Run It Fast®

Born to Run is a mixture of races that take place in Los Olivos, California. The races were created and hosted by famed runner Luis Escobar.

Born to Run is a bit of a cult race with a hippie-like Woodstock meets Burning Man vibe to it with good music, large consumptions of alcohol, and other extracurricular activities, as well as a bit of running. This year’s event had distances of 200mi, 100mi, 60mi, 30mi, 10mi, and a 1mi beer run.

Run It Fast® member, and good friend, Jeff Liu had selected this race a few weeks prior to run as his 4th 100 miler. I wanted to be there to support him but was undecided on running it until three days before the race when I signed up. That’s enough time before a 100 to decide to run it, right?

Naturally, I was late leaving Los Angeles, traffic piled up, and I finally arrived at the BTR ranch about 10 minutes before the race was to commence. Since I had signed up at the last minute there was some confusion as to who had my race bib. I finally located it and rushed to get ready in my truck as Jeff waited shaking his head at my rushed entry onto the BTR scene. Jeff had been there for several hours, all set up, laid back in his Lazy Boy recliner soaking in the BTR vibes, scents, and mentally preparing to run 100 miles. I finally told Jeff to head on over to the starting line as I wrestled with some bags to find socks and Gu’s. Shortly after, I heard the final call to start the race and ran the 1/10th of a mile to the starting line.

Right before the gun went off, I was able to locate the other RIF members there including Christy Scott, Liu, Jeff Genova, Martine Sesma. I found everyone from RIF except Ed ‘the Jester’ Ettinghausen, and Ed is very hard to miss. Not being able to find Ed before a 100 he’s supposed to be at (which is about every one) is like not hearing a screaming kid at Chuck E Cheese at closing time.

Luis fired the shotgun and we started the Born to Run 100 mile race as the sun was starting to set on the ranch. I spent the first mile chatting with Christy and then with Andrew Snope, from Georgia, whom I met back in August at the Six Days in the Dome races in Alaska. I then caught Scott Newton, from Soul to Sole, and we ran the next mile or two together before he took off and left me as I helped a poor oak tree from the tough California drought with a solid 53-seconds of hydration. It was during those early miles that I realized all the things I had forgotten to do in my mad rush to make it to the starting line. The most glaring was that I forgot to put on my Zensah® calf compression sleeves. It was not a major deal though since the race would return by my truck at the 10-mile point.

The first 10 miles was on what was referred to as the ‘pink’ loop, pink ribbon…pink loop.  The pink loop winds all over before bringing runners back to race headquarters. Then we headed out on a 10 mile ‘yellow’ loop (yellow ribbon) that returned us to the same spot as well. You do each loop 5x to reach the 100 miles. I’ll give Liu a pass because he had never done the race before, but Liu, Newton, the Jester, and everyone I spoke to before the race talked about how BTR was a fast course with some easy rolling hills. Four miles into that first ‘pink’ loop and I thought this isn’t that rolling or that easy. As fate would play out the ‘pink’ loop was the easier loop of the two. SMH!

I finished the first pink loop in 1:29 which was pretty fast, too fast actually! I had run it thinking that the yellow loop would be as friendly or more friendly.  Upon getting back to my truck I killed several minutes, finding and putting on my Zensah’s, reloading my bottle, etc. I think I also grabbed my headlamp because the race had started at 6pm, and the sun would be down before I got back around. I headed out on the first ‘yellow’ loop and ran the first couple miles of it with Snope. He’s a super-fast young dude who is usually bare foot or in some Gandhi sandals. We talked a bit, co-mingled in the sunset, and I finally found some weeds to water so he’d get on his fast way. I was running too hard to keep up with his ‘easy’ pace.

That ‘yellow’ loop was no joke. Yellow is supposed to be the color of friendship I thought, but ‘yellow’ was not mellow and slapped me around a bit. I quickly realized that this course was going to be challenging and that I needed to figure out how and when to attack it. It’s one of the advantages of doing a looped course. You’ll be back on subsequent loops so know where you want to run, power hike, let gravity pull you (and where the aid stations are). I got back to home plate finishing my first ‘yellow’ loop in 2:04 for that 10mi and 3:33 for the first 20 miles.

Somewhere between 15-20 miles into BTR my right achilles felt fried and like it was on the verge of popping. My lower back decided to join in around the same time and give me a two piece harmony of pain that couldn’t help me to not think that the next track to be played would be ‘Symphony of Destruction.’ I immediately prepared myself that it might be near impossible to finish 85 more miles and I might ring up my first DNF…after 143 races. After all it’s only a matter of time…I started to prepare myself for all outcomes. When a DNF does finally happen, I’ll just start another streak and hope it’s just as long as the first. However, I knew as long as I could keep taking a step forward that I would continue.

The next ‘pink’ was slower but felt comfortable, followed by a slower ‘yellow’ as my run went deep into the night. My third time around was my slowest on each side, but I knew it was the last miles before the sun reappeared. My aggressive goal coming into the race was to hit 60 miles in the first 12 hours. I think in reality I hit about 57 miles in the first 12 hours. My achilles had slowed me a bit as had hunger and a bit of sleepiness throughout the night, but overall I was pleased with my movement over the first 60 miles that brought me back to BTR headquarters with the completion of three big loops (3 pink and 3 yellow). It took me 13hr 10min to do 60 miles. During that time I hit 50 miles in 10hr 27min.

With daylight anew, I felt confident with 60 miles completed. With the light it’s easier to feel more confident about your footing. It’s no myth that the sun brings energy with it as well. Also with the daylight there would be no more green eyes glowing back at me like they had throughout the night. The ranch had lots of cattle, deer, and other wildlife that kept you alert during the night. Like most trail ultras at night though, you are just going on blind faith and eventually get to the point where you don’t care what is out there…and even further to the point that it usually gets so bad during a 100 that you hope something will attack you and take you out of your misery, but even the wildest of wildlife has standards and will thumb it’s nose at you at that point.

On the fourth set of pink and yellow loops I was strong. I had my 2nd strongest pink loop on that fourth round and also my 2nd strongest yellow loop of the five total completed. I did the combined set of 20 miles from 60-80 in 4:33 (2:00/2:33). This left an ‘easy’ pink that would bring me back to BTR headquarters at 90 miles, leaving the tough yellow loop that I could simply mark off one mile at a time.

The last few times back to BTR HQ Tony Scott, Christy’s husband, who has helped me many times during the Strolling Jim 40 Miler in Tennessee, made sure I had was well fed and I had anything I could think of as he went above and beyond to help me have a good race. I’m very appreciative for Tony’s kindness and help during BTR & SJ40 two weeks before. His tent and food spread became my aid station. Tony had some great lil turkey sandwiches, with pepper jack, on Hawaiian bread that were amazing. I almost turned around once after heading out on a loop to get a few more.  And of course he had Southern favorites, Zebra Cakes and Oatmeal Pies.

During that last pink loop I finally found ‘The Jester.’ I had not seen him before or during the race so I assumed he was a no-show. When I lapped Ed he told me that he had been late to the start (sound familiar?) and had started 30 minutes late. It’s always good to see Ed. He was having a rough day but would go on to complete his 100th 100-miler. Yeah, that’s a pretty amazing number. The whole Jester outfit can really detract at times from what a great runner Ed is and has been for a long time.  He holds a 100 PR of like 14:50.

