100 Mile Updates

It’s been a busy summer for the SLUGs and 100 milers and the racing season has just barely kicked off.  Below is a short wrap-up of some of the places where we’ve been making tracks.

Kettle Moraine 100 – On a super hot day, Paul Shoenlaub (20:47) and Travis Liles (21:39) landed 2nd and 3rd overall respectively, Jennifer Eichelberger (23:31) grabbed another win in the women’s division.  Also of note is Eric Buckley (22:58)  who landed the 10th overall spot

Paul and Travis running together early in the day

Jenn pushes along though the heat. Stuart Johnson competes in the 100k

Eric Buckley works his way along the single track

Black Hills 100 – Laura Range took to South Dakota and landed 2nd female in 31:12

Big Horn 100 – David Store decided to head west and hit the mountains in Wyoming and crossed the finish line in 29:39

David Stores cruises in the mountains

Western States 100 – The top 2 finishers from Double Chubb represented well at the “100 mile track meet”  Ben Creehan (19:42) and Chad Silker (19:48) cracked off sub-20 hour performances to both land in the top 40.  Also of note is Howard Schaub (27:13) who also earned his finihsers buckle.

Ben and Chad before the gun goes off

Howard shows off his new buckle

Double Chubb 25k and 50k in the books

Another successfull running of the Double Chubb 25k/50k here in the St. Louis.  While the trail was a little muddy the temps were cool to keep the overheating at a minimum.  Below are some pictures of the overall race winners of the 25k and 50k distances.  Full results can be found at http://stlouisultrarunnersgroup.net/results/11ChubbResults.htm

Thanks to Shannon Drohan for the pictures!

Andy Koziatek wins the men's 25k

Mary White wins the women's 25k in overall

Ben Creehan wins the men's overall 50k in 3:56:19

Christine Crawford wins the women's 50k in 4:35:04

SLUGS win at Potawatomi Trail Runs

Two SLUGS, Jennifer Eichelberger and Tommy Doias took home top honors at the Potawatomi Trail Runs on April 8th-9th.

Jen won the womens division of the 50 in a time of 10:30:47

Tommy took top honoros in the 100 in a time of 20:16:19 which clocked in at the 5th fastest 100 ever on the course.

Jen wins the 50 and Tommy takes the 100

Cover Shot

SLUG and winner of the 2011 Psycho Wyco 50k, Bryan Kelp gets the cover shot of April issue of UltraRunning Magazine.  Check it out at http://ultrarunning.com/

Bryan charges through the snow at the Psycho Wyco 50k

Training Runs for Chubb 25k and Double Chubb 50k

Runners,
Just a reminder of the training run on Saturday. Only one change,
meet at the Walston Chubb shelter at 8:00. The gate at West Tyson doesn’t open
until that time. This will remain the same for the remainder of the training
runs.

Here are the directions from St. Louis:
Location: West Tyson
County Park 131 N. Outer Rd East, Eureka,
Missouri 63025 from I-270, take
I-44 west,  7 miles to the Lewis Road
exit. At the Lewis Road
exit, make a right turn (north). The park
entrance is on your right immediately
after the exit.

The Walson Chubb Shelter is at the end of the road as you enter the park.
There is limited parking in that area. Additional parking can be found by taking
the first right turn as you enter the park. Restrooms can be found near the
parking lot.

We will not be providing a coaching program. You will be able to run as far
as you want. We provide information about distances to recognizable landmarks so
you can plan your run. There will not be any aid on the course, please come
prepared to be self supported. Water will be available at West Tyson County Park
and at the World Bird Sanctuary near Lone Elk Park, at 7.75 miles.

David White

Howard Aslinger Foundation Endurance Run – Race Report

The Following is the race report from the Howard Aslinger Foundation Endurance Run’s RD, (and SLUG) Bryan Kelp.  For addtional information and pictures check out his blog at http://kelpeb.blogspot.com/ . Results can be found at http://howardaslingerfoundation.org/14.html

