Ruth Anderson 2025: a key benchmark

Ruth Anderson, a local and international legend who specially contributed to recognition of Masters women in long distance running. Ultra historian, Davy Crockett, has a captivating story on Ruth, much worth reading, which I'm not going to try summarizing here (I did shared a few tidbits in previous posts about this race, that was my 16th participation since 2007, while the event had started 21 years before that already, per Stan Jensen's precious ws100.com website). Next year will mark the 40th anniversary then!

Through this long history, the format of the event has evolved, reflecting the demand of the community with regard to the plethora of ultra races now available, locally, nationally and abroad. When I joined our Pacific Association USA Track & Field MUT (Mountain, Ultra, Trail) Grand Prix 19 years ago, Ruth Anderson was a must. It offered three ultra distances (50K, 50 miles, 100K) and you could pick the distance on the go. With scoring done for Men, Women and Mixed teams, our club, Quicksilver, went to score up to 9 teams! Long are these days gone, this time we had 6 men signed up but not even a team strategy to split 3 on each of the two distances now available (50K and 50 miles). Besides, one of the six didn't show up.

With that, and the fact that I had already won my age group this year, plus the stress at work and the fatigue after coming back from a 6-day conference in Orlando, I picked the 50K with three key goals.

• Use it as a test before potentially going to the 50-mile Nationals in November (Tunnel Hill).
• Use it as an additional benchmark of the progression of my rebuild after last year's injury (meniscus).
• Aim at lowering the M60 course record which Frank Bozanich had set 20 years ago at 3:55:57, an average of 7:36 min/mile pace.

I posted last night about my previous race, a 10K where I was disappointed not to break 40 minutes. And the conclusion that I'm still off top shape by 5 to 10%, I believe mostly because of weaker glutes and hamstrings. This longer race on a rolling course will be quite a key benchmark then.

I got to the parking lot at 5:50 am, there weren't too many runners yet. Well, there could have been many more registrants, it had been challenging to build interest in this crowded ultra racing market, despite such a quality event and a course which has seen several national records being set, a couple of international ones too, and even a world record on 50K in 2003 by CJ Albertson (which I heard will be shooting for another record at the Chicago Marathon tomorrow). Above us, a cloudless sky filled with stars and a half moon still shining.

I missed the pre-race briefing and ultra volunteer Stan Jensen had to tell me twice to get to the remote start line as I was still setting up my drop bag, passed 6:50 (with a start at 7). All good, I still had a few minutes to chat with others at the start line, and see half a dozen of carbon plate shoes among the runners at the front. I teased co-RD Anil, wondering what would Ruth think... At least it meant that this was going to be another fast edition! Here are a few pictures from Shiran, including me goofing around:

Sure enough, I quickly lost track of the first 5 runners, feeling hard enough to hold a 7:15 min/mile pace right off the bat (with age, and also after my first COVID in early 2020, I find that I now need at least one mile for the engine to fully come up to speed and roar). As I was trying to balance pushing and setting up a sustainable pace, Oliver Chan from the Excelsior team tagged along and I couldn't believe how loud his shoes were when ponding the asphalt. Must have been another pair of carbon plates. Thankfully, I was able to distance him just before the end of the first loop, so I could focus on my breathing and own rhythm.

Because of the ondulations of the course the first ten miles oscillated between 7:02 and 7:24 and I was able to keep the average pace under 7:15. Then I started getting too excited lapping the tail of the pack and clocked 6:52 on mile 11, oops!

I covered the first 3 loops in 1:37:30. I'm missing the days I was running loops in 30 minutes flat on the 50-mile but Agnès keeps reminding me to stop comparing to the past... The 4th loop felt slightly harder, yet I was such in great mood that I managed to cover it in 32:15 which would end up being the fastest of the 7 laps. I was still not ready to let go of that great pace, yet wondering when I was going to blow off.

