Wednesday, January 12, 2011

2011 Racing Plans

First, I want to announce that Scott Jurek, Geoff Roes, Dave Mackey and myself will be part of a casual, largely informal social gathering of the Boulder Trail Runners at Sherpas on 825 Walnut St. here in Boulder tomorrow (Thursday, January 13th) evening at 6:00pm.  Each of us will speak very briefly (a couple minutes) and then will be open to an extensive Q+A session.  The hope is that it will be quite interactive, so come on out!

Obligatory current shot of Boulder, CO's iconic Flatirons on the face of Green Mt.
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Second, I think I've mostly roughed out the goal races in my 2011 trail racing season.  These are my current desires and hopes, but things are always bound to change due to unforeseen circumstances.  My schedule will include a mix of races I've run before and races that are new to me.

Feb 5--Rocky Raccoon 100 Huntsville, TX

March 19--Chuckanut 50K Bellingham, WA

April 9--American River 50 Sacramento, CA

May 7--Miwok 100K Sausalito, CA

June 25--Western States 100 Auburn, CA

August 14--Sierre-Zinal Sierre, CH

August 26--Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc Chamonix, FR

My schedule is pretty much guaranteed through Miwok, but after that things get a little hazy in an "if-then" causal sort of way.

First, I've thrown my name in the Hardrock 100 hat along with a bunch of my like-minded friends (Geoff, Nick Clark, Dakota Jones, Joe Grant, etc.) and if the kind of field I desire (i.e. deep, competitive) materializes there at the hands of the lottery gods (very unlikely), there is a good chance I would forgo Western States.

Second, my ability to make it over to Europe in the second half of the summer for a few weeks is largely a function of my duties as a thesis-writing graduate student.  If these responsibilities dictate my presence stateside, I will obviously forgo the SZ and UTMB races in August and instead insert the excellent White River 50 on July 30th (a very good chance I'll do this anyway), the Pikes Peak Marathon on August 21 and the Wasatch 100 on September 9, Wasatch lottery gods willing, of course.

The common theme amongst all these races is that, excluding Rocky Raccoon and maybe Wasatch, each should be amongst the most competitively deep races of the entire season.  Chuckanut looks set to be an absurdly fraught battle with the likes of Max King, Erik Skaggs, Geoff, Adam Campbell, and Andy Martin all pushing the pace up front.  American River looks slightly weak at this point, but I'm sure there will be the usual solid group of guys forcing the tempo, at least through the flat and fast first 30 miles.  The Headlands will be host to essentially a rematch of this year's TNF50 Championships in the form of the Miwok 100K.  I am looking forward to joining Dave, Geoff and Dakota in battling over those scenic hills once again and won't be surprised if it takes a course record to win it this year.

All in all, such a schedule provides plenty of motivation to strap on a headlamp and trudge through deep powder and single digit temperatures to rack up vertical on early January mornings and late evenings.

23 comments:

David Henry said...

Nice looking schedule Anton. I'm looking to do White River myself. Hope to see you there.

Scott McMurtrey said...

Looks like a fun year. Hope all the pieces fall into place for you.

Pepére said...

It's a good thing you feel "obligated" to include pictures of the Colorado mountains in your blog posts. These pictures never cease to amaze me.

I wish you a healthy running season and look forward to reading about your racing adventures, especially on the european side if it materializes.

Pete Rodrigues said...

While I love the laid back attitude of ultra/trail racing, it's even cooler to see the competitive streak coming through. It is racing after all.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful picture of the Flatirons. Sounds like an exciting year of racing!

Bill said...

Hope to see you at Rocky Racoon!

GZ said...

Well, I am hoping you have a lot of homework to do and to line up with ya at PPM.

(although UTMB and SZ sound epic)

Charlie said...

Done with Leadville?

I suppose it will be there next year and the year after but still, that record....

Michael Alfred said...

