| .. | 2008 PIGTAILS LAKE YOUNGS RACE REPORT We had another successful race this year with 102 starters. Like last year, the rain held off for the one and two loop runners but decided to make the third loop to the finish a little wetter for the 50K runners. It was by no means as torrential as the rain that was relentless at my December race. The frozen mud was a bigger factor resulting in several nasty falls to be elaborated on further later. First, a big thanks again to all who contributed. Your donations of food were well appreciated by the food bank. I just dropped them off today. It pretty much filled the back of my Explorer! I asked what they really needed there so that I could expand what I might ask for next year. They said exactly what I brought. Other things that I will request when I advertise for next year’s race include things like baby food, feminine products, and I’m sure whatever else you’d find in a household. It would make sense that those who need the help of the food bank would need more than just food! Again, thanks to Mary Hanna for the yummy brownies. There was not a crumb left! Gwen Scott made very welcomed butternut squash soup for her vegetarian sisters and brothers but also warmed the bellies of others. Cliff Richard’s shelter kept many dry while they enjoyed the post race food and cheered on their fellow runners. We were able to use up the left over GU from The Balanced Athlete (Eric and Iliana Sach) from my December race to fuel runners during their quest for a PR or just completing their first ultra. And of course my husband Ken who came out to help me get it all set up and broken down. There were fast times in all distances with new course records set in the male and female masters 50K, female open 50K, and male masters 9.6 mile one loop race. The race for the first overall male 50K was tight from the start. James Varner was in the lead after two loops but somewhere in the 3rd loop faded. He was on pace to set a personal record for the 50K distance but I imagine that a recent cold that he had just gotten over stymied his efforts. I had seen James the week before at the Capitol Peak 50K where he was volunteering and he had told me that he was the sickest that he had ever been, preventing him from running any distance for 10 days. It must have been a pretty bad cold for James to not be able to run! Not one to give up, James finished in a respectable time. Alex Swenson, last year’s overall winner, returned first at the end of the 3rd loop after arriving third in the 1st two loops. Alex ran a smart race, paced himself in the first 2 loops, and brought it on the last loop, beating his own course record by over 7 minutes in a time of 3:48:15. Bill Huggins finished 8 minutes behind in 3:56:40, followed by Bruce Hoff three minutes later in 3:59:48. These three men were the only ones to break 4 hours. Way to go! The women’s race seemed more casual. It appeared that Alison Hanks and Devon Crosby Helms were simply out for a training run. These long-legged running goddesses cruised in with a time of 4:18:27, breaking the course record set in 2007 by Jen Yogi of 4:31:02. (Wherever you are Jen, we all miss you!) It also happened to be a 50K PR for Alison! Third female and first masters was Gwen Scott. She also broke the masters course record in her time of 4:29 with the old time being 4:35. This was a 50K PR for Gwen who told me before the race that she was not in running shape. If this is her untrained shape, then we are all in a lot of trouble! Many others had a 50K PR including Olaf Weckner, Barb Blumenthal, Tim Lawson, Val Beyer, Linda Walter, and Jane Herzog. I was also honored that some used my race as their first ultra, including Peter Corduan, Adrian Call, and Rich Menzel. Nina Kemsley Church and Mitch Parker took first honors in the 19.2 mile two loop race with times of 2:44:57 and 2:20:30, respectively. Chris Davis finished first in the 9.6 mile one loop option in a time of 1:10:18 in the men’s race and Iliana Sach in a time of 1:18:10 in the women’s race. There was only one new course record set this year in the one and two loop races and that was Jamie Gifford in the male masters with a time of 1:15, five minutes faster than the 2007 time of 1:20. This was also just a training run for Jamie in his preparation for the Rocky Raccoon 100 mile race in Texas. Jamie is a mountain specialist and Lake Youngs mimicked the fairly flat terrain that he would find at Rocky. Now for the interesting stories of the day. On the way to winning the female 2 loop race, Nina Kemsley Church managed to clip the tip of her left foot on a big, chunky area of frozen mud. She stumbled and hit the ground hard impacting both her knees, hip, both hands, and elbow. She had immediate swelling and bruising, which she thought was rather unusual. That kind of stuff always seems to show up a few hours or a day later. Perhaps it was the cold that