverse on the reservoir road, accomplishing parking in a space between a tree and a car not large enough for a VW bug and backing down over a nearly unattainable grass ditch ... we prevailed…and the reputation of our driver, Jason Nuss lives on.

Those who have never ventured down the winding tote road to get to the Dancing Creek Aid Station fail experience the excitement of runners “dancing magically” across rocks that traverse the stream from one side to the other. Some attempts are successful showing unwavering skill as runners delicately place each foot precariously on rocks one in front of the other to prevent a plunge into the cold icy waters or looking for an alternate set of rocks to cross on such as John Cooper #90 and Rob did.

Others, choose a quicker approach, such as Buffalo Butt, Dorothy Hunter splashing straight thru the middle like a determined salmon attempting to get up stream to mate. We witnessed one new virgin MMTR runner who fell and rolled around in the creek as if noodling for a fish then finally, surfacing totally drenched with a twisted ankle forcing him to leave behind his dreams of finishing the 29^th MMTR at mile 11.9. Sadly his dreams continued to dissolve as we help carry his bags to his car back at the Parkway his vision for success ended as the first DNF and the words of Dr. Horton, resonating…. 18% of you won’t finish the race, - will YOU be in that 18%. So the statistics begin …..which proves Horton does know what he is talking about - Sometimes !!!

As we proceeded on to the gate Aid station, we find our first runner, John Billy Goat Cooper #90 comes up the hill with his usual steady, energizer bunny trek style.

Followed by our second runner, Rob Carbaugh #275 looking for a dose of pain relief from Advil, IB or Tylenol complaining of back and shooting leg pain. John and Rob pressed on and our third runner, Buffalo Butt, Dorothy Hunter #142, came bounding up the hill looking fresh as she had started, not having to rely on her usual diet of Imodium, Red Bull and ginger snaps to get her through the race day.

We loaded up the 12 person Chevy van and proceeded on to make the winding journey to the Reservoir Aid Station…. Where the first sighting of Rob’s Pictorial Poster flaunting the Chili pepper Short and all it’s grandeur was unveiled …

His physique in the chili pepper shorts were a sight to behold, no doubt, a part of history now, and unquestionably debuted on Face book by Saturday afternoon. Many runners, crew and innocent bystanders admired the picture poster (with caption reading MMTR GO Big or Go Home ) at the Reservoir Aid Station, including Rob. He laughed as he saw the almost life size poster of himself clad in the unquestionably 3 sizes too small trendy running shorts which he put on while pacing John Cooper at Grindstone as a joke! A pose ensued resulting in a speedy Kodak moment to capture the masquerade. Rob’s laughter at the Reservoir aid station was short lived as the back and leg pain continued haunting him. He stated he would assess the situation at the half way point, grimaced and moved on. Upon arrival at Long Mountain wayside he decided crossing the finish line for the 29^th MMTR was not going to happen and dropped out. He will have that excitement and story ahead some other year. In severe pain, he crawled into the back of the van after succumbing to a long day remaining of pain and discomfort as we had no way to get him, his wife and son back home with only one vehicle. He would eventually be transported to the finish line but not before experiencing more adventures along the way.

The day was beautiful for most; however, Dorothy Hunter and Rob Carbaugh would disagree profoundly. As Rob laid in the van suffering from back and leg pain ailments Dorothy prevailed only after finally finding relief behind a large rock protecting her modesty while she purged the internal demons from her bowels. That helped her day get better as she pressed on not relying on her usual diet previously stated, but now eating fig bars, peppermint patties and ginger snaps enabling her to get across the finish line successfully for 10^th MMTR!. Our Billy Goat John finished his 6^th MMTR successfully and without incident – no blisters nor chaffing… and close to a new PR.

The crew team then convinced Buffalo Butt (Dorothy Hunter) to enter Rosey’s bench press competition to see what the little wiry gal could achieve. Doing this after slaying a 50 mile race -who would have thunk! Rosey behind her all the way with words of encouragement maintaining his safety spotter position finally released the bar bell and let Dorothy’s go to work. As everyone chanted 1,2,3,4.. Dorothy with very little help ;-) thought she was bench pressing the world. Rosey motivating her every step of the way to pass Horton’s record successfully did it with 5 extra reps to boot.. When completed cheers and praise were yelled and she marched right up to the finish line to proudly tell Horty she passed him by 5 reps. This proved to be some legit quality entertainment after a long day on the course for all.

After our runners completed the grueling course we loaded everyone in the van, got Rob upright and propped up in the corner and our ride home became more interesting and colorful mile by mile as Jason Nuss our chief driver – by default proceeded down the winding road from Montebello with our car sick companions - a very nauseated car sick Dorothy in the front seat, Jill (Rob’s wife) in the next seat watching out the front window in hope of eluding sickness, John Billy Goat Cooper in the second row next to the sliding door, not feeling the greatest either and Diane next to the window behind our driver. Rob in the third seat back looking more now like a Halloween Zombie staring forward into space, his son Davis next to him and Gloria Nuss on the end. Brooke, Jessica and Elliott Carbaugh completed the back of the pack and the girls became our singing sensations on the way back to the hotel. All the while Jason making fun of vomiting -half way down the mountain, Dorothy needed a barf bag, heat off, windows down, retching and dry heaving into a zip lock bag, which she reminded us was see through. Her husband Todd (who had a bike race and couldn’t be present to enjoy the fun, was sending Gloria Nuss a text telling her to make sure everyone stayed way out of the way of the projectile vomiting that would surely take place shortly.) We needed to pull over so Buffalo Butt could get out of the van. Coincidently upon getting out, she decided at that time to also change her clothes.. All modesty went out the door literally… Back in the van, we proceeded on listening to false hurling in the front, singing from the back, snoring from the end seat as all the tired warriors departed on towards Lynchburg. We needed to return the van as soon as we arrived to Lynchburg. The logistical issues began unfolding. As soon as we reached the hotel, Dorothy was outside the van hardly able to walk and retching at high octave in the parking lot of the Kirkley with see through barf bag in hand. Rob was doing Zombie maneuvers trying to exit the van with not much success. Bags were being transferred outside the van with the swiftness of a professional doorman at a fancy hotel wanting a great tip. All the while random utterances of wisdom were being said by the Driver Jason while Jessica and Brooke continued singing in hopes to drown out the agony. After much deliberation a plan developed as to who was going to stay and take showers – Brooke, Jessica, Dorothy Buffalo Butt Hunter, John Billy Goat Cooper and Elliott Carbaugh and who was following going to help return van and who would drive to Evington, then returning to the Kirkley hotel for the dinner and award ceremony. Gloria Nuss would follow Diane to return the van and we would return back to the hotel. Jason Nuss would leave taking the Carbaugh family back to Evington to pick up their belongings and car and head home to Chesapeake. The original plan was everyone was spending the night at John and Diane’s in Evington “joyously” & go home on Sunday.. We had planned an evening around the fire pit enjoying the exchange of trail stories and folklore … After the untimely and painful DNF for Rob, the plans changed. John Billy Goat Cooper left his truck at the Kirkley Friday night so we would have transportation there after returning the van on Saturday night. Brooke also left her car at the hotel, as did Dorothy Buffalo Butt and Jason and Gloria’s vehicle rounded out the plan. We needed to be able to transport 11 people back to Evington on Saturday night after the van was returned in Lynchburg.

Our home is not large, so the Carbaugh family (4 people) spent the night in our motor home (seen at the entrance to Grindstone), which we duly named the Carbaugh Suite for the weekend. Their son Elliott rolled in late from Friday night from Virginia Tech and so all their belongings were in the motor home, meaning that when Jason took them to Evington, no entry to the house was needed….. that is until we discovered John Billy Goat Cooper left his truck keys at home.

I wrote down specific instructions on how to successfully deactivate the house alarm and where John’s keys were located and he headed out with the Carbaugh family. Rob seated shivering covered in a blanket with the seat heaters on high in the front seat, Jill (the car sick one) sitting in the back seat with son Davis. Elliott was spending the night and heading back to school Sunday morning. On the way to Evington, Robs’ nausea increases and now he starts throwing up. Jason driving like Mario Andretti on the country road trying to get one more retching runner delivered quickly. During the drive Jason begins questioning Rob, when was the last time he drank anything … and for that matter – when was the last time he urinated and what was the color? Jason has a way of being very colorful one way or another. Rob was severely dehydrated even though up to the point of dropping out he had several bottles of water as later reported by the Billy Goat. Jason and the Carbaugh’s arrive at the house in Evington. While Jill and Davis are gathering their belongings from the motor home, Jason has made his first attempt at the alarm. An attempt that he thought was successful. Although we do have indoor plumbing, Jason being an ultra runner felt the need to pee in my flower garden outside, during his mid stream relief the sound of the screaming siren of the house alarm goes off. Diane had told him if he set the alarm off to just go to the phone, wait for it to ring because the alarm company would call and give them the code. He was outside the door peeing when the phone rang and he missed the call. Next on their list is to call was my cell phone, which by the Grace of God I had on and happened to be walking across the Kirkley parking lot into the hotel. Had I been anyplace other than where I was I would not have heard it. I answer the call and the caller says, “Lynchburg alarm – is this Diane ?”

I answer “yes with a smile” She says, “We have a burglar alarm reported at your home and the alarm is going off.” Now, please picture this… a man dressed in a black cap, black coat, black pants, throwing bags into a black sedan that looks like it could belong to someone in the hood is at our house with the siren blowing and then she asks me this question, “Do you want me to cancel the police car dispatched to your house?”. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud… Yes Ma’am, please cancel the police… It is a friend and this is the end of a very long day. So as the night closed for the 29^th MMTR our gratitude goes forth to Clark Zealand, Dave Horton, Dr. George Wortley, Rosey and all the many volunteers for your time, effort and all the love you put forth to make these races successful for all of us. From our runners and our crew we thank you and will return for more adventures for MMTR 30 in 2012.

Thanks for the wonderful Memories…. Penned with love and lots of memories. Jason and Gloria Nuss, John Billy Goat Cooper, Diane Hensley, Dorothy Buffalo Butt Hunter, Brooke Helsabeck , Jessica Ehrbar, Rob chili pepper shorts Carbaugh, Jill, Davis and Elliott Carbaugh….

2011 MMTR race report – Kim Haven

2011-11-08T16:51:00.001-05:00

MMTR Recap:

Going into the race I had a naive goal of finishing under 10 hours and I knew I could make top 10 women if I could get down to around 9:30. About 22 miles in I realized how unrealistic that was, and actually pretty disrespectful to the amazing women that do run those times.

The day began at 3:45am and we loaded the buses at 4:45am. It is a point to point race so you get bused to the mountains (about an hour trip) and then get a bus ride back to the host hotel (another hour trip after the race). I felt really nervous but ready. It felt really cold at the start, probably around 30 degrees. I opted to wear all my warm weather gear, and I actually kept it on the whole day due to so many microclimates on the mountain. I started the race with my toes completely numb and it took 3 miles to get feeling back.

Miles 0-6: The race began promptly at 6:30am, on the Blue Ridge parkway and then SR 501. Tried to keep it really slow, because I knew I would need every ounce of muscle later in the race. Hovered around 9 min miles, which given the upcoming terrain was probably a bit fast. Ran with a guy for the first 6 miles who had been accepted into Badwater (if you don't know about this race look it up) which is pretty much the ultimate ultra marathon. He was a badass. The time flew as we chatted.

Miles 6-16: We entered the old Appalachian Trail at mile 6, and from here on our we would be on trails, until the last mile of the race. Met a great girl Jen around mile 7 and we ended up staying together till around mile 32 or so. This amazing chic had just run Marine Corps 6 days prior and qualified for Boston! The time FLEW by during this section. We walked the steep uphills and kept a great pace on the flats. There were several creek crossings so by mile 10 our feet were completely soaked. We were feeling really great and happy to have found each other.

Miles 14-22: Most of the time during the stretch we were running sub 8:30s, there were a lot of gradual downhills and flats, with a few climbs mixed in. Jen's initial goal was also to run sub 10 hours with the hope of top 10, so our little egos were feeling really good during these miles, we were passing men left and right and were feeling really strong. We even passed Andy Thompson who held the fastest completion of the Appalachian Trail until this past summer, with a record of 47 days. We should have realized that passing him meant we were running a wee bit fast!

Miles 22-27: The reality of the race set in. There is a 3,000 foot climb that starts around mile 21 and lasts till about mile 30. It was a beast. We walked a lot, everyone was doing the same. We tried running the climbs that weren't too challenging but we were afraid to tax the legs too hard because we had no idea what lie ahead, and we weren't even halfway. Around mile 25 I knew our goal was ridiculous and at that point I was worried that we would be able to finish within the 12 hour cutoff.

SIDENOTE, AID STATIONS: There were aid stations every 2-5 miles and were always a welcomed site. They were stocked with the standard ultra fare, pb&j, chips, pretzels, cookies, m&ms, soda, water, nuun, etc. and my menu choice of the day baked potato pieces that you could dip in salt. When you are running all day you must continually eat. You can't eat a lot at once so every aid station I stopped and got a few things, filling up on fluids when I needed them. I opted for carrying my 4 10z bottle Nathan belt which I had stocked with Heed and Perpetuum, both Hammer products. Best decision I made, it kept my stomach happy and the caffeine in the Perpetuum that I had on the second half gave me the occasional burst. Jade, wife of my Daily Mile friend Jim who ran MMTR, was at a few stations and cheered me on, this was so so helpful!

Miles 27-32: The halfway point was where the buses stopped and had our drop bags that we could access to get restocked for the 2nd half of the race. By this point I was really struggling mentally, the idea of having to do that distance again over the same terrain was daunting. Little did I know that the 2nd half was MUCH harder than the first. Had I know what lie ahead I might have dropped. My sciatic was hurting since mile 4 but I tried not to think about it and by this time everything hurt so bad that I didn't even focus on that pain. As I was collecting my things for the second half I saw Tyler taking pictures of me out of the corner of my eye. I think I said "What the hell are you doing here". He had dropped out of the race at the 1/2 way point. He was experiencing severe leg and back cramps and decided it wasn't worth it to try and walk the whole second half, given that he was unable to run at this point. Seeing him made me so tempted to quit and take the bus back with him to the finish, it would have been so easy. But, I didn't travel 14 hours to quit just cause I was tired. I wasn't injured, there was no option, I had to press on. I came to the 1/2 way point around 5:15, if you would have told me that I would run an exact even split for the second half I would have laughed in your face. Jen and I left the aid station together and continued up the 3,000 ft climb. It was brutal. I got a surge around the 50k mark and took it, you never know when they will come. It lasted a mile or so but it felt good run run somewhat normal again.

