Montrail is fired up to remind you all that another year of Montrail Ultra Cup racing commences on Saturday August 20th outside of Eugene, Oregon.  The 10th running of  Waldo 100k starts at 5am at Willamette Pass Ski Area and will wrap up several hours and 11,000 feet of climbing later.  Runners will summit 3 major peaks and pass by six mountain lakes in their attempt to finish the race and gather up some early season Ultra Cup points.  As for all Ultra Cup races longer than 50km, the top two male and female finishers will win coveted Western States 100 entries.

View of Waldo Lake from top of Mt. Fuji

Don’t be confused by the new, sleeker name of the race this year, this is still the same beast of a race we’ve all come to know. Race directors Craig Thornley and Curt Ringstad, along with assistant race director and 2-time defending Ultra Cup champion Meghan Arbogast, are all set to host another great weekend of ultrarunning and are expecting some fast times.  The course is in good shape overall yet true to form for this summer, runners should expect to see snow throughout the higher sections of the course.

A quick glance at the start list has several known ultrarunning speedsters, which should make for a fast race up front.  Notably, Dave Mackey and Ian Sharman will duke it out near the front, a rematch of their American River 50 head-to-head duel.  This year, the race’s youngest starter is 24-year old Zeb Breuckman of Bremerton, Washington.  A very special shout out to the two 70+ male runners having a go of it this year, Peter Fish and Kent Holder.  Super inspiring, good luck!

And a final “good luck” goes out to Montrail athlete Amy Sproston, who will look to build upon her successful year with a strong finish at Waldo.  Last year Amy finished second female in 11:02, so you can bet that she’ll be looking to break 11 hours this year.

Stop in and say hi to our friends at Eugene Running Company for any pre- or post-race needs, and try on a few pairs of Montrails while you’re there.  Good luck to all the runners this weekend!

If you haven’t seen it, here is a trail running video with Geoff Roes from Running Times. A lot of insight into why he runs and trains the way he does.

Written by Dakota Jones

This past weekend was very interesting for me. From a mental standpoint I feel that I came through the Pocatello 50 at a new level of ability in running, which is a strong confidence boost for the upcoming Hardrock 100. I ran hard all day long at the limit of my ability and finished in first not through better training than the other runners, but through the power of my mind in forcing my body to run hard. After mile 40 I felt physically devastated, but I kept my legs moving.

My go-to race shoe lately has been the Rogue Racer, in which I ran the Miwok 100k, but with a race touting 12,000 vertical feet, cross-country travel, several miles of snow and a section straight up a flowing creek, I defaulted to my tried and true Rockridges. They served me well, as they have in the past at literally every major race I did in 2010. What really struck me was their ability to dry quickly after getting wet. Pocatello featured a lot of wet feet, but mine were always dry within minutes of each creek crossing and I had no blisters at the end. Go Montrail!

Prevailing wisdom about ultras in the past has been that older runners excel in the sport because they have the mental strength to keep themselves moving after everything seems to be falling apart. I agree with this, except that you don’t need to be old to have that mental strength, just experienced. I am in no way at the level of many of ultrarunning’s legends in terms of experience, but I have gained enough to know that A.) Yes, the race will end someday, just keep moving, B.) Low points can only be followed by high points. Or death. But don’t think about the latter, and C.) We can continue running hard even after we feel that we can’t barely move. Make a conscious effort to move those damn legs, and they’ll keep going. One thing that has struck me in the past was that if  I stopped running at 40 miles, I would limp around in the same way as if I stopped at 50 miles. But instead I keep running for ten more miles. Or sixty. So where is that point where you literally can’t run anymore? I crossed it at Miwok, but I still don’t know. The point is that you can run a lot harder and longer than you think, which is the best thing I learned at Pocatello. Our minds are as important as our bodies in running well.

Conventional wisdom seems only to have been tweaked. As far as I can tell, experience is not synonymous with age but in the later stages of a race, the mind is what drives the legs. At least that is the fruit of one experience. Tell me what you think, because we here at Montrail are only learning this stuff through practice.

Team Montrail found success all over the globe this past Memorial Day Weekend with some outstanding runs at very competitive races.

To get things started, let’s give a nod and big congratulations to Ellie Greenwood for her performance at the Comrades Marathon in South Africa. Ellie finished 4th female in 6:32:46 and once again has proved to the world, and to herself, that she’s a world class talent in the sport of ultrarunning, regardless of whether she’s running on pavement or on trails. Another Montrail speedster raced Comrades on Sunday; Amy Sproston was 21st in 7:34:10. Both Amy and Ellie are having great seasons so far and will test themselves on the trails in late June at Western States 100.