At the end of that 4th lap, about mile 17.5, I made my first stop to drink a pouch of Vespa and grab my second GU2O/Brew bottle. I was drinking GU2O rather consistently, but didn't finish my other bottle of water over the 50K, which was on the low side of hydration.

Another action shot from Shiran:

I was still going strong on lap 5 and started wondering when the leaders will lap me. Lost 6 seconds over lap 4, with 32:21.

Lap 6 started strong, still but I felt a sharp pain under my feet, like my sock was sliding and folding. I first thought I was going to run through it until the finish but the pain was really annoying. I did a stop at the half-way aid station --which ended up not being a water station because someone stole the water jugs in the morning-- to untie my shoe, check the sock and super firmly retie the show. Time lost: 1 minute, a botched Formula 1 pit stop... Which led to the only mile above 8, at 8:07 (mile 25). Yet, it was worth it as I still had a 10K to run. But with these extra 60 seconds, I got passed and lapped by the 50K winner just before finishing my 6th lap. That lap was 33:12.

I started cramping a bit on mile 27 and eased a bit, running the final miles between 7:08 and 7:34. My average pace had increased to 7:14 min/mile although I've been credited 7:18 min/mile overall as my Coros GPS ended up with a distance of 31.33 miles.

Crossed the finish line in 3:46:35, happy to be done but needing some space and time to recover from the effort. Which I made even harder by only taking 2 GU Energy gels. As much as Vespa (and fat) does most of the fueling for me now --and I'm not sponsored anymore, this year-- that was on the very low and risky side of (under) strategic carbs. But I survived and was able to check all my goals this time. Improving the M60 course record by more than 9 minutes, and lowering my 50K time from the 3:51:19 at the Nationals in April and 4:04:17 at Jed Smith in February. Progress!

Shiran catching my 10-minute post-race personal retreat...

Anthony Fagundes, 35, won in 3:12:44. At 56, James Scanlan took 4th overall and 1st Masters in 3:35:44. Knowing James, he was probably after my M50 course record which I'll keep one more year at 3:25:19 (2017, I was 53). I ended up 6th overall and 3rd Masters, in a small field.

I got in time to see the first three women finishing within less than 10 minutes: Brook Bray (Impala, 49, 4:05), Zoe Ray (26, 4:12), and the tireless Verity Breen (Tamalpa, 58, 4:14).

All the results were made available online and live, thanks to Wendell's chip timing, plus the assistance of Stan and a few other volunteers.

Speaking of volunteers, quite a few behind the aid station table, serving drinks and fresh food. And I loved the fresh pizzas which co-RD Shiran brought us.

As for the third co-RD, Rajeev, among other race duties, he was busy handing out finisher medals, top finisher awards and age group plaques. And boosting an exciting vibe too!

I'm still mesmerized by the cool design of the t-shirt, thank you for that too, Shiran!

I stayed for 2.5 more hours, recovering first, and chatting with many; what a cool and knit community assembled in Ruth's memory, she must be delighted to see that! Oh, and I finally handed the 2024 Grand Prix M60 Age Group winner plaque to Charles, making him stop for 30 seconds on his way to another successful 60 miles. That was my new age group last year but I couldn't compete because of the torn meniscus.

I didn't mention the weather but you can see on the picture, the cloudy forecast we received from the race directors didn't materialize and the sky was blue all day! Better to get wrong in that direction! ;-) With that, it ended being a hot afternoon for the 50-milers especially.

Big tanks and kudos to Anil, Shiran and Rajeev for perpetuating this tradition, despite the diminishing enthusiasm and strong competition on the running circuit. Respect to the Pamakids for another impressive show with 19 runners! Was great to see other clubs also represented: Lake Merritt Joggers & Striders, Tamalpa, Excelsior, Impala and Quicksilver of course. Might miss a couple, we'll see in the scoring.

Here is Luciano at the finish (4:42). Steve completed the 50K too in 7:19. And Charles the 50-miler in 9:47.

Belated thanks to Ruth for gathering us in her memory; this is such a precious Bay Area ultra running tradition which I hope will live beyond its 40th anniversary! Long live Ruth's spirit then!

