Ted Corbitt "The Grandfather of American Ultrarunning" passes away at the age of 88

Ted Corbitt, who some say is the "Grandfather of American Ultrarunning", passed away at the age of 88. The International Assocation of Athletics Federations (IAAF) posted this about Corbitt on their web site.

Distance running inspiration Ted Corbitt passes away at 88

Wednesday 12 December 2007
Ted Corbitt, 1952 Olympian, training pioneer, administrator, and author, has passed away at the age of 88.

Born in 1919 in South Carolina, USA, into an African-American family, Corbitt as a child ran to and from school in an era of racial discrimination in which there was only school transport available for white children. Corbitt was never bitter and found great enjoyment in that daily regime. When as an older student he read a newspaper article about Theodore Ellison "Tarzan" Brown, the Narragansett Indian who won two editions of the Boston Marathon in the 1930s, that childhood enthusiasm for running was turned into a lifelong passion.

During college, segregation kept Corbitt out of many interstate meets and generally restricted his competitive opportunities as a runner. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a masters’ degree with honours in physical education and then studied to become a physical therapist, but always retained serious thoughts of competitive running.


At a time when there was very little knowledge in the area of professional training available to runners, most of his early self coaching was experimental. Using the methods of Czech Olympic legend Emil Zatopek as the foundation of his training he added a lot of resistance exercises to his own regime and married speed sessions with long slow runs.

Corbitt debuted at the marathon at the age of 32 with a 15th place finish in the 1951 Boston Marathon and after two further marathons was selected for the Helsinki Olympic team.

During a career which lasted well into his 50s Corbitt ran just under 200 marathons and ultra marathon races. His strength and stamina were legendary. At age 54 he ran his 175th marathon in Boston in a time of 2:49:16, less than one minute slower than his first marathon 23 years earlier. His fastest marathon time was 2:26:44 in 1958. He held the American record at 25 Miles, at the Marathon distance, and at 40 and 50 Miles.

Corbitt was the first President of the Road Runners Club of America, and as the third President of the New York Road Runners Club, he pushed for a masters category for runners over the age of forty, knowing that it would bring out the retired racers who couldn't compete successfully any longer in the younger arena.

Largely responsible for the movement to adhere to strict measurement criteria and course certification, Corbitt’s 1964 book, 'Measuring Road Running Courses', became the benchmark for certified road race courses at the time and is the foundation upon which accurate road racing rests today.

IAAF

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Ryan Shay Memorial Fund

On November 3rd the nation lost one of its most talented and promising distance runners. Ryan Shay, at the age of 28, collapsed five miles into the Olympic Marathon Trails in New York City and could never be revived.

Here is alink to his remembrance ceremony held recently in his home town, Flagstaff, AZ.

In honor of Ryan Shay, an integral member of the Flagstaff, Arizona running community, the Center for High Altitude Training has designated its current "Running Fund" through the Northern Arizona University Foundation to be a "Ryan Shay Memorial Fund," with the targeted purpose of serving as a source for athlete stipends. These stipends are financial allocations to eligible U.S. middle distance and distance runners that help pay for their training-related expenses while training in Flagstaff.

For further information and details on how to contribute, click the following link:

http://www.hastc.nau.edu/frameset-events-ryanshay.html

Quad Dipsea no match for Ashland runner

Erik Skaggs, of Ashland, Oregon, was the men's winner of the Quad...Most everyone considers crossing the Dipsea Trail a formidable challenge. To run it four times in a row - 28 miles, with 9,200 feet each of precipitous uphill and downhill - appears nearly incomprehensible.
To do it in under 4 hours is, well, off the chart of adjectives. At Saturday's 25th annual Quadruple Dipsea, Erik Skaggs became the second runner ever to turn the feat with a sensational time of 3 hours, 53 minutes, 7 seconds. San Rafael's Victor Ballesteros was runner-up, 20 minutes back.