See you at Rocky. As I mentioned to Karl on his blog, I'll be the guy yelling "Looking good Tony" every loop. Just let me know if you get sick of hearing it. I'll try and be creative and mix it up a little.

Deanna Stoppler said...

All the big races! I can't wait to follow you during the season and cheer you to the finish lines (via the world wide web)! Good luck.

Anonymous said...

Happy to hear you're coming back down to Texas. Goals for RR? 13:16:01 maybe? Joe has tweaked the course since you were here last - a bit more singletrack (and less out & back fire road).

Certainly not the sick field of Chuckanut, but some interesting names scattered about: Karl, Sharman, Gingerich, Arnstein, Ishikawa... Should keep the pace honest early. Look forward to cheering you on & best of luck for a gratifying racing season.

Kevin said...

Isn't Sierra-Zinal kinda short for you? :-P

David said...

I find it hard to believe that an elite runner (i.e. you) would have to rely on a lottery to enter one of the big races. Maybe though, this fits in with the more 'granola/hippy/communal' feel of the ultra as opposed to the big, corporate marathon. Good luck, have fun, and stay injury free!

brownie said...

Avoiding me at the Leadville 5K once again, I see.

Paco García said...

Hello Anton, ¿have you read the obligatory material for UTMB on this year?.
Really isn´t minimalist :(

Obligatory material :

- mobile phone with option enabling its use in the three countries
(put in one’s repertoire the security numbers of the organisation, keep it switched on, do not hide one’s number and do not forget to set off with recharged batteries)
- personal cup or tumbler 15cl minimum (water bottle not acceptable)
- stock of water minimum 1 litre,
- two torches in good working condition with replacement batteries,
- survival blanket 1.40m x 2m minimum
- whistle,
- adhesive elastic band enable making a bandage or a strapping (mini 100cm x 6 cm),
- food reserve,
- waterproof jacket with hood (Gore-Tex or similar) suitable for withstanding bad weather in the mountains. Fabric of at least 60g/m2 (average weight 165g minimum), except in the case when bad weather is expected: fabric around. 90g/m2 minimum (average weight 250g minimum).
- long running trousers or leggings or a combination of leggings and long socks which cover the legs completely,
- warm long sleeved clothing (type « second layer », cotton excluded) of a weight of 180g minimum
- cap, bandana, or buff
- warm hat
- warm and waterproof gloves
- waterproof trousers

Sergio said...

Me, and surely all fellow Swiss mountain runners will look forward to seeing you at SZ! Is Kyle Skaggs nor running (racing) anymore?

PunkRockRunner said...

The AR50 will be my first 50 mile ultra (it looks like I will be in very good company). We live about an hour from the start so please know you have a place to stay and a willing chauffeur while you’re in the area.

All the best,

Ron

Bam said...

Yeah! So glad to read you're finally willing to give UTMB a go! Sierre Zinal is really different but the view is just amazing. If you happen to need FREE accomodation in the Chamonix area from mid August onwards, a French family -that loves Boulder BTW - would be delighted to have you around in our house ( 30 minutes from Chamonix, 1h30 from Sierre, Switzerland), up in the mountains, tons of trails from our threshold. And a double bed if you don't come on your very own. Just don't hesitate.
bertrand_mayol@hotmail.com

Collin said...

That's an awesome schedule you've got planned out. I probably won't be ready to get back into racing until Leadville, but I'm still hoping to spend some time at some races to stay amped up in the mean time, so if you need an extra crew hand at any of these, just send me a FB message or something.

AJW said...

Sweet schedule! I'll see you at AR! (unless, of course, you're gone by the time I finish).

One of these years you need to go down to AC and give that CR a shot. I think it's a great course for you.

David said...

I'm planning on running Chuckanut, too! See you there!

Anonymous said...

Hello Tony, I'm a one of your big fan live in Japan. Well, How about Ultra-Tral du Mt.FUJI? Kaburaki and we are hope to see you in FUJI!!

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