Around mile 80 I started hallucinating that I saw a hot air ballon with the same colors of my race bib.

Pink 80-90 went smoothly and I headed out quickly for my very last loop, my last yellow loop. I was ready to finish and for several hours I had kept my focus on the number 22:30 to keep me tuned in and keep me tight on the rail to try to finish this race without burning too much more time than necessary. It’s 100% that RIF attitude of maximizing potential and seeing what we are truly capable of doing. On that last yellow it had warmed up as it was now the hottest part of the day. I was pushing pretty hard to finish, and I started to get a bit light headed coming up one of the long climbs. I dialed it back a bit, slowed down on that last big climb, and waited to turn it back up when the next descent hit.

Around mile 96ish I went down that nasty triple-dip ridge descent for the last time. This left close to 3 miles to go and with that came a good feeling that my 30th 100-mile finish was in the bag. I enjoyed those last miles and kind of played the entire race throughout my head again as I also wondered how Christy, Jeff, and Ed were doing on the course. I had not seen Jeff in about 25 miles when we crossed at one point at an intersection. I kept hoping he had not DNF’d and succumbed to the vices of BTR HQ.

I then came down the last mile, through the BTR alley of cheering & debauchery, and crossed the finish line in 22:16:51. It was good enough for 5th overall. RIF’s Jeff Genova, the official race photographer, gave me my finisher’s amulet and buckle moments after crossing the finish.

I was pleased with my finish and my time. I had battled for many miles against my achilles, gutted it through certain sections, but had given it my all every step of the way. I could have saved more time by being more organized with my gear/food/etc at my truck where I burned more time than I should have, but that is the only thing I felt like I could have done better. My moving time was 20:27:53….so I could have done better and been more efficient at my truck when I stopped at it for sure. I felt like I minimized time at the actual aid stations.

Here is a look at some of my splits from the 2015 Born to Run 100:

Pink Loops: 1:29, 2:04, 2:17, 2:00, 2:09
Yellow Loops: 2:04, 2:33, 2:43, 2:33, 2:24
20 Mile Loops: 3:33, 4:37, 5:00, 4:33, 4:33
10-1:29, 20-3:33, 30-5:37, 40-8:10, 50-10:27, 60-13:10, 70-15:10, 80-17:43, 90-19:52, 100-22:16

View Born to Run 100 by Joshua Holmes on Strava
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Christy Scott finished sub 24 in 23:50:22 and was 1st female. Jeff Liu finished in 25:52:37. Ed ‘Jester’ Ettinghausen finished in 29:18:34 for his 100th 100-mile finish. Martine Sesma PR’d the 30-mile race in 6:00:14.

The great Oswaldo Lopez won the BTR 100mi in 17:10:07, Andrew Snope was 2nd in 17:45:22, and Ben Holmes was 3rd in 18:45:24.

Born to Run is laid back and fun for those there running one of the races, but is also a fun atmosphere for those not running as well with the live music, spirits, etc. The course is more challenging than advertised or friends remembered from prior years, but it’s a pretty course with great views and wildlife throughout.

I hope to be able to make it back next year!

– joshua holmes (RIF #1)
Run It Fast®

Run It Fast is happy to announce that RIF #121 Ed Ettinghausen is our Run It Fast® Extreme Racer of the Year. Ed accumulated an Extreme Racer record of 4,803.8 points for the year.

Ed ‘The Jester’ Ettinghausen had a record breaking year in setting the Guiness World Record for ‘The Most 100 Mile Races Finished in a Year’ with 40 finishes of at least 100 miles or more. A truly amazing feat that should be celebrated! One for which Run It Fast® is extremely proud of The Jester.

Run It Fast members compete throughout the year in the Extreme Racer Standings. Each runner is given 1 point for every race mile they run during races they finish.

RIF #190 John Kent Leighton finished in second place, for the second consecutive year, with 1,703.8 points.

For the third consecutive year, RIF #1 Joshua Holmes finished in third place. He ended 2014 with 1,644.4 points.

Run It Fast® – Extreme Racer Top 10 Final Results for 2014

1. Ed Ettinghausen – 4,803.8 (RIF #121)
2. John Kent Leighton – 1,703.8  (RIF #190)
3. Joshua Holmes – 1,644.4 (RIF #1)
4. Diane Bolton – 1,486.56 (RIF #159)
5. George Southgate – 1,452.6 (RIF #279)
6. Jennifer Hatcher – 1,187.2 (RIF #323)
7. Carol Earles – 985.2 (RIF #287)
8. Shane Tucker – 952.86 (RIF #337)
9. Heather Zeigler – 929.3 (RIF #246)
10. Hideki Kinoshita – 909.0 (RIF #88)

Extreme Racer Male Results for 2014

1. Ed Ettinghausen – 4803.8 (RIF #121)
2. John Kent Leighton – 1703.8 (RIF #190)
3. Joshua Holmes – 1644.4 (RIF #1)
4. George Southgate – 1452.6 (RIF #279)
5. Shane Tucker – 952.86 (RIF #337)
6. Hideki Kinoshita – 909.0 (RIF #88)
7. Denis McCarthy – 821.52 (RIF #293)
8. Scotty Winston – 623.7 (RIF #364)
9. Bill Wells – 607.4 (RIF #327)
10. Rob Distante – 575.24 (RIF #259)
11. Jeff Le – 547.6 (RIF #248)
12. Arland Blanton – 496.7 (RIF #290)
13. Danny Staggs – 468.7 (RIF #186)
14. Jeff Liu – 454.4 (RIF #275)
15. Mark Ogletree – 360.9 (RIF #247)
16. Ben Pennington – 207.6 (RIF #315)
17. Nathan Bass – 189.8 (RIF #174)
18. Jeff Van Demark – 177.8 (RIF #322)
19. Stephen Griffin – 172.5 (RIF #48)
20. Bill Baker – 160.6 (RIF #196)
21. Robin Robbins – 142.1 (RIF #33)
22. Eric Waterman – 133.33 (RIF #289)
23. Steven Reagan – 127.1 (RIF #157)
24. Eric Spencer – 121.23 (RIF #320)
25. Alex Barrientos – 41.7 (RIF #258)
26. Dennis Arriaga – 39.3 (RIF #140)
27. Brennan Thompson – 37.4 (RIF #274)
28. Jason Scott – 26.2 (RIF #265)

Congrats to RIF #159 Diane Bolton who is Run It Fast’s Extreme Racer Top Female for 2014 with 1,486.56 points. It’s Diane’s third consecutive year to have the most race miles of any female in Run It Fast.

Second place female goes to RIF #323 Jennifer Hatcher with a total of 1,187.2 points.

RIF #287 Carol Earles, with 985.2 points finished in third place barely edging out RIF #246 Heather Zeigler who had 929.3 points.