Mile 32-38: This was the hell that is called The Loop. I lost Jen as we exited the aid station entering the loop, she stopped for a bit and talked with her fiance but I had to keep moving. I knew at that point my body needed to keep moving. The climb heading into the loop was a beast. It was about a mile long and SO steep. I wish I had hiking poles at this point. After the first climb it was just an up and down battle. There was a bit of snow in the loop, just a bit, but it made me chuckle. This was nuts! The second half of the loop was pretty technical, I realized what our bus driver meant when he said "beware of the leaves". A lot of fallen leaves on the rocky ground makes it really hard to find stable footing, because they create a false ground. There was so much walking in the loop I began to get really worried that I would not make the cutoff.

Mile 38-47: Leaving The Loop was a great feeling, it's a mental beating. Coming out of the loop there was a very runnable section of gravel road. My legs were so tired all I could do was the old lady shuffle but it was good enough to pass a good number of folks. One of things that worked for me in this race was forcing myself to run when it was runnable. I know that sounds obvious but you get so depleted all you want to do is walk to give yourself a break. I knew I would have plenty of inclines that I would have to walk, so I forced myself to pick it up when I could. Some of these miles were a blur. One guy who I came upon said we were just picking away at the distance at this point and that it all would blur together. He was so right. During this stretch I passed a lot of men. There was one section where we were on single track and I had to use tree trunks to help me up, it was so steep and the leaf litter made it so slippery. During this section, which was around 43, I just wanted to sit down and cry it was so tough. We got to the top of that climb and I stopped for a second to enjoy the view through the trees. It was truly a beautiful, clear day and some of the scenery, if you could get out of your misery and raise your head, what breathtaking. There was one spot early in the race where it looked fake it was so beautiful, you could see a panoramic view of the mountains which were painted in fall colors.

Mile 47-54: I was doing pretty well by this point. Everything hurt but knowing you are within single digits of a 50+ race puts some pep in your step for sure. I got to the last aid station and was told that there was 3.8 miles left. I didn't believe them because there is a fake race distance of 50 miles and a real race distance of 54. The man promised me that it was a real 3.8 miles. By that time my Garmin had lost all credibility because of the woods (tradeoff you get with a 5 year old Garmin, battery lasts forever, but the accuracy not so great!) so I wouldn't have been able to tell was 3.8 miles was anyway. This aid station had hot tomato soup so I took a cup and moved on. I came to the last station at 9:59 and finished in 10:36, 37 minutes to do 3.8 miles at the end of this journey felt fantastic. I felt like, while it was hard, I was actually running. Normally that would have been a crawling pace in training, but at this point I felt like a gazelle! The last section was pretty much flat or downhill but very rocky with lots of leaves, but the downhill was so nice for me. The road came just after the 1 mile mark and hitting the road made me realized how much my feet hurt.

FINISH: Seeing the finish line was so amazing I'm surprised I didn't cry. It felt so good to run it in and get a handshake from the race director. Tyler was there and was cheering very loudly. I was so proud of myself in that moment, it was unbelievable that I "ran" (more like shuffled and hiked) an even 1st and second half! I pushed myself to places I have never been and it was the most challenging day of my life. I knew I didn't have the option of quitting, if I didn't make the cutoff I had to go out trying. I made the cutoff by 1:24 and finished 18th woman. I believe now that unless you train in the mountains you cannot expect sub-10 hour finish, there is no way. Given that, a 10:36 was very respectable. I ran with some amazing men towards the end, one guy who was doing MMTR for the first time and had run a 50 miler two weeks before (does this stuff all the time apparently) and finished in just over 7 hours! He was shocked how difficult this race was, I ended up leaving him way behind me, which lifted my sprits :)

Albert and Mary finished as well, and I am so proud of them. Mary had bad plantar going into the race but still rocked it. Albert came through and then headed right to the bench press where he won the Ironhorse award, he cranked out 31 reps of 135 lbs after 54 miles!!

Things I learned:

1) Nutrition is half the battle, without proper nutrition, hydration, and supplementation you will have no chance. Hammer products are a gift from heaven.

2) Don't stop moving, I never stopped for more than 30 seconds at an aid station.

3) Talk to others, companionship is priceless.

4) Run when you can and walk with purpose. The sections that were super steep I pumped my arms like I was running the damn thing.

5) Look around. It was so easy to get into your own personal hell that you miss the beauty around you, I was very guilty of this.

Eric Grossman wins the 2011 MMTR 50 Miler

2011-11-05T15:31:00.000-04:00

image, originally uploaded by clark_zealand.

Eric Grossman wins the 2011 Mountain Masochist 50 Miler Trail Run. In a time of 6:58:22 Eric wins the MMTR again, visit his race profile to see a breakdown of his race. The last time Eric won was in 2008. .

Sandi NyPaver is the female Winner of the 2011 MMTR 50 Miler

2011-11-05T15:30:00.002-04:00

image, originally uploaded by clark_zealand.

Sandi NyPaver is the female Winner of the 2011 MMTR 50 Miler. She won this years Mountain Masochist 50 miler in 08:05:11. Congratulations on this year victory, go here to see her race splits.

Eric Grossman 2011 MMTR current leader

2011-11-05T11:02:00.004-04:00

CIMG2820, originally uploaded by clark_zealand.

Eric Grossman is currently leading the 2011 MMTR race, he has come through the half way point with a 7 minute lead.

MMTR 50 Miler 2011 Race Start!

2011-11-05T07:03:00.002-04:00

image, originally uploaded by clark_zealand.

The MMTR is underway, follow us here and on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ecorun) as well as the Live Results page (http://apps.eco-xsports.com/livestats.php?race=2&year=2011)

Live Results and Splits Link

2011-11-05T06:46:00.002-04:00

For results as we get them in use this link- http://apps.eco-xsports.com/livestats.php?race=2&year=2011

2011 MMTR 50 Miler Seedings

2011-10-31T10:11:00.001-04:00

Here they are!

Bib #	Last Name	First Name	Gender	Age	State
1	Grossman	Eric	Male	43	VA
2	Allen	Jonathan	Male	33	SC
3	Basham	Jonathan	Male	34	PA
4	Frazier	David	Male	25	VA
5	Terranova	Paul	Male	37	TX
6	Rusiecki	Brian	Male	32	MA
7	Gonzalez	Frank	Male	35	VA
8	Ramsey	Jeremy	Male	35	VA
9	Reed	Chris	Male	38	PA
10	Hill	Adam	Male	35	Ontario
11	Davies	Gareth	Male	35	Ontario
12	Lantz	Jason	Male	30	PA
13	Schultz	Derek	Male	33	PA
14	Bynum	Christopher	Male	31	NY
15	Kistner	Brian	Male	41	SC
16	Gleason	Patton	Male	32	TX
17	Ford	Peter	Male	31	MI
18	Thompson	Andrew	Male	35	NH
19	Jackson	Micah	Male	31	VA
20	Smith	Kevin	Male	33	VA
21	Alderson	Joseph	Male	29	VA
22	dangc	sam	Male	23	VA
23	Hummel	Patrick	Male	27	VA
24	Longshanks	Sir Pumpkin	Male	25	VA
25	Wilson	Matt	Male	49	PA
26	Warner	Matt	Male	35	VA
27	McFaden	Carlton	Male	41	VA
28	Jenner	Andrew	Male	28	VA
29	Mulder	Aaron	Male	36	PA
30	Palladino	Christopher	Male	40	PA
31	Azuaje	Jaime	Male	24	NC
32	Salazar	Johnny	Male	32	NY
33	Bures	Gabriel	Male	32	OH
34	Mcgrath	Lew	Male	49	WV
35	Cassilly	John	Male	44	VA
36	Kurisky	Jack	Male	44	VA
37	Patterson	Brandon	Male	44	VA
38	Nebel	Ryan	Male	28	VA
39	Avitable	Jay	Male	51	CT
40	Cohen	Joey	Male	28	Va
41	Lester	Malcolm	Male	44	DC
42	Peterson	Tyler	Male	29	FL
43	Bird	Derek	Male	36	VA
44	Rogers	Clayton	Male	40	DC
45	Lewis	Blaine	Male	50	VA
46	Drach	Dave	Male	55	NH
47	Shivers, Jr.	Regis	Male	41	OH
48	Alsop	Jeremy	Male	28	NC
49	Syre	Thomas	Male	25	VA
50	Kirby	David	Male	24	NC
51	Gannon	Aaron	Male	41	NC
52	Mowers	Danny	Male	34	PA
53	Yoder	Marlin	Male	58	VA
54	Antoniou	Matt	Male	38	MI
55	Peek	Tyler	Male	46	NC
56	Holbrook	Andrew	Male	34	VA
57	Farley	Ken	Male	47	CA
58	Blessing	Justin	Male	25	VA
59	Chapman	Donnie	Male	50	MD
60	Donahue	Mike	Male	38	GA
61	Smith	David	Male	45	VA
62	Brenner	Harris	Male	38	PA
63	Gingrich	Andy	Male	32	Va
64	Vogltanz	James	Male	40	VA
65	Prineas	Matthew	Male	46	MD
66	French	Rob	Male	53	NC
67	Ebersole	Timothy	Male	28	PA
68	Wildeboer	Travis	Male	32	CO
69	Balko	Jason	Male	36	WV
70	Fulwider	Ryan	Male	36	VA
71	Swyers	Brenton	Male	24	FL
72	Berlin	Doug	Male	44	VA
73	Patterson	Jeff	Male	51	NC
74	Power	Jesse	Male	31	FL
75	Mortensen	Christopher	Male	30	PA
76	Wong	Ernest	Male	40	VA
77	Smith	Mosi	Male	29	MD
78	Jones	Mike	Male	30	VA
79	Townsend	Kevin	Male	38	VA
80	Gannon	Konrad	Male	45	NC
81	Fricke	Kyle	Male	27	VA
82	Duelge	Jason	Male	42	MI
83	Jorgensen	Will	Male	52	TN
84	Gallant	Jeromy	Male	28	VA
85	Welch	Anthony	Male	47	MD
86	Griffin	Marc	Male	35	VA
87	Dahlhausen	Christian	Male	32	VA
88	Moran	Patrick	Male	36	PA
89	Meyers	Rick	Male	45	PA
90	Cooper	John	Male	56	VA
91	Smith	Don	Male	53	VA
92	Watson	Gavin	Male	50	MD
93	Levasseur	Keith	Male	33	MD
94	Eidson	Adam	Male	37	VA
95	Malec	Ryan	Male	35	GA
96	Hoffman	John	Male	49	VA
97	Black	Scott	Male	47	KY
98	Gray	Rick	Male	50	TN
99	Whitlock	Jordan	Male	24	VA
100	Grant	Tom	Male	48	VA
101	Nypaver	Sandi	Female	23	OH
102	Wildeboer	Alyssa	Female	32	CO
103	Lumbard	Erin	Female	32	MI
104	Beaver	Melissa	Female	34	VA
105	Conner	Lee	Female	38	OH
106	Haven	Kimberly	Female	31	FL
107	Mosley	Layna	Female	39	NC
108	Terranova	Meredith	Female	37	TX
109	Utakis	Donna	Female	43	MA
110	Reed	Dacia	Female	22	VA
111	Speidel	Sophie	Female	48	VA
112	Bell	Laurel	Female	49	MD
113	Cusick	Kathleen	Female	36	MD
114	Antoniou	Paula	Female	38	MI
115	Womeldorf	Ellen	Female	40	VA
116	Rusin	Laren	Female	34	MD
117	Nichols	Jennifer	Female	33	VA
118	Darling	Jamie	Female	22	NY
119	Owens	Kim	Female	40	MI
120	Kitzig	Mary	Female	54	OH
121	Helfrick	Ruthann	Female	44	PA
122	Owens	Kerry	Female	48	DC
123	Springman	Alisa	Female	37	PA
124	Basham	Hilary	Female	33	PA
125	Bowling	Heather	Female	23	VA
126	Devereux	Jill	Female	45	VA
127	Ward	Jennifer	Female	35	MI
128	Wright	Martha	Female	50	VA
129	Favorite	Emily	Female	21	WI
130	Zaccarelli	Lisa	Female	42	TN
131	Wilson	Carolyn	Female	51	VA
132	Trittipoe	Rebekah	Female	54	VA
133	Viar	Chelsie	Female	31	VA
134	Bigham	Katie	Female	33	VA
135	Grishaw	Deborah	Female	40	VA
136	Lombardo	Carrie	Female	40	CT
137	Mawn	Sheryl	Female	47	VA
138	O'connell	Maureen	Female	47	VA
139	Broton	Jennifer	Female	38	WV
140	Finkle	Anita	Female	45	VA
141	Ospina	Juliana	Female	22	VA
142	Hunter	Dorothy	Female	38	NC
143	Andrews	Mary (mouse)	Female	34	FL
144	Godin	Tammy	Female	48	MA
145	Hale	Irene	Female	40	NJ
146	Seiss Dolges	Daniele	Female	41	MD
147	Heltibridle	Janice	Female	53	VA
148	Ennis	Jennifer	Female	42	NC
149	Carlson	Gretchen	Female	45	CT
150	Inslee	Marianna	Female	46	VA
151	Wu	Helen	Female	33	CA
152	Lang	Mary	Female	57	MD
153	Warrick	Deb	Female	49	VA
154	Corrigan	Rachel	Female	17	VA
155	Shields	Maria	Female	60	MD
156	Akers	Blanca	Female	32	NC
157	Tran	Grace	Female	33	MD
158	Long	Pamela	Female	36	NC
159	Taylor	Diane	Female	55	TN
160	Houser	Kara	Female	37	OH
161	Mann	Hollie	Female	32	NC
162	Duval	Ed	Male	53	VA
163	Tanksley	Bruce	Male	52	TN
164	Price	Mike	Male	61	UT
165	Green	Thomas	Male	61	MD
166	Sweitzer	Anthony	Male	38	VA
167	Ashworth	Jim	Male	49	VA
168	Kelleher	Brian	Male	44	VA
169	Henry	Mark	Male	24	VA
170	Houser	Eric	Male	41	OH
171	Broaddus	Jack	Male	62	VA
172	Vinosky	Jeff	Male	22	PA
173	Baker	Geoffrey	Male	53	MD
174	Tietz	Michael	Male	25	VA
175	Work	James	Male	42	WV
176	Iscool	Mark	Male	55	VA
177	Casarez	Ernesto	Male	55	MD
178	Murray	Jack	Male	35	TX
179	Pantalone	Michael	Male	42	PA
180	Zimmerman	Phil	Male	33	TN
181	Clouston	Bob	Male	49	VA
182	Orokos	Ed	Male	53	VA
183	Schramka	Joe	Male	42	DC
184	Hubbard	Quatro	Male	51	VA
185	Dao	Ling	Male	34	VA
186	Sexton	John	Male	36	VA
187	Fogleman	Eric	Male	51	NC
188	Finkle	Jay	Male	48	VA
189	Turrentine	William	Male	63	VA
190	Cantrell	Jay	Male	25	NC
191	Huffman	Larry	Male	50	VA
192	Vickers	William	Male	46	MD
193	Broom	Dan	Male	37	CT
194	Dekornfeld	Tom	Male	58	MD
195	Miller	Brett	Male	33	GA
196	Pieroni	Stephen	Male	40	NC
197	Brown	Steven	Male	43	IL
198	McGonnell	Jeff	Male	51	NC
199	Snipes	David	Male	44	VA
200	Church	Gary Neal	Male	47	VA
201	Golden	Kelly	Male	44	VA
202	Shearer	Joseph	Male	25	OH
203	Mcintosh	Jim	Male	58	FL
204	Ballard	Michael	Male	41	VA
205	Stotler	Chris	Male	43	VA
206	Allie	Adam	Male	31	TN
207	Grajkowski	Jan	Male	22	VA
208	Price	John	Male	57	VA
209	Czaplicki	Dane	Male	34	PA
210	Dunlop	Michael	Male	42	VA
211	Cooper	Stephen	Male	57	MD
212	Edmondson	Blake	Male	28	VA
213	Vanca	Bill	Male	56	NC
214	Marceau	Daren	Male	50	NC
215	Sackaroff	Jeff	Male	38	NC
216	Hollerbach	George	Male	56	PA
217	Nance	David	Male	33	GA
218	Anderson	Joey	Male	55	NC
219	Fogleman	Brad	Male	23	NC
220	Kimrey	Jeff	Male	50	NC
221	Westmoreland	Jon	Male	46	NC
222	Fratrick	Drew	Male	48	VA
223	Muffly	Michael	Male	40	CO
224	Kinsella	Bret	Male	42	VA
225	Thomson	Gordon	Male	53	VA
226	Zazzali	Christian	Male	45	MD
227	Anderson	Bob	Male	65	VA
228	Sullivan	Doug	Male	49	DC
229	Michael	Steve	Male	61	GA
230	Akers	Charles	Male	32	NC
231	Holst	Gregg	Male	53	PA
232	Combs	Rush	Male	30	NC
233	Wong	Thomas	Male	42	NY
234	Owensby	John	Male	66	NC
235	Zwiebel	Dave	Male	44	NC
236	Leedy	Rick	Male	48	MI
237	Stull	Justus	Male	33	VA
238	Cook	Thomas	Male	30	VA
239	Farr	Jason	Male	33	VA
240	Wilson	Bryan	Male	46	VA
241	Godin	Jeff	Male	43	MA
242	Lowe	Samuel	Male	46	VA
243	Anderson	Jack	Male	28	MD
244	Barber	John	Male	44	VA
245	Trinkle	Brian	Male	49	GA
246	Doda	Johnathan	Male	34	VA
247	Coyne	Bob	Male	64	MD
248	Wei	Jim	Male	38	NC
249	Carlson	Andrew	Male	46	CT
250	Harrison	James	Male	53	VA
251	Perry	Tim	Male	48	VA
252	Peake	Justin	Male	31	MD
253	Blair	Albert	Male	49	FL
254	Dawkins	Doug	Male	59	NC
255	Lunsford	George	Male	43	VA
256	Scott	Timothy	Male	36	NC
257	Hurley	John	Male	56	VA
258	Schnoeller	Alexander	Male	36	VA
259	Wilson	Fred	Male	56	VA
260	Coan	Dennis	Male	27	VA
261	Cabell	Billy	Male	33	VA
262	Leonardis	John	Male	29	MD
263	Ludwig	Michael	Male	40	NM
264	Wheeler	Kenny	Male	50	WV
265	Bartlett	Lawrence	Male	57	MD
266	Blythe	Devin	Male	34	VA
267	Moore	David	Male	53	NC
268	Macluskie	J David	Male	38	VA
269	Towles	Matt	Male	36	VA
270	Coffey	David	Male	53	LA
271	Burns	Craig	Male	56	VA
272	Middlesworth	Scott	Male	49	VA
273	Rodriguez	Frank	Male	50	VA
274	Hammock	David	Male	48	VA
275	Carbaugh	Robert	Male	48	VA
276	Scanlon	Jimmy	Male	27	VA
277	Luedke	Kurt	Male	53	VA
278	Zwart	Alan	Male	40	DC
279	Nagies	Thomas	Male	17	NC
280	Baird	Jamie	Male	41	OH
281	Baldwin	Johnathan	Male	31	WV
282	Cranford	Daniel	Male	21	OK
283	Flynn	Eric	Male	33	MI
284	Flynn	Andrew	Male	33	MI
285	Genois	Alexandre	Male	21	Quebec
286	Grodofsky	Sam	Male	28	PA
287	Headley-Soro	Richard	Male	30	DC
288	Levy-myers	Eric	Male	51	VA
289	Nemcik	Bradford	Male	39	FL
290	Neubeck	Wes	Male	30	VA
291	Parsell	Mark	Male	49	VA
292	Perraud	Art	Male	53	MD
293	Sothcott	Victor	Male	50	VA
294	Bugin	Matthew	Male	30	VA

