The Comeback Kid: A Massanutten 100 Story

(photo courtesy of MoutainPeakFitness)

There were three comebacks that happened on Sunday May 18th, 2013. The first being a comeback from months of injury and doubt to finish one of the toughest foot races in the country. The second being a comeback back from a recent back strain that got reaggrevated at mile 70 which nearly caused me to drop out at mile 78. The third and final comeback was avenging my DNF from 2009.

It was May 7th, 2013. All morning I had been stairing at my computer deciding whether or not to click the submit button. I was on the VHTRC's Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 "remove from event" page. I had eveything filled out and all I had to do was click a little button and I would be removed from the entrants list. Afterall, it was just two days earlier I had strained my back again from sleeping awkwardly on it. Those pesky lower back problems. Sigh. On and off since I was 14 years old, and now was a pretty crappy time for them to revisit. On a scale from 1 to 10 (10 being so painful I can't tie my shoes, or get out of bed), my body was around an 8 or 9. Not the place to be two weeks away from attempting a grueling event. May 7th was the last day to withdraw and receive a refund, and thus, removing myself from the entrants list seemed logical.

However, as May 7th came to an end and midnight arrived, I never allowed myself to click the submit button. So many thoughts had been lingering throughout my mind. I had waited so long to get back to Massanutten. Four long years, in fact. Though injured the entire fall and winter, I had forced myself to reinvent my running so I could squeeze in five weeks of quality training. 20 mile running weeks turned into 40 miles, and then 60, 80, and eventually 110 by May. Simply put, I had worked too damn hard to get be ready, and I owed it to myself to at least make it to the starting line.

The race itself really isn't as important as what happened before, or even after. I chose to run a smart race and not risk gunning for a sub 24 hour time. Five weeks of training, for what it's worth, wasn't enough to make a sub 24 hour finish plausible. Why chance it? Instead, I opted to run a smooth and casual 26-27 hour projected finish pace through the first 70 miles. I didn't feel tired, and everytime I arrived at an aid station I looked fresh as a daisy. A lot of folks commented on how, even matter 60+ miles, I looked like I hadn't even been running Then, in the blink of an eye my worst fears became a reality. On the steep climb up Jawbone my lower back completely seized up. Everything I had worried about happening in the previous weeks was coming to an ugly fruition. Over the next three hours I spent significant time stopping to stretch, rest my back, and figure out how to minimize the sharp pain running down my back with every step.

So many doubts afflicted my consciousness. "I should have just removed myself from that damn entrants list!". "Mike, why the hell did you come out here? You knew this would happen." "Your race is over". "Drop at the next aid station. Afterall, 78 miles on this course is still something to be proud of". "Mike, you have suffered for over three hours now, the next 34 miles will take you 12-13 more. You don't need this." "Be safe Mike. Just drop and don't hurt yourself. It's not worth it". "Two starts at Massanuteen. Two drops.". "You just flushed that $185 entry fee down the drain."

Crossing over Kern mountain in the black of night was a dark journey through my mind. It might has well have been the road to perdition. I slowly walked down the road to route 211 and the visitor's center aid station. I took my time, because I knew my race was going to end in just a few short minutes. Pretty soon this silly notion of running 100+ miles will be over and I will be in a warm car headed back to a haven a sleep and rest. Oh the irony. Such a difficult race, and yet the one thing to take me out was an injury that had nothing to do with this race, or even running.

When I arrived at mile 78, I told the volunteers I was dropping. I met my friends Tabitha, Ryan, and Emily and told them what had happened. I received no pitty as they urged me to keep going. But,they didn't get it. My back was jacked up, and another 26 miles of notoriously rocky mountain trails was not in the cards. 26 miles in my current condition meant at least another 10, or more hours on the trail. I was going to drop. Again, no pitty. I wrapped myself up in warm clothes and a sleeping bag, and laid on a cot to loosen up my back. I staired at the night sky, then at my friends, and listened to their encouragement to just keep going. I thought about what would happen if I dropped. What did I even have to go home to? My empty apartment? My job that is getting the axe in six weeks? All I would be bringing back with me would be dirty clothes and sense of longing for not acheiving what I ultimately set out to do. That's what makes me an ultrarunner.

