Inov-8 Team Member Todd Braje won the Ice Age 50m this weekend in a blistering 6:20, with Phil Kochik claiming 2nd (6:25). They will take the two remaining Montrail Ultra Cup slots for the 2010 Western States. Meghan Arbogast (7:17, already in States) and Annette Bednosky (7:27) took the top two Women's spots.
The Western States entry list once again is a who's who of ultrarunning. If you haven't already seen the UltraSignUp.com "ranked" list, it's pretty amazing. In most races it is rare to have more than 2-3 runners ranked over 90% (meaning they finish within 90% of the winner of the races tracked by UltraSignUp), but for the 2010 Western States there are 50+. Whoa!
Krupicka, Roes, Koerner, Shmitt, Kaburaki, Brimhall, Skaden, Braje, Freeman, Redpath, Jones-Wilkins, Bragg...and the list goes on for the Men.
Kimball, Crosby-Helms, Garneau, Ortiz, Vaught, Perry, Bosio, Fingar, Spore, Abbs, Gildersleeve...a strong line up for the Women.
I'm excited to be a spectator this year!
SD
Is Krupicka running against Roes? I didn't see his name on the list. If so, that would be an epic showdown. Also, a lesser known name to watch down the road is a guy named Andy Henshaw, just 24. Andy Henshaw just broke Krupicka's 50m record at collegiate peaks - a few weeks ago ran 2nd to Roes at American River. He only moved to Colorado last fall, is new to the sport and has been improving in big jumps. I don't see him beating Krupicka-Roes this year, but in 12 months, he might be the one everyone's chasing.
ReplyDeleteWish they had TV coverage of the event... :(
ReplyDeleteI'd pay a few extra $$ to my DishNetwork plan to view the WS100Channel (HD, of course).
...and then when you get waaaay down into the 80s rankings, you still have Lantz, Rod Bien, Rob Evans, etc. Just like last year though, who'll be left to run as pacers?
ReplyDeleteCrazy list indeed. Not to mention it's missing Tony who is still at 100% after winning Miwok. A few of these guys will have to see their ranking drop, or drop before the finish since the ranking doesn't take into account the DNS.
ReplyDeleteBets will be interesting to watch and track; some business to be made in Vegas on this! ;-)
Will be fun to watch from behind...
Nobody has yet mentioned Killian Jornet. He appears to be on the start list and I would have to consider him a strong contender. It is his first States I believe but his record-breaking efforts lat year will likely have prepared him well.
ReplyDeleteYep, once again WS is gonna be huge. And I'm gonna be happily enjoying the view from the sidelines with you, Scott.
ReplyDeleteI think it's funny how much weight people put on ultrasignup.com's rankings. It obviously doesn't list every single ultra that everyone has run; rather just select ones. Nor does it take into account "training" races, etc. But people are really into it. One of the sweepers in the Rumble didn't want me to put him in the results because it would negatively affect his ultrasignup score!
This isn't meant to be a dis on Mark at ultrasignup, but rather just to show how anal some people are about some random stats. Just run, people.