Extreme Racer Female Results for 2014

1. Diane Bolton – 1,486.56 (RIF #159)
2. Jennifer Hatcher – 1,187.2 (RIF #323)
3. Carol Earles – 985.2 (RIF #287)
4. Heather Zeigler – 929.3 (RIF #246)
5. Suzanne Michelson – 773.8 (RIF #280)
6. Belinda Young – 707.7 (RIF #358)
7. Robin Mancinelli – 695.5 (RIF #134)
8. Amanda Staggs – 504.2 (RIF #210)
9. Christy Scott – 501.5 (RIF #231)
10. Kim Crowe – 478.0 (RIF #245)
11. Donna England – 370.63 (RIF #277)
12. Alicia Eno – 358.4 (RIF #126)
13. Christy Bowers – 309.47 (RIF #60)
14. Marj Mitchell – 300.4 (RIF #4)
15. Tiffani Glass – 284.9 (RIF #328)
16. Julia Beavers – 277.2 (RIF #339)
17. Shannon Miller – 233.8 (RIF #338)
18. Sue Stephens-Wright – 227.09 (RIF #321)
19. Amber Goetz-Bouchard – 172.8 (RIF #15)
20. Michelle Lenahan – 114.8 (RIF #283)
21. Lisa Gonzales – 92.8 (RIF #5)
22. Kristen Love – 26.2 (RIF #238)
23. Natalie Torres – 13.1 (RIF #72)
24. Deb Palmer Distante – 13.1 (RIF #351)

Congratulations to our winners and all of those that placed in the top 10, to those who hit their mileage goals for the year, completed a new distance or ran a PR this year! Remember, it’s not really about how many miles you run or how fast you run them. It’s about the enjoyment of the sport and making so many new friends along the way.

Another year has come and gone, and many miles were shared with friends or tread with quiet solitude. We cannot count the number of laughs or painful tears shed, the number of toenails lost, gels eaten or swear words spit out in a fit of exhaustion and frustration, so we count the distance instead, which is a mild representation of the journey we have traveled.

Many do not understand our masochism or the amount of soul-searching, gut-wrenching determination and heart that goes into the art of distance running. But as fellow runners, we can all appreciate and understand someone’s pain and suffering, joy and victory that is represented by the label of their yearly mileage.

So as the year comes to a close, let’s take a moment to celebrate those who have both suffered and celebrated the most this year.

As an added bonus, here are some stats to wrap your mind around:

• The RIF men participating in the Extreme Racer competition raced a total of 18,000.28 miles in 2014.
• The RIF women participating in the Extreme Racer competition raced a total of 11,043.64 miles in 2014.
• That makes a total of 29,043.93 miles raced by RIF members in 2014, but ONLY those who entered their race miles for the year.
• Only 52 RIF members entered their yearly race miles for 2014 and RIF now has over 400 members.
• Assuming these numbers are a good representation of RIF in it’s entirety, that would be about 232,351.44 miles RACED by RIF members in one year.
• That’s a little over 9 times around the Earth’s equator.
• I wonder what the number would be if we counted training miles, too.

That’s a lot of mileage. You guys are so amazing and inspiring. What an honor to be a part of such an incredible group!

All-Time Records

1,000 Point Extreme Racer Club

1. Ed Ettinghausen – 4,803.8  (2014) – Overall Winner
2. Steve Hughes – 2,742.4 (2012) – Overall Winner
3. Diane Bolton – 1,961.9 (2012) – Female Winner/2nd Overall
4. David Wingard – 1,928.3 (2013) – Overall Winner
5. John Kent Leighton – 1,910.9 (2013) – 2nd Overall
6. Joshua Holmes – 1,834.7 (2013) – 3rd Overall
7. Diane Bolton – 1,783.45 (2013) – Female Winner
8. John Kent Leighton – 1,703.8 (2014) – 2nd Overall
9. Joshua Holmes – 1,652.1 (2012) – 3rd Overall
10. John Kent Leighton – 1,648.88 (2012)
11. Joshua Holmes – 1,644.4 (2014) – 3rd Overall
12. George Southgate – 1,524.04 (2013)
13. Diane Bolton – 1,486.56 (2014) – Female Winner
14. George Southgate – 1,452.6 (2014)
15. Carol Goslin – 1,388.8 (2013)
16. Carol Earles – 1,284.19 (2013)
17. Carol Goslin – 1,188.3 (2012)
18. Jennifer Hatcher – 1,187.2 (2014)
19. Hideki Kinoshita – 1,153.8 (2012)
20. Denis McCarthy – 1,117.36 (2013)
21. Steven Lee – 1,044.4 (2012)
22. Kerri Haskins – 1,026.5 (2013)

Extreme Racer Winners By Year

• 2014 – Ed Ettinghausen (Final Standings)
• 2013 – David Wingard (Final Standings)
• 2012 – Steve Hughes (Final Standings)

[Extreme Racer points are rewarded per each racing mile completed. Example: marathon = 26.2 points, half marathon 13.1 points, etc.]

November was a fun month, full of running and racing. Run It Fast hosted a series of races after Thanksgiving, where many RIF members earned bling, reunited with old friends, made new ones, and accrued race miles along the way.

In coming down to the end of the year, the Extreme Racer contest is getting very close and it will be interesting next month to see everyone’s final standings. For our leading men, we’ve had a little shake-up. Holding the lead is RIF #121 Ed Ettinghausen with 3963.8 points, who this month broke the world record for the number of 100 mile races run in one year with 37 races. Apparently, he still plans to run 3 more this year to finish with an even 40. Congratulations to Ed! Taking over second place is RIF #190 John Kent Leighton with 1541.1 points. Now in third place is RIF #1 Joshua Holmes with 1538.5 points.

All of our leading females have managed to hold on to their respective spots, for now. Coming in first is RIF #159 Diane Bolton with 1358.36 points. Second place is RIF #323 Jennifer Hatcher with 1105.5 points.  Third place is RIF #287 Carol Earles with 985.2 points.

Here are the Extreme Racer Standings through November:

Extreme Racer Top 10 Leaderboard

1. Ed Ettinghausen – 3963.8 (RIF #121)
2. John Kent Leighton – 1541.1 (RIF #190)
3. Joshua Holmes – 1538.5 (RIF #1)
4. Diane Bolton – 1358.36 (RIF #159)
5. George Southgate – 1313.53 (RIF #279)
6. Jennifer Hatcher – 1105.5 (RIF #323)
7. Carol Earles – 985.2 (RIF #287)
8. Hideki Kinoshita – 909 (RIF #88)
9. Shane Tucker – 896.76 (RIF #337)
10. Heather Zeigler – 863.8 (RIF #246)

Extreme Racer Male Leaderboard

1. Ed Ettinghausen – 3963.8 (RIF #121)
2. John Kent Leighton – 1541.1 (RIF #190)
3. Joshua Holmes – 1538.5 (RIF #1)
4. George Southgate – 1313.53 (RIF #279)
5. Hideki Kinoshita – 909 (RIF #88)
6. Shane Tucker – 896.76 (RIF #337)
7. Denis McCarthy – 742.92 (RIF #263)
8. Bill Wells – 607.4 (RIF #327)
9. Scotty Winston – 556.5 (RIF #364)
10. Jeff Le – 547.6 (RIF #248)
11. Danny Staggs – 468.7 (RIF #186)
12. Rob Distante – 462.135 (RIF #259)
13. Jeff Liu – 454.4 (RIF #275)
14. Arland Blanton – 243.7 (RIF #290)
15. Ben Pennington – 207.6 (RIF #315)
16. Stephen Griffin – 172.5 (RIF #48)
17. Bill Baker – 160.6 (RIF #196)
18. Jeff Van Demark – 150.1 (RIF #322)
19. Nathan Bass – 139.2 (RIF #174)
20. Eric Waterman – 133.33 (RIF #289)
21. Steven Reagan – 127.1 (RIF #157)
22. Eric Spencer – 121.23 (RIF #320)
23. Robin Robbins – 98.7 (RIF #33)
24. Alex Barrientos – 41.7 (RIF #258)
25. Dennis Arriaga – 39.3 (RIF #140)
26. Brennan Thompson – 37.4 (RIF #274)
27. Jason Scott – 26.2 (RIF #265)