"Ok Mike, it's time to go." Those were the simple words my friends gave me. Like a boxer getting up on the count of nine, I made my way back to my feet. Sometimes it just comes down to how much you can take and keep moving forward. Albeit slow, we soldiered on through the night as I fought off sleep deprivation. I had been up since 2:30am the day before, and was now nearing 28 hours without sleep. For most of my 100 mile races, I have finished near midnight, but this was an entirely different beast. My back was now a fleeting thought as lack of sleep had become my new nemesis. Eventually, I stopped along the trail for a five minute nap. When I got back up, I was recharged as if I had slept for several hours. As the sun came up I was a new man. Thought most of the final 26 miles were incredibly slow, I closed out the final seven miles with the heart of a lion. It wasn't fast, it wasn't pretty, but I'll be damned it WAS a finish. I will add, the one good part about having such a slow race is that I felt remarkably good post race. Considering the challenging nature of the course and terrain, I was quite pleased to come away with no blisters, no sore feet, and only minimal residual soreness in my legs. I actually looked so fresh at the finish that a lot of people (especially the ones who heard me say I was dropping at mile 78) thought I had dropped and had come back to cheer runners at the finish. Another friend even thought I had dropped and come back to pace a runner in. He didn't realize that I was still in the race and the runner who was with me was actually my pacer.

When I DNF'ed Massanutten in 2009, the only souvenir I got was a car accident, shards of window glass, and two bloody legs. This time I got a buckle, and from experience I will say getting the buckle is better.

Big thank yous to Ryan Quinnelly and Emily Warner who paced/crewed me for the final 26 miles. Thanks to my friend Tabitha who crewed for me most of the day and helped make my back feel better at mile 78. There's no doubt that without their encouragement during the race, and specifically at the crucial moment at mile 78, I was 99% going to drop. I am humbled by the amount of time and energy all of you put into this weekend to make things happen. You are amazing! Thanks also to all the volunteers who were out there from the early morning and the wee hours of the night to see us through.

Massanutten in 2014? We will see........ ;-)

-Mike Bailey

Stuff in the Basement: Graveyard 100, Round 2

(photo credit Russ Carawan and RacENC)

"Hey Rock. It takes guts climbing back in that ring knowing you're going to take a beating. Yo Rock....You're gonna do alright Rocko. There's stuff in the basement."

Eleven months ago I finished the innaugural Graveyard 100 in the Outer Banks. My body hurt more after Graveyard than other other race I have finished. My feet were swollen from pounding 101.2 miles of pavement. My teeth were chattering like castanets from being exposed to mid 30's temperatures and a constant wind. My mind was drained from gazing upon miles and miles of endless route 12 road. I told myself I was never going to run the Graveyard 100 again. Apparently, I lied. In two weeks I will step back in the ring for another round with the long lonely shoreline of the OBX.

I've always been a huge fan of the Rocky movie franchise, and as we are now fourteen days away from the Graveyard 100, the quote from above rings truer than ever. For those not familiar with the film Rocky Balboa, potentially the final movie in the series, the quote is from a short dialogue between Rocky and his often troubled brother in law Paulie. An old retired and recently widowed Rocky is coming out of retirement for possibly the last fight of his career. He knows he's rusty, decades beyond his physical prime, and knows he doesn't stand a great chance against the younger stronger opponent. He knows time is not on his side and that he's going to have to dig deep in order to go the distance. He has to find "the stuff in the basement", and if he does, only then will he be fully satisfied with the effort he gave.

Well, I may not be Rocky's age, but I am rusty and have had limited time to run the past six months. Thankfully, I seem to be mostly recovered from all the injuries that built up from September through January that prevented me from maintaining much of my fitness from 2012. I have some how managed to get in about a month of relatively consistent, though still fairly low intensity and low volume training. All my longs runs have had an average pace of 10:00 to 13:00 minutes per mile, and thus my speed is pretty much non existent these days. In all honesty, anything faster than a nine minute mile is probably too fast, so again, lack of speed isn't so much an issue as is conditioning for the distance. Like Rocky, I have had to revert to going completely old school in my training and methodology. No track workouts, no tempo runs, no 100 mile weeks, just grinding out the long stuff at a slow and steady pace.

