Jurek Wins Spartathalon

Our good friend Scott Jurek has won the 2008 Spartathalon for the third consecutive year, in a time of 22:20:01. Congratulations, Scott! We look forward to seeing pictures and hearing the stories.

Preview

We threw a big party for the Cascade Crest volunteers this weekend and for the festivities I put together a slide show culled from thousands of pics taken all over the course. While we work on getting posted either here or on the race website, I thought I'd put up one of my favorite pictures, of Idahoans Jodi and Dennis Aslett as they crossed the finish line.

Unofficial Word on Baker Lake 50K

We're hearing that James Varner won today's Baker Lake 50K in 4:07, which sounds like a new course record. James, who looks faster and stronger with every race that he runs, is also the guy who pulled an all-nighter to aid runners coming through No Name Ridge at Cascade Crest this year.

Big congratulations to James and to all of the Baker Lake runners including long time Cascade Crest runner and volunteer Marlis de Jongh, above, who ran like a champ and was waiting at the finish line with beer in hand for our good friend Sam Warren. Sam broke his neck in a climbing accident and was temporarily paralyzed a couple years ago, not very long after running his first ultra. That ultra was Baker Lake. He's been through much rehab and training since, and it's great to know that he's back on the trails again. Photo by John Pearch.

The Guy Behind the Lens

Glenn Tachiyama is heading to Greece to shoot his speedy pals Lisa Bliss and Scott Jurek, the latter of whom is chasing three in a row at the Spartathalon. Could one of Glenn's photographs become the next cover of a glossy you know and love? The odds would seem strong. It's a good chance to mention just how much of a contribution Glenn makes to the sport of ultrarunning here in the Pacific Northwest. For starters, we wonder whether Cascade Crest would have gotten so popular so fast without his pics, which help keep the story alive long afterwards. Good old Glenn says that he just takes pictures to document and share the chapters in his life with his family and friends, and I don't think he's being falsely modest. But I also don't think it's overreaching to say that Glenn's pictures have become an important piece of the history and memory of the sport. We just can't recognize this guy enough.

Another Race Report

Here's the '08 Cascade Crest race report from local runner Judy, who blogs with the H.U.R.T. team. It's an inspiring story that starts with her breaking a few ribs in a car accident.

First Plain 100 Finishers

Our sources tell us that Allen Belshaw of Steamboat Springs, Colo., has unofficially won Plain in a new course record time of 25:22:30. Tim Stroh of Arlington, Wash., placed second, and Ian Mcllvenna of Quesnel, B.C. was third.

Baker Lake 50K is This Weekend

The spectacular Baker Lake 50K takes place this Saturday, Sept. 20. Race director Shawn Lawson says there's still space for runners who are thinking of signing up. She's also looking for extra folks to help haul drop bags and supplies two miles from the downed bridge to this year's new turnaround point. Email her at shawn@bakerlake50k.com if you want to run or can lend a hand.

We have no doubt that Shawn will be a star in her race directing debut. She's the ultrarunning goddess who at Cascade Crest not only checked in the starters and volunteered for the Cole Butte aid station, but also crewed and paced runner Arthur Martineau to another impressive PR. So get out there and support her race!

Cle Elum 50K

Official results are posted at the race web site!

Plain 100 Update

All we know about the '08 Plain 100 is that Tim Stroh, Cascade Crest veteran, finished in second place. Not to state the obvious, but that means at least two finishers, more than in some previous years. Actually, we're betting on double-digit finish numbers and we'll keep you posted as news comes in off the wire.

Angeles Crest 100

AC100 has a very slick system to track runners on the web and this year there were a few familiar Cascade Crest names in the results. Seattleite Justin Angle, who paced past two CCC winners, came in third. Pat Ackley, who made bacon a food group while captaining the French Cabin aid station, put his Western States training to good use and finished. Coming in a bit after Pat was his friend Victor Zamudio who did not make it up to Cascade Crest this year but who was a huge help at the race in 2007. Congratulations to Justin, Pat, Victor and all of the other AC finishers!

