Anton Krupicka from Colorado Springs, CO handily won the American River 50-miler yesterday in 5:42:37, earning himself a slot for this years Western States 100. Anton edged out the 2007 AR50 champion Erik Skaden (5:57) and 2007 Miwok 100k champion Lon Freeman (5:58, also earning a WS100 slot). Eugene, OR's Todd Braje, who just won the Way Too Cool 50k, also snuck in under 6 hours. Jorge Pacheco brought home the Masters win in 6:20:37, 7th overall.Jenn Shelton from Bend, OR won the Women's Division in 7:02:38, so we will be seeing her at WS100 as well. She beat Jenny Capel (7:13:59) and an impressive 50-year-old Diana Fitzpatrick (7:30:42).
Three more fast runners joining the WS100 roster, and plenty of great performances! You can see the full results here.
BTW, if anyone is interested in tackling the inaugural Sonoma 50m this Saturday, George Miller has an entry he would like to transfer. You can e-mail me (scottdunlap at yahoo.com) if you don't have his contact info.
ReplyDeleteThx, SD
My money is on Krupicka to win WS easily and crush the course record. That is if he can keep himself from the injuries he seems to bring on constantly with the tremendous mileage he puts upon himself.
ReplyDeleteTim Long
Footfeathers,
ReplyDeleteHow much money are you putting on Krupicka? "Easily crush the course record." Wow! Those are strong words. I know Anton is an incredibly talented, hard-working runner who should certainly be considered among the favorites but, "crush the course record!" It's been a long time since a rookie even won the race and that was 1999. We all know who that was. A quick look at the history of the race would suggest that a bit of seasoning is important if not essential for success at WS (look at Greg Crowther, Jae Duk Sim, Dave Mackey, Chad Riklefs, Brian Morrison, Lon Freeman, Jorge Pacheco, etc, etc, etc...). It'll be interesting to see how the day plays out. I, for one, will be happy to be there.
AJW
AJW. Read his blog. He doesn't know what he is talking about. Typical Armchair Ultarunning Quarterback. I bet he was one of the folks who said the same thing about Lon Freeman after Miwok last season. Have you ever run the course, Footfeathers? They have Heat and Canyons in North Carolina.
ReplyDeleteMikal Doscic.
Scott - thanks for the quick report. Great work here on the blog.
ReplyDeleteCrush the course record, not crush the course record. Ah well, that is why they run the race.
Yeah, I may be the ultra arm chair quarterback with no ultra running ability nor the soft, pillow mind to say what everyone wants to hear, but I'm not talking about myself.
ReplyDeleteI do point out that Anton's penchant for injuries is the (please excuse the heavy handed and obvious pun lobbed up for those lest astute readers) Achilles tendon for his success. However, I am entitled to my opinion, and Anton's training is unmatched (good or bad). I do see resemblances to Riklefs in natural talent, but feel that Anton is suited better to mountain running.
Unfortunately, I, like 1300 other people, didn't make it through the lottery at WS, so you won't be able to see me suffering in the heat and the cannons (by the way, it's like a hundred degrees here in the Southeast every day for 3-4 months out of the year). We are talking about Krupicka, who, last I read, trains at altitude in the mountains daily. He may be young and need some maturing, but his raw talent and racing savvy cannot be snubbed aside as "novice".
I could just talk and write to make everyone happy and comfortable by saying that "Anton is a gifted runner and will face some difficulties and competition that he may not be used to with WS, so good luck to him and all the other runners...now lets group hug…" but that's boring and you wouldn't have anything to write in the comment section of Scott's great blog if I didn't put my thoughts out there in their raw form to be scrutinized and argued. I don't know Anton from Adam, and I personally don't know how to run a 100 miler (yet), but I can read and I can form an opinion. If I'm way off and Anton comes into WS healthy and gets stomped, then by all means, please put me in my place.
I'm off to my soft, naive bed to dream of running WS one day myself. Good night.