If I am going to finish the Graveyard 100, I too will need to find the stuff in the basement. I'm not in the shape I was in last year, but I have valuable experience going in. Let's take a look at last year and see what I did right, and what I did wrong.

What I did right:

1. Not much, but my training leading up to Graveyard was solid, and eventually building up to some 90 mile weeks. Too bad I squandered good training with a poor strategy.

2. Kept my nutrition and hydration pretty good during the race.

What I did wrong: Everything

1. Went out too aggressively. Led through the mile 38.6 water stop before being passed by the eventual winner. Ran splits of 2:44 through 19.9 miles, 3:40 through the marathon, 4:22 through 50k, and 4:35 through 32.7 miles. Way too fast for a 100 miler, but it was tough earned lesson in realistic pacing. FYI, it was a projected sub 14 hour pace. Legs got too trashed too early which caused me to slow down way sooner than expected. End result, epic blowup, finish time 20:28.

2. Did not use a crew. This meant I had to carry all my clothing and nutrition in a pack for the 18-25 mile durations between full aid stations. Carrying the extra weight took its toll over the course of the race.

3. Did not pack warm enough clothing. My body got very cold after mile 80, and really prevented me from getting my legs moving much for the remainder of the race.

4. Did not take care of blisters early. Again, the blisters started forming, and I was still 15 miles from the next place to fix them. When I got there, they didn't have anything to fix blisters like duct tape, body glide, or vaseline. My feet were too wrecked to even jog after mile 80. Lack of running meant I got cold quicker and easier which led to even slower walking. In fact, lack of any running/jogging after mile 80 probably cost me over an hour.

5. Missed a waterstop. Some of the main water stops were not set up when I ran through, and therefor only gallon jugs of water were put out. I actually missed one completely and had to run backwards on the course a quarter mile to refill.

This year the game plan is to be smarter than last year, which shouldn't be tough. Looking back at last year's splits it's crazy how fast I went out. That 4:22 50k split was actually a personal best (which is never ever good to do during a 100). Factor in wearing about six pounds of gear, spending six minutes at the water stops, I was probably running low eight minute miles for the first third of the race. Stupid, stupid, stupid. This year, I will be uncrewed again, but hopefully plan ahead a little better.

On another note, this year's event has drawn some of the biggest names in ultrarunning, including Valmir Nunes, Mike Morton, Jonathan Savage, and Connie Gardner. This means the 2013 Graveyard will host two of the fastest Badwater champs of all time, a Western States champion, two American 24 hour record holders, and three members of the US 24 hour team. Every name mentioned above is capable of breaking 15 hours, and most likely 14, and dare say 13 for Morton. My one regret is that I will be hours behind and won't be able to watch this incredibly talented field. There are also several other very exciting names in the mix including Brad Smythe, Olivier Leblond, and Marie Ange Smith. Jan Erick Olsen, who battled Brenda Carawan for first place in the later miles last year, is back to avenge his mile 90 DNF. Andrei Nana (2nd last year) is another returner who has recently taken the 100 mile running scene by storm, as well as last year's female open winner Kelley Wells. All in all, it should be an exciting day, and depending on what the weather decides, we could be in for one wild ride.

As for me? I don't have any real goals, other than to finish. Hopefully, I can break 24 hours again. I still plan on putting everything out there and to do my best, regardless of where my fitness may.

Tipping the Performance Scales

(2012 Big Bear Lake 12 Hour. Photo by Jason Griffith)


Some really good articles have come out about body weight, composition, and running. In fact, elite female ultrarunner Ellie Greenwood has a very good write up on Irunfar regarding this very topic of body weight. http://www.irunfar.com/2012/12/a-weighty-issue.html. Ellie claims, somewhat seriously and somewhat jokingly, that she is one of the heavier women to finish at the top of the Western States 100 field, and in races in general. Ellie is a lean 128 lbs, and by comparison I don't consider her "heavy" by any stretch of the imagination, even at 5'5". I've also heard terms like "strong is the new skinny", which I believe is true, until you hear it from someone like Devon Yanko who is very fast, but still rail thin. If you look historically at elite marathoners, or runners of any distance, you will see smaller people with very little fat, and who are very skinny. Just think of any Kenyan you've ever seen run a marathon. Even when you glance at elite ultrarunners you see guys like Karl Meltzer, Tony Krupicka, Michael Wardian, Killian Jornet, Matt Carpenter, Mike Morton, Rob Krar and countless more that are all between 118 and 142 lbs. In fact, while some of the guys listed are shorter, Meltzer, Krupicka, and Wardian are all close to six feet tall, or taller. Odd as it sounds, I'm only 172cm tall, and yet I outweigh every guy I just mentioned by over 10 lbs, and I am by no means fat. Seems like the logic of skinny equals fast is true?