Skaggs, making his first visit to the Dipsea Trail, laid down the gauntlet by covering the opening leg from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach in a scintillating 54 minutes. Buchanan (last year's winner) lost sight of him by the top of the steps which open the course. Skaggs returned to Old Mill Park, halfway through, in 1:51:14, well on track to break the Quad's legendary record of 3:52:29, set by Carl Andersen in 1992. But a slowing, though still torrid, third leg of 59 minutes kept finish line observers guessing. Despite a furious final charge, Skaggs missed the record by 38 seconds.

"It was hard," said Skaggs immediately after finishing. "I walked, for the first time, on the hill out of Stinson Beach on the last lap, and that demoralized me a bit."

taken from the Marin Independant Journal

The Pioneer Road Run

This past weekend marked the running of southern Oregon's oldest road race (started in 1971), The Pioneer Road Run. The race, located in Phoenix, Oregon, had two different race distances: nine miles and five kilometers.

Rogue Valley Runners' store employee, Ixel Sanchez, won the women's nine mile race in a time of 1:01:07. It was her first race back after her stellar performance at the Portland Marathon (see her marathon story here). Darcy Kleiman, also a RVR store employee, finished third in the women's race in 1:11:00.

In the men's race, John Leuthold, won yet another southern Oregon race (read about his other recent victory here). Chased all race long by Darren Goff, Leuthold eked out another close victory by finishing the nine mile course in 50:40, four seconds ahead of Goff. RVR store owner, Hal Koerner, finished third in 51:32. Other store regulars, Aaron Reed and Jeremy Eisen, finished fourth and sixth respectively.

A special congratulations must go out to Trevor Palmer, Elliot Jantzer and Joe King. Trevor set a new course record in the five kilometer race by crossing the finish tape in 15:03. Elliot set a new age group record (14-18) by finishing the 5K in second in 15:55. Joe finished the 5K in 25:37, in an 80+ age group record time of 25:37!

Congratulations to the more than 130 runners that took part. Results can be found on the Southern Oregon Sizzlers web site.

Seiad Valley Preview

Many locals know well the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) as it crosses the flanks of Mount Ashland on it's way to Pilot Rock, Soda Mountain and over to Green Springs and Hyatt Lake. But on rare occasion the need to get away strikes. A recent, clear November day gave such inspiration for a trip like this.

The troops loaded up for the drive into southern California and then west on Highway 96 along the mighty Klamath River. Less than ninety minutes after having left Ashland the group found themselves at a dirt turn-off along the road, just west of the small community of Seiad Valley, with a Pacific Crest Trail marker pointing the way. Up they did charge. The car was left along the banks of the river at 1,500 feet and six miles later the runners stood next to an abandoned lookout tower at 5,200 feet.


Here the northern California mountains are framed by the old building's now vacant windows. Mt. Shasta can barely be seen.


Abbey (tongue a hanging), Erik, Kyle and Ian (R to L) stand on Lower Devil's Peak with rugged Kangaroo Peak in the distance and the Red Buttes Wilderness beyond that.


Looking down on Seiad and the Klamath River more than 3,600 feet below.

Now that most of the elevation was gained, the group continued to contour along the mostly above treeline flanks of Middle and Lower Devil's Peak reaching almost 6,000 feet. The crew took in the views and then backtracked to the car...a few trip notes...water is scarce and ticks are a plenty on this section of trail.

This little excursion definitely whetted our appetites to explore further on the PCT and to find out what other incredible vistas, summits and sweeping ridge lines lay between here and Mount Ashland.

Pre Seen Training on The Plaza!!!

Steve Prefontaine was spotted sprinting through Ashland's downtown Plaza last night. The photographer was lucky enough to catch him in what was, no doubt, a warm-up for this weekend's Olympic Marathon Trials. His die hard fans seem to follow him everywhere he goes.

The Park Street Challenge Heats Up!!!