By the way, the state of Oregon cleaned up once again in a high profile California ultra. Hal Koerner and Prudence L'Heureux took top honors and both ran the 2nd or 3rd fastest times ever.

Cle Elum 50K Winners

What perfect conditions for yesterday's Cle Elum 50K, where we're told that Canadian runner Gary Robbins broke the course record, with James Varner just minutes behind him and Erik Brooks in third. We've confirmed that James, along with Alison Hanks, will be taking over race directing for Cle Elum next year. Nice job, guys!

First female at Cle Elum was Alaska native Lia Slemons, a first-time ultramarathoner who finished just 5 minutes shy of Krissy Moehl's course record. Looks like Krissy now has another reason to get herself back up to Seattle. Congratulations to all of the runners!

Rumor Has It

Word on the street is that two of this year's Cascade Crest runners will be featured on the covers of Ultraunning and RaceCenter NW Magazines next month. Exciting stuff! Stay tuned for more.

Carpooling to Races

One irony of ultrarunning is the sheer number of miles driven to support a single runner -- sometimes more miles than even get run. Which is a big reason that Charlie's company created a simple, free web tool, or "widget", that makes it easy for runners and crew to set up carpools to races. Scott McCoubrey premiered the service at the White River 50 miler, and it takes about ten minutes to set it up for your event. Just go to Goose Networks, click on the widget icon, and follow instructions to download. After all, the point isn't to spend your time driving. Thanks to endurance athlete and coach Matt Hart for helping to spread the word.

And ... More Race Reports

Check out Cascade Crest race reports from Joe, who turned in a sub-24 hour performance, local guy Herb, and from this year's blueberry picker Hao -- click here for parts #1 and #3. Also, more race pics from Texans Robert and Diana Heynen, from Esther Holman and Amy Lynes, who crewed fast guy Stan Holman, and from Eric, who paced Rob Hester. Keep 'em coming.

Upcoming Ultras

A week from tomorrow the local ultra scene yields up not one but two great local races. There's the Cle Elum Ridge 50K, co-directed by Cascade Crest finisher Marty Fagan and his wife and pacer Chris Fagan. The race is full but Marty and Chris are still looking for volunteers, so click on the link and give them a holler if you can help out. And by the way, that was their niece, Jessica Oliver, who sang the show stopping rendition of the Star Spangled Banner before Cascade Crest.

Also on tap is the famous Plain 100, a beautiful and remote race that isn't marked and provides no aid. The race, which starts in Blaine and features 21,000 feet of up and down, is the brainchild of Chris Ralph and Tom Ripley, who were running ultras when Kyle Skaggs was in diapers. In '07 the finisher numbers at Plain hit double digits for the first time ever; the defending champion and course record-holder is none other than the fabulous Tim England, who did a tremendous job marking long sections of Cascade Crest this year. Check out Tim's '07 Plain race report, featuring bears, stars, and voices in his head, plus a five-dog finish. Plain is also closed to entrants.

Cascade Crest in '09

Believe it or not, we've already had a few inquiries about next year's Cascade Crest 100. If you're itching to update the calendar, mark the weekend of August 29 & 30, 2009 for the next edition of this ultra. Entry information will be posted here around the turn of the year. We expect the field to fill pretty quickly, and as promised, this year's volunteers get first dibs at running in '09.

More Race Reports

More reports are up from this year's starters and finishers, including Pacific Northwesterner Mike, Rob from Hawaii, and Wasatch Speed Goat Monica, who finished her first 100-miler. We enjoyed Laura's report from the '80s Reprise at No Name Ridge, where James Varner was spotted in tight acid-wash jeans. And check out the hundreds of pics that Tom Riley took on the course before, during, and after pacing another first timer, Chris Askew. For more runner and volunteer crew links, scroll down to a post from last week.