Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Rogue Valley Runners Profiled in June's Running Times Magazine




In the new June 2009 issue of Running Times there's a five page spread that profiles Ashland, Oregon's Rogue Valley Runners. The fun starts on page 64. Head to your nearest specialty running store and pick up your copy now!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Bridging the Gap

Jenn Shelton (ladies' winner of the 10K), Ian Torrence, John Leuthold (men's 5K winner) and Erik Skaggs (men's 10K winner) show off their awards.

There was a huge turn out for the this weekend's Bridge the Gap 5K and 10K run/walk/wheelchair races. Biggest ever! The race started and finished at Railroad Park in Medford, Oregon and sent the runners out and back on the rolling Bear Creek Greenway bike path. 135 runners finished the 5K, while 114 runners completed the 10K option. The run benefits Mobility Unlimited, a local non-profit that helps working adults obtain the mobility equipment required to live independently and maintain employment.

Rogue Valley Runners came away with lots of awards. Jenn Shelton won the ladies 10K race in 38:27. Erik Skaggs won the men's 10K in 32:37. John Leuthold won the men's 5K in 17:51. Neil Olsen and Hal Koerner won their age divisions in the 10K. Dorsey Dobrey and Suzanne Ray won their age divisions in the 5K race.

Congratulations to the 5K women's winner Lianna Jenkins (19:05), Corey Hartgrave (the 10K wheelchair winner) and Jon Hebbiewhite (the 5K wheelchair winner).

Full race results can be found here.

Photos of this year's run can be found here.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Giardia Shimardia

Rob Cain strides his way to a win at the Mt. Diablo 50 Mile Endurance Run in northern California.

This just in...

Get a hernia operation and follow it up with a bout of Giardia. It'll get you a personal record and a win!!!

Ashland's Rob Cain has tried everything in the past.

"I needed to jump start my training. I felt a cut in the gut, followed by some staples, and then quickly losing ten pounds in three weeks was the way to go. Western States 100 Miler is only weeks away. It is imperative that I get a leg up on all the fast guys who are going to be there this year. I'm 55 now, drugs might come into play after I reach 60, but right now I'm still in my prime."

Thus Rob launched his new training method. He's patented the technique, so to all you other athletes out there, make sure you get his permission before embarking on this plan.

Rob tested his revolutionary new idea at this past weekend's Mount Diablo 50 Mile Endurance Run. Set in the San Francisco Bay area; Mt. Diablo's trail course rises for over 13,000 feet. Temperatures on Sunday's race rose to over 90 degrees. Neither the net altitude gain nor the temps made Rob falter.

Rob runs through the heat at Diablo.

Rob was heard saying after he returned home, "Most folks would crumple under conditions like that. I lost more water weight while I battled that darn Giardia bug. The soreness in my quads in the last few miles of the race was a welcome relief compared to the pain I endured while the doctor placed that metal mesh in my belly after the hernia operation! This was a piece of cake!"

Cain passes through an aid station.

And so it must have been a cake walk for Cain. He ran nearly an hour faster than last year at the same race and he placed second overall; first male. Congratulations Rob! We can't wait to see how you present your next training plan. Full race results can be found here.

Note: Rob never said any of these things, but I'm sure he would have had we given him the chance. Cheers!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Pear-fect

Max King wins and sets a new course record a week after winning the American River 50 Miler.

Fourteen hundred 5K-fun runners, 10-mile runners, 10-mile walkers, wheelchair racers and Mayor's Cup one and two milers felt that the Pear Blossom Run was the ideal way to spend part of their Easter weekend. Even the weather cooperated! Congratulations to everyone who participated and volunteered in southern Oregon's largest foot race!

The Medford's Mailtribune article can be found here.

More race photos can be found here.

Full race results can be found here.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Ultra Season Underway In a BIG Way

Hang in there folks...we've been busy here in the Rogue Valley. Lots of ultrarunning to recap! Its all very exciting; we're witnessing the dawning of a new movement in the sport of ultrarunning: so many folks taking part, so many races, and competitive fields getting faster and faster.

Lets start up north at the Chuckanut Mountain 50K near Bellingham, WA. The esteemed owner of Rogue Valley Runners, Hal Koerner, and his girlfriend, Carly Varner, traveled to join 270 runners for the 17th running of this trail event. Good weather, good competition and solid training helped Hal to a tight third place finish in four hours, 2 minutes and 18 seconds. One of the fastest times ever run on the course! Carly finished in a strong 6:04:49.