PS: all these running analytics in the Coros app... mind boggling!

Ruth Anderson 2023: was I tired yet?

I know, I know, I should be writing about Spartathlon, but this is such a daunting task which is going to take a few more weeks, not to mention pictures from that Greek épopée are still coming in/up on their website. So, for now, let's go back into the rhythm of race reports since yesterday was another race day! Already...

This weekend we we celebrated one of our local ultra legends with the Ruth Anderson Memorial Endurance Runs (see another impressive piece of ultra running history from Davy Crockett). The initial 100K distance got dropped out of popularity so we are now down to 2 distances, 50K and 50-mile. Originally organized by BAUR (Bay Area Ultra Runners), today's co-Race Directors are Anil Rao (Quicksilver), Shiran Kochavi (Pamakids) and Rajeev Patel. To avoid conflicts with big road races in April, the event moved from April to October. Not that there is a month without race conflict nowadays...

I had registered a few weeks before Spartathlon, I thought it would give me a good excuse to leverage the strong training I put in through the Summer and shake things off, whatever the outcome of my Greek run would have been. Luckily, there was not much pressure as I had enough points in our Grand Prix and, directing the race, Shiran wasn't running today. Well, not running himself but running his Panakids team business for sure! What I had not planned for is the two vaccine shots I got on Friday, leveraging a slot Agnès got for the two of us through her school. I had quite a bad night, woke up sweating and with a small fever, yet drove to the start to see if it was worth the effort for the team.

I was really feeling sluggish and was ready to call it a day and drive back when Charles showed up at 6:15 and confirmed he was up for the 50-mile again. We already had Andrew confirmed so, dang, I had to run 50 miles now... I hadn't much time to prepare and overthink it, it didn't feel reasonable but I'm sure Ruth was still giving me her blessing.

Upon checking in, Stan asked me two questions: "Is that your first ultra?" and "Is it your eight participation?" While the first one was clearly a joke, the second was more intriguing and made me realize I didn't keep a tab in my mind. As a matter of fact, apart for the 2020 edition which got cancelled because of COVID, and 2021 which I skip as my hamstring tendon was still fissured, I ran all other years since 2007, so 15 times with this year. 4 times the 50K, 9 50-milers and the 100K twice. Time flies!

As opposed to last year, there were no world record attempt this Saturday but still a few fast guys. In my age group, James Scanlan shared he was aiming at my age group 50-mile course record of 6:08:20, then he'll go after the M55 American AGR next year. Andrew wanted to put a solid 50-mile training run before an upcoming big marathon goal. As for me, with the forced run for the team, I said I'd be happy to jog the 50-mile... (All course pictures, credit: Jason Lehbram, Dark Lite Foto.)

Given the circumstances, I started conservatively and clocked 8:15 for the first mile which includes one of the two gentle uphill sections of the course. I picked up the pace a little, settling on the 7:50 min/mile pace which Verity was maintaining like the professional clock she is. Carrying two bottles though, I didn't stop at the aid stations for the first 5 laps and ended up running alone.

The 5th lap is when Andrew lapped me. On one side, that was fast so I wonder if he'd keep up after the 50K. If not, I would have happily ended the day as well with only 50K as the glutes felt tight from the start. But on the other hand he looked really easy and relaxed, so maybe he was going to have a great and full 50-mile. Unsure, I thought I'd better plan for the 50-mile indeed, and eased up just enough to still maintain an average pace of 8:00 at the 50K mark (4:08:56).

At the end of that 7th lap, upon confirmation that Andrew was still on the 50-mile, I had no other option than to continue. I was really happy to have eased up a bit because there were still 4 laps to go (19 miles) and I didn't want to have to walk that much! Not only happy for pacing myself but also for the opportunity to leverage the mental training of Spartathlon. Running longer races really helps you putting things in perspective. For instance, I thought several times that I was just running to Corinth this time, which is only one third of the Spartathlon course. Also, that the uphills were nothing compared to some of the long uphills sections on the way to Sparta. With that, I did slow down but rarely to a walk, as opposed to what I would have certainly done otherwise. Then I counted the laps down. 4, 3, 2, 1...

