2012 Race photos at http://trappephoto.com/run-rabbit-run-100/
Race Highlights
2012
Yup, our two days of events were beautiful days indeed, as the forests were a palette of autumnal golds, reds and yellows, and the sunshine was awarming the heavens and all the little creatures beneath it! Yup, you knew that somewhere Harvey was watching. The sun shone bright for our inaugural 100 milers (Tortoises and Hares) and too for our 6th 50 miler and then at night – well, there was a bit of a Colorado nip in the air. In the Hare division Harvey’s sense of humor came through as no one paid much mind to his assigning Utah’s ageless Karl Meltzer – at age 44 the winningest 100 mile runner in history – bib number 33, for indeed it was to be Karl’s 33rd win at the distance, and for once, he got to cash in some simolies for it (a cool $10,000, plus another $1,000 as top Master) as well as a trip to the Western States 100. He stalked the early leaders and pulled away late with consummate ease to win in 19:16, on a course much more difficult than anyone expected. Dylan Bowman of Aspen, Colorado, near or on the lead throughout, held for 2nd in 19:56 and collected $3,500. Oregon’s Tim Olson also contended throughout and was 3rd. He ran 20:28. He won $2,000. Not a bad day’s work.
On the distaff side Great Britain’s Lizzy Hawker (by way of Switzerland) overcame a bad early fall to win in 22:07. She too collected a cool $10,000. Rhonda Claridge of Ophir, Colorado, 44, was 2nd in 24:05 and Leila DeGraves of Evergreen, Colorado was 3rd in 24:51. They collected $3.500 and $2,000, respectively, in the richest race in 100 mile endurance run history. We hope to do better next year. On the Tortoise side Clark Sundahl of Monument, Colorado ran a terrific 24:20 to win, and Colorado Springs’ Liz Koop ran a 27:19 to capture the woman’s prize. Steve Chaffee was top men’s Master and Colleen Ihnken top women’s Master. Everyone commented on how beautiful – and difficult – the course was.
The 50 miler saw a terrific performance as Boulder’s Cameron Clayton, 24 and making his first ultra start, broke Geoff Roes’ course record with a jaw-dropping 7:09. He’ll be going to Western States and all you Western States prognosticators, watch out!. Two-time winner and defending champ Zeke Tiernan, 37, of Basalt, Colorado was 2nd in 7:48. Nick Pedatella, 27, and also of Boulder, lost and confused in the previous day’s 100 miler, made amends, stayed on course, and came back to take 3rd in the 50 in 7:57, thereby earning him a trip to Western States and the Lost Bunny award. He deserves both.
Pam Smith, 37, of Salem, Oregon, earned the win and a trip to Western States, running 8:40 and holding off late-charging Kerrie Bruxvoort, 36, of Broomfield, Colorado who ran 8:47. She too will be going to Western States, thanks to Montrail. Silke Koster of Boulder was 3rd in 9:09. Thanks, again, Montrail, for including both our events in the Montrail Ultra Cup.
Our race was graced by the presence of Arnulfo Quimares (hero of that book that many of you may have read) and Miguel Lara, making their first starts outside of their native Tarahumara lands. Thanks for coming, and they’d promised they’d be back. As usual our post-race party was terrific, with great beer provided by Pateros Creek Brewery and Mahogany Grill , and more pizza than on a New York City mile. We’ll be tinkering with our 100 miler a bit for next year to get it just right, so stay tuned. And thanks for a great race!
2011
Every day is a beautiful day indeed, as Elwood P. Dodd said, but some days are more beautiful than others, and we might have known this was not to be one of our more beautiful ones when Harvey, our best friend and resident pooka, mysteriously failed to appear at the pre-race briefing. Harvey knew something was up, and had gone into early hibernation, for on race day, September 17, 2011, winter suddenly arrived.
Torrential rain and bitter cold. Hail, sleet, snow, graupel, and driving winds. Trails that had turned into rivers of freezing muck and mud. After four years of glorious race day weather nature exacted her revenge and greeted the 162 brave starters of the 5th Annual Run, Rabbit, Run 50 Miler with all she had. Only 115 souls survived the challenge to complete the course, thanks in large part to our terrific volunteers, many of who parted with the clothes off their backs to help the runners through, and to the generosity of fellow runners, who exchanged rain gear, jackets, gloves and hats to keep each other safe through the remote course and brutal conditions. It’s what our sport is all about, and thanks largely to that spirit of generosity, everyone made it home unscathed.