 (Haile Gebrselassie, perhaps the greatest marathoner ever. 5'5", 118 lbs)

Not always. The ultramarathon, and speaking more generally in terms of races of 50 miles to over 100, might be the one place your body weight will matter least. Granted, this does not mean you can be 50 lbs overweight and think you will do well, but it does mean that someone with 10% or higher body fat won't be at a significant disadvantage. There is proven truth that less body fat, to a safe degree, means the body is carrying around less unnecessary weight. The question is, is muscle a necessary weight? The value of having glycogen, a little extra fat, and muscle can actually help you in longer races where the body needs to rely on it's own resources for fuel. I am glad that more "average", as in not skeletal looking, runners that are now doing well in the sport. Hal Koerner, David James, Frank Gonzalez, Timothy Olson, are just a few of the growing numbers of regularly built, but very fit, athletes rising to the tops of the ultramarathon world. Let's hope the trend continues.

But, why is this even important to the 99.99% of us who are not elite athletes? It's important because while we are not as fast, many of us still strive to perform at our best. Sometimes having long distance running as a hobby is a wonderful win, win situation because I get to do something I enjoy and it keeps me healthy. However, it wasn't more than a few years ago I wondered if being a skinnier runner would be the thing that would help me run faster. After all, I wasn't blessed with the genetic gifts of having a moderately good VO2 max, no less one in the 70s to 90's like most top level athletes. In fact, my lung capacity is less than many recreational runners that I know. That being said, I figured that since running more didn't make me faster and following strict workout plans didn't making me faster, maybe losing weight was the ticket. Boy was I wrong! And that's a good thing.

I weighed 155 lbs my senior year of high school in 1999. I was not a runner, nor did I lift weights. I was merely young, active, and had the usual metabolism of a 17 year old. In college I ate like garbage, but lifted weights, so my weight increased to 173 lbs by 2001. This was back when I could bench press 260 lbs, and every now and could put up 285 lbs on the decline bench. I honestly can't believe how strong I was back then and yet I probably couldn't have even run a single mile without walking. By my senior year, thanks to my dietetics studying sister, I learned a little about nutrition and started jogging a couple miles per week, which brought me back down to about 162 lbs by the time of my graduation. I was 160 lbs when I ran my first ultra in 2004, and it wasn't until I felt like my training plateaued in early 2006 that I tried to slim down. It wasn't long before my weight hit 150, then 145 lbs, and eventually creeping below 140. At that point every it seemed like every workout sucked, I literally nitpicked every calorie I ate, and my enjoyment for running completely went out the window. I made sure everything I ate was healthy, and if it wasn't, then I would go for a run to "balance things out". On top of that my energy levels were constantly low, my mood was cranky, and my legs always felt slow and heavy. Years later, after swallowing my blinded male go, I would finally concede that I definitely had an eating disorder.

I wondered how could that be? I'm 20 lbs lighter, but now slower than ever before? That's when it hit me that not all bodies are built the same, and that my broad shoulders and thick calves were meant to support a body heavier and stronger than the sub 140 lb frame I had developed over the past several months. Bit by bit, I worked my way back into a stronger heavier body, but one that to my pleasant surprise was also much faster. I also introduced some different speed workouts into my weekly routine, so the muscle mass I was gaining back was more functional to running. By 2008, I returned to the ultramarathon scene and had a new found appreciation for the way my particular body was designed. I learned a valuable lesson in that while some people can run fast by being just skin and bones, the rest of us just don't have that in our genetics. For a lot of us, training methods aside, our optimal performance may be at a heavier weight where the strength of our muscles makes us faster than the lack of weight would.