...and they came a runnin'.

Here are the newest updates from the run up Park Street (For more info on the Park Street Challenge see the blog posted on October 15th).

1) Erik Skaggs 4:31
2) Kyle Skaggs 4:56
3) John Leuthold 5:05
4) Todd Ragsdale 5:10

Though John and Todd ran up Park Street together, the Skaggs' time trials were set on solo attempts on different days. It would be interesting to see what would happen if everyone ran up Park on the same day. There are still many folks that we need to hear from! We have yet to hear some results from a lady or a master's runner.

Results from Around the States: Vegas, Redding, and Chicago

Team Rogue Valley Runners went out of state this past weekend in order to test their skills.

Mr. Hal Koerner traveled to the outskirts of Sin City (Las Vegas, NV) for the World of Hurt 50 Kilometer Trail Race. Preliminary results had Hal as the winner in 4:17, out kicking local ultra-star Josh Brimhall by two seconds. Those two seconds earned Hal $500 in cold hard cash that he could later spend in the casinos of Vegas as he recovered from the race in style. Ashland's Carly Varner missed winning prize money by one place. She finished forth in the women's race in 6:36. More details and, perhaps, some photos of this race are forth coming. Stay tuned!

RVR store employee, Chris Rennaker, traveled south to the outskirts of Redding, California for the Whiskeytown 30 Kilometer Race. This was Chris' first race after a long recovery from a knee injury. After setting an early fast pace, he was passed by only one competitor in order to finish as a strong second place in 2:32:17. Congratulations Chris!

Many other Rogue Valley runners traveled to Whiskeytown for the 50 Kilometer version of the trail race. Aaron Reed was the first local finisher. He covered the course in 4:58:02 and cracked the top ten. Other local valley finishers were Jeremy Eisen, Becky Hacker, JC Callans, Robert Hodge, Vic Harris, Anne Crispino-Taylor, Mark Sherbow, Jennifer Callans, Tom Pelsor and Jim Clover. Results can be found here.

Finally, off in the quiet mid-west, RVR store employee, Ian Torrence, tested his mettle in a fast road 5K. Through the quiet morning streets of Downer's Grove, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) Ian managed to eke out a 17:39. Good enough for third place in the Trick or Trot 5K.

Group Run Spooked

Our highly anticipated wednesday night group run has been moved back a day to Thursday at 5:30 inorder to allow all the ghosts and goblins to roam freely. We will resume our regularly scheduled activites next week at 5:30. We hope to see everyone for some leftover candy and an all around good time.

Stagecoach Run

On October 13th Team Rogue Valley Runners took the Stagecoach 10K Run by storm, placing runners in four of the top five places.

After these parting words, "I'm going to make you pay." Talent, Oregon's John Leuthold laid down one final push over the last half mile of the 10K race to seal his victory against his closest competitor and rival, Hal Koerner. John crossed the finish line in 34:46. Six seconds later, Ashland's Rogue Valley Runners store owner, Koerner crossed the line. Central Point's Neil Olsen crossed the line third in 35:55. Rogue Valley Runners newest store employee, Ian Torrence, crossed the line in fifth about a half minute behind local hero and legend, Leonard Hill. Other notable finishes in the 10K were recorded by some of Rogue Valley Runner's Wednesday night group run regulars. Jeremy Eisen and Scott Martin finished in seventh and eight places respectively.

In the 5K, Talent's own Todd Ragsdale posted a second place finish in 17:46. RVR Wednesday night group runners Carly Varner and Maria Clementi finished in 23:55.

The race was sponsored and organized by the Southern Oregon Sizzlers. The races started and finished in historic downtown Jacksonville, Oregon. The contestants ran out and back on the Old Stagecoach Road. Most would agree that it was a long uphill return to the finish after the turn around! More than 130 runners participated.

Final results for the Stagecoach 5K and 10K can be found here. Congratulations to all runners!