The start of the Chuckanut 50K.


Hal stretches it out in the early flat miles.

Due south was the running of the largest 50 kilometer race in the US, a trail race called Way Too Cool. John Leuthold, Todd Ragsdale and Anne Crispino-Taylor went to check out what all the hub-bub was about.

Here's what we heard after the race went down:
John Leuthold -- "Basically, Ian lied to me. It was more technical and harder than I was led on. There were 16 creek crossings! I was impressed at the amount of ultrarunning talent gathered for this one race."

Todd Ragsdale -- "I went through mile one in 6:44! I looked around and nobody cared. I knew at that point that this was going to be a fast 31 miles! This was the prettiest piece of California I've ever seen."

John finished in 4:12:18, Todd in 4:22:51 and Anne in 5:57:33.

Way Too Cool's course has some sweet singletrack!

This past weekend a large contingent of Rogue Valley Runners went across the mountains to Sisters, Oregon (near Bend) for the Peterson Ridge Rumble 60K and 30K trail races.

Here's a small report from Eric Poole (who finished 5th in the 60K distance):

"Here's a run down of the Best Of's:
Best shoes - Jenn Shelton with her snake skin clogs
Best tights (you are jealous are you not) - Tom Pelsor
Best Effort - Rob (double hernia and throw in some giardia for good luck) Cain - AMAZING - he had lost about 5% of his body weight pre run!!!!
Best Driver - Annie (I'll even pass a sheriff - almost) Crispino-Taylor
Worst Parking Karma - Annie (I'll pass all the good spots close to the Bend Brewing Company) Crispino-Taylor
Best luck - Ben (first time playing "rocks, paper, scissors" and he wins) Benjamin
Best impression of a bad ice skater - Steve Greuel
Most "together" after the run - Clyde "The Glide" Aker
Best salt lick impression after the run - Darcy Klienman

It was a fun run. I enjoyed the mix of running on some fun singletrack, dirt road and fireroads. Good aid stations that were well placed. The weather was AMAZING and the hangout scene after was really great...music, friends, BBQ and you got to cheer on the finishers. There were a number of spots on the course where you got beautiful views of Mt. Bachelor and the Three Sisters. The 60 km ended up being a wee bit over 34 miles and the 30 km ended up being closer to 20 miles."

A huge congratulations goes out the local finishers: Eric Poole, Jenn Shelton, Rob Cain, Darcy Kleiman, Ben Benjamin, Anne Crispino-Taylor, and Tom Pelsor. Look here to find out how they, and others, did.

Darcy Kleiman runnin'.

Rob Cain practices his hurdling skills.


Anne running on the dirt.


Jenn on the trail.


Ben Benjamin victorious at the finish line.


Eric Poole turns in a fast time and good race at Peterson.


Darcy and Anne love that they are DONE!


Jenn Shelton avoids the hurdles at Peterson's finish line.


Tom Pelsor finishes Peterson. Are those Clifton tights?


Rob, Anne, Jenn, Darcy, and EP look cool at Peterson.

Also this past weekend, along the shores of the American River, outside of Sacramento, CA another huge race took place; The American River 50 Mile. Bend's Max King and Ashland's Hal Koerner traveled down to the event together. Max won last year's Siskiyou Outback 50K. His goal was to finish in the top three at American River; his first foray into the 50 mile distance realm. Needless to say he did so and then some. Max won the race in 6:04:44. His next goal is to run circles around a fresh Erik Skaggs at this weekend's Pear Blossom 10 Mile Road Race.

Hal dropped at 40 miles. Saving his gusto for a better and bigger day. He was, however, good enough to accompany Max to a NASCAR event after the race festivities had concluded. A sport they both longingly crave...

Here's a story about the race from the Auburn Journal.

Max King crosses the tape at American River 50 Mile.

Thanks to Glenn Tachiyama for his shots at Chuckanut and Peterson.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

An Applegate Lake Bedtime Story...