The photo above in from this past summer. I look lean and strong. These days I am somewhere around 155 lbs year round, and along with my running, I am still doing 3-4 days of strength training per week. I will add that my strength training is now based more on lower weight and higher repetitions for endurance, I stretch more, and no longer attempt one rep maxes. Doing things like bench press doesn't really matter much as far as running goes, but I like staying well rounded for the other sports I enjoy. I may be 20 lbs heavier than I was in 2006, but the 2012 version of me could kick the crap out of the 2006 version. Strong isn't just the new skinny, strong is the new fast.

....and remember, you aren't fat. You are famine resistant :-)

The First 138,336. My Sister's first marathon.

(As promised. Stride for stride for 26.2 miles. From start to finish. 138,336 feet)


In June of this past year my sister Elisa joined a marathon training team in Richmond, VA. Her goal, after sveral years of runnings 5ks and 10ks, was to complete the Richmond Marathon. Yes, a marathon. The dream distance for almost all runners, my sister among them.

Five months of training later I joined my sister and her marathon training team for a 20 mile run, which happened to be the longest of their program. We finished the run in about 3:40 with a total running time of 3:21. It was just under a ten minute mile pace, and my sister said she felt like she had a lot in the tank at the finish. A few months before she had mentioned wanting to finish in under 5 hours, and ultimately started knocking her time goals down to possibly a 4:30 on a really good day. However, after her strong showing on the 20 miler, I suggested that my sister might actually be able to run a ten minute mile for the entire marathon, which would bring her to a time of 4:22. Moreso, I believed she had held back a little to run with her training team, and thus secretly I believed she could break 4:20.

So it began. On the brisk 36 degree morning of November 10, 2012, myself, my sister, and 6,000 other runners cluttered the interesection of 8th and Broad St in downtown Richmond. The song Gangdamstyle blaired from the speakers, breaking a little pre-race tension in the process, and soon we were following the masses and running the first feet of my sister's first marathon. The primary goal for the day was to simply finish the marathon, then break 4:30, and then shoot for the "elite" goal of breaking 4:20 if possible.

The early miles went just as planned, and though the pace was a bit faster than the ten minute miles my sister had been training at, we were moving smooth. We cruised the early flat sections at a 9:30 pace, and eventually dropping down to a 9:15 aided by the downhills leading to the James River. We hit the 10 mark in 57:49. My sister and I were joined by the pleasant company of running veteran Carter Wiecking, and her presence definitely helped keep our pace efficient, as well as providing some much needed conversation. The river front was gorgeous and before we knew it we were passing through the 10 mile point, and then through the half in 2:02:23. My sister had just run about six minutes faster than planned for the first half of the marathon, and I was a little worried that we went out too fast. Carter, however, continued to run well, so we let her go so she could pursue breaking her marathon PR of 4:14. Carter crushed it, and finished with a huge personal best of 4:01.

Meanwhile, as in most marathons, my sister started feeling punishing effects of the miles during the scenic Lee bridge crossing. This is around mile 17 of the marathon, and where the race really begins. I told my sister that "This is where you prove you are stronger than everyone else. If you see someone walking, you keep running. You trained harder, and you can keep going." The encouragement/coaching had fleeting effects, but ultimately she would need short walks breaks. Although her marathon training program was very good, my sister had become acostomed to being allowed to stop and walk at their food/aid checkpoints every 4 to 5 miles. In the marathon, the clock keeps running, and so you must as well.

We arrived at mile 20 in 3:12:37. Nine minutes faster than her 20 mile training run three weeks earlier, and without pausing the clock at aid stations. Miles 18-22 were tough on Elisa. Cary St to the Richmond Diamond were peppered with short walk breaks and stretching. I kept reminding her that this is all part of the marathon experience and it is what everyone goes through. I said "It's not about how well you can run when you feel good. It's about how fast you can keep moving when you want to quit." The last four miles of the Richmond marathon are fairly flat, so I encouraged my sister to keep going and the finish would be there soon. I knew from miles 22 to 26 that Elisa was putting everything she had into, and she even said "I have nothing left right now. I just want to be done". I replied "Good. It means you are giving it your all."