The Park Street Challenge

Looking up Park Street from the "Start Line."

Here's the Challenge: Drive, bike, run or walk to the base of Park Street (with it's intersection with Siskiyou). From that intersection run or walk as fast as you can to the top of Park Street. The "Finish Line" is where the asphalt road turns to dirt. Using the Honor System...comment back to this blog spot with your name, age, hometown and state, date and finish time. You can run it as many times as you want, we will keep track of your fastest time.


The "Finish Line."


Looking back down Park Street.

The statistics: Distance from the "Start" to the "Finish": 0.60 Miles
Vertical Rise from "Start" to "Finish": 420 feet
That's a 13.26% grade on average, but you'll find that the last 0.30 miles are steeper than that!
Fastest Time: Unknown at this point in time...this is where your name could go. We will keep track of both women's and men's times, as well as age divisions. There is no end date for The Challenge at this time. If things get competitive enough, there could be some awards on the line! Stay tuned! Now get out there and do it and let us know how you did!!!

Look Here! It's a Shoe Sale!

Save up to 50% on select styles and sizes of Brooks, Saucony, Fila, Asics, and Adidas running and walking shoes at Rogue Valley Runners! Hurry while supplies last.

A Strong Portland Debut!

This past weekend (Sunday October 7th, 2007) was the 36th annual Portland Marathon. Rogue Valley Runners' store employee, Ixel Sanchez, was there to take part. Portland was her first marathon and she confidently took it by storm. Running strong all morning long she finished in 3 hours, 16 minutes and 18 seconds. She averaged 7:30 minutes per mile and, in doing so, qualified for the Boston Marathon.

You can view Ixel's speedy finish here on You Tube.



Ixel said that the roughest patch for her was just after the half-marathon mark, where the bottoms of her feet began to hurt and the hills and bridges of Portland began to slow her down. Things turned around, however, after the 20 mile mark when she was joined fellow store employee and good friend, Natalie Hemphill.

Congratulations Ixel, job well done!

Todd Ragsdale's 100 Miler

Photo taken by Andy Atkinson

On Tuesday, September 18th local runner Todd Ragsdale ran 100-miles around Ashland, Oregon's Lithia Park. Why? Just to see if he could. He ran a 3.5 mile loop 29 times. He started at 2am and 16 hours and 36 minutes later he was done. A fantastic time for a 100 mile run! He was accompanied throughout the day by many local runners, bikers and drivers. He spent little of the day without friends. Even the local news showed up. See Todd's interview on You Tube.

Congratulations Todd!

A Runner's Destination: The Red Bridge

Try and find it...the City by the Bay. Most days of the year the city of San Francisco and it's infamous bridge of note, the Golden Gate, can be enveloped in a dense wall of fog. Though no fog was to be found on this early Fall morning, our intrepid runners would encounter other dangers on their way to their destination.

Aliens from Mars...



UFO's...



Tall men in horns and dresses...



But being the good runners' they were, the band regrouped and hydrated at the Treasure Island Music Festival.



Then headed for the Golden Gate...



And, finally, after many miles they arrived at their destination.

McKenzie River Invite

Why would anyone invite so many Rogue Valley Runners to a central Oregon party? Probably because they knew we would give their course a run for it's money, and that in part is exactly why RD Phil Vaughn decided to have the Mckenzie River 50k invitational on Sunday. The allure of the Mckenzie river 50k has grown greatly in my mind over the years based in part by the fact that it fills so quickly year after year. On the day that entries are taken, it fills leaving those who want to experience a first rate NW race on the sidelines watching. This year, Eric Poole, Joe Griffin, John Leuthold, Todd Ragsdale and myself provided the SO contingent and became the exception to the rule as the MRTR hosted a special invite for it's 20th anniversary. The race was as billed; fantastic single-track, cascading waterfalls, nice temperatures, fast course, easy crew access and all the lava rock you can handle. The race started way too friendly and as the morning progressed I found myself waking to the realization that if I wasn't too careful I could let some of the excited folk get too far ahead. And that is exactly what happened as the eventual winner gained 10 minutes on me in some 20 miles. However, as is the case with speedy sub 2:20 marathoners that shouldn't be out running for 4 hours they start to "come back." Unfortunately for the invite I could only regain 8 minutes. Oh well, there's always next year and the hope of breaking that inconceivable CR. Congrats to Todd, John, Joe, and Eric for making the A standard and for putting up with all the razzing that preceded the race.