The Protagonists:

Abbey "How many ticks can I collect" Koerner

Todd "Sandbagger" Ragsdale

John "I'm gonna cut that switchback" Leuthold

Hal "Compression socks" Koerner

Ian "Wasn't this supposed to be an easy run?" Torrence

Aaron "Tort Claim" Brian and Scott "Where's the sun?" Jurek

Tim "Shiatsu massage" Olson

The Setting:

Applegate Lake, southern Oregon/Northern California, temps in the 50's, sun, no shirt necessary.

Views of the Red Buttes Wilderness Area, still looking cold, snowy and uninviting.

Tasty Single Track!

The Plot:

Running, 2 hours and 18 minutes.

Running, 17.6 Miles.

Running, averaging 7:54/mile on an assortment of trails, two track and roads.


The Curtain Call!


Re-introducing the Cast (l to r)Tim Olson, Aaron Brian, John Leuthold, Todd Ragsdale, Scott Jurek, Hal Koerner (not pictured: Ian Torrence and Abbey)

Your Moment of Zen:


A photo of a photo.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

TNT Visions

Almost 200 registered and 180 finished!!! The weather held out again. Erik Skaggs won for the second year in a row and lowered his own course record by 33 seconds to finish in 35:02. Jenn Shelton won the ladies race in 41:09 a new course record by six minutes and 39 seconds. In fact, five ladies broke last year's course record!!! Thanks to all of the wonderful volunteers that made the race a huge success. Thanks for all the participants in making the TNT another fine event. See you next year! Same time and place.


(l to r)Chuck Whitley, Krista Olsen, Carly Varner and Darcy Kleiman work as volunteers at this year's race...it was folks like them that made the event run smoothly!


The Start...runners and walkers head out for six miles of pure pleasure!

Joe Vale and Sarah Wilson run side by side on a portion of The Ditch Road.

Megan Heuberger and Anne Reid enjoy the course together.

Jamil Coury, from Arizona, sprints up Strawberry Hill.

Jessica and Duane Miller came up from California for the race.

Colin Anderson is happy to be a part of it all.

Jenn Shelton wins the ladies race in course record time.

Your top three finishers: (l to r)Bob Julian (third), Ryland Karlovich (second), Erik Skaggs (first)

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Tar 'n Trail Preliminary Results