2011 Grindstone 100 Race Reports

2011-10-11T10:00:00.001-04:00

Buddy Teaster:

http://buddyteaster.blogspot.com/2011/10/grindstone-100-race-report-running-in.html

Joe Dudak:

http://joedudak.blogspot.com/2011/10/grindstone-2011.html?spref=fb

Craig Thornley:

http://conductthejuices.com/2011/10/13/2011-grindstone-101-85-miler/

Aaron Mulder:

http://rootsrocksraces.blogspot.com/2011/10/runners-guide-to-grindstone-100.html

Carrie Lombardo:

http://mrbimble.com/WordPress/2011/10/grindstone-100-%e2%80%9ci-think-clark-is-trying-to-kill-us-%e2%80%9d/

David Ploskonka:

http://tokenrunningblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/grindstone-2011-race-report.html

Current 2011 Lynchburg Ultra Series Standings

2011-10-11T08:20:00.001-04:00

These standings are current through Promise Land 50k.

	Males
	Name	TOTAL
1	Gonzalez, Frank	13:32:43
2	Bugin, Matthew	14:13:04
3	Lantz, Jason	14:39:36
4	Jenner, Andrew	14:49:30
5	Smith, Kevin	15:24:55
6	Mulder, Aaron	16:05:18
7	Blessing, Justin	16:17:55
8	Syre, Thomas	16:19:35
9	Alsop, Jeremy	16:23:12
10	Azuaje, Jaime	16:50:46
11	Peek, Tyler	16:56:47
12	Ebersole, Tim	16:57:45
13	Henry, Mark	16:58:33
14	Avitable, Jay	16:59:23
15	Gallant, Jeromy	17:09:33
16	Griffin, Marc	17:16:35
17	Gray, Rick	17:18:35
18	Kelleher, Brian	17:29:24
19	Fulwider, Ryan	17:31:07
20	Yoder, Marlin	17:33:14
21	Ashworth, Jim	17:41:54
22	Jorgensen, Will	17:56:15
23	Broaddus, Jack	18:14:28
24	Iscool, Mark	18:19:43
25	Tighe, Jarett	18:50:11
26	Schramka, Joe	18:27:10
27	Casarez, Ernesto	18:49:25
28	Garbee, Grattan	18:52:03
29	Duelge, Jason	18:53:35
30	Czaplicki, Dane	18:54:58
31	Fogleman, Eric	18:57:40
32	Westmoreland, Jon	19:01:18
33	Duval, Ed	19:04:28
34	Combs, Rush	19:11:59
35	Ballard, Michael	19:13:02
36	Work, James	19:32:08
37	Broom, Dan	19:33:31
38	Edmondson, Blake	19:35:34
39	Snipes, David	19:39:50
40	Sullivan, Doug	19:42:51
41	Tietz, Michael	19:46:46
42	Noel, Michael	20:00:56
43	Fogleman, Brad	20:01:33
44	Marceau, Daren	20:04:36
45	Golden, Kelly	20:11:11
46	Turrentine, William	20:16:08
47	Nocita, Shawn	20:17:07
48	Cooper, John	20:20:05
49	Fratrick, Drew	20:53:04
50	Anderson, Bob	21:01:59
51	Scott, Timothy	21:12:30
52	Macluskie, J David	21:37:55
53	Blythe, Devin	21:42:06
54	Hooker, Jonathan	21:48:20
55	Holst, Gregg	21:51:08
56	Wheeler, Kenny	21:57:29
57	Hoffman, John	22:06:37
58	Godin, Jeff	22:35:31
59	Lowe, Samuel	22:43:23
60	Wilson, Fred	22:44:42
61	Hammock, David	22:48:56
62	States, Bryan	23:00:05
63	Scanlon, James	23:53:54
64	Levy-Myers, Eric	24:31:15
65	Dawkins, Doug	24:33:41
66	Nagies, Thomas	24:53:59
67	Luedke, Kurt	25:28:38
68	Zwart, Alan	25:33:50
69	Burns, Craig	25:42:49

	Females
	Name	TOTAL
1	Darling, Jamie	17:31:45
2	Speidel, Sophie	17:44:59
3	Viar, Chelsie	18:31:49
4	Wright, Martha	18:48:00
5	Nichols, Jennifer	18:59:03
6	Bowling, Heather	19:08:08
7	Lombardo, Carrie	19:28:37
8	Owens, Kimberly	19:35:14
9	Owens, Kerry	19:43:33
10	Upchurch, Melissa	20:02:12
11	Bigham, Katie	20:05:18
12	Hunter, Dorothy	20:42:51
13	Helfrick, Ruth Anne	20:47:59
14	Mawn, Sheryl	20:54:22
15	O'Connell, Maureen	20:58:59
16	Willey, Janice	21:15:57
17	Bone, Christine	21:18:38
18	Inslee, Marianna	21:22:40
19	Grishaw, Debbie	21:48:33
20	Godin, Tammy	21:56:49
21	Broton, Jennifer	23:27:30
22	Long, Pam	25:08:39
23	Taylor, Diane	25:53:41

Current 2011 Beast Series Standings

2011-10-11T08:15:00.001-04:00

These standings are current through Grindstone.

	Males
	Name	TOTAL
1	Gonzalez, Frank	33:14:25
2	Mulder, Aaron	38:38:30
3	Smith, Kevin	39:04:47
4	Alsop, Jeremy	44:38:18
5	Ashworth, Jim	45:57:49
6	Avitable, Jay	46:00:21
7	Fulwider, Ryan	46:21:40
8	Kelleher, Brian	46:19:47
9	Peek, Tyler	47:21:09
10	Griffin, Marc	48:08:33
11	Jorgensen, Will	48:26:45
12	Ballard, Michael	48:42:54
13	Schramka, Joe	49:58:44
14	Cooper, John	51:09:26
15	Snipes, David	51:11:24
16	Fogleman, Eric	51:51:42
17	Sullivan, Doug	52:50:06
18	Fogleman, Brad	52:55:35
19	Iscool, Mark	53:05:01
20	Duelge, Jason	53:09:40
21	Wilson, Fred	54:16:16
22	Westmoreland, Jon	54:49:25
23	Broom, Dan	19:33:31
24	Casarez, Ernesto	55:56:47
25	Scott, Timothy	55:58:38
26	Combs, Rush	56:00:21
27	Turrentine, William	57:23:30
28	Holst, Gregg	58:42:06
29	Levy-Myers, Eric	61:38:37

	Females
	Name	TOTAL
1	Owens, Kerry	48:27:08
2	Lombardo, Carrie	53:19:09
3	Broton, Jennifer	59:15:37

2011 Grindstone Photos

2011-10-10T17:21:00.001-04:00

Here are some links to several photos…enjoy! Thanks to those who took the photos.

Geoff Baker:

http://oellaworks.zenfolio.com/grindstone100

Bobby Gill:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobby_gill/sets/72157627733689217/

Debbie Livingston 2011 Grindstone Womens Chamption

2011-10-08T19:05:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to Debbie Livingston, our 2011 Grindstone 100 miler Women's champion.

Debbie finished the race strong in 24:58:59.

#5 Audio Update From Clark Zealand - Grindstone 100 miler 2011

2011-10-08T14:11:00.001-04:00

Neal Gorman 2011 Grindstone Winner

2011-10-08T14:09:00.004-04:00

In the second fastest time in Grinstone history, Neal Gorman wins the 2011 Grindstone 100 miler. Neal ran a strong race and finished in 19:41:22.

Congratulations Neal!

#4 Audio Update From Clark Zealand - Grindstone 100 miler 2011

2011-10-08T13:26:00.001-04:00

Grindstone Band

2011-10-08T13:07:00.001-04:00

Grindstone live band! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1cTWGz-7sw

#3 Audio Update From Clark Zealand - Grindstone 100 miler 2011

2011-10-08T12:56:00.001-04:00

#2 Audio Update From Clark Zealand - Grindstone 100 miler 2011

2011-10-08T12:37:00.002-04:00

Top 2 Women

2011-10-08T12:13:00.002-04:00

Top 2 women in Grindstone 2011 are only 5 minutes apart: Katherine Dowson and Debbie Livingston. They are both through North River Gap aid station (#11) which is 67 miles into the race. For complete results: http://apps.eco-xsports.com/livestats.php?race=1&year=2011

Top 5 runners are through aid station 13 (Dowells Draft)

2011-10-08T11:49:00.002-04:00

New results are in for the top 5 runners! http://apps.eco-xsports.com/livestats.php?race=1&year=2011

Great start

2011-10-08T08:48:00.002-04:00

We are off to a great start at Grindstone 2011! 118 runners started the race at 6:30pm yesterday, October 7^th. Our current race leaders are: Neal Gorman, Matthew Hart, and David Ruttum. For complete race results: http://apps.eco-xsports.com/livestats.php?race=1&year=2011

#1 Audio Update From Clark Zealand

2011-10-08T08:46:00.003-04:00

Aid station 2 results are in!