Extreme Racer Female Leaderboard

1. Diane Bolton – 1358.6 (RIF #159)
2. Jennifer Hatcher – 1105.5 (RIF #323)
3. Carol Earles – 985.2 (RIF #287)
4. Heather Zeigler – 863.8 (RIF #246)
5. Robin Mancinelli – 695.5 (RIF #134)
6. Suzanne Michelson – 695.2 (RIF #280)
7. Belinda Young – 662.8 (RIF #358)
8. Christy Scott – 422.2 (RIF #231)
9. Kim Crowe – 421.8 (RIF #245)
10. Donna England – 370.63 (RIF #277)
11. Amanda Staggs – 367.4 (RIF #210)
12. Alicia Eno – 358.4 (RIF #126)
13. Marj Mitchell – 300.4 (RIF #4)
14. Christy Bowers – 280.17 (RIF #60)
15. Tiffani Glass – 241.5 (RIF #328)
16. Julia Beavers – 233.1 (RIF #339)
17. Shannon Miller – 229.5 (RIF #338)
18. Sue Stephens-Wright – 227.09 (RIF #321)
19. Amber Goetz-Bouchard – 172.8 (RIF #15)
20. Michelle Lenahan – 114.8 (RIF #283)
21. Lisa Gonzales – 70.4 (RIF #5)
22. Kristen Love – 26.2 (RIF #238)
23. Natalie Torres – 13.1 (RIF #72)
24. Deb Palmer Distante – 13.1 (RIF #351)

With only a few weeks left in the year, I hope everyone takes the opportunity to get in as many race miles as possible. Next month will tell the tale of the most extreme racer in Run It Fast.

Have a wonderful Christmas, everyone! And a fun and safe New Year!

[Extreme Racer points are rewarded per each racing mile completed. Example: marathon = 26.2 points, half marathon 13.1 points, etc.]

Ed Ettinghausen, known in most circles at ‘The Jester,’ tonight set the World Record for Most 100 Milers in a calendar year with his 37th of 2014. He broke the old record held by the great Liz Bauer who had accumulated 36 of them back in 2012.

The record tying and record breaking runs took place in Bonita, California at a small event titled aptly Jester’s World Record Run. He finished #37 with a time of 36 hours 17 minutes.

Finisher’s of JWRR received a belt buckle with, you guessed it, the Jester’s face on it.

The Jester still has plans to run three more 100 milers in 2014 to finish the year with 40.

Congrats to Ed and his wife Martha (super crew) on this impressive accomplishment.

[Ed (RIF #121) is a member of Run It Fast – The Club since 2012]

We are down to two months left in 2014. It is crazy how fast time goes by. Especially when you’re having fun! And what’s more fun than racing, right?

I love watching the race points accrue each month and seeing how the lineup changes. We have had a bit of a shake-up in the top male leaderboard. Holding on to first place, of course, is RIF #121 Ed Ettinghausen. Ed “The Jester”, after updating his points and tacking on an extra almost 1000 points, comes in at 3463.8 points for the year through October. Holding on to second place is RIF #1 Joshua Holmes with 1305.3 points. However, RIF #190 John Kent Leighton has taken over third place with 1182.9 points. Way to go, John!

The ladies are all holding on to their spots, for the time being. In first place with 1212.56 points is RIF #159 Diane Bolton. Coming in at  a close second is RIF #323 Jennifer Hatcher with 1026.9 points. Also close behind in third place is RIF #287 Carol Earles with 867.3 points. I will be interested to see where each of these ladies stand at the end of November.

Here are the standings through October:

Extreme Racer Top 10 Leaderboard

1. Ed Ettinghausen – 3463.8 (RIF #121)
2. Joshua Holmes – 1305.3 (RIF #1)
3. Diane Bolton – 1212.56 (RIF #159)
4. John Kent Leighton – 1182.9 (RIF #190)
5. George Southgate – 1063.63 (RIF #279)
6. Jennifer Hatcher – 1026.9 (RIF #323)
7. Carol Earles – 867.3 (RIF #287)
8. Shane Tucker – 802.66 (RIF #337)
9. Hideki Kinoshita – 751.8 (RIF #88)
10. Heather Zeigler – 745.2 (RIF #246)

Extreme Racer Male Leaderboard

1. Ed Ettinghausen – 3463.8 (RIF #121)
2. Joshua Holmes – 1305.3 (RIF #1)
3. John Kent Leighton – 1182.9 (RIF #190)
4. George Southgate – 1063.63 (RIF #279)
5. Shane Tucker – 802.66 (RIF #337)
6. Hideki Kinoshita – 751.8 (RIF #88)
7. Denis McCarthy – 638.12 (RIF #263)
8. Bill Wells – 607.4 (RIF #327)
9. Jeff Le – 547.6 (RIF #248)
10. Danny Staggs – 468.7 (RIF #186)
11. Jeff Liu – 454.4 (RIF #275)
12. Rob Distante – 255.81 (RIF #259)
13. Arland Blanton – 243.7 (RIF #290)
14. Ben Pennington – 207.6 (RIF #315)
15. Bill Baker – 160.6 (RIF 196)
16. Eric Waterman – 133.33 (RIF #289)
17. Jeff Van Demark – 130.8 (RIF #322)
18. Eric Spencer – 121.23 (RIF #320)
19. Nathan Bass – 106.8 (RIF #174)
20. Stephen Griffin – 88.9 (RIF #48)
21. Robin Robbins – 85.6 (RIF #33)
22. Alex Barrientos – 41.7 (RIF #258)
23. Dennis Arriaga – 39.3 (RIF #140)
24. Brennan Thompson – 37.4 (RIF #274)
25. Jason Scott – 26.2 (RIF #265)
26. Steven Reagan – 16.2 (RIF #157)

Extreme Racer Female Leaderboard

1. Diane Bolton – 1212.56 (RIF #159)
2. Jennifer Hatcher – 1026.9 (RIF #323)
3. Carol Earles – 867.3 (RIF #287)
4. Heather Zeigler – 745.2 (RIF #246)
5. Robin Mancinelli – 613 (RIF #134)
6. Suzanne Michelson – 610.4 (RIF #280)
7. Belinda Young – 589.7 (RIF #358)
8. Christy Scott – 422.2 (RIF #231)
9. Kim Crowe – 371.8 (RIF #245)
10. Donna England – 370.63 (RIF #277)
11. Amanda Staggs – 367.4 (RIF #210)
12. Alicia Eno – 319.1 (RIF #126)
13. Christy Bowers – 253.97 (RIF #60)
14. Marj Mitchell – 248 (RIF #4)
15. Julia Beavers – 233.1 (RIF #339)
16. Tiffani Glass – 189.1 (RIF #328)
17. Amber Goetz-Bouchard – 172.8 (RIF #15)
18. Shannon Miller – 153.3 (RIF #338)
19. Sue Stephens-Wright – 133.99 (RIF #321)
20. Michelle Lenahan – 114.8 (RIF #283)
21. Lisa Gonzales – 48 (RIF #5)
22. Kristen Love – 26.2 (RIF #238)
23. Natalie Torres – 13.1 (RIF #72)
24. Deb Palmer-Distante – 13.1 (RIF #351)

Even though there are only two months left in the year, there are still a lot of great races where you can rack up on points. I know several RIF members dominated at Tunnel Hill 100/50 miler this weekend, and other races coming up like Run It Fast’s own Black Diamond, Double Black Diamond, and Sequoyah at the end of this month. Anything can happen.