Still in good spirits with 3 laps to go:

Somewhere deeper in the pain cave with 2 laps to go:

While lap 10th was the toughest, I regain some stamina in the final lap especially thinking of a 7-hour target. Earlier last week, before I got the shots, my best hope was to average 8 min/mile for a time of 6:40. Given the early morning fever, 7 hours seem to be quite a fair compromise. Still, I was a few minutes behind and barely made it under to the finish area under 7, with still almost a mile to go on the final out and back. Finish time of 7:08:00, good for 4th place overall and 1st in my age group. Indeed, the scoop was that James stopped at 50K. Again, given the circumstances, the vaccines the day before, and 7 marathons ran 2 weeks ago, this was a great outcome. And another important milestone in my running journey, my 39th 50-miler, 360th race and 30th ultra run this year. Never easy to race against the clock but that clock helps keeping moving forward!

Andrew took second on the 50-mile (6:03), 2 minutes behind Jakob Walter, both 30. At 21, Daniel Chang took 3rd in 6:56.

Special mention to Sharlet Gilbert, 72, for breaking Helen Klein's, another NorCal ultra legend, W70-74 50-mile American record, lowering it to 9:41:44, from 9:55:09. 30 years ago...!

Thanks to Vespa Power, I ran these 50 miles on only 4 GU gels, 1 serving of GuEnergy chews, 2 cups of Coke. And 3 bottles of GuEnergy Brew. Plus 6 S!Caps (Succeed). Needless to say, after running 9 marathons in 2 weeks, in addition to lowering the load on the GI system, Vespa helps with recovery! The Vespa Math! ;-)

The weather was optimal, with a cloud layer staying upon us most of the day. I was delighted to have a glance of the eclipse through lighter clouds, just before 10. Perfect organization again for this commemoration of one of our local ultra legends. Special thanks to the volunteers who are spending so many hours to help us, to Jason Lehbraum for his hundreds of pictures, to Wendell for his electronic timing, giving a break to Stan for keeping track of all the laps on paper (special thoughts to Stan's ex-acolytes, Steve and Dave). Last but not least, to Anil and Shiran for the production of this super nice racing top, including the special touch of Ruth's quote: "I just enjoy being able to run and keep going."

So, yes, to many more years of being that able!

Ruth Anderson 2022 with purpose: historical edition in Ruth's memory!

Ruth left us in 2016 so we'll never know her feelings about this year's edition. Reading about her though in this great piece from Davy Crockett, she was so much of a game changer for putting women especially at their due place on the marathon and ultra running map, it's most likely she would have been not just supportive but delighted. In 1976, she ran the Lake Merced event which consisted in a 50-mile and 100K (back then you were getting credit for both distances if you were finishing the 100K). According to another ultra historian, Stan Jensen, whose website you can support here, the Memorial Run only started ten years later. I have to assume the Memorial was added after Ruth passed away in 2016. Before that, I only remembered referring to the race as Ruth Anderson.

Let's start with the purpose I highlighted in the title. The format of this event makes it interesting from this standpoint. I ran all the editions from 2007 to 2019 and, rereading my first of 13 race reports, I can recall the struggle of deciding on the distance on the fly. In 2007, I had not run any 100K yet and was going for that distance, although I wasn't sure, 2 weeks after running Boston, then my first Miwok 100K a couple of weeks later. And this the real deal at this event: if your mind isn't fully set to a particular distance, first you may start too fast, then not manage your mind motivation tank properly to keep going after the shorter distance. It has become slightly less complex as the 100K has been dropped as an option these past years, but still, there is still a notable difference between a 50K and 50-mile. 19 miles or 4 more laps.