Give them chocolate!

As many of you may know by now Rogue Valley Runners is giving away Dagoba chocolate in return for your old shoes. Most recycling centers don't have an option for athletic shoes and we want to be the outlet for Nike's reuse-a-shoe program. In addition, we will give you 10% off the purchase of your next pair of shoes. I don't know if you can handle that sweet of a deal. Read more about it in John Darling article for The Mail Tribune.

Where Schwag Comes From

After a long drive through Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats...

...the weary travellers arrived in the much welcomed oasis of Salt Lake City, Utah. Their mission: To take the Outdoor Retailer Show by storm. Meetings with shoe (Puma, Montrail, New Balance, Brooks, Saucony, INOV-8, La Sportiva), clothing (Smartwool, Darn Tough, Skirt Sports) and accessory (Nathan, Suunto) companies could leave one almost breathless. With cell phone in hand, caffeine in the other and schwag tucked safely under the arm, our intrepid warriors fought the madding crowd.

Breaks between busy meetings where punctuated with adrenaline filled action. Take for instance the Treadmill Uphill Challenge where some of the best trail runners in the country went head to head and battled it out for fifteen minutes at a 15% grade. Here Karl Meltzer (on the left) and Scott Jurek (on the right) take their heart rates to the limit.

Fellow ultrarunners came together during the Show to chat and play catch-up in a relaxed, non-race setting. Here (from left to right) young James Bonnett (three days before his 21st birthday), Andy Jones-Wilkins (fresh off his Vermont 100 Mile victory), Hal Koerner (winner of the 2007 Western States 100 Mile) and Karl Meltzer (winner of the 2007 Massannutten Mountain Trail 100 Mile, McNaughton Park 100 Mile and Bighorn Trail 100 Mile) smile for the camera.

The highlight of the Show and the culmination of a fruitful several days was a rugged trail run near the Speed Goat 50 Kilometer race course near the Snowbird, Brighton and Alta ski resorts. The all-star cast included (right to left) Scott Jurek, Karl Meltzer, Hal Koerner, Tony Krupicka (ready to defend his Leadville Trail 100 Mile title) and his good friend Brennan.

Hill Climb Heats Up!

The Mt Ashland Hillclimb Run this weekend was a huge success, in 28 year's the run had never seen so many participants and dusty shoes. In the end, Rogue Valley Runner's posted a number of top finishes. Store employee's Ixel Sanchez, Darcy Kleiman, and Ian Torrence found out why so many people shy away from this monster run, 5,500 feet in 13 miles! John Leuthold and Neil Olsen both finished in the top 15 along with Ian and Hal, as did fellow ultrarunner's John Anderson and Lewis Taylor who traveled far and wide to participate in this unique race. The Mail Tribune covered the run and had a phenomenal write-up as can be seen below. Do we have to wait until next year?

ASHLAND — Bob Julian jokingly referred to them as "those darn mountain goats."

They were actually nationally-ranked, professional cross country skiers from Bend, and they ruled the 28th annual Mt. Ashland Hill Climb Run on Saturday.

"We're used to really hard, uphill climbs for long periods of time, but that was definitely the hardest run I've ever been in." — Brayton Osgood, winner of Mt. Ashland Hill Climb Run.
Brayton Osgood, 26, won the grueling 13.3-mile run that started at Lithia Park and ended at the summit of Mt. Ashland in 1 hour, 57 minutes and 14 seconds.

