Afton 50K

"Grand oaks and delicate prairie flowers grace the rugged, rolling landscape of Afton State Park outside the Twin Cities in Minnesota.  Trails traverse remnant and restored prairies, wind down deep ravines and rise up to the grassy ridgetops and bluffs overlooking the scenic St. Croix River." 

LPTRunner, Angela Barbera, reported that the trails were very reminiscent of ours at Lapham Peak (although the hills were stretched out over 25K instead of 7 miles).

Angela and Brad Birkholz both made the trip out to the Land of 10,000 Lakes.  They were rewarded with great trails, great people and AWESOME shirts!  The shirts are designed by race director John Storkamp and they are worth the trip just to snag one!  I haven't seen the 2009 version, but the 2008 is shown below...

Of course to wear the aforementioned shirts in good standing, you must first finish the race!  The 50k consists of two rolling 25K loops through forest and meadow.  There were 138 finishers on the day with Brad clocking 5:40:46 for 47th place and Angela running 6:15:59 for 76th.  

Official Results at:

 http://www.aftontrailrun.com/PDF_Files/Race_Results/2009_50K_Results.txt

2009 Western States 100

Wildfires in 2008 forced the cancellation of the Western States 100 for the first time in the race's history.  The 2009 version only felt like there were wildfires with temps soaring into the 100's.  The heat took a toll on the field as 160 of the 399 starters eventually dropped out. 

Among the strong who did survive was LPTRunner Beth Simpson-Hall.   She slowly worked her way through the field, moving up from 294 place at Red Star Ridge (16 miles) to 260th place by Devil's Thumb (47.8 miles).  By the 100k mark Beth had vaulted 55 places to 205th and eventually finished the race in 191st place for her  fifth finish at Western States!

Her time of 29:09:37 earned 3rd place in her division -  Hardware on the big stage!!  

 

2009 Kettle 100 Mile

What a difference a year makes. 

Last year’s Kettle 100 featured a hot steamy morning followed by torrential rain and occasional tornados that reduced the finishing field to a mere 37 runners.

If last year was Ying, then this year was Yang, as temps started and stayed in the 50’s all day. The only precipitation was a little light rain during the day and the sky even cleared up enough at night to flash some peeks at the full moon.   It was a perfect day (and night) for a long run resulting in 90 finishers and a respectable 67% completion rate. 

The LPTR crowd had 9 runners entered in the 100 mile and several more cracking the whip as pacers. 

Ron Bero ran the race solo and led the LPTR’s by capturing the Masters division with a 19:36:30 and 7^th place overall (check out his action photo above!!).   His performance edged fellow LPTR Kevin Grabowski who finished hot on his heels in 19:49:17, (13 minutes is “hot on ones heels” in an Ultra, isn’t it?!!?  Ahhh, the spoils of the blog poster…) good enough for 8^th overall and 2^nd in the Masters division.  (Just a note: Any credit for Kevin’s finish would have to go to fellow LPTR Joel Lammers who, as his pacer, drove him like a rented mule.)

Robert Wehner and Craig Swartwout both cracked the sub 24 hour barrier with a 22:15:26 and 22:49:45 respectively, and the most recognized LPTRunner, Brad Birkholz, logged yet another ultra finish with a 24:20:35. A possible tibial stress fracture forced Jeff Mallach out of the race late in the game.  He was given credit for the 100k finish with a 100k checkpoint time of 13:55:52. (Cringing at the thought of grinding out Ice-Age trail miles on a stress fracture is appropriate here…)

The LPTR women were led by Julie Treder’s strong performance.  She won the women’s open division with a 23:21:12 and was the 2nd place female and 29^th  finisher overall.   Angela Barbera knocked 45 minutes off her PR with a 25:23:25 and grabbed a 3^rd place finish in the Master’s division. 