brought it on faster or simply because she really hit hard. When she finished, she showed me and several others the scariest part of her fall, which was the top of one of her hands. It was very swollen and looked deformed. She had a big hematoma (a large area of pooled blood) on the top of her hand. I gave her an ice pack that I brought in case anyone sprained an ankle or something. She placed it on top of her hand and we directed her to Valley Medical Center. Fortunately, nothing was broken. What a tough gal to be able to continue running for another 4-5 miles! Another tough gal was Lisa Hurley who fell at mile 4, also in a frozen section of horse tracks. She stubbed her toe as well and fell face forward. She said the ground felt like frozen cement with sharp jagged edges of muddy ice sticking up. She was able to finish 15 more miles despite the area that hurt the most, her left thigh where she landed the hardest. She said it was probably the cold that prevented her from feeling it much. She showed me her big bruise and road burn after the race on her thigh. My ice pack went to her first until she saw Nina’s hand at which point it was passed on. I guess I should bring more ice next year! Finally, the last story before I get to the 50K runners is Jon Yoon. As many of you know, Jon’s work hours usually result in him getting from no sleep to maybe three hours of sleep before a race. He came planning on running the entire 50K. But at the start of the 3rd loop, he found himself startled awake before running his private parts into a pole. He decided to turn around and call it a day with two loops before really hurting himself. Interestingly enough, he stuck around and was social at the finish for several more hours beating himself up for quitting. No worries Jon, we all know you are a tenacious runner! In the 50K, Jane Herzog fell in the 3rd loop, getting her hands and gloves all soaked. Good thing she had dry ones to finish the last out and back. Despite this, she was able to set a 50K PR! Steve Barrick did an early start because he had a long list of things to do that day. He ran in the dark the first loop and managed to lose one of his contacts. What was more amazing was that he was able to find it in the dark again and put it back in. I can’t believe that it didn’t freeze instantly! James Klarich ran negative-negative splits with his first loop in a time of 1:31, then 1:28, and then 1:27. Way to go! Tony Covarrubias won the Miles Junkey award. He started early so that he could run 4 loops and also the out and back. His 50K time was 10th overall and he ran the 4th loop after finishing the 50K in a time of 1:37. What did you eat the night before, man? Brian Pendelton took a leisurely run and counted and recorded in his little notebook 20 species of birds. How he managed to be looking up to find those birds and not trip and fall beats me. But if you’ve ever run behind Brian, he just looks like he floats. Adam Blum from Los Gatos, CA had every intention of running a fast 50K. But almost immediately after leaving the start, he tripped and fell on that steep downhill. In doing this, he pulled a calf muscle and lost a crown! I tried to help him find it, but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. This trail just does not seem to like Adam. He came and ran Lake Youngs last year during the summer and coasted the first two loops in 2:40. He was in 5th place at the time but tweaked his foot severely and was not able to finish. He is scared of Lake Youngs now! However, he was able to find an emergency clinic in Renton, the only one he could find in the Seattle area, and had a temporary crown put on. He was able to enjoy some fresh powder the next day at Crystal Mountain, even with a sore calf! May Cheng gets the “Tough As Nails” award. She fell and skinned her knees about halfway through the first loop. I couldn’t believe how terrible her knees looked when she came in. She just strolled over to her car and cleaned it up as nice as she could to not scare the men and children and continued on to finish the 50K! She said it looked worse than it felt, again citing the cold in keeping the pain numb. But she did report that her left knee did swell up quite a bit later. It’s better now. It seemed that her ego was a little more bruised because she said it was a PW (personal worst). Isn’t it amazing how skewed us runners get? Sorry for making this so long-winded, but I feel that everyone’s story is so unique. Although I didn’t get to run it this year like I did last year, I really enjoyed just absorbing it all from the other side. It is just as rewarding. Besides, my husband just does not know most people’s names and it was easier to keep track of you all. I look forward to feeding your running addiction in December, the weekend before Christmas. Until then, run strong but safe! Pigtails! |
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