 
Back here in the US, Team Montrail was busy at the Pocatello 50 in Idaho, taking care of business. Congratulations goes out to Dakota Jones and Joelle Vaught, who both took 1st place for their respective genders and made it another Montrail sweep at this extremely difficult and competitive race. Dakota won the race in an outstanding time of 8:17:00, showing that he’s in fine form and possibly raced at this one as redemption from Miwok 100k, where he ran out of gas at about the 50 mile point. Next up for Dakota is the daunting Hardrock 100 in July. Joelle Vaught won the female race in 9:31:43 (90 minutes ahead of 2nd place!!) and for her, this is her 3rd major victory of the year (Way Too Cool 50k, Silver State 50k). Joelle is proving that she’s a force and will demand respect heading into Western States 100.

Also at Pocatello 50 and placing top 10, Ryan Burch (4th place, 9:01:32) and Matt Hart (7th, 9:17:04). Clearly an outstanding day in Idaho for Team Montrail. Up in Alaska, Geoff Roes raced the Prince of Wales Marathon in Craig, AK and while we can’t find results online, we’ll post them on Facebook when we find them.

Congratulations to Team Montrail for another outstanding weekend of racing. Keep it up!

This past weekend several Montrail athletes we’re off and racing, with the most notable race being the Miwok 100km, race number 10 in the Montrail Ultra Cup series. As expected, Dakota Jones, wearing the Rogue Racers, ran with the lead pack for most of the race, before hitting a lull around mile 48 that put him in 4^th place where he’d run for the remainder of the race. A 4^th place finish at Miwok 100km (8:18:01), behind Dave Mackey, Mike Wolfe and Hal Koerner is an outstanding finish for anyone, let alone a 20-year old college student. Great job Dakota, way to give it your all. Can’t wait to see you run Hardrock in July.

 
For the women, Amy Sproston showed up at Miwok 100km despite being injured since early April. With basically no training leading up to the race, she found endurance enough to run to a 4^th place finish (10:02:41). Super inspiring Amy, way to dig deep and persevere. Hopefully the calf injuries are behind you and Comrades and Western States 100 go smoothly.

Up in Washington, at the base of Chuckanut Mountain, Andy Henshaw and his Rogue Racers were running the Lost Lake 50km, his first true test since winning the USA 100km National Championships in April. Andy seems to have shaken out the soreness and fatigue, as he ran to a 1^st place overall finish in a time of 5:03:33. Way to go Andy, you’re on a roll!

And finally, in Colorado, Ryan Burch returned to action at the Collegiate Peaks 50 miler, where last year he ran the 25 mile distance to preview the course. The 50 mile distance is two laps on the 25 mile course. This year the sun was shining on Ryan, both literally and metaphorically, as he cruised to a 1^st place course record in 6:37 while wearing his Rogue Racers. Way to go Ryan, can’t wait to see what you can do at Western States 100.

 
Another Montrail athlete made us proud, Annette Bednosky placed 1st in the North Face Endurance Challenge at Bear Mountain, NY.
“The course is one of the most technical, yet mostly “runnable” (running/plodding/scampering) I’ve yet to experience!” – Annette

 
Shoe choice: “I brought both Mt. Masochist and Rogue Racers with me, yet after a short run on the rocky/scree course on Friday in the RR, I opted for the greater protection of the Mountain Masochist…a good choice!”

Overall an outstanding weekend of ultrarunning for Team Montrail (and the Rogue Racer trail racing flats) in what’s turning out to be one of the best years ever for this talented and humble group of athletes. Keep it up!

Written by Dakota Jones

The Miwok 100k will be held this Saturday in the Marin Headlands north of San Francisco for the sixteenth year in a row, and Montrail will be there.

But in addition to my own stellar presence, this year the race will once again be a major stop on the Montrail Ultra Cup. With this year’s series winding up in just three races, competitors are actively vying for the top spot and $5000 cash, as well as a pile of other killer prizes. The most likely candidate to jump to the top this weekend is Dave Mackey, currently in fourth place but more at home and experienced on the Marin trails than most people. However, current leader Dan Olmstead will be looking to defend his spot, as will second-place Scott Jaime. On the women’s side, Meghan Arbogast will be running to maintain the top spot and simultaneously hold off fourth-place Clare Abram and fifth-place Gretchen Brugman. Meghan’s lead of 164.69 points is going to be a major barrier for Abram and Brugman (116.63 and 114.16 points, respectively), but a good performance by either of them could put Arbogast’s lead in jeopardy, especially if they plan to run Western States in June. This time of year is when those runners with their eyes on the Ultra Cup prizes really start to realize that, “holy s—, I could actually win $5000” and then do something about it.

But the competition is not confined just to Ultra Cup competitors. In addition to those people mentioned above, Nathan Yanko (interview), Ian Sharman, Hal Koerner, Mike Wolfe, myself, Yassine Diboun and Scott Jaime will be racing. The women are no less competitive, with Krissy Moehl, Pam Smith, Suzanna Bon, Helen Cospolich and Tracy Dimino all showing up to kick some…dirt. Also running will be a lot of fast people I have completely omitted, for which I apologize. The idea to take away from this is that Miwok is going to be really competitive, so don’t miss the fun.