2011-10-08T08:26:00.002-04:00

New results are in from aid station 2 at Grindstone 2011! http://apps.eco-xsports.com/livestats.php?race=1&year=2011

Aid station 1 resuts

2011-10-07T23:33:00.002-04:00

New results are in from aid station 1 at Grindstone 2011! http://apps.eco-xsports.com/livestats.php?race=1&year=2011

And they are off!

2011-10-07T19:22:00.001-04:00

Excitement for Grindstone 2011!

2011-10-07T19:18:00.002-04:00

2011 Grindstone 100 Seeds

2011-10-03T17:01:00.001-04:00

Bib #	Last Name	First Name	Gender	Age	State	Country
1	Gorman	Neal	Male	34	DC
2	Jones-wilkins	Andy	Male	44	ID
3	Gonzalez	Frank	Male	34	VA
4	Hart	Matt	Male	36	UT
5	Knipling	Keith	Male	35	DC
6	Wildeboer	Travis	Male	32	CO
7	Lantz	Jason	Male	30	PA
8	Thornley	Craig	Male	47	OR
9	Ruttum	David	Male	32	PA
10	Chang	Jordan	Male	24	VA
11	Bugin	Matthew	Male	30	VA
12	Krueger	Andrew	Male	29	VA
13	Mulder	Aaron	Male	36	PA
14	Ploskonka	David	Male	29	MD
15	Raymond	Mario	Male	39	MD
16	McGlade	Patrick	Male	23	VA
17	Shivers	Regis	Male	41	VA
18	Gibbins	Josh	Male	31	Ontario	Canada
19	Fulwider	Ryan	Male	36	VA
20	Murase	Yosuke	Male	39	Tokyo	Japan
21	Smith	Kevin	Male	33	VA
22	Dudak	Joe	Male	37	VA
23	Leuner	Mark	Male	34	NJ
24	Berlin	Doug	Male	44	VA
25	Hall	Alexander	Male	30	VA
26	Hazen	Christian	Male	29	MD
27	Snipes	David	Male	43	VA
28	Tighe	Jarett	Male	44	VA
29	Finkle	Jay	Male	48	VA
30	DE ARRIBA INDIA	LUIS	Male	44	Vizcaya	Spain
31	Griffin	Marc	Male	35	VA
32	Combs	Rush	Male	30	NC
33	Ashworth	Jim	Male	49	VA
34	Cooper	John	Male	56	VA
35	Alsop	Jeremy	Male	28	NC
36	Brennan	James	Male	32	VA
37	Gray	Rick	Male	50	TN
38	Sullivan	Doug	Male	49	DC
39	Duelge	Jason	Male	42	MI
40	Alvarado	Max	Male	27	VA
41	Blessing	Justin	Male	25	VA
42	Jorgensen	Will	Male	52	TN
43	Karlick	Thomas	Male	29	VA
44	Martin	Aaron	Male	23	VA
45	ballard	michael	Male	41	VA
46	Balcet	Irawan	Male	35	VA
47	Keliikuli	Kai	Male	42	MI
48	Peek	Tyler	Male	46	NC
49	Iscool	Mark	Male	54	VA
50	Marceau	Daren	Male	50	NC
51	Avitable	Jay	Male	50	CT
52	Casarez	Ernesto	Male	55	MD
53	Regner	Rudy	Male	55	MD
54	Wilson	Fred	Male	56	VA
55	Broom	Dan	Male	37	CT
56	Fogleman	Brad	Male	23	NC
57	Fogleman	Eric	Male	51	NC
58	Hooker	Jonathan	Male	31	VA
59	Kelleher	Brian	Male	44	VA
60	Searor	Justin	Male	28	TN
61	Hopkins, Jr.	Dennis	Male	32	NY
62	Turfe	Ali	Male	48	MI
63	Campbell	Michael	Male	61	VA
64	Dietz	Randy	Male	61	PA
65	Schramka	Joe	Male	42	DC
66	Anderson	Bob	Male	64	VA
67	States	Bryan	Male	29	MD
68	Westmoreland	Jon	Male	46	NC
69	Knipling	Gary	Male	67	VA
70	Rodriguez	Mark	Male	35	PA
71	Booker	Thomas	Male	51	TN
72	Clapp	Timothy	Male	54	VA
73	Godin	Jeff	Male	43	MA
74	golden	kelly	Male	44	VA
75	Gray	Gilbert	Male	49	MD
76	Landreth	Joseph	Male	36	VA
77	Moore	David	Male	53	NC
78	Ouellette	Jimm	Male	38	VA
79	Ritz	Michel	Male	41	PA
80	Scott	Timothy	Male	36	NC
81	Sweitzer	Anthony	Male	38	VA
82	Terry	Parker	Male	28	VA
83	Tietz	Michael	Male	25	VA
84	Wiley	Jason	Male	38	PA
85	Battle	steven	Male	48	Nottinghamshire	England
86	Carroll	Steve	Male	24	VA
87	Colenso	Rob	Male	36	VA
88	Farrar	Spencer	Male	42	CT
89	Galioto	Joe	Male	47	NJ
90	Grajkowski	Jan	Male	21	VA
91	O'Connor	Rory	Male	44	SC
92	Rigaut	Philipp	Male	29	VA
93	Robillard	Jason	Male	35	MI
94	Swamp	Carter	Male	36	VA
95	Waite	John	Male	32	VA
96	Webb	Brock	Male	35	VA
97	Wheeler	Kenny	Male	50	WV
98	Hannon	Michael	Male	47	MD
99	Claire	Kevin	Male	43	MA
100	Judge	Andrew	Male	25	VA
101	Dowson	Katherine	Female	45	WY
102	Livingston	Debbie	Female	36	CT
103	Hudelson	Alicia	Female	27	MN
104	Carlson	Zsuzsanna	Female	38	NJ
105	Owens	Kerry	Female	48	DC
106	Fenninger	Joanne	Female	45	KY
107	Phalen	Rebecca	Female	38	VA
108	Nishide	Yukiko	Female	49	NY
109	Lombardo	Carrie	Female	40	CT
110	Godin	Tammy	Female	48	MA
111	Ferner	Erin	Female	31	MD
112	Broton	Jennifer	Female	38	WV
113	Brown	Marina	Female	45	VA
114	Viar	Chelsie	Female	31	VA
115	Stegemiller	Megan	Female	23	VA
116	Bouquet	Elizabeth	Female	60	NJ
117	Falk	Daniel	Male	32	MD
118	Levy-myers	Eric	Male	51	VA
119	Wrobleski	Joe	Male	47	ME
120	Holst	Gregg	Male	53	PA
121	Rice	Phil	Male	47	VA
122	Kelly	Sean	Male	25	MD
123	Teaster	Buddy	Male	47	TX
124	Meyer	Thaddeus	Male	32	MD
125	Trinkle	Brian	Male	49	GA

Terrapin 2011 Race Reports

2011-03-30T09:44:00.001-04:00

Craig Burns:

http://www.constantforwardmotion.org/2011/03/fast-women-and-buzzards.html

John Leonardis:

http://cookrunbeer.blogspot.com/2011/03/terrapin-mountain-50k-lesson-learned.html

Jeremy Ramsey:

http://mountainmovinandgroovin.blogspot.com/2011/03/having-blast-at-terrapin.html

Liz Barry:

http://lizruns.wordpress.com/2011/03/28/race-report-terrapin-mountain-50k/

Rebekah Trittipoe:

http://rebekahtrittipoe.blogspot.com/search/label/Running

Dani Seiss:

http://danirunner.wordpress.com/2011/03/20/some-climb-to-get-to-terrapin/

James Ingrassia:

http://morethanpaceandstride.blogspot.com/2011/03/race-report-terrapin-mountain-half.html

Chelsea Jack:

http://thetabletalk.org/2011/03/just-keep-running-terrapin-mountain-50k-half-marathon/

Tom Mueller:

http://mastercompetitor.blogspot.com/2011/03/terrapin-mountain-50k.html

Cory McArtor:

The weekend I had the privelege of running the Terrapin Mountain 50k for the 2nd time. The short version of the race report is: Not enough training, very sick all week before the race, decide to at least start and see how I feel, go out slow, feel better and better throughout the race, beat last years time by about 12 minutes. The longer version is below.

I ran Terrapin Mountain last march as my 3rd ultra and first mountain race and immediately fell in love. It's not that flatter courses aren't good, because I like them too, but there is just something I love about running through the mountains. After running it the first time, I decided that I had to come back and run it again if I got the chance.

Because I go to a military school I have lots of friends who are runners. This year when I signed up I started asking my friends if they wanted to come run too, and I managed to get two to come run the 1/2 marathon as their first trail race, and three to come run the 50k. Two of them were first time ultrarunners (including my girlfriend), and for one, it was her first race longer than 10k.

Leading up to the race, I got busy with school and life and failed to do any really meaningful training. I decided a couple weeks before the race that I would go and plan on running slowly if I had to, but I figured I would have no trouble finishing within 9 hours. I figured this would work fine, but then when race week rolled around I got very sick. I thought it would pass before the race but as the week went on I got sicker and sicker. Late in the week I was scheduled to have a fitness test, and Friday when I took it I got dizzy after each event. I decided that I would drive down with my friends that were running, but unless I was suddenly better I wouldn't run. When I woke up Saturday morning I still didn't feel fully healthy, but I felt good enough to start and see how it went.

I started the race with my friends, but we quickly dispersed on the first climb up to the Camping Gap aid station. I decided to hold back a lot since I didn't know how my legs would react to so little training. After the aid station I let my legs go a bit to see how the felt. Everything felt great so I ran a pretty good pace all the way down past the 2nd aid station until the bottom of the mountain. I decided that for now I would just keep up the pattern of relaxing on the climbs and pushing the downhills. This worked until about mile 16. By the time I left Camping Gap for the 2nd time to head up the White Oak Ridge loop I was starting to realize that I didn't really feel sick anymore. I actually felt really good. I hiked up to the top, punched my bib, and then cruised on down back to Camping Gap for the third time. I was feeling really good, but having lost one of my gaiters after Grindstone, my shoes were getting lots of stuff in them so I took a short break and dumped out my shoes.

I hiked up Terrapin, passing a couple people on the way up and realizing that I felt much better than I had at that point a year ago. Then I was hating life, taking breaks every so often and wondering why I had ever wanted to do something like this. This time it didn't seem so bad. At the summit I got a picture and headed down. I had been dreading the descent, because remembering it from last year it had been horrendous because I couldn't run the steep and rocky parts, but this time it gave me no problems at all. I ended up passing quite a few people on the way down and never had any trouble with the rocks. I kept waiting to hit the wall and start feeling like crap again, but by the time I hit the last aid station at Terrapin Mountain Lane it still hadn't come. I looked at my watch, and despite expecting a really slow finish due to being sick and undertrained I realized that I was on track to finish a little faster than last year.

At this point I started pushing. I ran anything uphills that weren't to steep, and pushed it hard on downhills and flats. I decided to see how much I could beat my previous time by, and so I had constant motivation to keep pushing it. Eventually I reached the road and gave it as big a kick as I could still mangage. I was still feeling pretty good, and so I even managed to sprint the last 50 yards or so and get a good heel click in as I crossed the finish in 6:34, 12 minutes faster than last year. Pretty good for almost no training and being sick for a week. I've been thinking about it since, and I'm still not sure how it happened. The only thing I can think of is that the year of experience helped.

My friends all loved their first mountain race. Emily (my girlfriend) won her age group with a 6:23, my friend Jake won his age group with a 5:42, and my friend Ashley ran a 7:02 in her first race longer than a 10k. I pretend to be disappointed that two of them beat me, but really I'm pretty happy. I'll just have to train more now. In a month Jake and I will head back down to the mountains to run Promised Land. This time it will be my roommate coming with us to run his first ultra.

-Cory McArtor, Annapolis Maryland

2011 Terrapin Mountain 50km Ultra Run Men's Champion, Jake Reed and top finishers

2011-03-26T21:49:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to our 50km men's champion!

In order the top 3 men were:
1.Jake Reed (Seen above in picture)
2.Eric Grossman
3.David Frazier

Click on these racers names to see their times and entire race profile on eco-xsports.com.

Click here to see all the 50km ultra run stats online.

2011 Terrapin Mountain 50km Ultra Run Woman's Champion, Sara Angel and top finishers

2011-03-26T21:49:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to our 50km woman's champion!

In order the top 3 women were:
1.Sara Angel (Seen above in picture)
2.Sophie Speidel
3.Elizabeth Minnick

Click on these racers names to see their times and entire race profile on eco-xsports.com.

Click here to see all the 50km ultra run stats online.

2011 Terrapin Mountain Half-Marathon Trail Run Men's Top Finishers

2011-03-26T21:36:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to our top 3 men finishers in the half-marathon.

1. Rob Cook (Seen finishing above)
2. Jordan Miller
3. Mark Herzog

Click on these racers names to see their times and entire race profile on eco-xsports.com.

Click here to see all the half-marathon stats online.

2011 Terrapin Mountain Half-Marathon Trail Run Women's Top Finishers

2011-03-26T21:36:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to our top 3 women finishers in the half-marathon.

1. Eliza O'Connell (Far Right)
2. Lissette O'Neal (Middle)
3. Sally Moylan (Far Left)

Click on these racers names to see their times and entire race profile on eco-xsports.com.

Click here to see all the half-marathon stats online.

2011 Terrapin Mtn - Audio Update - Clark Zealand

2011-03-26T20:01:00.001-04:00

2011 Terrapin Mtn - Audio Update - Clark Zealand

2011-03-26T11:30:00.000-04:00

2011 Terrapin Mtn - Audio Update - Clark Zealand

2011-03-26T11:04:00.001-04:00

2011 Terrapin Mtn - Audio Update - Clark Zealand

2011-03-26T11:03:00.001-04:00

2011 Terrapin Mtn - Audio Update - Clark Zealand

2011-03-26T11:02:00.001-04:00

2011 Terrapin Mtn - Audio Update - Clark Zealand

2011-03-26T09:21:00.001-04:00

2011 Terrapin Mtn - Audio Update - Clark Zealand

2011-03-26T09:18:00.002-04:00

2011 Terrapin Mtn - Audio Update - Clark Zealand

2011-03-26T09:17:00.002-04:00

2011 Terrapin Mtn - 3/25 Audio Update - Clark Zealand

2011-03-25T22:28:00.000-04:00

2011 Terrapin Mountain Ultra Run Webcast Links

2011-03-25T22:25:00.000-04:00

Follow the 2011 Terrapin Mountain 50km and Half-Marathon Trail Run through these links:
Eco-X Facebook Page
Eco-X Photo Stream
50km Ultra Run Splits and Webcast Results
Half Marathon Trail Run Splits and Webcast Results
Eco-X Youtube Channel

As we have access to the internet on location around the race course we will be posting blog updates, answering Facebook questions and requests as well as posting photos of the race and splits as they come in at each aid station. Use these links to get all your race information. The webcast will begin tomorrow(3/26) between 7am and 7:45am.

