Early predictions were that very few would finish under 24 hours. Nine runners did. Hats off to Harland Peelle, Chris Reed, and Keith Knipling for running such a strong and competitive race. 84 runners and only 12 DNFs! Am I reading that right? This year's Massanutten (MMT) had 55 DNFs out of 156 starters. Hellgate last year had 23 DNFs out of 105 starters, and that was a good weather year. Harland Peelle finished Grindstone 2 hours faster than he did Massanutten. Incredible. It's awesome to see how ultrarunners can step up their game when so much is on the line. Tell us it is impossible, and we will prove you wrong. Tell us it is tough, and we will show you that we are too.
Man, I wish I could have been there... Great job Jay, Sophie, Dan, Marc, Bill (first hundred!), Vicki, Sniper, Rebekah, Mike, and everyone else.
I'm dreaming of Hellgate.
2 comments:
Thanks, Neal. We certainly missed you out there and I suspect Gstone will be on your list for 2009 after the reports are written and the race is re-hashed. VERY interesting to be part of a first time 100, not knowing how the final times will pan out. I didn't want to be too optimistic about running near 28 hours, but as the day went on, I was actually closer to running near 27 hour pace and that was because the second half is "easier" than the first. But not really. The true back breaker of the race---where Keith got passed by Harland and where most everyone had a meltdown--was the climb up Crawford Mountain to Chimney Hollow, between miles 80 and 90. It was here where I sat down and waited until Regis Shivers and his pacer joined me and we all cursed the mountain together. Hilarious.
Ahhh, Hellgate. I am looking forward to it, my friend. See you there!
Sophie,
Great job girl! It was about 80 miles into OD100 when I slowed down and waited for someone to join me. It turned out to be the best thing I could have done. Pain and suffering are more manageable when we have someone to share it with.
Recover well...
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