Whatever you do, keep running, keep racing and keep inspiring others.

[Extreme Racer points are rewarded per each racing mile completed. Example: marathon = 26.2 points, half marathon 13.1 points, etc.]

Happy October! Autumn, my favorite season, is now in full swing and this is one of the best racing months of the year. The Extreme Racer competition is getting very exciting and there are only 3 months left in the year. However, this time of year hosts some of the best races in the world of running.

Continuing to lead the way on the male leaderboard and set the standard for all things awesome is RIF #121 Ed Ettinghausen with 2,584.8 points. Next is RIF #1 Joshua Holmes with 1,205.3 points. Not far behind Joshua in third place is RIF #270 George Southgate with 999.53 points.

On the female leaderboard, RIF #159 Diane Bolton holds the lead with 1,083.96 points and is closely followed by RIF #323 Jennifer Hatcher with 935.2 points. RIF #287 Carol Earles is in third place with 768.4 points.

Extreme Racer Top 10 Leaderboard

1. Ed Ettinghausen – 2584.8 (RIF #121)
2. Joshua Holmes – 1205.3 (RIF #1)
3. Diane Bolton – 1083.96 (RIF #159)
4. George Southgate – 999.53 (RIF#279)
5. John Kent Leighton – 985.1 (RIF #190)
6. Jennifer Hatcher – 935.2 (RIF #323)
7. Carol Earles – 768.4 (RIF #287)
8. Heather Zeigler – 692.8 (RIF #246)
9. Hideki Kinoshita – 673.2 (RIF #88)
10. Shane Tucker – 637.16 (RIF #337)

Extreme Racer Male Leaderboard

1. Ed Ettinghausen – 2584.8 (RIF #121)
2. Joshua Holmes – 1205.3 (RIF #1)
3. George Southgate – 999.53 (RIF #279)
4. John Kent Leighton – 985.1 (RIF #190)
5. Shane Tucker – 768.16 (RIF #337)
6. Hideki Kinoshita – 673.2 (RIF #88)
7. Bill Wells – 568.1 (RIF #327)
8. Denis McCarthy – 533.32 (RIF #263)
9. Jeff Le – 516.6 (RIF #248)
10. Danny Staggs – 468.7 (RIF #186)
11. Jeff Liu – 454.4 (RIF #275)
12. Rob Distante – 255.8 (RIF #259)
13. Ben Pennington – 207.6 (RIF #315)
14. Bill Baker – 160.6 (RIF #196)
15. Arland Blanton – 160.3 (RIF #290)
16. Eric Waterman – 133.33 (RIF #289)
17. Eric Spencer – 121.23 (RIF #320)
18. Jeff Van Demark – 111.5 (RIF #322)
19. Nathan Bass – 106.8 (RIF #174)
20. Stephen Griffin – 88.9 (RIF #48)
21. Robin Robbins – 85.6 (RIF #33)
22. Alex Barrientos – 41.7 (RIF #258)
23. Dennis Arriaga – 39.3 (RIF #140)
24. Brennan Thompson – 37.4 (RIF #274)
25. Jason Scott – 26.2 (RIF #265)
26. Steven Reagan – 16.2 (RIF #157)

Extreme Racer Female Leaderboard

1. Diane Bolton – 1083.96 (RIF #159)
2. Jennifer Hatcher – 935.2 (RIF #323)
3. Carol Earles – 768.4 (RIF #287)
4. Heather Zeigler – 692.8 (RIF #246)
5. Robin Mancinelli – 555.6 (RIF #134)
6. Suzanne Michelson – 545.6 (RIF #280)
7. Belinda Young – 532.5 (RIF #358)
8. Kim Crowe – 340.8 (RIF #245)
9. Donna England – 339.9 (RIF #277)
10. Christy Scott – 326.2 (RIF #231)
11. Amanda Staggs – 288.8 (RIF #210)
12. Alicia Eno – 272 (RIF #126)
13. Julia Beavers – 233.1 (RIF #339)
14. Marj Mitchell – 218.7 (RIF #4)
15. Christy Bowers – 210.57 (RIF #60)
16. Tiffani Glass – 172.9 (RIF #328)
17. Amber Goetz-Bouchard – 172.8 (RIF #15)
18. Sue Stephens-Wright – 133.99 (RIF #321)
19. Shannon Miller – 127.1 (RIF #338)
20. Michelle Lenahan – 114.8 (RIF #283)
21. Kristen Love – 26.2 (RIF #238)
22. Lisa Gonzales – 22.5 (RIF #5)
23. Natalie Torres – 13.1 (RIF #72)
24. Deb Palmer-Distante – 13.1 (RIF #351)

The points are all so close together, and there are plenty of great races coming up where you can get in your extra race miles. Everyone just be sure to play it safe, and have fun!

The winner of the random drawing this month is RIF #186 Danny Staggs!

[Extreme Racer points are rewarded per each racing mile completed. Example: marathon = 26.2 points, half marathon 13.1 points, etc.]

Extreme Racer is open to members of Run It Fast – The Club. You can read more about and join The Club HERE.

Finally, the last summer month has passed, and we can begin to look forward to cooler temperatures. It has been an awesome summer of racing and I’m proud to see that Run It Fast members haven’t let the heat get in the way of their racing and training. But there are still a few months left in the year, and still a lot of really good races to participate in, like the Tunnel Hill 100 miler and 50 miler, the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon and RIF’s own Black Diamond and Double Black Diamond 40 milers.

It has been such an enjoyment to see the miles entered for the Extreme Racer competition, and be able to cheer everyone on from a distance. Not much has changed for the male leaders. RIF #121 Ed Ettinghausen is in the lead with 2584.8 points. RIF #1 Joshua Holmes is in second with 1205.3 points. RIF #279 George Southgate is in third place with 948.67 points.

For the females, there has been a bit of a shake-up. RIF #159 Diane Bolton has snatched the lead with 930.87 points. RIF #323 Jennifer Hatcher is not far behind with 804.2 points. RIF #287 Carol Earles has entered the top 3 at third place with 685.4 points.

The Extreme Racer standings through August are posted below.

