Thursday, December 10, 2009

U.S. Championships for 2010

Last weekend at the MUT meetings the U.S. national championships at various distances and disciplines were named. Below are the Mountain, Ultra, and Trail championships for 2010 and beyond. There is also a plan to have the sub-Ultra races form a Grand Prix Series in 2010.

My thoughts on each race below....

50km road: I've always wanted to run at Caumsett but always seem to be injured. I went the last couple of years as the liaison (and even ran a few laps). Great slightly rolling 2.6m loop that is mostly sheltered.

100km road: I'm 1 for 3 in 100km finishes, I have no desire to make it 1 for 4. Tim Y (RD) will be the assistant team manager for the 100km team and he knows how to stage an event. I hear that Dan is planning on going to Mad City.

1/2 marathon trail: If it weren't the same day at the 100th Dipsea and 6 days before the 50th Mt Washington, I'd probably do it.

Mountain championship: 50th running of the Mt Washington RR. If you want to make the U.S. team you have to be at this race. The money will be more than double what it has been in the past. The first Mt W hall of fame inductees will be announced the night before the race. Will this be enough to get Nate, Casey, and Patrick to do their first mountain race and show the rest of the country how good New England runners are???

100m trail: Named after the time the Cuyahoga river caught on fire. Enough said.

50m trail: I ran this race once back in 2001 and lost by just over a minute. The course is very tough and very scenic. If I ever decide to go beyond 50k again, this will be the place.

15km trail: The folks from Spokane have put on some big events. They are hoping for 400-600 runners at this first time race. I hope to be one of those runners.

10km trail: I was the liaison at this race last year and had a great time. They really had it together, if I hadn't known it was a first time race I would have never guessed. The course was very difficult....I hope to give it a shot this year.

50km trail: I don't know anything about this race. I haven't done the trail 50km champs since the VERY long 50km at Headlands. I hope this 50km is a lot shorter than that one. I'm planning on going.

50m road: This race begs the question "Can a race that has nearly 3/4 of the distance on dirt (road) really be called a road race"? Too far for me.

Marathon trail: Back to Lithia. In 2010 I hope to actually train for the race (and I don't mean 3 hour water runs with the Quintals).

Date
Event
Location
website
03/07/10
USA 50km Road
Caumsett, Long Island, NY
www.newyorkultrarunning.org/caumsett_state_park_50k2008.htm
04/07/10
USA 100km Road Champs
Madison, WI
www.madcity100k.com/home.php
06/12/10
USA 1/2 marathon trail
Bend, OR
www.footzonebend.com
06/19/10
USA Mountain Champs
Gorham, NH
http://www.mountwashingtonroadrace.com/
07/31/10
USA 100M Trail Champs
Burning River, OH
http://burningriver100.org/wp/
07/31/10
USA 50M Trail Champs
White River, WA
www.seattlerunningcompany.com/WR50/
07/31/10
USA 15km Trail Champs
Spokane, WA
www.spokanesports.org/
08/25/10
USA 10km Trail Champs
Laurel Springs, NC
www.continentaldividetrailrace.com
09/25/10
USA 50km Trail
Bend, OR
www.footzonebend.com
10/16/10
USA 50M Road Champs
State College/Boalsburg, PA
www.tusseymountainback.com/
11/06/10
USA Marathon Trail
Ashland, OR
www.roguevalleyrunners.com

7 comments:

DoubleJ said...

wow...you Named Names ;). I thought you were bluffing... Good stuff dd...

mueblerunner said...

What about the other Patrick...Tarpy! I believe he would be a natural sub 1:02.

Ben Nephew said...

I have more of a problem with the trail marathon being mostly carriage roads, than the 50 miler being on dirt roads. A dirt road is not a trail, and neither is a carriage road. I haven't seen trail specialists winning at Tussey...

Given how competitive Washington will be, even if some of the faster road guys had great debuts, they might not finish all that high. I'd rather see a healthy P low, very fit Eric Blake, and strong runs for Kevin and Justin.

Dave, how likely is it for a fast road guy to have a fast debut on the Hill?

DoubleJ said...

Good one Q... Tarpy would probably have a monster run there...I can't imagine him not being under 1:01-1:02 or better.

double-d Mountain runner said...

I'll work on a list of "road guys" debuts at Mt W. Of course I can't look up the many DNF's that elite guys have had in their first Mt W.

Ben, I hear you about road versus trail. Howard had the line "a dirt road is no more a road than a paved rail trail is a trail".

mueblerunner said...

Didn't someone debut back in"88 and win with ONLY a track and road backround? Course record victory, too. 1:00:50.

Ben Nephew said...

If Dave is not the definition of an outlier, I don't know what is. I want to see 100 people train exactly like Dave does, and see how many of them run sub 1:10 at 69years old! It'll be interesting to see Dave's data on debuts, as always.

Howard is smoking crack. That comment doesn't even pass the laugh test. Maybe we can call the Stowe 8 miler a trail championship!