Eco-X Tech Team

2011 Terrapin Mtn 50k & Half-marathon Seedings

2011-03-24T09:19:00.001-04:00

50k

Bib#	First	Last	Gender	Age	State
1	Jake	Reed	Male	23	Virginia
2	Eric	Grossman	Male	42	Virginia
3	David	Frazier	Male	25	Virginia
4	Jeremy	Ramsey	Male	35	Virginia
5	Frank	Gonzalez	Male	34	Virginia
6	Sean	Andrish	Male	41	Virginia
7	Jason	Lantz	Male	29	Pennsylvania
8	Jordan	Whitlock	Male	23	Virginia
9	Brian	greeley	Male	27	District of Columbia
10	Darryl	Smith	Male	28	Maryland
11	Matthew	Bugin	Male	29	Virginia
12	Andrew	Jenner	Male	28	Virginia
13	Micah	Jackson	Male	31	Virginia
14	Aaron	Mulder	Male	36	Pennsylvania
15	Christopher	Palladino	Male	39	Pennsylvania
16	Andy	Bruner	Male	30	Georgia
17	Joe	Dudak	Male	37	Virginia
18	Jason	Captain	Male	34	Virginia
19	Kevin	smith	Male	39	Virginia
20	Jaime	Azuaje	Male	23	Virginia
21	Chris	Bernard	Male	21	Virginia
22	Blaine	Lewis	Male	49	Virginia
23	Jeremy	Alsop	Male	27	North Carolina
24	Marlin	Yoder	Male	58	Virginia
25	Tyler	Peek	Male	45	North Carolina
26	Ken	Gregorich	Male	52	California
27	Christopher	calfee	Male	43	Virginia
28	Scott	Bartram	Male	49	Virginia
29	Jay	Avitable	Male	50	Connecticut
30	Thomas	Syre	Male	24	Virginia
31	Rick	Gray	Male	50	Tennessee
32	Will	Jorgensen	Male	51	Tennessee
33	Jeromy	Gallant	Male	27	Virginia
34	Grattan	Garbee	Male	48	Virginia
35	Jarett	Tighe	Male	43	Virginia
36	J.T.	Witt	Male	30	Virginia
37	David	Snipes	Male	43	Virginia
38	Marc	Griffin	Male	35	Virginia
39	Todd	Hacker	Male	31	Virginia
40	Michael	Dunlop	Male	41	Virginia
41	John	Cooper	Male	56	Virginia
42	Kelly	golden	Male	44	Virginia
43	Mosi	Smith	Male	33	Virginia
44	Michael	Tietz	Male	24	Virginia
45	Jason	duelge	Male	42	Michigan
46	Dennis	Kelleher	Male	49	Virginia
47	Justin	Blessing	Male	24	Virginia
48	Timothy	Ebersole	Male	28	Pennsylvania
49	Ryan	Fulwider	Male	35	Virginia
50	Chris	Williams	Female	49	Virginia
51	Michael	Stadnisky	Male	28	Virginia
52	Louis	Kugel	Male	34	Pennsylvania
53	Brandon	Davis	Male	28	North Carolina
54	Ned	Barrett	Male	48	South Carolina
55	Scott	eney	Male	35	North Carolina
56	Ricahrd	Key	Male	41	Virginia
57	Nikolas	Rogers	Male	39	New York
58	Ed	Duval	Male	53	Virginia
59	Tim	Miller	Male	42	Virginia
60	Jacob	FOX	Male	20	Michigan
61	Adam	Eidson	Male	37	Virginia
62	James	Work	Male	41	West Virginia
63	Jim	Ashworth	Male	48	Virginia
64	Eric	Fogleman	Male	50	North Carolina
65	Joe	Schramka	Male	42	District of Columbia
66	Chris	Wise	Male	42	Georgia
67	Jack	Broaddus	Male	61	Virginia
68	Ernesto	Casarez	Male	54	Maryland
69	Jan	Grajkowski	Male	21	Virginia
70	Dan	Broom	Male	36	Connecticut
71	William	Turrentine	Male	62	Virginia
72	Adam	Matheson	Male	31	Virginia
73	Shawn	Krause	Male	31	Maryland
74	Carter	Swamp	Male	36	Virginia
75	Jerry	anderson	Male	59	Tennessee
76	Shawn	Nocita	Male	48	Pennsylvania
77	Brian	Kelleher	Male	43	Virginia
78	J David	MacLuskie	Male	38	Virginia
79	Guy	Love	Male	20	Virginia
80	Paul	Scanlon	Male	27	Virginia
81	Daren	Marceau	Male	49	North Carolina
83	Farouk	Elkassed	Male	61	Virginia
84	Michael	ballard	Male	41	Virginia
85	Stephen	cooper	Male	56	Maryland
86	Jeff	pence	Male	52	Virginia
87	Thomas	Mueller	Male	54	North Carolina
88	Blake	Edmondson	Male	27	Virginia
89	Jim	McKenzie	Male	50	North Carolina
90	Brad	Fogleman	Male	23	North Carolina
91	Nelson	Stritehoff	Male	59	Maryland
92	Mark	Henry	Male	24	Virginia
93	Cory	McArtor	Male	22	Kentucky
94	Doug	Sullivan	Male	49	District of Columbia
95	Drew	Fratrick	Male	47	Virginia
96	Jeff	Godin	Male	43	Massachusetts
97	Dane	Czaplicki	Male	33	Pennsylvania
98	Bob	Anderson	Male	64	Virginia
99	Gordon	Thomson	Male	52	Virginia
100	Art	Perraud	Male	53	Maryland
101	Sophie	Speidel	Female	48	Virginia
102	Mary	Kreis	Female	41	Pennsylvania
103	Kim	Owens	Female	39	Michigan
104	Jennifer	Nichols	Female	32	Virginia
105	Jamie	Darling	Female	22	New York
106	Rebekah	Trittipoe	Female	54	Virginia
107	Jennifer	Fleming	Female	36	Pennsylvania
108	Elizabeth	Minnick	Female	30	Virginia
109	Kerry	Owens	Female	47	District of Columbia
110	Martha	Wright	Female	50	Virginia
111	RuthAnn	Helfrick	Female	44	Pennsylvania
112	Chelsie	Viar	Female	30	Virginia
113	Liz	Barry	Female	26	Virginia
114	Sara	Angel	Female	29	North Carolina
115	Katie	Bigham	Female	33	Virginia
116	Carrie	Lombardo	Female	40	Connecticut
117	Gail	Leedy	Female	57	North Carolina
118	Tammy	Godin	Female	47	Massachusetts
119	Melissa	Upchurch	Female	41	Virginia
120	Marianna	Inslee	Female	45	Virginia
121	Suzie	Spangler	Female	40	Maryland
122	Alicia	Taylor	Female	32	Virginia
123	Dorothy	Hunter	Female	37	North Carolina
124	Heather	Bowling	Female	23	Virginia
125	Carol	Bartram	Female	47	Virginia
126	Daniele	Seiss Dolges	Female	40	Maryland
127	Deb	Warrick	Female	48	Virginia
128	Heather	Royer	Female	49	Virginia
129	Lesley	McPhatter	Female	47	Virginia
130	Janice	Willey	Female	42	South Carolina
131	Sheryl	Mawn	Female	46	Virginia
132	Jennifer	Broton	Female	38	West Virginia
133	Terri	Ripley	Female	48	Virginia
134	Deborah	Grishaw	Female	39	Virginia
135	Linda	Wack	Female	55	Maryland
136	Shelley	Corrigan	Female	46	Virginia
137	Liane	Axe	Female	32	Virginia
138	Caroline	Williams	Male	39	Virginia
139	Diane	Taylor	Female	54	Tennessee
140	Kari	Anderson	Female	49	Virginia
141	Pam	Long	Female	36	North Carolina
142	Christine	Bone	Female	39	Virginia
143	Ashley	Mannix	Female	20	Maryland
144	Emily	Favorite	Female	20	Wisconsin
145	Maureen	O'Connell	Female	46	Virginia
146	Marcus	Bennett	Male	43	North Carolina
147	Brad	lowery	Male	37	Virginia
148	Samuel	Lowe	Male	46	Virginia
149	Gregg	Holst	Male	52	Pennsylvania
150	Jon	westmoreland	Male	45	North Carolina
151	Mike	Noel	Male	39	Virginia
152	Mark	Persinger	Male	37	West Virginia
153	Bob	coyne	Male	64	Maryland
154	Eric	Levy-Myers	Male	50	Virginia
155	Jim	MOORE	Male	40	WEST VIRGINIA
156	Rush	Combs	Male	29	North Carolina
157	Leonard	Martin	Male	57	Tennessee
158	Doug	dawkins	Male	59	North Carolina
159	Matthew	Towles	Male	36	Virginia
160	Timothy	Scott	Male	35	North Carolina
161	John	Hoffman	Male	48	Virginia
162	Kenny	Wheeler	Male	50	West Virginia
163	Craig	Burns	Male	56	Virginia
164	Devin	Blythe	Male	33	Virginia
165	Robert	Burgess	Male	59	Virginia
166	Tony	Martin	Male	41	Virginia
167	Fred	Wilson	Male	56	Virginia
168	Jonathan	Hooker	Male	31	Virginia
169	John	leonardis	Male	29	Maryland
170	Timothy	Perry	Male	47	Virginia
171	Andrew	Holte	Male	28	North Carolina
172	Billy	Cabell	Male	33	Virginia
173	Frank	Rodriguez	Male	49	Virginia
174	Bryan	States	Male	28	Maryland
175	Kurt	Luedke	Male	53	Virginia
176	David	Hammock	Male	47	Virginia
177	James	Scanlon	Male	25	Virginia
178	Justin	Elliott	Male	22	Virginia
179	Martin	Moylan	Male	41	Maryland
180	Colton	Amato	Male	17	Virginia
181	Peter	Amato	Male	44	Virginia
182	Alan	Zwart	Male	40	District of Columbia
183	Eric	Koontz	Male	32	Virginia
184	Thomas	Nagies	Male	16	North Carolina
185	mark	iscool	Male	54	Virginia
186	Chris	Gingrich	Male	35	Virginia
187	Ben	Thompson	Male	18	North Carolina
188	Victor	Serrano	Male	33	Georgia
189	Stephen	Page	Male	22	Virginia
190	Matthew	Holliday	Male	19	North Carolina
191	Danny	mowers	Male	33	Pennsylvania
192	Casey	O'Donnell	Male	32	Virginia
193	Ryan	Earle	Male	30	Virginia
194	Chase	Ross	Male	19	Ohio
195	Wayne	Ross	Male	44	Ohio
196	Daniel	Trick	Male	22	Ohio