Extreme Racer Top 10 Leaderboard:

1. Ed Ettinghausen – 2584.8 (RIF#121)
2. Joshua Holmes – 1205.3 (RIF #1)
3. George Southgate – 948.67 (RIF #279)
4. Diane Bolton – 930.87 (RIF #159)
5. John Kent Leighton – 861.1 (RIF #190)
6. Jennifer Hatcher – 804.2 (RIF #323)
7. Carol Earles – 685.4 (RIF #287)
8. Hideki Kinoshita – 647 (RIF #88)
9. Shane Tucker – 637.16 (RIF #337)
10. Heather Zeigler – 574.9 (RIF #246)

Extreme Racer Male Leaderboard

1. Ed Ettinghausen – 2584.8 (RIF #121)
2. Joshua Holmes – 1205.3 (RIF #1)
3. George Southgate – 948.67 (RIF #279)
4. John Kent Leighton – 861.1 (RIF #190)
5. Hideki Kinoshita – 647 (RIF #88)
6. Shane Tucker – 637.16 (RIF #337)
7. Bill Wells – 541.9 (RIF #327)
8. Denis McCarthy – 533.32 (RIF #263)
9. Jeff Le – 516.6 (RIF #248)
10. Jeff Liu – 545.4 (RIF #275)
11. Danny Staggs – 391.5 (RIF #186)
12. Rob Distante – 255.8 (RIF #259)
13. Ben Pennington – 207.6 (RIF #315)
14. Bill Baker – 160.6 (RIF #196)
15. Arland Blanton – 134.1 (RIF #290)
16. Eric Waterman – 133.33 (RIF #219)
17. Eric Spencer – 121.23 (RIF #320)
18. Nathan Bass – 106.8 (RIF #174)
19. Stephen Griffin – 88.9 (RIF #48)
20. Jeff Van Demark – 82.2 (RIF #322)
21. Robin Robbins – 59.8 (RIF #33)
22. Alex Barrientos – 41.7 (RIF #258)
23. Dennis Arriaga – 39.3 (RIF #140)
24. Brennan Thompson – 27.4 (RIF #274)
25. Jason Scott – 26.2 (RIF #265)
26. Steven Reagan – 16.2 (RIF #157)

Extreme Racer Female Leaderboard

1. Diane Bolton – 930.87 (RIF #159)
2. Jennifer Hatcher – 804.2 (RIF #323)
3. Carol Earles – 685.4 (RIF #287)
4. Heather Zeigler – 574.9 (RIF #246)
5. Robin Mancinelli –  555.6 (RIF #134)
6. Suzanne Michelson – 496.2 (RIF #280)
7. Belinda Young – 403.3 (RIF #358)
8. Christy Scott – 326.2 (RIF #231)
9. Donna England – 287.5 (RIF #277)
10. Alicia Eno – 263.9 (RIF #126)
11. Kim Crowe – 255.8 (RIF #245)
12. Julia Beavers – 213.8 (RIF #339)
13. Christy Bowers – 210.57 (RIF #60)
14. Marj Mitchell – 203.2 (RIF #4)
15. Amanda Staggs – 191.3 (RIF #210)
16. Amber Goetz-Bouchard – 172.8 (RIF #15)
17. Tiffani Glass – 139.4 (RIF #328)
18. Sue Stephens-Wright – 133.99 (RIF #321)
19. Michelle Lenahan – 114.8 (RIF #283
20. Shannon Miller – 111.6 (RIF #338)
21. Kristen Love – 26.2 (RIF #238)
22. Lisa Gonzales – 22.5 (RIF #5)
23. Natalie Torres – 13.1 (RIF #72)

Our leaders are neck-and-neck and knowing this bunch of people, anything can happen.

The winner of the drawing this month is RIF #4 Marj Mitchell.

[Extreme Racer points are rewarded per each racing mile completed. Example: marathon = 26.2 points, half marathon 13.1 points, etc.]

Learn more about RIF’s Extreme Racer!

Extreme Racer – (thru July 2014)

I would love to say that we finally have the hottest month of the year behind us. But it seems, at least in Tennessee, that August has been much hotter than July, and September isn’t looking too promising either. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am very much looking forward to some autumn running and racing.

Here are the Extreme Racer standings through July. On the men’s leaderboard, RIF #121 Ed Ettinghausen is still in the lead with 1,868.8 points. Our fearless leader, RIF #1 Joshua Holmes, has taken over the #2 spot with 960.8 points. RIF #279 George Southgate is in third place with 877.37 points. Both Ed “the Jester” and Joshua ran and completed Badwater 135 this month.

On our ladies’ leaderboard, RIF #323 Jennifer Hatcher is in the lead with 699.4 points. RIF #159 Diane Bolton is just a marathon behind Jennifer with 674.2 points. RIF #134 Robin Mancinelli takes third place with 555.6 points.

Throughout the year, 53 Run It Fast club members have competed in the Extreme Racer competition. Just among those 53 runners, RIF has completed 15,402.79 race miles. These miles include 117 5ks, 22 10ks, 57 half marathons, 229 marathons, 9 50-milers, 27 100-milers and a handful of other distances.

The Extreme Racer standings through July are as follows:

Extreme Racer Top 10 Leaderboard:

1. Ed Ettinghausen – 1868.8 (RIF #121)
2. Joshua Holmes – 960.8 (RIF #1)
3. George Southgate – 877.37 (RIF #279)
4. John Kent Leighton – 803.9 (RIF #190)
5. Jennifer Hatcher – 699.4 (RIF #323)
6. Diane Bolton – 674.2 (RIF #159)
7. Hideki Kinoshita – 640.8 (RIF #88)
8. Shane Tucker – 603.06 (RIF #337)
9. Robin Mancinelli – 555.6 (RIF #134)
10. Heather Zeigler – 548.7 (RIF #246) 

Extreme Racer Male Leaderboard:

1. Ed Ettinghausen – 1868.8 (RIF #121)
2. Joshua Holmes – 960.8 (RIF #1)
3. George Southgate – 877.37 (RIF #279)
4. John Kent Leighton – 803.9 (RIF #190)
5. Hideki Kinoshita – 640.8 (RIF #88)
6. Shane Tucker – 603.06 (RIF #337)
7. Bill Wells – 515.7 (RIF #327)
8. Denis McCarthy – 428.52 (RIF #263)
9. Jeff Le – 392.6 (RIF #248)
10. Danny Staggs – 361.3 (RIF #186)
11. Jeff Lui – 325.1 (RIF #275)
12. Rob Distante – 255.805 (RIF #259)
13. Ben Pennington – 207.6 (RIF #315)
14. Bill Baker – 160.6 (RIF #196)
15. Eric Waterman – 133.33 (RIF #289)
16. Eric Spencer – 121.23 (RIF #320)
17. Arland Blanton – 107.9 (RIF #290)
18. Nathan Bass – 106.8 (RIF #174)
19. Jeff Van Demark – 82.2 (RIF #322)
20. Roy Tamez – 74.8 (RIF #324)
21. Stephen Griffin – 68.6 (RIF #48)
22. Robin Robbins – 56.7 (RIF #33)
23. Alex Barrientos – 41.7 (RIF #258)
24. Dennis Arriaga – 39.3 (RIF #140)
25. Brendan Thompson – 37.4 (RIF #274)
26. Jason Scott – 26.2 (RIF #265)
27. Steven Reagan – 16.2 (RIF #157)

Extreme Racer Women’s Leaderboard:

1. Jennifer Hatcher – 699.4 (RIF#323)
2. Diane Bolton – 674.2 (RIF #159)
3. Robin Mancinelli – 555.6 (RIF #134)
4. Heather Zeigler – 548.7 (RIF #246)
5. Carol Earles – 541.8 (RIF #287)
6. Suzanne Michelson – 437.6 (RIF #280)
7. Belinda Young – 359.3 (RIF #358)
8. Christy Scott – 296.9 (RIF #231)
9. Kim Crowe – 255.8 (RIF #245)
10. Julia Beavers – 213.8 (RIF #339)
11. Christy Bowers – 207.47 (RIF #60)
12. Amanda Staggs – 191.3 (RIF #210)
13. Alicia Eno – 181.5 (RIF #126)
14. Marj Mitchell – 173.9 (RIF #4)
15. Amber Goetz-Bouchard – 172.8 (RIF #15)
16. Donna England – 168.9 (RIF #277)
17. Tiffani Glass – 125.1 (RIF #328)
18. Michelle Lenahan – 114.8 (RIF #283)
19. Shannon Miller – 85.4 (RIF #338)
20. Sue Stephens-Wright – 38.6 (RIF #321)
21. Kristen Love – 26.2 (RIF #238)
22. Natalie Torres – 13.1 (RIF #72)
23. Lisa Gonzales – 6.3 (RIF #5)

The first half of the year is already past, but every race mile counts! There are still a few cool months of the year left to get in those miles and really enjoy a fast race.