Noticeably absent from the finish times was LPTRunner Christine Crawford, who led the women’s field by over 30 minutes at the 50k checkpoint, but was fighting a losing battle with a bum hip.  Sometimes you have to live to fight another day…

Check out the official results at:

www.runrace.net/findarace.php?id=09157WI1&tab=a4&results=1541

I will post links to Race Reports as I stumble on them…

http://stevequick.blogspot.com/2009/06/2009-kettle-moraine-100-in-prep.html

http://blogoftraining.blogspot.com/2009/06/kettle-moraine-2009-100-mile-report.html

Running for Eve

On Saturday, a fundraiser was held at the Lapham Peak Summer Stage to help
 purchase a handicapped-accessible van for Eve Karcher, a nine-year old girl
 with cerebral palsy.  Eight Lapham Peak Trail Runners showed up before the
 afternoon concert to run a loop or two and raise some additional money for 
Eve and her family.

  Representing the LPTR were Brad Birkholz, Christine Crawford, Dave Dehart,
Chris Derosier, Jeff Mallach, Cassie Scallon, Craig Swartwout, Robert Wehner 
and Chrissy Wittleder.

  From those running -- and those who contributed but couldn't be there
(Julie, Brian, Todd, Angela, Kevin and Steve Gross) -- we raised $200.

  The fundraiser was organized by Jennifer King, a Kettle Moraine high school 
student, who publicly thanked the "runners" for their help.  Unofficially,
 the event raised about $4,500.

Thanks to everyone and especially Christine who helped "herd the cats" and 
to Brad for bringing this event to our attention.

2009 CellCom. Green Bay Marathon

LPTRunner Chaz Heckman blitzed the The 2009 CellCom Green Bay Marathon with a 2:52:53!  The last mile of the race includes a trip down the tunnel and onto Lambeau Field where runners make a clockwise lap around the field then back through the tunnel to the finish line outside the stadium.   Race Report and photos from Chaz to come?!?

Full Results at :

 http://www.cellcomgreenbaymarathon.com/results/

2009 Ice Age Trail 50

The 2009 Ice Age Trail 50 had a huge LPTR presence with 20 runners participating on Saturday.  Our group placed an amazing 9 runners in the top 25 of the 50 mile.  

Christine Crawford  defended her title, grabbing first place in the women's 50 mile competition and 8th overall in 7:33:42.  Julie Treder cracked the top five as well, placing forth in the  women's field and first in her age division (41st ov., 9:03:38).  Angela Barbara (141st, 10:58:58), Deb  Vomhoff (144th, 10:59:39) and Beth Simpson-Hall (153rd, 11:07:13) all finished within 10 minutes of each other, adding yet another race to their long ultra running resumes. Beth added some hardware as well, taking 2nd in her age division.

      

The men were led by Dave Dehart.   Running from behind, Dave methodically moved up through the second half of the race with negative splits.  He picked off runners one by one  to take 5th overall in 7:20:57.   

Two more LPTR men placed in the top ten including Joel Lammers (6th, 7:28:46) and Jim Kirschbaum (9th, 7:44:40).   The next three group runners finished under 8 hours.  Easily the best looking runner of the group, Kevin Grabowski, (just checking if anyone really reads this...) placed 11th (7:48:59). Robert Wehner took 12th (7:49:54) and Ron Bero was 14th in 7:57:29.  Bruce Udell and Jim Ricker notched their first 50 milers taking 20th (8:23:03) & 23rd (8:31:31) respectively. 

Competing in more ultras already this year  than most people do in a full year, Brad Birkholz knocked out another one (35th, 8:51:09). Jeff Mallach dropped over 50 minutes from last year's time (90th, 10:01:23), Casey Schutte ran 10:02:47 (92nd) and Jim Blanchard finished in 148th, 11:03:23. 

In the 50K, Brian Seegert placed 10th overall and second in his age division with a 4:49:03, while Trish Diaz and Jamey Anderson earned their  trail ultra-marathoning credentials by completing their first attempts in 6:31:16  (57th) and 6:31:17  (58th).  

(Photos from the Ice Age Trail Run by Bill Flaws - RUSA Webmaster)

Full results can be found at the Ice Age 50 website...

The Ice-Age Cometh.....

Just one more day before the 2009 Ice Age Trail 50 kicks off.   The Lapham Peak Trail Runners will be well represented with a big group running on Saturday, including both of last year's men's and women's champions, Joel Lammers and Christine Crawford.    The  weather forecast looks to be near perfect with partly cloudy skies and highs in the mid fifties.   Good Luck Everyone!!