To make the matter more interesting, this is also the final event of the MUT (Mountain, Ultra, Trail) Grand Prix of our USATF Pacific Association. This means the last opportunity to get point and, in particular, potentially score 6 teams (1 Men, 1 Women, 1 Mixed x 2 distances). My Quicksilver Club used to score 9 teams in the golden years, a decade ago, Pamakids took over since! It was Excelsior's last chance to reclaim their Men title although that meant they would have to have the top 3 men on both distances, as well as another club than Pamakids taking second. While Excelsior brought their balzing fast runners, I've rarely seen so many Men in Green, quite another impressive show of leadership from their team captain, Pen Perez. On the individual side, 2 points separated Karl Schnaitter from Jonah Backstrom in the M40 age group, that was going to make for an interesting duel. In the M60, my club mate Keith Lubliner only had to finish the 50K in 2nd place in his age group to reclaim his pole position; simple purpose.

And there there are the personal goals, ranging from just finishing to setting a Personal Record, or, way more boldly, an American Age Group record, a National record for other or dual citizens or... a World Record! When I heard from co-Race Director, Steve Jaber, that CJ Albertson wanted to reclaim his 50K World Record this weekend, I couldn't believe he would take that rolling course for it. Personally, I ran good times at Ruth Anderson on the three distances but all my PRs were set elsewhere eventually. With that ultimate purpose from CJ, it appeared that having the event USATF-sanctioned and course USATF-certified might not have been safe enough for ratification. So Steve went out of his way to get the event an IAU (International Association of Ultrarunners) Bronze Label. That included having to fly a IAU-certified course measurer from Arizona to recertify the whole course again. Incidentally, while writing this post, I just notice that this Saturday was also the European 50K Championships, big weekend for that ultra distance! Also, to get in CJ's pre-race mind and mood, worth reading the piece that another elite and Ruth Anderson participant, Jeffrey Stern, wrote for UltraRunning Magazine this week.

As I highlighted in my previous and post-race blog post, CJ wasn't the only one with a record purpose. You see, from these amazing goals to the team plays and the more personal struggles of dealing with age or injury, there was a wide range of motivations but, all running in Ruth's memory, it was meant to be a a long day packed with action! On my end, ironically not a big purpose, still rebuilding from this 3.5-year injury. I didn't even need points to reclaim my age group, the new age group records were improved again last year and are now out of even my previous age group league/potential and I'm still so out of shape that I can't do good speed work. I was hoping to at least use this race as a benchmark of how far behind I am, hopefully breaking 4 hours at least. But, after clocking a few sub 3:20s in my 50s and right before the injury, maybe 3:45 (7:15 min/mile).

Without the 100K, and the move from April to October, it was good the RDs spared us from a 6 or 6:30 am start. 7 am looks so late for a start of an ultra now! That meant finishing breakfast before 4 am for me, so still an early wake up call. I arrived on site at 6 am and there was so much buzz already, albeit an unreal atmosphere with the heavy fog. But it wasn't chilly, it actually looked like perfect conditions for some record setting, a great start.

Given the World Record potential, three USATF Officials volunteered their day to ensure the event ran per the rule book. Certainly, this is the first time we got a gun start at this event and the famous ready, set, go! Ruth must have chuckled, seeing this from above. Needless to say, CJ and the lead bike disappeared in the fog in... record time! I settled on a 7:15 min/mile pace, happy to let Karl Schnaitter and James Scanlan's sub-6-hour 50-mile pace (7:12 min/mile), with found memory of starting below 7 min/mile myself when Jon Olsen and Chikara were working on their 100K Team USA selections. In the first lap we played cat and mouse with Verity: she was faster on the uphills, and I was faster in the downhills. No dramatic hills, the course only gives about 100 feet of cumulative elevation change per lap but my pace variations oscillated around Verity's super stable one. We also have such a different stride, I admired Verity's super efficient one, short but fast, and low kick behind. With that I also tended to pick up the pace on flat sections so much that I ran alone for the rest of the race. (Photo credit: Shira Kochavi.)