There is no drawing this month, but the random drawing will continue in the month of August.

Join Run It Fast – The Club

[Extreme Racer points are rewarded per each racing mile completed. Example: marathon = 26.2 points, half marathon 13.1 points, etc.

Six Days in the Dome (48 Hour Race) 
Anchorage, Alaska – August 4-5, 2014

It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up nor wanted to miss. A chance to run the 48-Hour race at Six Days in the Dome with some of the all-time legends of ultra running. When Joe Fejes first told me about the race, the venue, and how he as going to try to break Stu Mittleton’s 6-Day record I knew I had to be there.

I knew it would start 12 days after I had run the Badwater 135. I knew I wouldn’t be my best, fresh, or perhaps even able to run it. I didn’t even buy my plane ticket until 6 days before the race. I also didn’t run a single step between my Badwater finish on July 22nd and the start of the Six Days in the Dome on August 4th.

I arrived in Anchorage around 3pm on Sunday, the third. I took a taxi to The Dome and arrived about 15 minutes later. I took a quick self-tour of the dome and didn’t see anyone else associated with the race. I then spent a few minutes on my phone trying to figure out where the pre-race mixer was taking place and to see if I had in fact packed a Toga (OK, that last part isn’t exactly true).

I found an email on my phone that the mixer was at Humpy’s. So I called the taxi company and arranged for a ride from The Dome to Humpy’s. I get to Humpy’s and can’t find Joe, other runners, or anyone else associated with the race so I walked out. Down $40 in cab fares to this point, and strapped down with my 50-pound backpack, I decided to walk the 3 miles to Wal-Mart to get stuff for the race instead of ponying up for another taxi. I probably should have called for a taxi but my frugality got the better of me. That was one very long three mile walk, with that heavy backpack on, in minimalist shoes, while the brisk Alaskan sun cooked me so slightly. I was smart enough to get a taxi back to The Dome after buying a good bit of junk at Sam Walton’s.

The Dome was a brisk with activity when I arrived back at it Sunday evening with my haul from Wal-Mart. I got my stuff settled at my race side table for the race and quickly made my pallet in a half dim room and relatively quickly, for me, found sleep.

The start of Six Days in the Dome was delayed 2 hours for timing issues. In retrospect, many of the 6-Dayers would say that was a sign of things to come. Everyone was ready to go at 9am and we got word that it would be delayed 1 hour until 10am and then that it would be delayed another hour until 11am. I had just taken a Gu Roctane and been through my pre-race rituals when news of the first delay got to me. Don’t let that sound like more than it is…I have very few pre-race rituals. But with a race delay, it’s beyond your control, and there is nothing you can do about it. So you wait along with everyone else. It affects everyone the same by and large.

Finally at 11am local time the race started. Most everyone probably started faster than they wanted to because of the pent up energy from being delayed for a couple of hours. I was pretty fast the first 40 laps on the 413 meter track but not nearly as fast as Zach Bitter who was there for one thing – to set the World Record for the fastest 100 miler.

I was lapping nearly everyone on the track at some point during that time, but Zach was lapping me what seemed like every 10 minutes or less. He was blazing fast, running like you’d see someone trying to put down a fast mile on a high school track. It would be easy to compare him to a gazelle or cheetah but in comparison to Zach any normally fluid animal’s form would be considered ragged and inferior.  And all the while he did it with a smile on his face, while we encouraged each other, and while he was gracious with every other runner on the track including going wide into lane 6 on several laps to high five dozens of elementary kids who were in The Dome for day camp that were cheering us all on. He was ultra smooth with the emphasis on smooth.

I ran really well for the first 15-20 miles. Through 20 miles I was right on pace to replicate my 100 mile PR time of 18:49 that I set at Across the Years back in late December.

However, my right ankle and feet were starting to bother me just 10 miles into the race. I thought it might be the shoes I was wearing (Hoka One One Conquest). So after 10 miles I changed into the Hoka One One Bondi B. The change helped very briefly before the pain and discomfort grew to a point that I knew a new 100-mile PR was not going to happen. The surface was harder than any other track I had run on before. I wasn’t the only runner to notice this early on in the race. Many complained about it as the race unfolded. I believe the hard surface along with the residual bruising, beating, and wear and tear from Badwater just 12 days before were likely the culprit for my feet and ankle feeling like they had been beaten over and over with an aluminum baseball bat.

And with that the entire race changed for me. I could have stopped at that point. There is no DNF after finishing 1 loop at a timed event. But I didn’t travel all the way to Alaska to run just 25 miles. For better or dumb I still wanted to knock off another 100 miler.  I walked as fast as I could and did so for most of the next 60 miles. The pain was still fluent, but it wasn’t as bad as it was when I would run. The bright side of walking for many hours on end was that I got to meet and talk with some of the pioneers and all-time legends of ultra running.

Those slow painful miles of walking were distracted by great conversations with Bill Schultz, Yolanda Holder, Marylou Corina, Joel Gat, Frank Bozanich, Josh Irvan, Andy Noise, Ken Rubeli, Bob Davidson, K-G Nystrom, Martin Fryer, Ed Ettinghausen, Lazarus Lake, Gregg Ellis, Brandon Wood, Francesca Carmichael, David Johnston’s son, Mark Mccaslin, Steve & Terri ‘Theresa’ Durbin and many others.

After about 15 hours of race time I took a shower and went down for a nice 3 hour nap in my sleeping bag. The rest and time off my feet helped a bit. I hit 24 hours with a paltry 71 miles. After about 80 miles I started to feel a bit better. The Dome had a gym full of weights right next to the track. So I’d lay down on the bench press, elevate my feet, and do a set of 40 reps just with the weight of the bar. This seemed to be a great magic trick to my body. I was able to run at a pretty good pace for several laps in a row after my chest pump. I believe elevating my feet, while sending the rush of warm blood to my chest, away from my legs and feet was a nice shot of adrenaline and redirect of the discomfort. I did this 3-4 more times over the course of that second afternoon and it helped each time.

I finally hit 100 miles in a Personal Worst of 33 hours and 45 minutes. I sat down and took a couple of small breaks before hitting 100 miles in an attempt to put my PW so far out of reach that I could never touch it again. I was extremely elated upon hitting 100 miles because of the mental focus and push it required to get to that point.

The miles were slow and painful after 100, but I continued to push through it. I made a deal with myself that if I made it to 110 miles before 1am that I’d go shower, lay down to sleep and not set an alarm. If I got up by 11am before the race was over I’d do more miles. If not I was content with what I had battled through to get to 110 miles in 38 hours.