“It’s not a handicap, it’s an inconvenience.” – Howard

The 2^nd Annual Howard Aslinger Foundation Endurance Run was held March 18-19, in Cape Girardeau, MO. The event is held to honor the memory of Howard, a successful insurance agent, coach, father and husband. Howard, who had contracted polio at age 11, had a goal to provide those with disabilities a scholarship to pursue their dreams and to open opportunities that were not available to him as he grew up. After his passing in June of 2009, his family setup the foundation to make his dream a reality. This year’s event, which offered a 24hr, 12hr, 1hr, and Midnight 5K, drew 131 runners from 10 different states. 37 participants pushed beyond the marathon distance, with 28 going beyond 50 miles and 3 covering at least 100 total miles. Those covering 100+ miles were John Pollihan (St. Charles, MO), Mike Fitzgerald (Kirkwood, MO) and Bryan Kelpe(Cape Girardeau, MO). Carol Bradshaw (Los Angeles, CA) was the top female, covering 79.92 miles. Scott Winkler (Murray, KY) and Suzanne Kenyon (St. Louis, MO) were champions in the 12hr event covering 62.192 miles and 55.264 miles, respectively. Many stories were shared and created throughout the race, from Richard Reinhardt completing his first marathon, after only taking up running 3 weeks prior to the event, to Kari Aslinger’s determination to complete 50 miles (the shot of tequila before her last lap I think helped). For Pollihan the event would be his 2^nd 100miler reaching the milestone in 18hrs 51 min, a new PR, much to the credit of his brother Steve who ran by his side for 50+ miles.

Nearly 50 runners came out late in the evening to participate in the Midnight 5k, as well. This event I believe will continue to grow.

A few comments from participants:

“The hardest part for me was starting at 7pm. I’m not used to running in the evening at all. Also, my 4 year old daughter does a pretty good job of making sure I don’t have much energy left by 7pm. At mile 30 the urge to go to sleep was pretty overwhelming.” – John Pollihan

“I would think it is great first ultra because of the one mile loop, plenty of bathroom access, it is everyones race if you are a beginner, or seasoned ultrarunner someone is always there to help you make your goal.” – Frank Dietiker

“the aslinger family as well as the many volunteers, put on one of the best atmospheric runs, laid back atmosphere, great bag, door prizes, food , and to top it all off it went for a great cause thank you for making thoughts become reality” – Tom Bolen

“Thanks to you, Jean, and all of the volunteers from the weekend. You put on a great race!! I was impressed with the fact that our race director ran the whole time with us.” – Scott Thompson

We hope you will “inconvenience” yourself March 16-17^th, 2012, and join us as we honor Howard’s memory.

Howl at the Moon 8 hour Run/Walk

by John Mossman

Saturday, August 14 2010 was the 20^th Annual “Howl at the Moon” 8-hour Run & Walk, held in Kennekuk Cove County Park west of Danville, IL. This timed ultra event is held in memory of both ultra runner Scott Hathaway, who died on the course in 2007, and to the race director’s brother, who died at a young age. It is advertised as America’s largest timed ultra with a field limit of 250 runners.

The course is a 3.29 mile loop through the beautiful county park. It is mostly grass, but offers a nice mixture of dirt and pavement- just enough to keep the run interesting throughout the 8 hours. There are a few rolling hills and one steep climb near the end of the loop, but the real challenge is in the typical heat and humidity of an Illinois August. The course is almost completely exposed to the sun.

Anyone who has been at Howl will attest to it being an amazing experience and a blast to run in. This year was no exception. The race director, Mark Reddy, his wife and volunteers do an amazing job at creating a fun, festival-like atmosphere. It is a weekend long party. Tie-dye, beer, and music are plentiful. Many runners camp at the start/finish area, and are not shy about having a good time. Running Howl is like attending a large music festival, only instead of just standing in the crowd you get to participate.

Preparing camp the night before had me a little worried. The humidity was brutal. That is a great thing about timed runs, though. There is no fear in earning a DNF by not making a time cut-off. I would just run as much as I could. My goal was 40 miles, but I was second guessing it when I noticed how much I sweated in just setting up my tent. The SLUG turnout was amazing, I believe there were 23 SLUGs who were able to make it to Danville to run or walk. A few of us ate at the Deluxe Restaurant in town, which offers a Greek and home-style menu. Light rain showers came later, cooling the air and making it an enjoyable night.

Race morning was hot and humid, but very forgiving. The sun stayed behind a partly cloudy sky for most the morning, even as the temperature rose. I found the course very easy to run at a comfortable pace. It was not too crowded or too lonely during the 8 hours. There were two aid stations, one at the start/stop and one at ~1 ½ miles in. The second aid station had a hippy theme with tie-dye and 60’s music. I ate A LOT at the second station- it was stocked with pbjs, bananas, cookies, twizzlers, and my favorite ultra drink- Pepsi. The volunteers were great at filling my bottle and helping me get anything I needed.