I had just completed my second lap when I got lapped, dang! I had decided to run with my camera to catch CJ in action but, the time I realized it was the lead bike, I only got his back. So impressively fast! Ironically, I stopped to take a video, yet ran one of my fastest miles at 7:02, as I was too much inspired by his speed and picked up the pace again.

In the second and third laps, I could already hear my glutes reminding me that they didn't work enough the past 4 years. My average pace was now down to 7:11 which didn't appear so sustainable but I decided to see how long I could hold that once comfortable pace.

I was carrying two bottles (water and GU Energy Brew) as well as 4 gels, 6 S!Caps, plus my phone and the car key, I was fully loaded in screwed (no crew) mode. All this to save excuses to stop at every lap. I had prepared a cooler with two other bottles but, with the moisture of the fog, wasn't drinking much. At least that saved seconds and allowed me to keep the 7:11 min/mile pace past the half point. I would only drop one of the bottles at the end of lap 6 as captured by Shiran (and, not these are precious bottles, I'm not throwing it in the compostable bin! Actually, if you have such grey or red Ultimate Direction bottle, and not using them, I will buy them! Seriously.)

I was finishing my 5th lap when the lead bike passed me again, wow! I was less than half a mile from the aid station, the clock was about 5:35 so he could indeed break 5:40!

At this point, I realized how my weak purpose wasn't helping. Not helping managing the pace. Not helping keeping enough motivation and stamina. I even thought of stopping to join the buzz around CJ's fresh World Record (2:38:43!!!!). I'm so impressed with his perfect execution of his plan, on such a course. Also how some can handle such pressure on big occasions like this. It's his first race result on UltraSignup, a score of 100% captures some of that perfection! With two more laps, I was thinking how disastrous this world-class performance will have on my own UltraSignup score. Like Steve Jensen reminded me later, at my age, I should stop looking at that age-insensitive measure. I decided to at least do one more lap. I'm at 9.5% of ultra race DNFs, not DNF'ing isn't as important as good performance for me, yet, I pride that all these DNFs but one (Quad Dipsea) were still beyond the marathon mark. 6 laps were 26.6 miles. We shall see then.

I should have taken a Vespa at mid way, I finally did my first stop (almost mile 22), to grab a Vespa pouch. Was I too weak? I had to ask Rajeev to unscrew the cap for me. These two stops (the aid station, and CJ's video) got me my first over-7:30 mile, at 7:50. Surprisingly, my glutes and legs were not crashed, it was more my mind. The Vespa helped and I was in better spirit by the end of lap 6, especially after passing the marathon mark around 3:13, another solid Boston Qualifier, albeit nothing we can use because of lack of official time capture. Well, even my 6-lap split would be a good one (3:16 at 26.6 miles).

And then I decided to continue. Never mind the score, at least for the DNF ratio, but mostly in Ruth's honor. Despite more than 40 minutes to spare, and having clocked mostly 32.5-minute laps, I wasn't even sure about breaking 4 hours anymore. Except for CJ, twice, I had only been lapped two other times: by Chikara on his pursuit to a new Masters record for 50 miles, and a long and dark hair running who must have been Firmin Villagran (bib 1503 not on the entrant list). With that I didn't know how many runners were still ahead in the 50K. In spite of a bit of walking and some nagging cramping in the last mile, I managed to finish in 3:54:24, in 4th place overall, and 1st M50 or actually Masters. For what it is worth as the Masters fight was really happening in the 50-mile race. (Photos credit: Shiran Kochavi.)

Am I happy with this result? Those knowing me can guess... Ahem, what about a 67.71% UltraSignup score as a starter? Or finishing 1h15 minutes behind the winner? Or 36 minutes slower than my PR? I know, that's very half-empty glass thinking. For one thing, in addition to be an exceptional athlete, CJ is 30 years younger, that's not a good excuse, but some years do count. Anyway, that way to look at the time is also what keeps me pushing and working hard. At least, it shows that I'm still hoping to re-improve, and that it's worth trying as I improved on my last 3 Road 50Ks (2020-2022). And, yes, I don't feel the injury anymore while racing, phew!