Tar 'n Trail

6 mile

Ashland, OR

3/14/09

Skaggs, Erik 26 0:35:02
Karlovich, Ryland 18 0:37:24
Julian, Robert 40 0:37:52
Loftus, Justin 37 0:39:49
Olsen, Jeff 24 0:40:22
Coury, Jamil 24 0:40:25
Hakanson, Guy 21 0:40:28
Wikander, Chad 36 0:40:38
Bugg, Colin 24 0:40:44
Shelton, Jenn 25 0:41:09
Eisen, Jeremy 38 0:41:13
Luksich, Aaron 32 0:41:48
Engstrom, David 43 0:43:42
Callans, JC 41 0:43:43
Miles, Ali 25 0:43:50
Mueller, Greg 38 0:43:54
Ryan, Chuck 54 0:44:03
Cortell, Adam 37 0:44:07
Olson, Jeff 39 0:44:15
Bruner, Mike 25 0:44:23
Haug, Colin 16 0:44:25
Jantzer, Travis 15 0:44:25
Sotos, Michael 33 0:44:26
Ruhland, Zach 0:44:28
DioDato, Alex 24 0:44:36
Christensen, Zechariah 14 0:44:53
Jenks, Jocelyn 23 0:45:17
Frantz, Seena 17 0:45:27
Naversen, Douglas 60 0:45:45
Staha, Stephen 29 0:46:03
Stringer, Michael 34 0:46:17
Mondello, Freeborn 29 0:46:51
Elbert, Chad 37 0:47:00
Fralich, C.B. 36 0:47:05
Vale, Joe 34 0:47:25
Wilson, Sarah 31 0:47:25
Davis, Mike 49 0:47:54
Daniel, Paul 28 0:48:03
Avila, Thomas 21 0:48:05
Marshall, Dave 44 0:48:09
Raber, Laura 30 0:48:15
Anderson, Priscilla 32 0:48:24
Hacker, Becky 38 0:49:04
Stemple, Camden 13 0:49:25
Ewing, Hannah 16 0:49:32
Miller, Jessica 33 0:49:32
Miller, Duane 36 0:49:34
Bott, John 50 0:49:36
Potocki, Stan 52 0:49:40
Stoiber, Daniel 13 0:49:41
Faulkner, Terry 57 0:50:30
Bolz, Darrin 41 0:50:34
Combs, Chris 30 0:50:36
Wewerka, Ben 32 0:50:42
Lowe, Jacob 12 0:51:13
Brown, Zoe 12 0:51:16
Barnes, Desiree 26 0:51:32
Stemple, Lela 11 0:51:38
Rogan, Mike 49 0:51:40
Dinger, Nikki 32 0:51:52
Kiesling, Alex 14 0:52:22
Mayfield, Camelia 16 0:52:22
Caballero Uhtoff, Marie 33 0:52:36
DuVivier, Dana 36 0:52:37
Bruner, Larissa 24 0:52:39
Clementi, Maria 27 0:52:46
McPherson, Timothy 11 0:53:06
Hazel, Felicia 45 0:53:26
Spears, Leshaya 27 0:53:31
Hodge, Charles 58 0:53:40
Millan, Rene 36 0:53:41
Preboski, Leisa 42 0:53:42
Stone, Jeff 53 0:53:48
Engstrom, Amy 40 0:54:05
Reynolds, Bruce 49 0:54:26
Ellis, Tamara 39 0:54:36
Wyszynska, Karolina 31 0:54:37
Murphy, Jack 17 0:54:57
Abrans, Arnie 55 0:55:27
Minter, David 42 0:55:33
Swenson, Renee 37 0:55:36
Ward, Todd 41 0:55:39
Rogan, Mary 43 0:55:52
Hunter, Whitney 23 0:55:55
Gramley, Molly 42 0:56:00
Wiesen, Josh 28 0:56:20
Kling, Alison 53 0:56:40
Fernbacher, Tara 39 0:56:42
Strickler, Sarah 30 0:57:15
Wipfli, Tess 23 0:57:20
Olsen, Esther 16 0:57:26
Sallee, Jennifer 38 0:57:33
Hoisington, Jenine 46 0:57:43
Bosworth, Heidi 36 0:57:53
Miller, Dusty 61 0:58:08
Ali, Shahid 23 0:58:24
Zowada, Lydia 16 0:59:03
Stone, Don 52 0:59:25
Pedersen, Scott 48 0:59:40
Bischoff, Thomas 62 1:00:35
Bauer, Brooke 35 1:00:36
Sayre, Kouba 37 1:00:49
Nelson, Joseph 27 1:01:08
Luksich, Laura 29 1:01:12
Geygan, Kelly 36 1:01:22
Eadie, Annie 45 1:01:26
Fralich, Zack 9 1:01:42
Britting, Sarah 16 1:01:46
Ball, Leah 14 1:01:52
Fralich, Ian 7 1:02:09
Thompson, Darian 14 1:02:09
McFadden, Tim 34 1:02:23
O'Neill, Jocelyn 45 1:02:35
Christensen, Stephen 10 1:02:36
Thompson, Jennifer 35 1:02:52
Justice, Tracy 41 1:03:54
Pereman, Maya 27 1:04:03
Hyland, Ken 18 1:04:59
Hyland, Mike 48 1:04:59
Lovett, Rebecca 31 1:05:01
Reid, Anne 34 1:05:14
Heuberger, Megan 28 1:05:18
Pidgeon, Jessica 26 1:05:18
Murphy, Cindy 59 1:05:21
Fralich, Maisie 11 1:05:27
White, Theo 28 1:05:36
Hill, Jeremiah 11 1:05:41
Fralich, John 8 1:05:57
Reckard, Rob 37 1:05:57
Wood, George 44 1:06:00
Hill, Maegan 13 1:06:19
O'Connell, Rebecca 33 1:07:22
Randall, Lyric 16 1:07:22
Reynolds, Kathryn 16 1:07:22
Green, Diane 52 1:07:53
Livni, Joseph 12 1:07:54
Kenning, Kirsten 34 1:08:20
Haag, Steve 42 1:08:54
Cuddy, Amy 47 1:09:18
Bestor, Nancy 41 1:10:00
Levy, Kimberly 22 1:10:00
Anderson, Jessa 21 1:10:03
Levy, Lisa 27 1:10:04
Atleberry, Heidi 45 1:10:28
Murphy, Anna 15 1:10:31
Avila, Olivia 23 1:10:32
Elbert, Nikki 35 1:10:40
Boylan, Gretchen 40 1:10:45
Hecox, Kerri 36 1:10:50
Lyons, Kai 12 1:10:56
Drake Donohue, Jenny 41 1:11:03
Nixon, Laurie 34 1:11:04
Wethaiser-Kent, Dan 37 1:11:28
Anderson, Colin 25 1:11:30
Jones, Megan 23 1:11:32
Levy, Kathy 56 1:11:44
Shaskey, Norman 61 1:12:03
Winslow, Julie 41 1:12:03
Fralich, Kristian 6 1:14:13
Fralich, Erinn 38 1:14:26
Fralich, Eunora 30 1:14:26
Howell, Danica 34 1:14:27
Dugan, Chuck 37 1:14:46
Dugan, Christy 31 1:15:45
Voorheis, John 58 1:23:53
Carole, Jana 51 1:29:00
Haag, Jody 41 1:30:19
Ring, Eric 46 1:40:35
Becker, Katie 48 1:43:44
Livni, Gabriele 10 1:43:44
Ring, Barbie 54 1:43:44
Mara 45 1:47:35
Scionti, Lynne 55 1:47:35
Van Heuit, Maura 47 1:47:35
Cutler, Mary 49 1:47:45
Livni, Kat 42 1:49:19
Becker, Jayden 10 2:06:40
Becker, Ken 54 2:06:40
Livni, Maya 8 2:06:40
Ring, Hannah 12 2:06:40


