Run It Fast®

Here is the finisher’s medal from the Nanny Goat 12 hour/24 hour/ 100 Mile Ultra that took place on May 26, 2012 in Riverside, California.

Nice medal and congrats to RIF #5 on putting down impressive milage during the 12 hour event.

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[Medal submitted by RIF #5 Lisa Gonzales. Follow her on Twitter @runlikeacoyote]

Here is the finisher’s medal from the Shangri-La Lijiang Ultra Marathon 100K/60K that took place from April 28-30, 2012 in Lijiang, Yunnan Province, China.

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[Medal submitted by Phillip Forsyth. Follow him on Twitter @Phillip_In_HK]

RIF #2 Naresh Kumar sent over this video earlier this week of a Slinky ‘running’ on a treadmill.

He said it reminded him of struggling along during day four of his Vol State 500K race last year as he zigged and zagged along the roads of Tennessee.

Naresh was quoted during the race as saying, “I keep hoping that a semi will hit me but just bad enough to knock me out of the race…not kill me!”

If Slinky can, you can!!!

Here is the finisher’s medal from the 34th Strolling Jim 40 Mile Run that took place on May 5, 2012 in Wartrace, Tennessee.

The best medal they’ve had so far in the history of the event. The medal was large as you can see the outline of a quarter to the left of the medal.

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[Medal submitted by RIF #1 Joshua Holmes. Follow him on Twitter @bayou]

The Dirty German 50 Miler that took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania didn’t have a finisher’s medal, but we have been sent a photo of one of the extremely unique age division awards from the race.

That is a German Weather House for the rest of you that had no clue like myself.  It’s very unique and on the brink of actually being useful.

Now if the rest of us were only speedy enough to get one.  Congrats to Robin!

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[Medal submitted by Robin. Follow her on Twitter @Robinmrr2]

The autopsy that was performed on ultramarathon runner Micah ‘Caballo Blanco’ True after his death has revealed that he died from heart disease.

While medical examiners couldn’t point to the cause of the heart disease, they said True’s left ventricle, which pumps oxygenated blood to the rest of the body, had become thick and was dilated.

Chemical tests showed that True was mildly dehydrated and had caffeine in his system. He also had some abrasions on his elbows, forearms, knees and shins.

True, a legendary type of character made famous in the book Born To Run, disappeared in the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico back in March. He was missing for several days before his body was found on March 31st.

May Caballo Rest In Peace!

The Strolling Jim 40 Mile run was memorable, to say the least. The thunderstorms early on, which has happened in the past, preceded extreme heat, sun, and pretty high humidity. We all heard that this heat and humidity would happen and prepared for it somewhat, but when you wake up in the morning race day and it’s foggy and getting ready to rain, it’s hard to imagine how hot it will really get in the later hours of the race.

LIke most others, even on the flatter sections of the latter part of the race, it was difficult to run and taking walk breaks or shuffling was imperative. No matter how much I wanted to push myself into a 8:30 pace, 10-11 minute pace was all that I could muster up. At the time, I thought that I was the only one who felt this drained by the heat-especially when I saw Chris Estes.

Even though Chris was taking walk breaks, he was still feeling strong and said the heat wasn’t bothering him that much. Over by the “manure” section, where huge stretch of land was being plowed with manure, I was having a difficult time running and smelling that stench. Chris made a point to ask me a few times if I was okay. I replied, “No but yes I’m fine”. If you are an ultra runner, you know what that means.

The final stretch of the 41.2 mile race is on a highway with fairly large shoulders to run on. The road is marked “Only 2 miles left” and “Only 1 mile left”. Around the time that I saw that I only had one mile left to go, I saw something that could have been a hullucination. I saw Chris jump over the metal highway railing down a significantly steep grassy slope. I was still about 1/4 mile away so I wasn’t sure exactly what I saw.

Honestly, I was thinking that maybe Chris suddenly wasn’t feeling well and needed to use the bathroom. What else was I supposed to think?

Shortly after, I saw cars stopping and people moving around quickly. What was going on? The closer I got,  it suddenly occured to me that Chris was needing help.

I stopped and saw Chris about 10 feet down the slope and asked him if he was okay. I got a little closer just as he was telling me that a runner was down and unconscious and I saw another man on the other side of the unconscious runner and they both looked worried. I also saw a local family of three dealing with the situation by calling 911 and responding to the situation.

The only thing that I did to help was close the door of the pick-up truck, in fear that the door would be hit by an oncoming car. I knew that the situation was being dealt with but it was hard to leave. It was hard to see my friend down there dealing with it after running 40 miles in the heat and humidity. But, at that moment, I was honored to know him.