Hydration wise, I ended up drinking half of my usual intake. I took only 3 gels, 3 S!Caps, and, including 2 before the start, only 3 Vespa pouches. Good enough for a 7:33 min/mile pace overall, but I could have managed better.

Speaking of Vespa, what about Chikara's performance as another proof it does work? His wife, Diann, setup a table with burgers (Chikara is a big fan), water pouches, gels, carbonated water, but Chikara ran the whole race mostly on Vespa, taking a CV-25 pouch every other lap, that is less than one hour in between, at the blazing pace he was going.

Before the final out and back (2 x 0.51 miles to go):

And, when I say it worked, not just by mere seconds: Chikara ended up breaking a 41-year old record, covering 50 miles in 5:05:41. Think about it, Chikara wasn't even born when Bernd Heinritch ran 5:10:13 in October of 1981! As for the time, put this in perspective to the Open World Record that Jim Wamsely set in 2019 during an HOKA-organized event. Even more in awe with Chikara's performance as he suffered the same tendon injury than I had, last year. In addition to being 18 years younger, he also got two PRP injections (which my doctor deemed to risky given the depth in the glutes). So great to see Chikara back to Team USA form and potential!

Another picture with CJ at the finish. At a time HOKA has basically bought all the elites, super happy that Brooks found this gem and was able to retain him. Between CJ and Des, these two Mavericks are outstanding representatives to show that US-brand Brooks also works wonders!

As for Verity, she barely missed breaking 4 hours and therefore missed the Amrican and World Age Group record by less than 4 minutes, but she exploded the Australian one by 15 minutes! Oh, and she won the 50K outright too, what another feat!

Despite finishing the 50K before 11 am, I missed another same-day race report for many good reasons. First, I waited to see if Chikara was going to break 5:10. Then I spent time connecting with many, as well as providing encouragements to the runners still on the course. Then, when I was going to leave at 1 pm, Bill Dodson showed up. Bill is 87 and can't run anymore. He ran ultras for more than 20 years and still holds several M80-84 American Records. Recently, he asked his daughter, Estelle, to meet our ultra community at some local races. Being out of town, I had missed him at Firetrails 2 weeks ago, what a great surprise to spend time reconnecting this Saturday! Bill also handed me the keys of the MUT Chair, 5 years ago. It was so heart warming to see his joy sparkled by memories and messages of other runners. The most colorful of which coming from Eroll Rocket Jones, who you can't beat at this game!

So many volunteers to be grateful and thankful for! From the co-RDs, Steve and Anil, the entertaining MC and RD Emeritus, Rajeev, the manual time-keeping master, Dave, and his helpers, Wendell who graciously contributed his time and his chip timing infrastructure/operation, Anil's friends handling registration and the food and drink tables, and the course monitors as well as the crew manning the remote aid station. Plus Pen and Shiran behind their cameras. It takes a big village to keep this ultra tradition going. Again, Ruth would be proud!

One thing that stood out for the Officials who are typically officiating at Road, Cross-Country or Track & Field events, is the sense of community transpiring around the finish line, while clubs tend to stick together at other events.

By the way, what happened at the European 50K Nationals? While 13 ran under 3 hours, the fastest time was 2:49:20 by Houssame Eddine Benabbou Azizi from Spain. Ruth Anderson Memorial was the place to watch! It's odd not to see any Frenchman in the entry list; they are typically very competitive and Spain wasn't too far. Only explanation might be that 50K isn't a distance they keep track of records for, except for race walking (see the Masters records, from all Track & Field records page).

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A few bonus pictures.

Selfies with celebrities, at dawn, on the way to the start.

With CJ, during his ultimate personal briefing.

Great finish times on the 50-mile:

Thia for the women win!

Very strong 6:13 time at 53 for James!

Karl almost breaking 6!