The heat was hurting some runners, but even those runners who resorted to walking seemed to be having a great time. Towards the end of the race, there is a ½ mile out and back that could be ran to get as many miles in as possible. I regret that I only did one out and back; I finished just short of my goal at 36.69 miles. That placed me 70^th overall and 18^th in the open males’ division. SLUG Brandon Janosky took 1^st overall with 53.14 miles, and SLUG Tommy Doias had a close 2^ndoverall with 51.85 miles. SLUG Jennifer Eichelberger took 1^st overall female with 42.77 miles.  Fellow SLUG Jason Eads came to pace Brandon and anyone needing help in the last hours of the race.  He was running great, even after his amazing finish at the STORMY 100 trail run the following week in Canada.

Howl is a VERY generous race with it’s award medals.  I felt a little strange receiving a medal, on top of the finishers metal (that doubles as a bottle opener) for my 18^th place finish.  Each division had at least 15 top finisher’s medals.

It was awesome seeing Brandon, Tommy, and Jennifer; and SLUGs Jason, Michael, and Victoria; my friend Frank from Jackson; and all the other SLUGs who came to run, walk, and have a great time.

Some of my Howl photos can be found at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/105247360100788795569/HowlAtTheMoon#
All of my Howl photos are at:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=197816&id=582487535
John Mossman

Berryman Tomorrow!!

Tomorrow are the Berryman Marathon and 50 mile trail runs.  We’ve had some rain her recently so get your mud runners ready and have a sloppy time!

Best of Luck!!!

Here’s a look at the Harmon Springs Aid Station.  It will look just like this except wetter tomorrow.

Lots of Miles, Lots of Food, One Great Cause

The 3d Annual Miles for Food was our biggest year to date and Operation Food Search, the beneficiary of our event, could not be happier.  Thirty two entrants on four different teams raised a total donation amount of $21,762.09!  That amount will feed over 5,000 individuals for a full week!  Miles for Food was the highest yielding single day event held in 2009.  And I’m proud to say that of the hundreds of food drives held last year, which include huge corporations, public & private organizations, the whole gambit, Miles for Food is ranked in the top five for the year!   Amazing what a few people can do when they come together working towards a common goal.

The St. Louis Ultrarunners Group (SLUGS), joining the event for the first time, bound on the scene in true “ULTRARUNNER” style.  Exceeding the minimums just seems to be par for the course for this group.  With a team of nine they raised $2006.00 and 3,532 can food items – more than double the team minimums of $750.00 and 1,250 can items.  Their total team donation was worth an incredible $7,071.32.
Member of Team SLUGS won first and second place for highest can food items raised by individuals.  Noelle Chilcoat took second place at 1,185 items while Carol King won first place with an astonishing 1,340 items!

For team mileage a cumulative total of 66 must be covered by each team on event day.  The SLUGS opted to do a bit more covering a whopping 204.4 miles putting them in an easy first place for highest event day miles.  Fantastic effort!
Special thanks to; Team Captain, Jennifer Eichelberger, who put the team together;  Lee Hess, President of the St. Louis Ultrarunners Group, who supported runners on event day working an aid station and provided equipment; and all the volunteers who helped on event day.
Each individual and team should be very proud of what has been accomplished this season.  Thanks to these entrants thousands of people in our area will eat this winter that would have otherwise gone hungry.  It has been an honor to work with such a great group of runners for such a worthy cause.

Congratulations Team SLUGS.  See you in 2010.

Michael N. Linkogel, Event Coordinator
Miles for Food
2510 South Brentwood Blvd., Suite 212
Brentwood, MO 63144
Phone: 314.706.4882
E-mail: MilesforFood@unifieldtherapy.com
Website: http://www.shiftingconsciousness.com/MilesforFood.html

Double Chubb 25k/50k is full!

Is trail and utlrarunning becoming even more popular?  If you want to gauge that question on how quick our first race of the 2010 season filled up, I’d say so.  Double Chubb 25k/50k filled up in a mere 5 days compared to the 11 days of last year.  Both of those timelines are extremely fast.  Hope you were able to get in, if not make sure to check out our other races too!!

 

Check them out here http://stlouisultrarunnersgroup.net/index.html