But despite the rain, hail, sleet and bunny snot there were some spectacular performances out there, led by Zeke Tiernan of Carbondale, Colorado, our inaugural 2007 Run, Rabbit, Run winner and old course record holder, who returned to win in a remarkable 7:24, barely holding off ultra super star Nicholas Clark of Fort Collins, Colorado, who stopped to tie his shoelaces with five miles to go. The two had run neck and neck through the day and it may have cost him the win. Nick ran 7:26. “Every time I see a moose in a race, I win,” Tiernan said after crossing the finish. We thought it might have been Harvey. Two-time winner and last year’s third place finisher Ryan Burch was third in 8:08. Jenny Pierce of Livingstone, Montana, space blankets flapping, won a contentious distaff race in 9:34 with Tina Lewis of Boulder, in a men’s jacket three sizes too large lent her by a fellow runner, second in 9:55. Stephanie Lynn was a few minutes back in third in 9:57:30. Top two men and women finishers earn an automatic berth into the Western States 100, thanks to our wonderful sponsor Montrail. Thank you Montrail, for again including us as part of the Montrail Ultra Cup! The ageless Charles Corfield was top Men’s Master in 8:58, and Colleen Ihnken was once again top Women’s Master in 10:49. All earned beautiful hand-crafted platters made by our volunteers.
A special word of thanks to Bill Fanselow, last year’s 2nd place finisher and a terrific fellow, who attempted the conditions, with near disastrous results, in shorts and tiny singlet. While the Dumb Bunny award we gave him was made partially in jest, flirting with hypothermia – as many out there were doing – is no laughing matter. Bill used the opportunity to speak to the runners at the awards ceremony of the dangers of running through the mountains unprepared. While our race date corresponds historically with some of the mildest, driest weather in Colorado, this is the Rockies of northern Colorado – the weather is unpredictable. Many experienced runners said the conditions on race day were the most brutal they had ever encountered, and many runners were unprepared. Fortunately, no one suffered any serious injury, and everyone said the beer and pizza (and hot chili) at the post race party made it all worthwhile.
After five years, we would also like to thank our runners and volunteers that have been with us for the entire time.
• Runners – Mike Hlavacek and Ryan Burch
• Volunteers – Richard Schneider, Hadley Nylen, Scott Blair and Deb Freeman
And Harvey promises he will be there next year.
2010
Wow. What a day it was! Glorious, glorious sunshine, the forest a kaleidoscope of autumnal reds and golds, and bunnies, bunnies, everywhere! And boy, there were some weally, weally fast wabbits out there, as both top two men and top two women broke the course records. Geoff Roes, of Juneau, Alaska and now part time Boulder, Colorado resident (and the Rafael Nadal of ultra running), ran 7:11 to notch yet another win, edging out Bill Fanselow, 43, and coming off heart surgery (yup) who ran 7:22. Prior course record holder and two time winner Ryan Burch ran third in 7:37, while on the distaff side Joelle Vaught of Boise, Idaho, smashed the old course record by over an hour and ran 5th overall in 8:08. Helen Cospolich ran second in 9:04 and Jaclyn Greenhill, running her first ultra, ran a stellar 9:36 to take third. Bill Fanselow, Ryan Burch, Helen Cospolich and Jaclyn Greenhill have all qualified for automatic entry into the granddaddy of them all, the Western States 100. Thank you, Montrail, for making us part of your Montrail Ultra Cup. We hope we did you proud.
Donald Demetriades of Bozeman, Montan ran a terrific 8:53 to win the Men’s Masters (over 45) while Denise Kowal of Truckee, California ran 10:58 to win the Women’s Masters (over 45). Top three open and masters men and woman all received beautiful hand painted ceramic platters, as did Eric Sandstrom, the last official finisher, who finished with a smile and a thank you.
There were 162 starters and 133 official finishers. The joy of our race this year was tempered by the loss of our two time winner and volunteer coordinator Jenna Gruben – the heart and soul of our race, and newlywed wife of co-race director Matt Morrill. Our race was dedicated to her, and all profits will be donated to the Jenna Gruben-Morrill Foundation (created by her family), Partners of Routt County and the Steve Maloney Fund; charities that Jenna loved and cared about.
2009
“Awesome!” “Spectacular!” “The most beautiful course in the West, bar none!” “Where else can you run an ultra with a rock band and a thousand people waiting at the finish?” “Where’d that darn moose come from?” Those were just some of the comments to the third annual Run, Rabbit, Run 50 miler, run on a brand new fabulous course, where Greeley’s Ryan Burch, last years winner and nearly unbeatable at 50 miles, smoked the competition and the (old course) course record in an amazing 7 hours 26 minutes. Bryan Goding of Fort Collins was 2nd in 8:05, with Marco Peinado of Leadville, 22 and running his first ultra, 3rd in 8:14. On the distaff side our very own volunteer coordinator and newlywed Jenna Gruben of Steamboat, defended her title, also in a course record 9:14. Sonja Wieck of Greenwood Village, Colorado was 2nd in 9:20 and Boulder’s Caroline Walden 3rd in 9:45. Matthew Weatherly-White of Boise, Idaho ran a terrific 8:53 to win the Men’s Masters, and Colleen Ihnken of Alma, Colorado, was 1st Women’s Masters in 10:17.
