Recap.

First, as promised Masochist 50M results - I wasn't far off:)

1 Eric Grossman, 38 6:53:18 M 38
2 Sean Andrish, 37 7:06:36 M 37
3 Phil Kochik, 28, WA 7:37:38 M 28
4 Jonathan Basham, 29 7:39:16 M 29
Andrew Thompson, 30, NH 7:39:16 M 30
6 Nikki Kimball, 37, MI 7:47:05 1F 37
7 Adam Hill, 30, Canada 7:50:10 M 30
8 Steven Baker, 21 7:54:02 M 21
9 Jenn Shelton, 22 7:58:11 2F 22
Dink Taylor, 41, AL 7:58:11 M 41
18 Helen Cospolich, 29, CO 8:40:19 3F 29
21 Bethany Patterson, 27 8:41:52 4F 27
22 Sarah Johnston, 22 8:43:07 5F 22
29 Jamie Donaldson, 32, CO 8:58:23 6F 32
30 Christine Magnant, 43, MI 9:05:07 7F 43
36 Justine Morrison, 26, DC 9:13:56 8F 26


JJ100 results: Karl Meltzer 15:25 for a CR, Michelle Barton 19:42 - neither one had a close competition, so it was an easy pick for me:)
Catra and Xy ran wonderfully together in 26:59. Go, girls!!


Autumn Leaves 50k was won by ever gracious Sean Meissner with a PR in 3:40. I predicted 3:35, but his legs gave a bit on the last loop - hmm, I wish mine would do just the same! For 50 miler the win went to Cian Mongomery in 7:01 (I promised him 6:35) and forever a fighter Van Phan in 7:19 (and 3rd overall!). Van...you've got to check out her link, guys. This lady is totally amazing! AL50 was her 46th marathon/ultra for the year, including two 100M races, and she won or placed in half of the races. And on those she didn't - just trust me, she pushed the limits nevertheless! You know how some people (myself including) would come to one run as a race and the next one as a training event...not Van. She is NEVER just running, and to everybody's awe, she is getting only better with time. And no, Rick, she does not smile all the time (you must have been special) - she grunts and breathes hard (fighting asthma) and kicks ass - and it totally pays off! I asked her to comment on that, so this wasn't what I came up with, that was her words:) Van sets goals and 99% she reaches and outdoes them.
Tom R finished a solid race in yet another PR for the years - 50M in 7:34. Michelle's husband Eric also PR'ed in 8:11 - considering that he (not very smartly) put his drop bag some 50 yards away from the turn-around, he logged an extra 3 miles or so, so just keep this man in mind. His friend Steve ran a 50k in a good time of 5:39 (?). My local running partners had awesome showing for a WS100 qualifier and ran respectively Liz - 8:53 and Gail - 9:01. Rob didn't make it due to family reasons - read it at his blog.

I had started my "job" at Race Central at 5:45. The first wave of early starters went on at 6 am. Second wave of regular 50 milers was sent off by myself (yikes, that was scary yet great!) at 7 am. And the 50k runners went out at 9 am. Now try and keep track for their splits, having 3 different start times, about 100 runners, lots of friends to chat in-between and lots of first timers to encourage...plus fill up drinks and set out food...what a hoot!!! I was blessed for having one of the 50M runner's husband - Adam - helping me. He was a greatest team player I could ever wish for! We had our work nailed down to a t. And he was funny and a good listener/entertainer for those short periods of time when we had no runners coming through. Sarah also stopped by before heading to her AS, but I think she caught me off guard doing something and having lots of thoughts in my mind. The rain held off till 1 pm (almost, with some sprinkles). I paced Gail on loops 8 and 9 of her 50 M and was ready to die - she made me work so hard, and 10 miles on pavement after such a long break wasn't something (as it turned out) I could manage easily. She walked so little (like 15 sec every mile) and ran such a great pace, I had problems breathing, yet along talking, and my butt was crying from the punishment! Ouch, feels like I am back in square 1, year 2001...what is OK, I guess. Just makes me appreciate the regular scheduler that much more.

Now to another important part of my being at the race:

Some time ago I mentioned that I was contacted by Connor Spencer (who browsed through my blog) for taste-test of their home-made energy bars. These bars come in a package with a pre-made powder, and all you have to do is add yogurt and apple souce (either/or/both) and bake at 375 degrees for 35 min. You can also add your own favorite ingredients. Since I am not running long to try it as a snack-on-the-run, I decided to make these power bars for the race participants. I had two varieties and made sure to announce that I need those to be tested and described. The bars were a total knock-off!!! People ate them, easy to chew and swallow and moist, no stomach problem, delicious and caloric, in small pieces and big chunks, and wanted more loop after loop - until by 10 am they were all gone...Check out the the recipes, order online or make your own - I promise you'll love them! Just to assure you - I am totally NFI. My concern was of how to carry them with me on the long run, but then again, most people who race 50-100M and do training runs over 25M carry a pouch/camelback, where the power bars could be placed in a ziplog baggie. I would definitely take it over any store-brand power bar any day.