I slept for 5-6 hours, quickly dressed, put on my shoes, and was back on the track at 7:30am with about 3.5 hours of race time left. I walked several laps at a brisk pace to wake myself up and to see how my feet, ankle, and the rest of my body was feeling. Once I felt like my body functioning at an operative level and well hydrated I started to feel the loud tick-tock of the race clock ticking down. I started chugging sweet tea and taking Gu Roctane again. I wanted to see how many more miles I could pour out of my body onto that concrete track before time expired. It was a point of the race where I could empty and dump all of my energy, and what remained in my body, to maximizing a strong effort until the end of the clock.

My motor started revving high and my legs started kicking and throwing down the soles of my shoes off the track at a pace that would have made a half marathoner and most 10K’ers proud. My laps went from 4:20 to 3:30 to 2:45 to 2:15, all the way down to 1:42 and 1:43 (6:40 mile/pace). I ran the last 20-24 laps between 1:42-2:10 and was able to put down several extra miles with my increased turnover of the track. I ran a couple of 7’s, and several 7:30-8 min miles during this stretch to conclude the race.

When I had started back at 110 miles, I had hoped to be able to get around the track enough to reach 120 miles.

The clock stopped and the trackside television monitor had me at 500 laps and 128+ miles. For some reason that number evolved down to 127.47 miles within a few hours of the conclusion of the race. It was nothing that I was going to throw a frenzy over or complain about at that point. As poor as my race had gone, I was able to feel really good with the way I finished it.

My quick explanation of my race is that I had a good four hours to start the race and a really great last two hours to conclude my 48 hour Six Days in the Dome…it was just that very poor and painful 42 hours in between those two strong stretches that had to be endured.

The highlight of my race was watching my friend Traci Falbo set a World and American record for running 242.35 miles in the 48 hour race. It was an amazing spectacle to behold. It was also a visual spectacular to watch Zach Bitter run 100 miles in 12:08 which is the third fastest American time ever. I also go to witness the first 60 hours of Joe Fejes’ U.S. record of 580.3 miles in six days. I was as equally impressed by power walking Run It Fast member Yolanda Holder who gracefully walked, at a very high speed, to 400 miles in six days.

A few days later, at the conclusion of all of the Six Days in the Dome races, I found out I was the 1st overall male winner for the 48 hour race. The 48 hour field was small, especially on the male side. I ended up 4th overall behind three great female performances and a mere 400+ laps behind Traci.

– joshua holmes

[photos: Jeff Genova/Joshua Holmes]

RIF #159 Diane & RIF #287 Carol

May is the best month of the year! Why? Because it’s my birthday month. 🙂 But also because there is some really great racing to be had during May and it looks like our Run It Fast Club Members took advantage of that!

Here are the Extreme Racer Standings through May 2014. RIF #121 Ed Ettinghausen is still in the lead with 1452.8 points! Ed, the Jester, is followed by RIF #190 John Kent Leighton who is back in second with 689.5 points and RIF #279 George Southgate in third with 662.67 points and . They are also the top 3 on the Men’s Leaderboard.

There was a little bit of a shakeup on the Women’s Leaderboard. RIF #323 Jennifer Hatcher is now in the lead with 531.2 points. She is followed by 2013 Leaderboard Rockstar RIF #159 Diane Bolton in second with 459.8 points and RIF #287 Carol Earles is now in third with 453.9 points. They are all really close though!

49 Run It Fast Club Members are participating so far this year (only 46 have submitted race miles). They have raced 11,060.16 miles in 462 races (95 5Ks, 21 10Ks, 61 Half Marathons, 162 Marathons, 20 50Ks, 11 50 Milers, 6 100Ks, 20 100 Milers, and 66 Other race distances).

Here are the full standings through May 2014:

Top Ten Leaderboard
1. Ed Ettinghausen – 1452.8 (RIF #121)
2. John Kent Leighton – 689.5 (RIF #190)
3. George Southgate – 662.67 (RIF #279)
4. Joshua Holmes – 637.3 (RIF #1)
5. Jennifer Hatcher – 531.2 (RIF #323)
6. Bill Wells – 476.4 (RIF #327)
7. Hideki Kinoshita – 459.8 (RIF #88)
8. Diane Bolton – 459.8 (RIF #159)
9. Carol Earles – 453.9 (RIF #287)
10. Shane Tucker – 371.36 (RIF #337)

Men’s Leaderboard
1. Ed Ettinghausen – 1452.8 (RIF #121)
2. John Kent Leighton – 689.5 (RIF #190)
3. George Southgate – 662.67 (RIF #279)
4. Joshua Holmes – 637.3 (RIF #1)
5. Bill Wells – 476.4 (RIF #327)
6. Hideki Kinoshita – 459.8 (RIF #88)
7. Shane Tucker – 371.36 (RIF #337)
8. Danny Staggs – 335.1 (RIF #186)
9. Denis McCarthy – 271.32057 (RIF #263)
10. Jeff Le – 260.2 (RIF #248)
11. Rob Distante – 255.805 (RIF #259)
12. Ben Pennington – 207.6 (RIF #315)
13. Jeff Liu – 194.1 (RIF #275)
14. Bill Baker – 134.4 (RIF #196)
15. Eric Spencer – 121.23 (RIF #320)
16. Arland Blanton – 107.9 (RIF #290)
17. Nathan Bass – 106.8 (RIF #174)
18. Jeff Van Demark – 74.1 (RIF #322)
19. Robin Robbins – 56.7 (RIF #33)
20. Stephen Griffin – 55.5 (RIF #48)
21. Alex Barrientos – 41.7 (RIF #258)
22. Dennis Arriaga – 39.3 (RIF #140)
23. Jason Scott – 26.2 (RIF #265)
24. Steven Reagan – 16.2 (RIF #157)
25. Brennan Thompson – 11.2 (RIF #274)

Women’s Leaderboard
1. Jennifer Hatcher – 531.2 (RIF #323)
2. Diane Bolton – 459.8 (RIF #159)
3. Carol Earles – 453.9 (RIF #287)
4. Suzanne Michelson – 301.3 (RIF #280)
5. Robin Mancinelli – 276 (RIF #134)
6. Christy Scott – 230.7 (RIF #231)
7. Heather Zeigler – 215.8 (RIF #246)
8. Kim Crowe – 205.3 (RIF #245)
9. Alicia Eno – 181.5 (RIF #126)
10. Amber Goetz-Bouchard – 172.8 (RIF #15)
11. Donna England – 168.9 (RIF #277)
12. Christy Bowers – 156.97 (RIF #60)
13. Julia Beavers – 148.9 (RIF #339)
14. Amanda Staggs – 122.7 (RIF #210)
15. Tiffani Glass – 94.1 (RIF #328)
16. Marj Mitchell – 90.5 (RIF #4)
17. Michelle Lenahan – 65.5 (RIF #283)
18. Shannon Miller – 41.2 (RIF #338)
19. Sue Stephens-Wright – 38.6 (RIF #321)
20. Kristen Love – 26.2 (RIF #238)
21. Natalie Torres – 13.1 (RIF #72)

Here is what all of the individual Races Leaderboards look like through May:

Now that it’s summer, will are RIFers keep racing like mad? Will anybody be able to catch Ed? He is running a 100 Miler every weekend so he will be hard to catch! Check back next month to find out! And until then…good luck and Run It Fast!

This month’s  winners of the random drawing was RIF #339 Julia Beavers! Congratulations Julia!

Details on joining Run It Fast – The Club

[Extreme Racer points are rewarded per each racing mile completed. Example: marathon = 26.2 points, half marathon 13.1 points, etc.]

[photo from Lisa Gonzales]