Ninety-seven of 115 starters representing 19 states and 3 countries finished within the official time limit, and once again, the weather was terrific and the post-race party (which coincided with the Steamboat Oktoberwest beer fest) great fun. And that was no moose the runners saw out there; it was just our very own pooka, Harvey.
Prizes : All the winners and special award winners received a beautiful hand made ceramic platter designed and made by local Steamboat artists and all finishers got a nice beer mug. Bill Moyle at 70 the oldest official finisher received a special award, as did Karen Pate, running her third Run, Rabbit, Run. Once again she missed an official finish by minutes, but she was the last female runner across the line, so for her loyalty and perseverance we gave her an award too. Steamboat City Councilor Walter Magill, a good sport and an avid and tireless supporter of running who was running his first ultra, wandered (badly) off course, taking with him Jordi Caba Salva, who came all the way from Spain and was also running his first ultra. Their special effort in misdirection cried out for a special award, and we gave them each one too.
2008
Yes, as Elwood P. Dodd said, every day is a beautiful day, but race day this year in beautiful Steamboat Springs was an especially glorious one: the start under a brisk sky studded with stars, a morning turquoise sky framing peaks capped with snow from the prior days precipitations, in the afternoon a warming sun and a few billowing clouds: it was enough to make a rabbit forget about racing and just laze around the hutch.
But race they did, and what a race it was! A contentious group of three raced bunny ear to bunny ear before Ryan Burch, 28, of Greeley, Colorado and last years fifth place finisher, edged Steamboat Springs Running Series Champ Todd Trapp, 30, for the win in 8:31, while our very own Jenna “Bunny” Gruben, 31, our Volunteer Coordinator and last year’s second place finisher, collared last years winner and course record holder Samantha Sigle, 33, of Boulder for the women’s win in 9:57 before an adoring family, all properly festooned in rabbit ears and tails.
Nicholas Clark, 34 of Fort Collins was third male, while Steamboat’s Angie Mangiardi, 31 and our loyal Smartwool representative and a tireless volunteer, was third woman. Allen Hadley of Crested Butte, 51 (just a week after running the Wasatch 100!), and Chris Poland of Broomfield, 47, were top Masters.
A total of 75 from all across the country hopped across the finish, many of them literally, within the official time limit of 15 hours, to partake in the beer and pizza that marked the finish. The aid stations were spirited, our post-race party was fun, in the end no seemed much worse for the wear, and nearly all those coherent enough to do so commented about the beauty and the difficulty of the course. Our race this year was dedicated to runner Steve Maloney, and his spirit shined over us: it was a glorious, glorious day.
Prizes : The winners received a beautiful stained glass plaque, and all prize winners received a lovely glass paperweight. Twelve time Leadville finisher John Hobbs of Colorado Springs, at 63 the oldest and last official finisher in 14:56, received an award, and since he graciously allowed Diane Repasky, 43, of Evergreen, Colorado, to finish before him, we gave her a prize too.
June Gessner, of Salida, Colorado, though a mere 55 was the oldest female finisher. She ran a terrific 13:45 and we gave her a prize as well.
2007
Well, there sure were some wickedly fast wabbits out there! Two time All-American runner and former University of Colorado standout Zeke Tiernan, 32, of Aspen Colorado ran 8:05 in his first attempt at an ultra to win by over 40 minutes, while Samantha Sigle, 32, and back living in Boulder after spending some time in New Zealand, also made her first 50 miler a winning one, running 9:44 (6th overall!) to win the women’s division by half an hour. Charles Corfield, 48, fresh off his third place finish at the Leadville 100 came bounding down the mountain to get second, with Steamboat’s very own Allen Belshaw, 40 (and third place last week in the Wasatch 100!) taking third. Jenna Grubin, 30, also of Steamboat and Mary Mahoney, 31, of Crested Butte, were second and third women. Elise Boeh of Woodland Park and David Goldberg of Flagstaff were the top Masters. The winners got a beautiful stained glass plaque, and all eight runners also received beautiful Smartwool sweaters. We also gave Ian Maddieson from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and at 65 the oldest runner in the race, a Smartwool sweater for his terrific performance, as he finished in 14:49.
The weather conditions were perfect, the post-race party was fun, and the runners all described the scenery as spectacular. The veteran ultra runners called the course among the most difficult they’d run. Quiet a few runners (including winner Zeke Tiernan), described seeing what they identified as “moose” and others claimed they saw “deer” or “elk” along the course, but we attribute this to extreme fatigue. There was nothing out there but large and cleverly disguised bunny rabbits.