As we made several of the final turns down to the finish I reminded my sister "You are about to become a marathon! You will be a marathoner for the rest of your life from this point forward. You got here on your own. I'm so proud of you." Though it seemed like forever from Elisa's point of view we finally made the last turn down to Browns Island. We could see and hear the thousands of spectators eagerly awaiting. About a hundred feet from the finish, by chance, I glanced over to the right and wouldn't you know it? Of the thousands of people lining the street, I spotted our mom and dad who were able to watch Elisa and I finish together. I nudged my sister and said "Look! It's mom and dad. We're all here." With that final note we sprinted the final feet and through the finish.

She did it! My sister Elisa freaking did it! She was sore, tired, and hurting, but she kept moving forward. My sister was now a marathoner and the newest member of the rare society of long distance runners.

Oh, and her finish time? Remember that "elite" goal of breaking 4:20. Yeah, she finished in 4:19:57. Three seconds under. Bad ass. What a red letter day for the Bailey and Seldon family. Hello world. Let me introduce you to Eliza Bailey Seldon. The MARATHONER!

(Proud brother with inspiring little sister)

Ultra Bar Fight

After a few indepth and deeper posts, I thought it'd be nice to return to a funny topic. What ultrarunners would you want on your side during a bar fight? It's a completely random, and completely stupid topic, but that's why I chose it.

First off, here are some folks I wouldn't pick. Ultrarunning tends to lend itself to a more peaceful and thoughtful group of athletes, and thus many of the top runners would more than likely try to talk things out during a bar fight rather than actually throw punches. Also, long distance runners tend to be on the skinny, less muscular side, which also mitigates the intimidation factor.

I wouldn't want on my side:

Tony Krupicka- his rail thin 150 lb frame can fly up mountains, but I doubt they can throw down in a bar fight. Tony is also quite philisophical, and would reason out all the theories how man has evolved beyond the need for physical combat. Plus, he looks more like Tom Hanks from Castaway, than a fighter.

Scott Jurek- Scott might be 6'2" and 170 lbs, but he's just too peaceful and meditative to hurt a fly. That's what we love about him, but I don't think I'd want him backing me up in a dark alley.

Kilian Jornet- 5'7", 120lbs. Nuff said. He could outrun any bar thug on the planet, but a Vo2 max of 92 doesn't translate into punching power.

Hal Koerner- Hal has actually gotten fairly lean and ripped the last couple of years. He's also bigger than you'd think at 6'0" 170 lbs. Though he's packed on some muscle, he's still far too laid back and nice to want to get involved in something as silly as a fight. He'd rather sip a beer and watch.

Matt Carpenter- The king of high altitude can outrun anyone in the world to the top of Pike's Peak, but if Pike's Peak had a bar, his 120 lb frame wouldn't stand a chance. Too bad you can't punch with your lungs, or else Matt would be a beast.

I could probably list hundreds of other runners who I wouldn't want on my side in a bar fight, but then again they are runners. When will they ever need to fight? Again, most ultrarunners would rather enjoy the pristine outdoors, than go to a bar and brawl it out.

That brings me to who I'd want ON my side in a bar fight. Note, being on this list does not mean I think these runners are violent, or enjoy fighting. They are merely folks I think could throw down if they had to. I'm pretty sure most are just liked the runners described above and are quite happy with never having to fight. Ever.

David Goggins- No doubt that this Navy Seal is as badass as they get. The former powerlifter is now a chiseled 6'1" 195lbs. I would not want to mess with this man among men. Hammer of Thor, behold Mr. Goggins.

Mike Morton- Don't let his small 5'4" frame fool you. Army Master Sergeant Morton is a Green Beret and former Navy diver. Pain is his pleasure, and his long military tenure puts him up with Goggins as possibly the toughest humans in ultrarunning, and on earth.

Alex Barth- An east coast speedster, this guy looks like he could rip the doors off a tank. He's also a skilled Tae Kwon Do black belt.

Doug Berlin- Known mostly to DC area runners, this 6'6" 230 bohemoth is the owner of three Gold's Gym franchises. From the looks of it, he works out at all three.

Aron Ralston- few people know that Aron is an ultramarathoner, and has completed the Leadville 100. Aside from that, anyone who can survive 127 hours in Blue John Canyon, break their arm, then proceed to cut it off, is a tough S.O.B. in any book.