Half-marathon

Bib #	First	Last	Gender	Age	State
82	Mike	Donahue	Male	38	Georgia
201	Elliot	Nuss	Male	19	Virginia
202	Tres	Binkley	Male	27	North Carolina
203	Jordan	Miller	Male	24	Virginia
204	bill	vickery	Male	40	Virginia
205	sam	dangc	Male	23	Virginia
206	joseph	alderson	Male	29	Virginia
207	Donnie	Wilkerson	Male	59	Virginia
208	Stephen	Bozeman	Male	64	Virginia
209	Jake	Carlson	Male	24	Virginia
210	Derek	Carpenter	Male	20	Virginia
211	CJ	Collins	Male	21	Virginia
212	Thomas	Cook	Male	29	Virginia
213	Lucas	Dollarhite	Male	22	Virginia
214	Isaac	Goodin	Male	20	Virginia
215	MARK	HERZOG	Male	18	Virginia
216	James	Hood	Male	25	Virginia
217	Brenden	Johann	Male	18	North Carolina
218	Darren	LePere	Male	22	Pennsylvania
219	Jeff	Mather	Male	27	Ontario
220	Matthew	Mitchell	Male	31	Virginia
221	Zach	Quigg	Male	19	Virginia
222	Andrew	Ray	Male	19	Virginia
223	David	Parrotte	Male	22	Virginia
224	Dylan	Perry	Male	19	Maryland
225	Dwayne	Saunders	Male	19	Maryland
226	Paul	Rutemiller	Male	19	Ohio
227	Charles	Schlosser	Male	25	Virginia
228	Scott	Smith	Male	27	Georgia
229	James	Stronza	Male	31	Virginia
230	machen	white	Male	33	South Carolina
231	John	Bolton	Male	59	Virginia
232	David	Bolton	Male	26	Virginia
233	Dennis	Bridges	Male	55	Maryland
234	Berkley	Collins III	Male	41	Virginia
235	Tom	Connaughton	Male	41	Virginia
236	Rob	Cook	Male	39	Virginia
237	Tim	Craft	Male	54	Virginia
238	Rick	Diecchio	Male	62	Virginia
239	Seamus	Donahue	Male	14	Virginia
240	Scott	Dwyer	Male	28	Virginia
241	Tom	Eick	Male	53	Virginia
242	David	Gardner	Male	48	Virginia
243	Stuart	Graydon	Male	28	Virginia
244	Wayne	Ingram	Male	52	South Carolina
245	James	Ingrassia	Male	36	Virginia
246	Frank	Jack	Male	51	Virginia
247	Rodney	Jackson	Male	44	Virginia
248	Jim	Juritsch	Male	45	Virginia
249	Keith	King	Male	40	South Carolina
250	Scott	Massie	Male	31	Virginia
251	Craig M	Miller	Male	58	Virginia
252	James	Miner	Male	62	New York
253	Allen	Montgomery	Male	72	South Carolina
254	Everett	Mounts	Male	66	Virginia
255	Michael	OGrady	Male	57	Maryland
256	Todd	Olsen	Male	47	Virginia
257	Craig	Penrose	Male	46	Virginia
258	Roger	Persinger	Male	64	West Virginia
259	Wirt	Shinault	Male	51	Virginia
260	Andrew	Sullivan	Male	22	Virginia
261	Matt	Thomas	Male	35	South Carolina
262	Todd	Thomas	Male	36	Virginia
263	Kevin	Throckmorton	Male	46	West Virginia
264	Robert	Trent	Male	33	Virginia
265	Jerry	Truax	Male	27	Virginia
266	Nicolas	Velilla	Male	19	South Carolina
267	Scott	Wells	Male	43	Virginia
268	Kevin	Willis	Male	44	Virginia
269	Evan	Wilson	Male	25	Virginia
270	John	Wingfield	Male	54	Virginia
271	Joe	Wood	Male	45	Virginia
272	Eliza	O'Connell	Female	40	Virginia
301	Heather	Zealand	Female	31	Virginia
302	Andrea	Zealand	Female	36	Virginia
303	Robin	Grossman	Female	36	Virginia
304	Tammy	Gray	Female	56	Tennessee
305	Sarah	Heiser	Female	25	Virginia
306	Emily	Bell	Female	17	Virginia
307	Kate	Gant	Female	51	New Jersey
308	Marie	Bolton	Female	29	Virginia
309	Erin	Valliere	Female	34	Virginia
310	Christina	Bentrup	Female	28	New Mexico
311	Sarah	Miller	Female	29	Virginia
312	Julie	Baty	Female	38	Virginia
313	calena	lowery	Female	38	Virginia
314	Mary	Riser	Female	55	Virginia
315	Dawn	Dunlop	Female	45	Virginia
316	Sarah	Dunlop	Female	38	Virginia
317	Yvonne	mcmahon	Female	51	Virginia
318	Loretta	Cataldi	Female	42	Virginia
319	Amanda	Linn	Female	27	Virginia
320	Gretchen	McIntyre	Female	25	California
321	Sally	Moylan	Female	26	Virginia
322	Ellyse	Marchand	Female	20	Michigan
323	Charmin	Thomas	Female	40	Virginia
324	CHRISTY	HOWARD	Female	37	Virginia
325	Renee	Draney	Female	45	Virginia
326	Brandy	Harris	Female	21	Virginia
327	Cate	Sheerin	Female	22	Maryland
328	Cathy	Edson	Female	54	New Jersey
329	CHELSEA	JACK	Female	19	Virginia
330	Samantha	Mitchell	Female	28	Virginia
331	Dana	Williams	Female	21	Virginia
332	Lorraine	Moore	Female	47	Virginia
333	Aimee	Shinault	Female	33	Virginia
334	Jennifer	Wright	Female	35	Virginia
335	Rachel	Corrigan	Female	16	Virginia
336	Heather	Scanlon	Female	26	Virginia
337	Vickie	Fogleman	Female	53	North Carolina
338	Alyson	Ramsey	Female	34	Virginia
339	Wendy	golden	Female	43	Virginia
340	Reilly	Kennedy	Female	38	Virginia
341	Kathryn	Czaplicki	Female	37	Pennsylvania
342	Annastacia	Marchand	Female	22	Michigan
343	cheyenne	craig	Female	32	Virginia
344	Kellie	Hudson	Female	37	Virginia
345	Rachel	King	Female	40	South Carolina
346	Julie	Stas	Female	21	Pennsylvania
347	Shannon	Howell	Female	32	South Carolina
348	Sarah	Smith	Female	29	Virginia
349	Lissette	O'Neal	Female	26	Virginia
350	siobhan	leonardis	Female	28	Maryland
351	Christiann	Rogers	Female	51	Virginia
352	Marty	Lindemann	Female	50	Virginia
353	Alexis	Thomas	Female	28	Virginia
354	Denise	Lowe	Female	42	Virginia
355	Amy	Franzelas	Female	34	Virginia
356	Jill	Cusack	Female	43	New York
357	Amy	Koudelka	Female	40	Virginia

2010 Beast Series – Final Standings

2010-12-14T09:10:00.001-05:00

Place	Name	Time	Age
1	Knipling, Keith	58:42:19	34
2	Gonzalez, Frank	59:24:12	34
3	Raymond, Mario	63:41:18	38
4	Wakley, Henry	67:17:00	25
5	Peterman, David	67:33:21	48
6	Hayes, Brian	69:46:49	24
7	Palladino, Christopher	71:26:34	39
8	Fulwider, Ryan	71:51:12	35
9	Griffin, Marc	73:03:19	34
10	Berlin, Doug	73:33:31	43
11	Snipes, David	74:57:52	43
12	Ashworth, Jim	75:33:51	48
13	Duval, Ed	75:36:05	53
14	Eidson, Adam	75:55:05	36
15	Gray, Rick	77:09:46	49
16	Nuss, Jason	80:16:49	48
17	Duelge, Jason	81:53:11	42
18	Bocek, John	82:43:55	29
19	Brown, Steven	84:09:53	43
20	Long, Kimani	85:59:09	36
21	Golden, Kelly	88:30:44	44

2010 MMTR Race Report

2010-11-14T20:19:00.001-05:00

By Steve Hinzman

Mountain Masochist Trail Run

50+ miles (How far is it really?)

11-6-10

Well after a week of reflection and recovery it’s time to try and tell the story of my first “50 miler”.

First the fun stuff, the thank yous and shout outs.

First and foremost hugs and a huge THANKS go to my lovely wife of 27+ years Gwen. Not only does she put up with me and all the nonsense I’m engaged in, she cheerfully makes life very easy for me. I’m totally spoiled and I know it. She met me at almost all of the aid stations where crew were allowed even though we only planned on hooking up at 3 aid stations and just seeing her standing there waiting patiently added a boost to my mental state every time! I’m sure she almost froze her behind off for me. You rock Buddy!

Shout out to Clark Zealand, Race Director. You put on a whale of an event. Thank you for all of your effort, and for being there at the end. OUTSTANDING

Thank you Dr. Horton for starting all this all those many years ago. It’s become a world class event.

Thank you to every volunteer involved in this event. I don’t know many of your names but your smiling faces and encouraging words were truly invaluable. If I dripped sweat (or worse) on you or forgot to tell you thanks or made any other blunders I apologize and you can feel free to chalk it up to a lack of oxygen in my brain at the time.

Now the race.

Gear; I wore compression shorts under my Patagonia Promise Land finishers shorts, a compression top under a NB light weight long sleeve shirt and fleece vest and toward the end I added a light weight wind breaker and fleece beanie. I wore thin gloves all day. Merino wool blend socks and Asics Gel Kahanas over a liberal application of Bag Balm to my feet. Knee brace on left knee and a strap just under my right kneecap. I did not wear a hydration belt or pack, my thinking being that the aid stations were close enough together that a Nathan Handheld would do the trick. I wore polarized sunglasses for probably 50% of the race. I had no, zip, zero, nada equipment problems all day. No blisters, no hot spots, no bleeding toenails nothing.

I tried to pay close attention to hydration, nutrition and electrolyte management. I took 2 s-caps at the start of the first climb and then one per hour until the loop when I increased it to 1 every 30 to 40 minutes. I emptied my water bottle on almost every stretch between aid stations and tried to eat a good mix of goodies.

Let me say that I never had any other goal in mind other than just finishing this race under the cutoff. Underwhelming I know but I was totally focused on getting that green raincoat for completing the Lynchburg Ultra Series. Stupid coat, Gwen took one look at it and said “Next time you want a raincoat just tell me, I’ll buy you one”. I’ll tell you this though; I’ll treasure that coat and it will keep me dry and warm and remind may of many hours spent training and “racing”.

Overall my training had been going fairly well in the weeks leading up to the race. No major issues had cropped up and I felt pretty good. The last week was the worst. I was anxious, nervous and worried. I couldn’t help second guessing everything that I had done and had a very difficult time just letting that go. My plan for race day was to get to 20 miles in under 4 hours and have 8 hours to finish the last “30”. During the pre-race briefing I heard several folks talking about the true total distance and I was a little (a lot) horrified to hear that the consensus seemed to be 54 miles. That extra four miles may not seem like all that much but mentally I sort of freaked out.

I waited too long and when I tried to book a room at the Kirkley they were full. So I started looking and I came across this “charming” place called the Peaks of Otter Lodge. On the Blue Ridge Parkway and only 22 miles from the start. Perfect! After the pre-race meal and briefing (water bottles and socks zooming around) we left Lynchburg and headed for Bedford. We arrived at the lodge at 10:30 PM and got checked in. We went to our room to find no TV (no big deal), no alarm clock, and no phone. So we were left depending upon the alarm on my digital watch to get us up at 4:30. I woke up and checked my watch at least a dozen times during the night the last time being at 3:45. A while later I awoke and thought I’d better check the time and couldn’t find my watch. I had laid it on the night stand but it wasn’t there! I felt around on the floor, under the edge of the bed and finally turned the light on and found it under my pillow! How it got there I’ll never know but when I looked at it, it said 4:57. Ack! Get up, get up we’re late Ack! Holy cow there was a lot to do and not much time to do it. Long story short, I made the check in with a few minutes to spare but we did break the speed limit on the Parkway a couple of times.

The first few miles on the pavement went by quickly and suddenly we were climbing. I had given my fleece vest to Gwen when we passed back by the start at 3 miles and by the time we reached the top of the first climb I was chilled. When I got to Aid Station 3 I saw her standing there wearing every item of clothing we had brought, including my vest. I hated to ask for it back but she cheerfully gave it up and I gratefully slipped it on. Got some food, filled my water bottle and took off down the hill only to hear her shouting for me to stop. I stopped and she came flying down the hill to retrieve the car keys from the vest pocket! Huge disaster avoided.

The race from there to Long Mountain just kind of unfolded and I hit the 20 mile mark by my Garmin at 3:54 so the first part of my “plan” was achieved. Long Mountain Wayside was a welcome sight and I briefly thought how nice it would be to just get in the car, turn on the heated seats and enjoy the ride back to South Hill. But Gwen snapped me out of that reverie by telling me that I was only 25 minutes under the cutoff time and if I didn’t get moving I was in trouble.

Buck Mountain, oh Buck Mountain what can I say. I knew I had to push and I couldn’t take it easy even though I really wanted to. It just seemed to go on forever. When I first heard the faint strains of the Rocky theme I knew there was still a long way to go to the top. The music faded in and out for the next 27 miles or so and then I saw the first sign. I don’t remember all of them but two stand out. “Let us run with perseverance this race that is set before us” and “The Mountains will bring peace to the People”. I don’t mind telling you that the combination of the effort, the music and the inspirational signs got to me a little.

From there to the Loop In Aid station was fun, really fun. Some snow and some really runnable trails with beautiful views. I enjoyed this portion of the race the most. It was short lived however because suddenly I was ringing the bell headed into the “LOOP”. The dreaded Loop. I had no idea what to expect but from reading past race reports I knew it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. Well for the first mile or so I wondered what all the fuss was about and then it turned ugly. The Loop would be awesome if it wasn’t 35 miles into the race but I was beat. Sore back, sore legs, tummy issues, some mild cramping and on one of the climbs in the loop I hit the low point of the race. I was really feeling sorry for myself and thinking that there’s no way, absolutely no way I was going to make the time cutoff at the Loop Out Aid Station. Flashback to the pre-race dinner. We were setting at a table with Bill (21 finishes) and Luann (4 finishes) and they had both imparted many words of wisdom. They also told us that they would be out walking the course but they were not racing this year. Now back to the loop, as I topped out at what turned out to be the last real climb in the loop I saw an Angel headed my way. It was Luann and she told me how big and strong I looked and how I had this race in the bag and then she said the magic words “Would you like a ginger snap. They’re homemade” Another swing from low to high emotion and once again I just wanted to cry. Thank you Luann for your encouraging words and the tastiest cookie I’ve eaten in a long time if not ever. I exited the loop to find surprisingly I had actually gained time on the cutoff. I was now almost 30 minutes ahead and felt pretty good even though I had no idea how much farther we really had to go. Was it 10 or was it 14 miles. Who knows, just keep moving.

At Aid Station 11 I was back to only 25 minutes under and was once again worrying about the time limit. Could I hold it together long enough to get to the finish? Then as if I wasn’t worrying enough I remembered Clark telling us late finishers that it would be a good idea to pick a light up for the last section or two because of the approaching darkness. I hadn’t done that and spent a lot time pondering whether or not that would bite me. Oh well nothing to do about it now. As I left aid station 11 I asked how far to the next station and the answer was “4 hard miles”. They are hard and I think there’s more than four of them, I’m just saying. That climb right out of the aid station was tough and I was slow, really slow. I was either hallucinating or I was so slow that the USC Spartan Marching Band marched past me playing Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk”. I mean I was really slow at this point. I kept moving forward though and finally 19 or 20 hours later I saw Mike Z. and his wonderful girls grinning at me and offering goodies. I was totally shocked to learn that I was still 25 minutes under and I actually thought about asking Mike if they had enjoyed seeing the marching band go by but wisely decided against it. I didn’t want anybody to know I was hallucinating if that’s really what was going on. The really good news I got here was “it’s only 3 miles and you’ve got an hour and 10 minutes.”

The next section went by in a total blur. I remember mostly flat to downhill runnable trails and jeep roads then we started to encounter signs of civilization. The one mile to go marker finally came into view and I thought that the least I could do was run the whole last mile. It wasn’t long before I caught up with David Moore who I had been swapping places with on and off all day and then we caught up to Debra Rojewski who I had also seen many times and we all cruised in together finishing in 11:36. I remember speaking to a few folks, Jaime, Joe, Clark (of course still grinning after what had to have been a 20+ hour day) and some others but mostly I just remember the heated seat and the relaxing ride back to the hotel.

The awards ceremony and dinner was very enjoyable. The food was good and the company great. I got my “stupid” raincoat that I may actually end up being buried in one day hopefully many, many years from now. I would have like to stayed for the entire ceremony but I was plumb tuckered, as was Gwen, and since we were driving home that night we decided to slip out a little early.

I’ll do a few things differently next year;

Get room at the Kirkley! That’s a nice hotel! (I’m sure that the Peaks of Otter Lodge is beautiful and relaxing but we were only there 7 hours and it was dark the whole time so I couldn’t say for sure.
Run more, think less
Train harder and work on core conditioning. My lower back gave me plenty of trouble on the climbs.
Try to run more on the easier climbs in the first half of the race. I gave up some time there.
Stay Saturday night. The drive home was only a little over 2 hours but it felt like 10.
Recruit someone to help Gwen. She did a great job alone but I’m sure she would have enjoyed some company and a navigator.
Stop worrying! It’s supposed to be fun!