Ashland's Hal Koerner, 31, the defending champion and the winner of the Western States 100-mile ultra marathon in June, pulled even with Osgood with a couple miles remaining but Osgood found another gear while scaling the final, brutally steep ski runs between the Mt. Ashland lodge and the finish line at the top of the mountain.

Koerner completed the race five minutes faster than last year but settled for second in 1:57:56.

Zach Violett, 25, another Bend-based cross county skier, took third in 1:58:19.

Two other members of the Bend group known as XC Oregon — J.D. Downing and Colin Mahood — finished ninth and 13th, respectively, while the group's Evelyn Dong and Sarah Max went 1-3 among the women.

"We're used to really hard, uphill climbs for long periods of time," said Osgood, who didn't even seem out of breath as he conquered the top of the Tempest ski run to reach the finish line. "But that was definitely the hardest run I've ever been in."

Asked what would prompt a person to compete in a run that goes uphill virtually the entire way, gaining 5,600 feet in elevation, Osgood laughed and said: "That's a good question. Maybe just being able to talk about it the next day and having people say, 'You did what?'"

Osgood, who grew up in Vermont, and Violett, who hails from the Lake Tahoe area, are ranked among the top 15 cross country skiers in the country and are aiming for the Olympics.

"This is one of the best training exercises we could do," said Violett, a former standout skier at the University of Alaska-Anchorage. "Working out that hard for two hours does wonders for your body. You're in a steady state of pain, but once it's over, you feel good."

The XC Oregon skiers worked out at Diamond Lake Friday, using custom-made roller skates while wearing their Nordic boots, and planned another workout near Crater Lake on their way home.

Koerner, no slouch himself when it comes to challenging fitness activities — he runs a dozen ultra-marathons a year — started conservatively and was in sixth place at the halfway point. He put on a burst the last few miles and pulled even with Osgood shortly before reaching the ski lodge.

"He (Koerner) came out of nowhere," said Violett.


Koerner had visions of defending his title, but he was no match for Osgood on the steep ski runs.

"I gave it a go but my quads (quadricep muscles) said no," said Koerner, who moved to Ashland from Seattle 11/2 years ago to open a running store. "He (Osgood) had a fantastic push up that steep pitch."

Koerner has competed in an uphill half-marathon on Pike's Peak in Colorado that starts at 7,000 feet elevation and ends at 14,000 feet.

"To have a race here that mirrors that one is awesome," he said.

Julian, meanwhile, had the lead with about 31/2 miles to go but then, he said, "All the mountain goats took over."

"Mountain runners are a different breed," he added.

Julian, a two-time runner-up in the event, wound up 11th in 2:07:0 as he struggled to get past the lodge and up the final ascent.

"I don't think this is as hard as a marathon," Julian, 39, said. "It doesn't tear you up, but you use up so much energy. My mistake today was not using the aide stations enough. You lose time at them, but you end up losing more time out on the course if you're not well-hydrated and fed."

Dong, the women's winner and 17th overall finisher in 2:17, said endurance trumped speed during Saturday's taxing run.

"You don't need much speed in this race," she said, "just a strong pair of legs and lungs."

Top 15 Finishers

1, Brayton Osgood, 1:57.14; 2, Hal Koerner, 1:57.56; 3, Zach Violett, 1:58.19; 4, John Anderson, 2:00.44; 5, John Swain, 2:01.56; 6, Lewis Taylor, 2:03.04; 7, Andrew Stevens, 2:03.34; 8, John Leuthold, 2:04.38; 9, J.D. Downing, 2:05.20. 10, Andy James, 2:06.12.

11, Bob Julian, 2:07.00; 12, Richard Bott, 2:08.38; 13, Colin Mahood, 2:11.49; 14, Ian Torrence, 2:12.32; 15, Andy Barber, 2:13.0