Jenn Shelton- She may be tiny, but this wild child would do some damage. She's never turned down a challenge, and she's got the spunky personality to boot. Jenn's holding it down for the ladies.

(Credit:Luis Escobar)

Michael Dunlop: Known better in the Lynchburg area. Mike won the Mountain Masochist bench press contest with 39 reps of 135 lbs AFTER running 54 miles. At 6'8" 250 lbs, Dunlop is hard to miss.

The Moments

"It is always surprising how small a part of life is taken up by meaningful moments. Most often they are over before they start, although they cast a light on the future and make the people who originated them unforgettable."
-Anna and the King

My great grandmother, simply called Nanny, was 90 years old the last time I saw her some 20 years ago. In fact, I can still remember our first encounter when I was a small child visiting Long Island, New York many years passed. Nanny lived in a small, yet spotless and cozy room in the lower level of my grandparents house. The only thing I recall was a portrait of Jesus hanging on the wall and a set of rosary beads neatly set on her desk top. The back of Nanny's her hands were soft, yet aged liked a fine sheet of paper. Paper is an appropriate analogy given that her hands alone reflected the stories of a life well lived. Nanny's eyes also told a story of living through two world wars, a great depression, and the witnessing of several generations of children come and gone. Her voice was a little shaky, but no doubt from the many stories shared. 90 years of life, and yet just a small stitch in the fabric of time.

Meaningful moments are hard to come by these days, yet they often define and shape who we are as people, and also the threads that intertwine the myriad of human relationships we experience. It is no coincidence that the greatest experiences a person can have on earth are centered around the celebrations of life, and the duplicity within the loss and gain of it. There's always a harmony. A balance. But, such is the case with all things. We are born, we die, we love, and we hate. We are all things that fall in between the distant poles of the latter. It's what makes us....well, us. Life, and it's meaningful moments are like priceless works of art. Their limited duration and terms of borrowed use are what derive the value. How many more sunrises will you see? How many more times will you lie on your back and gaze upon the clouds? Imagine a white Christmas with family, a child with sparklers on the fourth of July, or celebrating a baby's first steps. How many of anything do we truly have left? We frequently perceive life as an inexhaustible well of moments. But, it is not.

I was born in the port city of Busan, South Korea. Nobody knew what the future held. My sister was born several years later. Her first cries echoed in the hospital corridors, thus beginning a story that we could try to predict, but would never really know until it was lived out. Lived out in a series of meaningful moments. Mere seconds after her birth my sister was embraced in the adoring arms of my mother and father, both beeming as they ushered her arrival into this life. Hand in hand, this was their first dance. It was a moment where time stood still just for a second, because this particular place in history belonged to my family.

The years go by, and like winds sweeping over a desolate sandy beach, they take their share of dreams and hopes. Life doesn't go as planned, loved ones depart, but, like the rolling tides, the years also give something back.

Flashforward 28 years and 2 months. My little sister is now adorned in all white as she is about to walk down the aisle to meet her future husband. She is radiant only like a bride can be, or like a newborn person. Though the setting is a little different, it is a mirror image to her birth, but this time her it is her second life that she is about to embark on. Instead of receiving her, my parents are about to give her away in marriage. My father's hand is a little older, and his hair a bit grayer, but he holds my sisters hand again for the first time, and my mother looks on with the same adoration as 28 years before. The sun shines through the chapel stained glass, and it is truly one of the most beautiful moments I have, or will ever experience. We always knew this day would come, but when the day arrives you still find yourself saying "Is this day really here?" The moment takes your breath away because you've pictured it a thousand times in your mind, and yet no amount of imagination can prepare you for the real thing. When my sister walked the aisle, I saw all of our moments together. I saw my little curly haired sister running through the fields, playing piano, getting her license, and graduating from college. While everyone else saw one moment, my family witnessed them all.

...and yet, even the monumental nature of my sister's wedding ceremony was merely a one hour moment in our lives. Ask a person who, like my great grandmother, has lived say 70, 90, or even over 100 years. Even the oldest people on earth have lives that were most impacted by single events that lasted shortest amount of time. A birth, a death, an illness, a car crash, a wedding, a promotion, a family. One moment you are giving a best man toast, and the next you are making a funeral speach. From split seconds to decades, it is the accumilation of these individual moments that make up this thing called life. Moments reflect the past and cast a light on the future. We are all meaningful moments waiting to happen.