Well, now on to Hellgate. I promise I won’t get frantic and worry. Yeah right.

Keep running,

Steve

2010 Mtn Masochist Race Report

2010-11-14T20:12:00.001-05:00

Bt Cory McArtor

I went into the race feeling exited and extremely well prepared. I had run the Grindstone 100 five weeks before and during the month before MMTR I had set a new personal best in the 5k so I felt confident that my legs were well recovered and ready to go. On Friday I got out of class early and drove down to Lynchburg for the pre-race dinner. The festivities surrounding the race made it completely different than any race I'd been to before. It felt a lot like a large family reunion for ultrarunners. Everyone went around saying hi to old friends, meeting new ones and generally having a great time. After dinner I went upstairs and got a good night's sleep.

The next morning I got up nice and early, took the bus to the start and waited. I was excited because the Mountain Masochist was a race I had always wanted to run. I had heard about it a few years back and thought that it was crazy, and here I was, finally running it as my sixth ultramarathon, well on my way to finishing the Beast Series. When the race started I took off a bit too fast. I was excited, and the first 5 or six miles were on the road, so it was really easy to run faster than I should have. When I hit the trail I eased up a bit. I was planning on just going for a finish instead of a specific time so I didn't want to wear myself out too early. In the early miles I leapfrogged a lot with Jon Basham and Andrew Thompson. Jon Basham had run one of the aid stations at Grindstone and so I thanked him for the excellent breakfast burrito he had made me the second time I came through his aid station. My legs felt great during this section so I kept on plugging along.

Shortly after the second aid station I met Jamie Darling, a student at Liberty who was running her first 50. We started talking and ran together most of the way to the third aid station. During this section my legs were starting to get tired, which was not a good sign so early in the race. It was the first time I had run any more than three miles since Grindstone, so I figured that maybe they weren't completely recovered yet. I didn't really worry too much about it though, because I had run on tired legs before so I didn't think it would be a big issue.

Around the third or fourth aid station things started to go downhill. I started to get pains in my knees every once in a while. I've never had issues with them before, but the pain wasn't bad and it didn't happen very often so I decided I'd keep going for a while and see if it got any better. By about 23 the pain was getting worse and much more frequent. By the time I got to Long Mountain Wayside, about the halfway point, I was hurting enough that I had made up my mind that I needed to drop out.

I was really disappointed to have to drop out. I had run all four of the previous races in the Beast Series, so dropping out of Mountain Masochist eliminated me from the series. For the past several months I had been obsessed with running. Of the little free time I have at school, most of it had been spent either running or thinking about running. It had gotten to the point that running kind of defined who I was, so failing at it stung a lot. But then I realized how absurd it was. It wasn't absurd to be disappointed. Disappointment is normal when you fail to reach a goal. What was absurd was how much I had let running define my life for the past several months. As a Christian, my relationship with Jesus Christ is always supposed to be my highest priority. My life should be about living for Christ, and then anything else can fill in whatever space is left. For the past several months I had been giving running a higher priority. Is this to say that running is bad? Not at all. Running is a very good thing that has helped me stay in shape and make lots of good friends. But you should never let the good get in the way of the best, and the best thing is knowing Jesus Christ and growing in your relationship with Him.

So what did I learn from all of this? I need a break. Physically, I need a break because 5 ultramarathons in my first year of ultrarunning, along with a few ultradistance training runs have finally taken their toll, and in interest of being able to run when I'm as old as Gary Knipling or Dr. Horton, I need to rest and let everything recover. Spiritually, I need a break from from distance running until I get my priorities straight again. I'll be back as soon as Jesus defines who I am again and running is just a hobby, rather than the other way around.

Thanks for putting on a great race. I hope to come back sometime.

Cory McArtor

MOUNTAIN MASOCHIST TRAIL RUN 50 MILER

2010-11-11T19:49:00.001-05:00

NOV. 6, 2010

By Sheryl Mawn

My first 50 mile race.

I think (I KNOW) I signed up because of the race name. Who names a race Mountain masochist??? David Horton, of course. I started to learn all about this guy named Horton when I moved to lynchburg 8 years ago. I was an on and off road runner but after one knee surgery and "issues" with both knees decided to find something else.

I started running Candler's Mountain (Horton's trails). The soft ground and gentle downhills were awesome. No problems with my knees Then lucky for me I found some strong and inspiring friends who loved to run the Appalachian Trail! Yea!!! They first asked me if I wanted to run Terrapin Race. I kept saying no (worried that I might overdo it and then hurt one of my knees again). But then a good friend named Tracey wanted me to do the race with her so I signed up for the Terrapin 1/2 marathon and trained. It was a blast!! I made it out without any injuries. Much more fun than I ever expected. Clark Zealand and David Horton put on races that make you feel very welcomed with a relaxed friendly atmosphere. From there I had to have more. I signed up for Promise Land 50K. It was even better! So I had to sign up for MMTR!!!!!! Each race I completed I wanted to sign up for the next one. Until I finished MMTR. Hellgate 100??? Are you kidding me???

Race Day:

It was supposed to be very cold during the race with 60% chance of rain. Two days before the race that chance of rain was changed to chance of snow. My training partner Robyn and I both dressed way too warm for the weather that we ended up having. I had tights with shorts over them and a wick away shirt( next to skin ), technical thin shirt , under armour shirt and an extremely thin wind jacket (water resistant), smart wool hat with a thin cap over that for protection from the possible rain and gloves. I gave up the jacket, hat and under armour shirt within the first 5 miles!!!!! Wished that I wasn't wearing the tights each mile until Buck Mountain (mile 27ish).

The race starts off on the Blue Ridge Parkway for 3 or 4 miles and then you exit onto Highway 501 North until you cross the James River Bridge. My friend Robyn (the one I had trained with entirely for this race) and I were amused at the sign posted by a church we past. It said "This day is a gift to you from God......Are you using it wisely??" We both smiled but quietly thought to ourselves for a minute. I felt a bit guilty that I was using my day to see if I could run 50 MILES!! A day that I could be spending other ways with my family! Hmmm. I am sure my friend had similar thoughts as she is planning to be married in three weeks!!

After you cross the bridge and make a left you pass the first AS and then head up the trails . This is a nice area but you may be surprised to walk just a little of it. After some nice winding turns you get a little downhill in before the next AS. As we were moving along my friend felt that something just wasn't "right" with her. She wasn't feeling well. I chose to not talk about how she felt but focus on how she was going to finish this race strong and BEAT her time from last year. We moved on. We joked a little and made small talk. We came up on a great downhill and I ran fast wanting to make up some lost time. I passed a good 3 or 4 runners then looked back for my friend as I finished the hill then down I tumble. My friend was right there. No need to look for her. She smiled. "Well you did great rolling into that fall." And I think I did because I didn't hurt at all. Whew. I am pretty sure the runners that I passed got a little chuckle out of that fall.

On we go until we cross Dancing Creek into AS 3. We were both looking forward to this as this was where both of us would have "crew" waiting for us. My husband and son were there. My son was so excited to see me he was jumping up and down and had THE BIGGEST SMILE ON HIS FACE. He felt so proud to be ready to hand to me my fresh gatorade bottles and take my old ones. My husband asked if I needed anything and I grabbed a few banana halves and off I went. I turned back to encourage my friend to hurry and come on. Then we went on and I think this was where we went through a tunnel which had a fair amount of water. So if you managed to stay dry at Dancing Creek you were sure to get wet here. It didn't bother me. I learned from the earlier races from my experienced trail running friends not to worry about creeks and water and just run right through them and that is just what I did. You can waste time otherwise. My feet were dry in no time and it never bothered me.

Coming in to AS 4 I did not have a crew. Because I took longer than expected to get to AS 3, my husband had to return home to take my son who was to travel with another family for a hockey tournament taking place in Richmond. They both had hoped to see me at AS 3 and AS 4 then leave to drop him off. Bummer. I was definitely behind the time I had planned and slower than what I had even done in the training run. I waited for my friend who was getting help from her crew. I encouraged her to hurry because we needed to pick up pace. I knew something was wrong. My friend had completed NINE ULTRAS! Including a previous MMTR. Hmmmmm. Off we went. This part is a short uphill then nice long downhill. Great. Pick up speed. Ok, now we are moving. My friend expressed to me that she wasn't sure this day was going to pan out for her. She was not feeling well and with all of her race experience knew that this feeling meant trouble. My stomach started feeling funny. Was this all in my head. Did I need a quick bathroom break? Hmmmm. I kept running. Then I finally decided to take a quick bathroom stop. I had told myself NEVER to put this off as it will only impede your ability to run fast. Perfect spot away from where anyone could see me. Then I saw someone look back at me. Ooops, sorry if I yelled for you NOT to look. I am sure he didn't do it intentionally. OK. I feel better. Wow! I can not see my running partner. Good. She is booking it! Yea! I can catch up. She stopped as we approached Forest Service Road 39 where her crew was waiting. I grabbed some fruit from the AS and said to her to come on that I was going to go ahead. We were coming up on a long road portion and I knew that was going to be hard for me. She is an excellent road runner and I felt confident that she could catch up. As I headed out I turned to look at her and I could just tell this was it. I wasn't sure she was going to continue. I knew how much she trained and worked for this race. My heart sank. I wanted to go back but I knew that I could not do anything for her. I knew she would want me to keep going. I knew that she would want me to realize my goal. I hoped I would see her in just a short while. I picked up pace. I had to. I was now pushing it to make the cut off at Hwy 60. I passed so many runners. I tried to encourage them to come on and run with me. We had to pick it up to make cut off. I didn't see anyone come with me. Most just look tired. One said to me "if you have it in you". WHAT???? If I have it in me?? Are you kidding. I didn't train for this run for over 4 months to not even make the half. I really took off. Woo Hoo! I made it to Hwy 60 with maybe 10 minutes to spare. I had expected to be here at noon with 30 minutes buffer. Happy to make it but what a let down. But good news. There were so many people at Long Mountain Wayside/Hwy 60! It was nice to see so many families and friends out there to meet their runners! I saw Wendy, a familiar face and she said "great job" and encouraged me on and then I saw my husband! Yea! This is where I hoped he would remember what I had told him before race day. Do not be upset with me or take anything I say personally. I looked rough. He asked what he could get for me. I said (in a stern voice) get my jacket and that I was going to grab a banana and keep going. I had to make up time. He must have not only remembered what I said but he also had a banana waiting for me because I didn't even see the AS table and I did not grab any thing.

He fast hiked with me for a few minutes up Buck Mountain and let me talk about how bad I felt about my friend. Then pumped me up with great words of encouragement and said I will see YOU on the other side of Buck Mountain at the LOOP! Off I went. Buck Mountain really wasn't that bad and if I only had a better buffer I think I would have enjoyed it. After all, this was where Robyn and I had previously seen a black bear when we were out training!!!!!! Wait! I know that person!! Here comes my friend Blanks running towards me with POUNDS of camera equipment! He is an extremely fast runner who is not in the race but out pacing others and always takes photos! I can't imagine what he thought of how I looked. He boosted my spirits, gave me motivating words of encouragement and even took a picture of me. I smiled. Can't imagine how that pic will turn out! He had already run that mountain 3 times in the last hour and a half with friends (and I am talking the fast running friends)!! I forged on. Now I was about to get the biggest boost yet.........someone was running toward me calling my name! I had asked my dear friend Jen to pace me for 6 or 7 miles and to meet me at the road leading up to the Loop. When I never showed at the time I had given her she took off looking for me! I was so happy to see her. She gave me cold water, life saver candy and even brought me an apple. But most off, she brought me a brand NEW ATTITUDE! She ran with me, beside me, behind me and in front of me when going into the steep part of the Loop. After the Loop levels out (and YES it will eventually) We chatted. We had agreed ahead of time that I would run fast down the loop and head on without her. She had to take the downhill with caution due to an upcoming 1/2 marathon the following weekend. She gave me her ipod in case my battery died. Gave me the apple she brought . I told her I LOVE HER!!! And off I went! OK. This is it. Somewhere I read that most people never run far enough to find their second wind. I found my second wind!!!! I was flying!! I came out of the Loop and grabbed fruit and potatoes at the AS. Said thanks and off I went. My husband caught up to me. Asked me if I needed anything. I kept going. This second wind felt GREAT. 30 minutes later. That's it. That's the second wind. Really. Hmmm. Ok. Run a little. Speed walk a little. Next AS (11, I think) came quickly. There is my husband. He cruised with me 10 minutes or so. I said don't ask me HOW I FEEL! Just tell me some jokes. He always has jokes. That was it. I would not see him again until the finish. I had finally built up at least a 30 minute buffer so I wasn't exactly panicked. Still, we always have the "times" fixed in our head that we "want" to make. This, I am sure is funny to the better runners!!!!

I kept moving forward happy now that I was wearing my tights for sure as it was COLD! The light snow on the mountain was beautiful! I worked on eating a few cliff blocs and a few sips of gatorade. I had tried hard the whole race to remember to eat every 15 minutes or so and always took sips of water or gatorade. I even started out taking S caps every hour until around hour 6. My hands started to swell just a little so I backed off of the S caps. I passed AS 12 with just a quick hello and pick up of something I do not even remember. I then decided that I could not have more than 7 miles to go so I was going to put it in the highest gear I could (ha!). Then I turned and saw the steepest mountain to climb. Ok. Just climb as fast as possible. I reminded myself that I am great on the uphills. I had to repeat that a few times. Not sure I ever convinced myself. After I crested that mountain I started running even on the steep inclines. I then started passing others!!! Several others. This felt good and gave me energy to see how many I could pass. A part of me felt a little guilty. These were really nice people. I didn't want to deflate their spirits but I was feeling good.

I passed the last AS. I could not BELIEVE it!!!! I knew that there were only 4 miles left and I was almost there!!! I grabbed a potato said thanks and off I went. I wanted to see how fast I could run these last 4 miles. I actually had energy and something left in my legs!!! Could it be that running the first half slower than I had planned actually helped me have this ability to still run after 46 plus miles!!!! My friend Robyn had told me that it would. I now believe her. The one mile sign could not have come soon enough. It took forever!! It was cold!!!! The downhill was long and ROCKY. I just glided over them! I know for sure I had some help. 1 mile sign! The LONGEST mile ever! I ran as fast as possible! Passing two others walking. I hoped they were not mad at me for passing! I wanted to get across that FINISH LINE!! Whew!! I round the corner and I see Clark and his HUGE smile! I see Horton and his HUGE smile! I think they shook my hand. I don't remember! My husband was right there and I gave him the BIGGEST HUG!!!!!!! I made it 50 plus miles in the mountains. Elevation gain 9,000 some feet. Elevation loss 7,000 some feet.