180 finishers

Thursday, March 12, 2009

After All That Chocolate 5K Run

Runners await the "Go"!

What do you do after you've eaten all that chocolate? That was Karolina Wyszynska's thought after orchestrating much of the Oregon Chocolate Festival at the Ashland Springs Hotel last weekend. So...she organized the first annual "After All That Chocolate 5K" in order to burn off all those "to die for" calories.

Camden & Scott Stemple

(l to r) Eric Poole, Maria Clementi, Jocelyn Jenks

The course started at The Plaza in downtown Ashland, looped well-known Lithia Park and finished just above the Ashland Springs Hotel. The hilly, but scenic 5K, had more than 50 entrants. Here are the results:

Last Name First Name Time Bib # City State
1 Moroney Andrew 17:54:00 28 Woodinville WA
2 Poole Eric 19:39:00 55 Ashland OR
3 Shelton Jenn 19:57:00 57 Ashland OR
4 Ray Bree 20:39:00 29 Seattle WA
5 DioDato Alex 20:51:00 53 Ashland OR
6 McKay Levi 20:52:00 26 Ashland OR
7 Stemple Scott 21:20:00 41 Medford OR
8 Meriy Ray 22:20:00 30 Stillwater MN
9 Stemple Camden 22:24:00 42 Medford OR
10 Ray Suzanne 22:44:00 31 Medford OR
11 Alvarez Marco Antonio 23:05:00 32 Ashland OR
12 Hacker Becky 23:11:00 51 Ashland OR
13 Janousek James 24:20:00 25 Ashland OR
14 Jenks Jocelyn 24:27:00 38 Ashland OR
15 Clementi Maria 24:27:00 12 Ashland OR
16 Montes Joel 25:13:00 40 Ashland OR
17 Hacker John 25:24:00 52 Ashland OR
18 Brettner Nick 26:18:00 54 Ashland OR
19 Gardiner Greta 29:28:00 24 Ashland OR
20 Rudd Nina 29:40:00 27 Ashland OR
21 DuBois Tom 30:01:00 35 Ashland OR
22 Noles Dodie 30:44:00 6 Talent OR
23 Segner Doris 32:00:00 33 Ashland OR
24 McConnell Torrey 33:20:00 14 Ashland OR
25 Miller Rob 33:56:00 34 Ashland OR
26 Hearn Susan 34:33:00 61 Ashland OR
27 Friedman Jill 36:58:00 8 Ashland OR
28 Ogden James 37:11:00 37 Vocaville CA
29 Nasra Ali 37:40:00 47 Ashland OR
30 Ogden Bonnie 39:05:00 36 Vocaville CA
31 Oppenheimer Priscilla 40:19:00 15 Ashland OR
32 McCloskey Susan 49:24:00 44 Ashland OR
33 O'Brien Kate 49:24:00 43 Ashland OR
34 Weber Meredeth 51:38:00 56 Central Point OR
35 Owens Ava 51:41:00 22 Talent OR
36 Reynolds Anji 52:04:00 4 Ashland OR
37 Lair Cathi 52:05:00 21 Ashland OR
38 Bloom Laura 52:07:00 3 Ashland OR
39 Downey Magee 52:09:00 20 Ashland OR
40 Hood Wendy 52:11:00 5 Ashland OR
41 Clark Habeeba 52:11:00 2 Ashland OR
42 Duerfeldt Emily 57:55:00 7 McMinville OR
43 Early Selisha 1:01:02 50 Ashland OR
44 Christensen Alexis 1:01:02 58 Talent OR
45 Harper Hillary 1:02:00 60 Ashland OR
46 Glass Michelle 1:02:00 10 Ashland OR
47 DeRosier Ava 1:02:00 11 Ashland OR
48 Tattershall Paige 1:02:00 48 Ashland OR
49 McMillan Melissa 1:02:00 9 Ashland OR

