One of my best hooks?
This post does not concern the nature of spiral nebulae and the size of the universe. It's not even an ode to the director /actor driven drama starring Denzel Washington, although I love me a good underdog story. This entry is a testament to the ultra-running prowess of the little hamlet I call home. Ripe with some 20,000 residents, there is not a single city in the the country that fills entrant lists faster per capita, I'm willing to bet at least one RVR visor on it.
So thank you Boulder and Seattle but, um, no thank you. It was a valiant effort Bozeman and Flagstaff, you even had Chattanooga bringing up the rear for a spell. Alas none of you managed more sub 24 hour buckles at WS in 2010, nope not even close Just imagine what could have been had the two time defending champ finished, trust me we're still imagining that!
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| Easily the best field ever assembled at Fairhaven Park. Glenn Tachiyama |
So it has been no surprise to find Ashland, OR atop the results at this years biggest races. Case in point, last weekends Chuckanut 50k where Erik Skaggs, Timothy Olson, and Jenn Shelton ran out of their minds to finish 3rd, 5th and 2nd respectively. What about the week before at the Way too Cool 50k? Again, Timothy Olson finishing 4th and the man with the visor 5th. Shout outs to Shahid Ali, Brad Noyes, Darrin Bolz, Robert Shannon, and Jennifer Callans on thier performances at the Way too Cool 50k too! The two biggest 50ks of the year (so far) and only two runners from CO in the top five of both races. What's happening to these athletically affluent states?
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| In front of Timothy for a time, feet barely in the air. |
Things aren't changing anytime soon either.
Next weekend is the Lake Sonoma 50 and it's going to be stacked with Rogue Runners. This event, in it's 4th year, has become one of the most hotly contested races on the west coast filling months in advance of it's event date. This year some 240 runners will tackle the out and back course along the banks of Lake Sonoma, submerging themselves in almost a dozen stream crossings with temperatures in the upper 70's. Of those starters, here's our contigent;
Shahid Ali
Timothy Olson
Carly Koerner
Hal Koerner
Darcy Kleiman
Rich May
Eric Dinger
Tia Boddington
Karolina Wyszynska
Desiree Barnes
Rob Cain
Grey Hecht
Tamara Ellis
Dana DuVivier
Annie Crispino-Taylor
Obviously my tongue in cheek intro kept some of you reading and well now you know that my blogs are always a work in progress and this one could mostly be defined as in jest, you certainly wouldn't want to define it as much else anyways. I conclude, however, with admiration for an amazing work ethic towards those runners stepping out of the norm while keeping steadfast stride after stride after stride. Best of luck to everyone this weekend from Ashland and wherever you may roam.
4 comments:
Well, ya'll haven't been to the Speedgoat 50k yet, come run in some mountains and see if you Ashland boys and girls can hang with these Utah and Colorado altitude junkies. Beers on me.
We stick to the rivers and streams that we're used to.
hk
HK,
The Speedgoat mentioned in his Lake Sonoma 50 odds(As an aside completely unrelated to this comment, which itself is more or less unrelated to anything of great importance, it seems that Mother Nature should be given top odds in any California races this spring... but I digress.) that you had recently been in South America at a movie star convention. What movies have you been in? My GF and I are wanting to pick up a flick for tomorrow evening and, well, geez, to think that I didn't even think to get your autograph when visiting Ashland a few springs ago.
Speaking of The Great Debate I couldn't help but notice while perusing the latest issue of TR that I could only find the word "Ashland" once, yet this town named Boulder in one of those geometrically-boring rectangular states was mentioned virtually everywhere. It seemed so strange as I was under the impression that RVR had acquired ownership of TR. Heck, there was even an article(albeit small) on this middle-of-nowhere town in California and a Q&A with some no-name guy who has been running ultras for 14 years and still has not closed out a 100 in good style(reminds me of that Petty song lyric, "even the losers get lucky sometimes...").
I'll be sure to ask the Ashland contingent-of-one, SLF, making the drive south for the showcase Eastern Sierra event in May for insightful illumination into this ever-changing ultra-running climate.
Maybe I'll even ask him to comment on the fact that my GF thinks I'm better looking than you(LB can confirm as he bore witness in Squaw Valley last year...knowing him he probably was the conversation instigator as well). Now it may very well be that she is the only female in the world that thinks this but I want an RVR insider to vouchesafe(a much under-utilized word, wouldn't you agree?) before I throw in the towel on my Telly Savalas look, start shopping for a rug and buy a heavy-duty beard and moustache trimmer.
Yes, I know SLF is a dude but, heck, he's from Ashland, home to many Shakespearean actors and other men confident enough to sport tights in any social situations, so he's bound to be comfortable with flashing some Blue Steel and admitting when another dude is "really, really good-looking."
And the debate rumbles on... :)
Thanks for keeping your blog somewhere between Seinfeld and serious...always entertaining.
-Koz
@JEff - I am going to stick with my
theme here by saying that, that, is why she(your girlfriend) gives you the red light special , all through the.....
Now you know, we had to be inclusitory with regards to TR, they could never show favoritism or preferential treatment, the industry is way too impartial for that.
Now onto that movie, it pains me to say this alound or infront of the millions of readers of this blog but this is a foreign film, no subtitles or dubs. So sorry, you exclusitory folks from the badlands of California will have to just do with the dry climate, sandy trails and minimal air that keep you safe from all things cultural. You know, the Oscar for best foreign film last year hails from Argentina.
So keep with your serious attitude, ww'll have none of it up here.
hk
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