After thanking my husband I went back for a picture with Clark Zealand, David Horton and Dr. Wortely. They are as happy for you as if you came across that FINISH LINE first. Amazing. They have a gift.

AS for that church sign I read earlier on in the race, was I using the gift of this day from God wisely? The wonderful conversations on the phone with my two college age daughters post race (who were just amazed at THEIR mother and proceeded to tell ALL of their friends within earshot of my accomplishment), the look of absolute admiration from husband's eyes and most of all the unbelievable pure excitement my eleven year old son showed for me upon seeing me post race answered that question.

Thank you Clark for allowing us runners an experience I am sure we will never forget. Memories to talk about for many years. Thank you David for creating such a race and keeping it going! Thank you Dr. Wortely for supporting the race all these years! And a HUGE THANK YOU to your many volunteers!!!!

SHERYL MAWN

MOUNTAIN MASOCHIST

DO THE IMPOSSIBLE – 2010 MMTR Race Report

2010-11-09T15:50:00.001-05:00

by Mr. Brew Davis

Has anyone ever asked you to do something that was really tough, and you thought there was no way you could possibly do it? Well, about six weeks ago, my wife Jen- who’s a hiker, writer*, and speaker- got invited to give a talk at a race in Lynchburg, Virginia, called the Mountain Masochist** Trail Run, and she asked me to come and run the race with her.

The problem was that the race was 50 miles long and had 9,200 feet of elevation gain (about 1.75 miles up) and 7,200 feet of elevation loss (about 1.4 miles back down). I had run a couple of road marathons (26.2 miles) before, and even a 30-mile trail marathon called the Stump Jump in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but I’d never run more than that. So to finish this race, I would have to run an extra 20 miles, which seemed crazy.

My wife told me that if I trained properly, ate healthy, and got enough rest, I would be fine. But I wasn’t convinced. In fact, I was kind of concerned. I was worried that I’d get injured or just wimp out and not be able to finish. The week before the race, all I could think about was running it. I was nervous, but I knew that I had to do it to find out what I was made of.

There were lots of challenges on the day of the race, which was Saturday, November 6th. We had to wake up at 4:15am to get to the starting line on time, and we had to run the first 6 miles in the dark. There was still snow on the ground at the higher elevations, and the course was actually closer to 52 miles than 50 because, well, the race director is a masochist. But I had prepared well, and I paced myself, and my wife and my parents and other people told me they thought I could do it. And after 10 hours and 15 minutes, I crossed the finish line. And you know what? It was AWESOME! It was one of the best feelings in my life. I was exhausted and sore and hungry and thirsty, but I had accomplished something that I thought was way out of reach just two months ago.

I’m not writing to brag (although if you want to give me a pat on the back, I’ll definitely take it); I’m writing because I think this was one of those “teachable moments” in life, and I thought it was worth sharing with you. There’s a science fiction writer named Arthur C. Clarke, and he said, “The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.” For me, the “impossible” was running this race. What is it for you? It doesn’t matter how far-fetched something seems at the time- winning an art contest, getting the lead role in a school play, earning a college football scholarship, or making A-B Honor Roll. You’ve got to work really hard and you’ve got to push yourself if you’re going to get it. Until you break through those fake limits, you’ll never know what you can really do. So go out and do it!

*Her hiking memoir Becoming Odyssa was released on November 15^th. You can buy it at her website (www.blueridgehikingco.com), at local bookstores, or online at places like www.amazon.com. ‘Tis the season for buying presents. J

**Webster’s Dictionary says a “masochist” is someone who has “a taste for suffering.”

2010 MMTR Race Reports

2010-11-09T09:39:00.001-05:00

Dave MacLuskie:

http://www.macluskie.com/reports/2010/mmtr2010/index.html

Drew Krueger:

http://charlottesvilletrailrunningclub.org/2010/11/mmtr-2010-race-report/

Robijn Hage:

http://robijnhage.com/family/running/mmtr2010/mmtr.html

Dani Seiss:

http://danirunner.wordpress.com/2010/11/15/racing-the-masochist/

2010 MMTR 50 miler- my first 50

2010-11-09T09:37:00.001-05:00

By Jamie Darling

The Mountain Masochist Trail Race 50 miler had been on my agenda since the spring. I anticipated it, planned for it and couldn’t wait to return to Liberty to train in the mountains with the other fantastic college students who were entered. I had my mileage chart perfectly planned and organized from August until the event on November 6^th. Of course, even our best-laid plans may not be God’s plan. I felt a twinge in my knee late August and while crewing some friends at Cheat Mountain 50 miler I was in so much pain I could hardly walk. I went to a doctor to confirm what my research told me. I was suffering Iliotibial band syndrome (also known as ITB). The treatment is rest, icing and stretching and even though I did that I was out of running for 7 weeks. My roommates and family prayed for me and I did the necessary treatments but nothing seemed to help. I tried to run in that time but after ½ a mile I would get a stabbing pain. I gave up on running MMTR. I took up biking and swimming in that time to stay in shape. I even went with Dr. Horton to the first MMTR training run and biked it!

My first run back was October 11^thwhen to my surprised, my knee suddenly stopped hurting. I did the 2^nd half training run and decided to go for it. I knew that 3 weeks of running with only two 20+-mile runs was going to make for a painful 50 miler. But I had already paid… and I knew if the ITB flared up or if I experienced too much pain I could always drop out. I got my crew together and was excited to try.

My alarm was set for 4:00 am but I woke up at 3:30 am. The first thing I did was check on the weather. Predicted all week: snow and rain with a high of 37. I was scared! Luckily the chance of precipitation went down to 30% so I was hopeful. My crew arrived and we were off! After praying with my crew, nervously talking to the many other Liberty runners and getting my Dr. Horton hug we lined at the start. I didn’t know what to expect, so I tried not to think of 50 miles as a whole. I don’t even like driving that far. We were off before I knew it.

The first section was roads. I felt like every runner in this section passed me. I was slow and bored. I stayed with a Jeff and Jaime for a while. We joked and were generally obnoxious. We were picking on Jeff’s lack of training and he yelled “What! This isn’t a 5k??” After they left me I chatted with a few other runners and monitored my knee. So far so good. The trails led to some climbing and lovely rolling hills. I really enjoyed this section. I talked with a lot of interesting runners and was amazed at the accomplishments of many of them. I loved my pretzel M&M’s in this section! I realized at mile 9 I had forgotten to take off my ring that I always wear. My hands were already swollen so it was a struggle but I got it off. I reached aid station 3 quickly (in my mind… I still wasn’t running fast!) and saw my amazing crew. They had all my stuff handy and I passed off my light and took a banana. My friend Bethany ran with me in the next section. We spent much of the next section discussing the Liberty students in the race and how they were doing. My knee became aggravated and I took 2 more ibprophen. (I took 2 at the start). I got a sharp pain around mile 13. I was so afraid. When that sharp pain hits, it never goes away. It has only gotten progressively worse in the past until I can no longer walk. Bethany and I started walking and praying. After about 15 minutes of walking a very flat and fast section I attempted to run again. I was surprised I felt no real pain. It felt aggravated but no sharp, stabbing pain. So we kept talking, running and having a good time. My energy levels were high and I felt good. My spirits dropped when reaching the next aid station I realized I was only 30 minutes under the cut off time. I thought that didn’t give me much wiggle room to slow down in the last 30+ miles. There was a long climb and we power walked the entire thing. We really pushed it and passed a lot of runners who were run and walking the hill. A few runners called out “Wow! You have a great walking pace!” A few miles later and we hit the real hill. I hit a mental low. I looked at the time wrong and thought I was only 3 minutes under the cut off but finally Bethany and I realized we were actually 33 minutes under. I was still not very positive and questioning my ability to finish. I told Bethany I was struggling with negative thoughts as we started up the hill. My energy was not too bad and I was going very well with eating and drinking but I didn’t think I could finish this race under the time limit. My hamstrings were also really hurting, as I used my quads a lot on the bike in training but not my hamstrings. Also my feet were hurting and I felt like I might have a blister. Bethany told me to think of 3 positive thoughts for every negative.

“Ok, One- This hill is easier to walk than it is to bike.” I said.

Bethany responded quickly “Two- the weather is absolutely perfect.”

“Three- the color in the mountains is beautiful.”

“Four- You are walking at a great pace and feeling good.” We didn’t stop when we got to number 20. We decided to get to 50 positive thoughts, one for every mile. Each one made me walk a little faster and feel more energized. Each one I said was a little louder than the last. By the end they were mostly quotes. “You can do more than you think you can” “pain is inevitable, suffering is optional” and “It never always gets worse” were some favorites. Along with the classic “You want to lay down and quit… but you can’t! You wouldn’t die, you’d suffer more.” By the end we were almost yelling and bounding up the hill easily. I felt great and positive. I had the perfect pacer for this section.

I arrived at Long Mountain Wayside 30 minutes ahead of the cut-off. My goal was less than 5 minutes at the aid station. I was in and out in 3. I switched packs, grabbed hot chicken noodle soup and saltine crackers from my crew and started up the hill with my friend Lynn. I was warm and didn’t grab a jacket but I did keep my gloves. I shoved about 10 saltines in my mouth at once and drank the soup quickly up the long climb. I was hurting but energized from seeing my crew and the halfway point. I saw Griffin who was trying to finish his first Beast series. He was tired from Grindstone but seemed to be doing well. He left us after a while and Lynn tried to push me. I knew I was going slow and had to make up time. She was encouraging but kept saying “alright this isn’t as steep here, try to really power walk this.” All I could think was “am I not power walking now?” I guess I felt like I was going faster than I was. We could hear Rocky music faintly in the distance. I knew the famous aid station was ahead. Lynn and I started singing (if you could call it that) worship songs. During this section I was struck with the awe of how amazing God is. It is hard to describe but the sensation of the presence of him with me in my journey, the awe over what he allowed my body to accomplish, the gift of my friends who gave up their Saturday to come and help me and the awareness that I couldn’t possibly do this on my own overwhelmed me. Then seeing the verses as I came up to the top was the confirmation that the Lord was there. He was in this. Thankfulness struck me and I felt like I was going to burst. Lynn and I talked about this for a while and I felt this peace and calm come over me. My body felt good, my energy was great but I wasn’t even thinking about it during this section. I just ran down the following hills.

We reached the loop and I was coming off the amazing high I had been on coming up to Buck Mountain. I knew I needed more food. Or more caffeine or more… something? Lynn grabbed me a 5-hour energy shot, some saltine crackers and a few Oreos. And less than a minute later we were in the loop. I realized I was an hour ahead of the cut-off time and was feeling positive. The caffeine hit and I decided to take advantage of it. I told Lynn I needed some Taylor Swift and Kesha to get me going so I put in the I-pod for a little to get running. I was singing and having a good time and generally acting ridiculous. I wish I had a video so I could see and hear myself in this section. We picked up the pace and caught some runners. My high lasted about 30 minutes and then I started hurting again. I took off my I-pod and Lynn pushed me and we made it out of the loop in 70 minutes. Running with Lynn helped me make up some serious time!

I switched packs with my crew again, grabbed “1,000” saltine crackers (because sweet tasted bad) and Marisa came to run the final section with me. I did pick the perfect pacers! Bethany was the motivator, Lynn was the pusher, and Marisa was the encourager! She was so sweet, telling me she was so proud of me and that I was amazing. She kept my spirits up and even though I was tired I could keep pushing because of her. I didn’t talk as much in the last 13 miles, mostly because I was hurting. I knew the worst was over though and we jogged most of the downhill section. The last climb up single-track trail was tough, but not as hard as I expected and once it was done I knew I had completed basically all the elevation gain. About 5 miles to go and pain hit hard. My whole body started aching. Even walking hurt. My hamstrings, hips, groin, quads, knees, ITB, shins, calves, ankles, feet, shoulders, and lower back hurt so badly. My friend Jeff called my name and I was thrilled he was still in because I heard he dropped out. We decided to finish together. We tried to jog but his ankle was killing him and I just hurt all over. I have never experienced this kind of muscle pain before. Right before the road the steep decent hurt so bad I was almost in tears. Marissa stayed right beside me encouraging me and reminding me to eat and drink the whole way. We continued to walk the road until I could see the finish. Marisa left my side and Jeff and I proudly jogged to the finish line. We crossed together at 11 hours and 23 minutes, 37 minutes ahead of the time limit. We got our Horton hug and I hugged my boyfriend and the other Liberty students who had all run MMTR in unreal times.

Overall, I think that MMTR was my most painful accomplishment. I was blessed to even be able to make it to the starting line. My knee staying healthy and overall pain-free was a miracle. The weather was amazing. I had to dig deeper than I ever have before to finish and that is what makes me the most proud. The 50 miles I covered was full of ups and downs and it amazes me how many different things you can feel and experience in one run. Pain, suffering, fatigue, frustration and defeat enters your mind but on the same day you experience joy, hope, awe, love for others, thankfulness, a sense of God’s presence and an unreal energy you didn’t know you had. I’m not sure, but I believe that the longer the race, the more that is true. I know I depended heavily on God and my amazing crew at MMTR and I think David Horton said it best “What did I learn? We need people… we need the Lord!”

2010 Mountain Masochist Ultrarun Links

2010-11-06T16:34:00.000-04:00

If you have been following us on our blog only then you're missing some other great content!

     - We've got lots of great pictures at Flickr

   - Live stats are available at Eco-X sports

     -To see some other updates check out our page on Facebook

2010 Mountain Masochist Ultrarun Women's Champion

2010-11-06T16:13:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to the 2010 Mountain Masochist Ultrarun Women's Champion Alison Bryant.

Visit http://www.eco-xsports.com/livestatsrunner.php?demoid=2196&race=2&year=2010 for Alison's splits and race performance.

2010 Mountain Masochist Ultrarun Champion

2010-11-06T16:11:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Scott Jaime the 2010 Mountain Masochist Ultrarun Champion.

Please go to http://www.eco-xsports.com/livestatsrunner.php?demoid=1291&race=2&year=2010 for his splits and race performance