Oh, and Andrew (ajw), from what I've read, (because I don't know you personally) you enjoy beer almost as much as I do, so we can bet a case of good beer, since I really don't make that much money and never (rarely wager). I do respect and admire (tremendously) you and several other runners competing at WS this year, but the fluid speed of Anton will come to light this June.
Tim Long
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI really should be in bed since I've got an 18-hour work day tomorrow, but this is sort of intriguing. I don't think footfeather's /Tim Long's comment regarding Krupicka is WAY out of hand. AJW--I think you slightly misquoted him. He wrote "win WS easily and crush the course record" not "easily crush the course record." But I agree with you, the "easily" and "crush" (does that mean 2 minutes or 20?) are a bit strong. As young as he is, Krupicka has 100-miler, trail, and I believe recent competitive collegiate racing experience, and is unlikely to do what Crowther and Freeman did at States. I think he recognizes how big this race is and will taper sufficiently.
ReplyDeleteYou're all lucky, since with the new lottery rules, I'll run my first States in 2017, when I'm 50, and just drink beer or work every last weekend in June for the next decade.
Anton scares the ba-jezus out of me with his minimalist/barefoot/high-mileage style. But he is an intimidator with his style too, so I can only imagine how the fight for first will be between him and the other top contenders at WS.
ReplyDeleteAnd to Mark Tanaka: You'll get in before your turning the big 5-0, I'm sure of it. :-)
What impressed me the most on Saturday was Anton's ability to gauge the contenders in the first part of the run. Knowing that he came for the WS spot and not to set a CR, that was the best strategy, yet not easy to do and showing a lot of maturity. Furthermore, beating Carl's best performance on this course, shown that his training strategy paid off.
ReplyDeleteWill be interesting to see this "ultra running mastery" live at WS in June (from behind... ;-) ).
Jean.
Farther Faster
well for all you lucky WS runners this June, I will be providing you with healthy snacks at one of the aid stations. It will be interesting to see who takes it. I just wish Jurek was running too. Now, that would make be a great WS run. See you guys sunday at Mt Diablo.
ReplyDeleteMarco D
Anton gives the blow by blow on his blog here.
ReplyDeleteSD
My only beef with Footfeathers comment is to say "My money is on..." I would wait until post-Miwok for the field to settle before making any predictions.
ReplyDeleteIt would be fun if we could have an online betting system where the aggregate ultrarunning community can place their bets online. Not real money, maybe the person with the closest picks (1,2,3 men's and women's) gets a nice prize from the rest of us.
I have a couple of photos of Anton with Erik and Lon with Justine on my blog:
http://trailrunz.blogspot.com/
Some of you, I will see at Diablo!
Cheers, Paul
When I say 'my money's on' it's just a phrase. I am picking him to win, and can't think of anyone to beat him if he's healthy.
ReplyDeleteI often speak in superlatives, so 'crushing' the course record means I feel 15:25 is achievable for Krupicka.
I've been reading his daily running log for a year now (not his blog, but the real stuff). He's not some fast kid; he's a smart, instinctive, AND fast runner. He's suited for the WS course.
I'm in awe of and totally respect all the people who are running WS, but someone has to cross the line first.
TL
By the way, if Krupicka does not win WS, the course record will still go down in my (seemingly unpopular and not so humble) opinion.
ReplyDeleteTL
Does anyone know of a Western States fantasy league? If not, I could look into setting one up.
ReplyDeleteAnother story on Anton.
ReplyDeleteSD
Great article, Scott. Thank you for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteI went through his mileage and training last year and came to the same conclusions about his weekly mileage; over 5,000 miles in less than 7 months. It's unreal.
Good luck to you Saturday at Diablo!
Tim
Hi Scott! I enjoy reading your blog. I am tagging you for the current blogosphere game, "6 word memoir". See my latest post for details:
ReplyDeletewww.pinkcorker.blogspot.com