This was Chris’s first Strolling Jim 40 Miler. He is a Boston qualifying runner and loves ultras. He wanted that “sub7 red shirt” that so many of us want. Chris was a few minutes ahead of me before jumping over that railing to save another runner. The truth is that Chris just happened to see the runner’s hat and saw him down the slope off the highway. The runner had been sitting on the railing and fell backwards after passing out. If Chris hadn’t seen his hat, he never would have spotted the runner, or anyone else would have spotted him, for that matter. The runner could have died.

I finished the race in 6:33. Chris was at least a few minutes ahead of me so he would gotten his 6:30 shirt. Instead he finished in 7:10, as a result of saving that runner’s life. The race director, Mike Melton, did give Chris a sub7 red shirt. What Chris did on this day was far more important than receiving the “red shirt”. Even though he was exhausted and getting ready to finish a 41.2 mile race under brutal conditions, he reacted to an extremely difficult situation and to me, proved how special ultra runners are as a whole.

We are not just out there for ourselves: to beat others, to get something out of this in a selfish way. We not only love running and running far, but we also love the community of runners and will do anything for them, expecting nothing in return. On this day, Chris was the perfect example of that.

Huntsville’s Blake Thompson won the 34th Strolling Jim 40 Miler on May 6, 2012 with a winning time of 5:17:29 for the 41.2 mile course.

Thompson’s time was the slowest winning time in race history according to Race Director Mike Melton.  This was due in large part to the high temperatures and humidity that took a toll on all of the runners throughout the grueling hills of Wartrace, Tennessee.

Second place went to Strolling Jim veteran Dink Taylor (5:29:01) who has run 24+ Jims.  Third place went to ‘Bruce’ Sung Ho Choi (5:33:21) of Jacksonville, Florida.

Top overall female went to Huntsville native Kathy Youngren with a time of 6:04:35.

Second place female was Beth McCurdy (6:33:01) with third place female going to Kim Nosenchuk-Brooks (6:46:57).

Top 34th Strolling Jim Finishers

1. Blake Thompson – 5:17:29
2. Dink Taylor – 5:29:01
3. ‘Bruce’ Sung Ho Choi – 5:33:21
4. David Jones – 5:36:22
5. Tom Dolan – 5:48:59
6. Andy Bruner – 5:56:33
7. Kathy Youngren – 6:04:35 (F)
8. Christopher Cadotte – 6:10:11
9. Timothy Pitts – 6:11:19
10. Dwayne Satterfield – 6:14:00
11. Robert Youngren – 6:14:50
12. Carl Laniak – 6:25:40
13. Robby Callahan – 6:27:17
14. Evan Dare – 6:31:34
15. Beth McCurdy – 6:33:01 (F)
16. Gary Dawkins – 6:35:39
17. Hal McClure – 6:38:23
18. Orlando Baez – 6:45:20
19. Kim Nosenchuk-Brooks – 6:46:57 (F)
20. George Menyhert – 6:46:58
21. William Arnold – 6:51:34
22. Dana MacCorquodale – 6:58:37

One of the scarier and heroic moments of the race happened during the last mile when Chris Estes, who was on a 6:30ish finishing pace, jumped over a guardrail to help save a fellow runner who had fallen over the guardrail (full story).

[photo via Dink: Kathy Youngren, Blake Thompson, Dink Taylor]

Leah Thorvilson destroyed the Frisco Railroad Run 50 Mile Race on April 28, 2012 in Williard, Missouri with a blazing time of 6:00:31.  Second place was a complete hour behind her.

Thorvilson’s time is believed to be a new course record and is easily the new female course record.

According to UltraRunning Leah’s time is the fourth fastest 50 miler by a female ever behind only Ann Trason, Donna Perkins, and Marcy Schwam.

Second place went to another female, Karen Plucinski, with a time of 7:00:44.

A dude finally placed in third with Pete Kostenlnick (7:16:51).

2012 Frisco Railroad 50 Mile Race Results

1. Leah Thorvilson – 6:00:31
2. Karen Plucinski – 7:00:44
3. Pete Kostenlnick – 7:16:51
4. Kyle Clouston – 7:48:53
5. Jeff Jones – 8:51:52
6. Ron Ayers – 9:03:23
7. John Allen – 9:05:41
8. Stacie Shaver – 9:19:17
9. Nick Haydn – 9:24:30
10. Cliff Ferren – 9:32:22

Leah is a member RIF #34 of Run It Fast – The Club. You can join the club and read more about it HERE.

Here is a rarity. It’s the finisher’s medal from the IAU 100K World and European Championships  that took place among the world’s best on April 21, 2012 in Seregno, Italy.

This beautiful medal was submitted by Run It Fast – Club member (RIF #132) Michelle Mitchell who ran a 9:17:05 (PR) 100K at this event. Her finish was good enough for 38th in Worlds and 25th in Europe.

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[Submitted by RIF #132 Michelle Mitchell. Follow her on Twitter @runnerchickey]