My Track Record

Now that you’ve had a chance to digest the all-Greg summary of the 2010 White River 50, here’s a roundup of some other perspectives.

• Tony Krupicka (1st-place male, 6:25)

While I’m certainly pleased with the time, unlike last year, this year’s result felt as if there was more in the tank and that with a little more race-week rest and late-race competition/motivation I could maybe run even a few minutes faster.

• Yassine Diboun (5th-place male, 7:05)

This race was to be my last ultra marathon for a while with our daughter being due the week of August 28th, so I wanted to “leave it all out there on the course.” Even though I was coming off a solid 4th place 20-hour 100-mile run at Bighorn on June 18th I felt that I really wasn’t able to “open it up” and run like I can based on the terrain. I knew that the course at White River would suit me in a way that the Bighorn course did not.

• Tim Olson (7:09)

At one switch back I lassoed a tree with my right hand and enjoyed a flying twist without losing any momentum at all. A mile or so later I had a good chuckle at myself as I missed seeing a root and nailed it with my foot, going superman style along a nice bedding of cushiony earth. Ah, ultra-running.

• Amy Sproston (2nd-place female, 8:22)

There’s a scene from Top Gun after Goose dies when Maverick is back in a plane for the first time and his head isn’t in it. “He won’t engage,” the instructor tells the sergeant guy. Well, so ultra running isn’t exactly like flying fighter planes, but in races I often resist engaging (racing in this case, not shooting at people from a fighter plane). My head’s just not into “racing,”–if there is someone in front of me, I’d rather slow down than speed up. I had a little mantra on Saturday, and it was, “Engage.” Short for, “Get your head out of your ass and push yourself.”

• Joe Creighton (8:25)

I finally hit the road that led to the finish line and I mustered up all I could for the spectators. There were a ton of kids at the race, all formed into small little posses of trouble. I like to think that I got them to stop throwing sticks at one another for at least a couple seconds and watch, admiringly, as I brought it home.

• Ben Bigglestone (8:30)

She too was running sections of this climb that I simply could not (or would not). Maybe my 45miles/week (biggest run mileage of my life) for the last six months without any really specific hill work other than the ones encountered where I train was simply not enough.

• Pam Smith (5th-place female, 9:00)

There was only one minor disaster and it didn’t cost me too much time: With about three miles to go, I caught a toe on the very technical Skookum trail and I came down flat on my chest, knocking the wind out of me completely. Isn’t a reflex to put your hands in front of you when you fall?? Was I really so tired that I couldn’t even move my arms into a position to protect myself? … As an added bonus, a mountain biker saw the whole thing and made a point of telling me how bad the fall looked. What a helpful guy!

• Nick Davis (9:22)

With the finish line in sight, I felt a rush of energy. As a former teammate in high school cross country said, it was like “angels massaging your legs.”

• Scott McMurtrey (9:34)

I love this race. Why does it make me hurt so bad?

• Mike Chastain (9:39)

I had wanted to make White River a summer goal race, but with Cascade Crest 100 coming up it seemed more prudent to make it a training run. But in the end I think it was more of a race.

• Ronda Sundermeier (9:51)

Leaving Fawn Ridge to finish the last 6 miles of the climb to Suntop I was on top of the world. Moment of glory number 2 had arrived! I felt like I had won the lottery. I was strong and had tons of energy. I was moving very well and running hard when the terrain would allow me. I had so much joy I was almost shaking. I was on cloud 9! The views were incredible on ridge and I wanted to pinch myself but feared I might wake up because seriously this was like a dream. Corny and sappy as it may sound that is truly how I felt. The climb to Suntop (mile 37) was over before I knew it. Nothing could kill my buzz. Not even the gal who heard me singing and told me not to quit my day job. I smiled and informed her I didn’t have a day job.

• Allison Moore (9:57)

I reached the trail head to the climb to SunTop and from here on out, White River became a suffer-fest. I could not get my breathing back, I slowed down, stopped on and off, drank, ate, took salt tabs, etc. It didn’t matter if I walked slow, walked fast, stopped, ran, I just could not get it together to [breathe] well. As I approached Fawn Ridge, I actually stopped before the aid station to get calmed down. Laura Houston was there and remembered what had happened last year and was happy to see I was in better form. I said yes…..I am glad too….

• Joel Balezza (10:24)

As I was leaving the aid station a runner called out: “Great, we only have a half-marathon left.” I don’t think he was being sarcastic, but it wasn’t the easiest thing to hear after running 37 miles.

• Audrey, wife of David Reese (10:31)

This last weekend, David raced a measly 50 miles with his brother, John, in the foot”hills” of Mt. Rainier. The landscape was stunning.

• Cheri Redwine (11:13)

If I would have [known] how hard the course was I probably would have stayed home.

• BJ Haeck (11:45)

I bolted out of the aid station and onto the downhill fireroad. As I left, another guy who had passed me earlier headed out with me. I hit a hard pace, and he matched me stride for stride. If I faltered a little, he would pull ahead, and then I would pull up a little, and he would come up to me. Without saying a word, he and I pushed each other down the hill, cutting every corner, nearly stride for stride. We weren’t necessarily competing against each other as much as teaming with each other to make sure the other wouldn’t break and using our momentum to catch whoever was sitting in front of us as we flew past other runners, using them as rabbits to chase. What was really special is neither of us even so much as glanced at one another as we pushed it as hard as we could. We had an unspoken bond between us as runners and racers, and talking about it just would have spoiled it. While I now know his name from looking him up in results, I probably won’t ever speak to him. He ended up finishing the race about 10 minutes behind me, and as he crossed the line, he went out of his way to walk up to me, give me a fist bump and a smile, letting me know that he had felt the same way, and melted into the post race crowd.

• Holly Vipond (13:29)

The organization was great. The volunteers and aid stations were great. The course speaks for itself; I could just drink in those views all day (oh wait, I did! ;). The weather was perfect; even the sunny areas weren’t TOO hot today, and it had rained overnight just enough to cool things off (but not enough to make it muddy).

• Audrey Crissman (volunteer or spectator?)

A number of this year’s CCC entrants were out fine-tuning things on the White River trails, and we’re looking forward to seeing how all that hard work will pay off.