The Ladies at the finish. (l to r) Jenn Shelton, Susanne Ray, Bree Ray, Greta Gardiner, Becky Hacker

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Races Galore

So much going on, so little time...

Let's start with this weekend:

The First Annual "After All That Chocolate" 5K gets underway at 8AM on Sunday morning at The Plaza in downtown Ashland. The course circumnavigates Lithia Park. It's run in conjunction with the Oregon Chocolate Festival at the Ashland Springs Hotel. Want info about the race or the Chocolate Festival go here.

Can't make it Sunday morning, try the Shamrock Five Mile Run at Crater High School in Central Point, OR. The race starts at 9AM on Saturday morning. It's an official Pear Blossom Run tuneup. Flat and fast! Go to the Southern Oregon Runners web site for more information.

Don't Forget next weekend is the second annual Tar N' Trail Six Mile Run. The run starts at 9AM at Lithia Park. It's the only organized race that runs the trails through Lithia Park! A challenging and beautiful mix of trails and roads. Go to the Rogue Valley Runners web site for entries and information.

Looking forward, there are two great events coming up:

The Siskiyou Outback 15 and 50 Kilometer Trail Races just opened for registration. These two races, that traverse the Pacific Crest Trail near Mt. Ashland, are bound to fill quickly this year. Don't get left out! The race falls under new management this year John Price and Rob Cain bring their excellent organizational and people skills to the task. Go to the newly revamped SOB web site for entry and course information.

Entry for the Pompadour Half Marathon is now open. Don't waste your excellent Pear Blossom training, keep it up and increase the challenge. Try this course that takes place on the roads east of Ashland. Go to Rogue Valley Runners web site for more information. Oh yeah, there will be prize money for the first three men and women!!!

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Trails, Roads and Volcanos

Over the past several weeks some Rogue Valley Runners have been turning in some impressive racing results.

Running to the Volcanoes in Hawaii!
Back in late January, Ashlander Jenn Shelton traveled across the Pacific Ocean to visit our 50th state. Though she didn't soak in as many rays as she had hoped (she was visiting the rainy side of the islands) she did capture a victory at the Hilo to Volcano 50 Kilometer Ultramarathon. The uphill road race started in the ocean-side town of Hilo, HI and traveled up to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Jenn won the ladies race, finished third overall and set a new course record for women; 4 hours, 15 minutes, and 10 seconds.

Fall Creek Reservoir
This past weekend Phoenix, OR's John Leuthold went north to Lowell, OR to use a comp entry he won back at a race on New Year's Eve. John started the Fall Creek Run Around 20 Miler, a mix of asphalt and gravel roads, and found himself running in the lead after a few miles. Challenged once just past the half-way mark, John "put the hammer down" and gapped the competition for the win. John turned in a 2:08, roughly three minutes ahead of second place.

Marilyn Bailey running at Hagg Lake.
A huge congratulations to Marilyn Bailey and Ben Benjamin (both of Ashland, OR) who, two weeks ago, successfully finished the Hagg Lake 50 Kilometer Ultramarathon. This northern Oregon ultra is known for it's mud, but this year, things weren't so bad. Ben finished his fourth Hagg in 6:04:15 and Marilyn Bailey crossed the line in 7:00:35, her seventh Hagg Lake 50K finish.

Ben Benjamin at Hagg Lake
Nice work everyone!!!(photos of Ben and Marilyn were taken by Thomas Riley)