Let the father and daughter dance. In this moment.

The Future of Course Records

Last year I wrote about the most impressive US ultramarathon course records, and now I think we may see all of them fall in the next several years. In fact, I believe by 2017, if not sooner, all the major course records will be broken.

In today's ultra scene we are seeing more and more fast marathon runners crossing over to the ultra world. Most of this is due to their desire for a change of scenery, a new challenge, but also because running a 2:12 marathon will no longer win you marathons. However, when most fast marathoners "figure out" out how to adapt to the ultramrathon distance, it would seem likely that all the hallowed records will fall. Afterall, a sub 2:20 marathoner won't win any marathons these days, but they likely have more than enough speed to win ultras, and win the money and endorsements that could come with it.

Fast marathon times obviously don't always correlate to ultramarathon success, and is even less likely to promote success at extremely technical ultras, like the Massanutten Trails 100. To some degree, the best long distance technical specialists, like Karl Meltzer, should continue to dominate races of extreme geographic nature (Hardrock etc.). Case in point, Timothy Olson, in ideal conditions, destroyed the course record at Western States, and he's by far not the fastest guy to run. However, grinding for 100 miles requires a different skill set than raw speed. Thus, I believe most 100 mile course records are likely very safe from the super fast marathoners, but for 100k and shorter, records will drop like they are hot. That doesn't mean 100 mile course records won't continue to fall, I think they will, but by the increasing number of elite ultrarunners competing, and not due to the marathon speedsters.

However, for all the non technical ultramarathons out there we are seeing the fast crossover marathoners finally starting to get the hang of ultras. Last weekend Sage Canaday, who I think is at the beginning of a dominant stretch of ultrarunning, took down Tony Krupicka's stout course record at White River. It was his first 50 miler, longest run ever, never saw the course before, and ran a ridiculous 6:16. Tony was in his peek, had Uli Steidl's splits, and ran the course twice before getting to his 6:25 time. Even in smaller events, like West Virginia's Capon Valley 50k, fast road guys are coming in to clean house. Andy Allstadt, a 2:22 marathoner, won Capon Valley with a time of 3:52 in his first ultra. He beat out the talented local ultra stud, my friend Brad Hinton, by 22 minutes, and he even got lost on the course. Imagine what he might do next year if he runs the same race? Previously, people thought sub 4 hours was blazing at Capon Valley, but clearly a Max King, or Sage Canaday could run sub 3:30.

The number of guys who can run in the 2:20's and lower is growing my leaps and bounds. Max King, Sage, Jordan McDougal, Khalib Wilkinson, Matt Woods, Michael Wardian...so on. Even the women are out there running 2:39, like Devon Crosby Helms, and 2:40's like Ellie Greenwood, Jenn Shelton, and Leah Thorvilson. Look out ultra world, course records are gonna get turned upside down. The last time super fast marathoners dedicated themselves to training for ultras we got Matt Carpenter, Uli Steidl, and Michael Wardian. Even Josh Cox got in a little ultra action with his 50k American Record.

So where do I predict course records will go in the next few years?

Western States- Sub 14:30, though the weather is a huge factor(snow and heat)

Hardrock- Sub 22:30. Eventually a high altitude runner, other than Kyle Skaggs, will figure this course out

Leadville- Sub 15:30. I think this will be the last CR to fall given Matt Carpenter was in his prime, and was virtually unbeatable at altitude when he set his CR of 15:45

Vermont: Sub 14 hours.

Umstead: sub 12:45.

Rocky Raccoon: sub 12:30, though Ian Sharman made this a beast to beat

American River: sub 5:20. Fast guy on a cool day could do it

Mountain Masochist: Sage could go sub 6:15 there

JFK 50: sub 5:30. Clifton's CR was like the 4 minute mile. Now people KNOW it can be broken

Badwater: sub 22 hours

Wasatch: sub 17:30

MMT: sub 17:30

Way Too Cool: sub 3:20

Caumsett Park 50k- sub 2:50