Some good racing going on this weekend with the The North Face 50 in San Francisco. Next to the Western States starting line up, this one has to be the most competitive. Some Euros coming over to take a stab at the $10K prize money for first. My picks are: Roes, Mackey, Skaggs, Steidl, Dakota, Jez Bragg. Pretty good interview over here with Dave and Dakota. Dave is munching on a apple and Dakota is amped up. I think Dakota summed it up nicely when asked for predictions, he said "I think I know how to race 50 miles now, last year I was still learning, and I just want to see how I stack up against the best". Irunfar.com is following it so check it out.
My schedule is coming together:
Massanutten 100 mile (lottery)
UTMB (lottery)
There will be some smaller ones here and there but this is the bulk of my schedule for 2011. The highlight is Western States. Not so much for the race itself but the race within the race. I've been jawing back and forth with AJW (all in good fun of course) telling him I want to beat him. I'm not afraid to say that's my goal. My goals are generally time based but there's an element of time in here. You see, Andy has done very well at Western States and as he puts it "That's my house, you'll see...". Just as I consider Hard Rock "my house". He came to HR and nearly beat me. In fact, on Grant Swamp pass (mile 85) he could nearly touch me. I looked at my pacer (Brian Fisher) and said "He's not gonna beat me on my course", in so many words. In the end, he pushed me to my best time ever at Hard Rock (27.42).
Andy has 6 top 10 finishes at Western States with his best time of 17.07, but thinks he could go 16:30. Not only is he tough at Western States but he is tough in any 100 mile race - which makes it doubly tough at Western. He IS the Mariano Rivera of 100s. Andy has run 25 - 100 mile races notching 6 wins. I've run 11, won none, and only a couple that I consider a decent result. I have not figured out 100s and Andy has, to say the least. If I can compete with him then it not only makes me better during the race but in the daily training as well. Win or lose I know Andy will bring out the best in me and visa-versa.
I had to do a little research but we have raced head to head 8 times (sometimes unknowingly) where I have been victorious 6 times. The two losses where at White River 2006 and Rocky Raccoon 2008. So a rivalry is born! And at the end of the day we will have a beer together to talk more smack. Train harder than you ever have Andy cause I'm comin'!
And remember people, this is all in good fun for motivation to get my arse out the door every morning. But more importantly for braggin rights and a few beers.
Western States lottery: Only a few names I recognize on the list of 219 drawn today; Mike Foote, Michael Buchanan, Mark Lantz, Adam Lint, Tammy Massey, Jim Skaggs, and Grae Van Hoosier. Congrats to all! We'll see you in Squaw on June 25th, if not before. Pearl Izumi atheltes Josh Brimhall and Darcy Africa were shut out but I would suspect they will get in via a Montrail race.
NF 50 race: Congrats to all! In particular, Geoff Roes 2nd, Dave Mackey 3rd, Dakota Jones 4th, Jason Schlarb 5th all currently hailing from Colorado! Must be the rocky mountain air...
4 comments:
Scott,
Looks like a fine schedule for 2011. Hope to see you in between the rocks at Massanutten.
Not staying home at all I see... I should be able to give it a slow go at PP50K so I'll see ya there.
Nice picks on the NF race Scott! Beat AJW!
Nice post. This is gonna be fun! And, pretty interesting that you're batting .750 against me. I remember that WR in 2006 and I think I passed you with, like three miles to go. Then, at Rocky, you got within shouting distance with two miles to go (or, at least that's what you told me:) before I put the hammer down. And, by the looks of it you have Dave on your side so I am pretty much screwed.
AJW
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