My last run through Marin in December was one of the best races I’ve had, and I’m hoping to have the same kind of day on Saturday. Though this race is far less competitive than the TNF 50, the competition that will be there is intense. But more importantly, I’m hoping to put in a strong effort that will boost my confidence with two months to go before Hardrock. This will be a good race to judge my fitness after several months of hard training behind me, and the best months of the year ahead. The number one goal of the day is to feel confident in my running fitness at the end of the day.

Though the course is somewhat changed from previous years, the race will nonetheless be the same stunning display of the natural beauty of the area in combination with a terrific challenge for all the runners as before. The race-day forecast is calling for a high of 71 and a low of 53, which is another way of saying that the dirt gods are certainly going to be smiling on us all day. I intend to worship them all day by running as hard as possible for 62.6 miles through the mountains. That’s why we run.

With only 3 races remaining in the 2010/11 Montrail Ultra Cup series, we’re coming down to the wire and as predicted, the standings are really starting to heat up.  After American River 50 we have a better idea of how things are going to shake out over the next few months.  Here are the updated Top 5, with Miwok 100k just around the corner. Full standings can be found here.

Men:
1. Dan Olmstead – 165.77 points (3 races)
2. Scott Jaime – 164.89 (3 races)
3. Owen Bradley – 161.21 (4 races)
4. Dave Mackey – 142.00 (2 races)
5. Erik Skaden – 128.48 (3 races)

Women:
1. Meghan Arbogast – 164.69 points (3 races)
2.  Amy Sproston – 126.08 (2 races)
3. Jenny Capel – 124.62  (3 races)
4. Clare Abram – 116.63 (3 races)
5. Gretchen Brugman – 114.16 (3 races)

There’s no doubt that the standings will shift after Miwok, with several of the top 10 men and women participating and many others gunning for the WS100 spots that are available. Stay tuned for updates as we head down the homestretch where we’ll eventually crown champions at Western States 100.

 
For the 11^th consecutive year, ultra runners will unite at the Promise Land Youth Camp near Bedford, VA for a good old-fashioned camp out and sing-a-long. Well not exactly, but the camp out part is true. The Promise Land 50k, directed by David Horton, is a fast-growing event in the East that starts and ends at the Promise Land Youth Camp. The night before the race, many participants will camp out near the start line and visualize the next day’s race around a massive bonfire. No other sport on earth brings its participants together for a fun camp out and bonfire before setting them off together for a grueling and challenging 50km foot race. Awesome!

Montrail is a proud supporter of the Promise Land 50km and would like to wish all the runners good luck on Saturday. If you’ve never ran this race, put it on your hit list for 2012 and get your marshmallow stick ready.
 
Ready. Set. Run.

With only four races remaining (American River 50, Miwok 100k, Ice Age 50 and Western States 100), the Montrail Ultra Cup standings are beginning to tighten up and the leaders are taking their places as we head down the home stretch.

Here’s your current top 5 men and women through Way Too Cool 50k, as well as a note mentioning which, if any, of the remaining Ultra Cup races each athlete will race. Full standings can be found here.

Men
Dan Olmstead – 165.77 points (will run Miwok and WS100)
Owen Bradley – 161.21
Scott Jaime – 118.69 (will run AR50, Miwok and WS100)
Timothy Olsen – 106.77 (will run Miwok and WS100)
Jeremy Pade – 90.19

Women:
Meghan Arbogast – 164.69 points (will run Miwok and WS100)
Amy Sproston – 126.08 (will run Miwok and WS100)
Joelle Vaught – 111.00 (will run WS100)
Pam Smith – 110.76 (will run Miwok and WS100)
Riva Johnson – 95.09 (will run WS100)

There’s a good chance these standings will change significantly by the time Miwok is complete. Any guesses as to who will end up on top this year?

With the completion of Way Too Cool 50k last weekend in California, the Montrail Ultra Cup season is now 2/3 complete. The remaining 4 races will all take place over the next few months, including American River 50 [Join the chat on FB], Miwok 100km [FB Page], Ice Age 50 and Western States 100 [FB Page]. For all of these events, you can expect to see full races with competitive fields. No doubt. We’re also thrilled to announce that for the first time ever, Ice Age 50 is going to reach its capacity. Congratulations!

A runner’s personal account of AR50

At this point in the year we’re seeing some new names near the top of standings. We’re pumped for these athletes who have chosen to challenge themselves by competing in several Ultra Cup races throughout the year. This new blood, along with the elite runners who compete every year, is a testament to both the growth and momentum of the sport of ultrarunning, as well as to the appeal of the Ultra Cup series. There is no other national ultrarunning points series, period. We’ve compiled some of the largest, most prestigious and most competitive races in the country into one clean package. The camaraderie and competitive spirit exuded at each and every Ultra Cup event is unmatched currently in the sport. Thanks to you all for making it happen. Now on to the standings.

Top 10 Men:
1. Dan Olmstead
2. Owen Bradley
3. Scott Jaime
4. Jeremy Pade
5. Robijn Hage
6. Troy Howard
7. Timothy Olson
8. Dave Mackey
9. Henry Wakley
10. Jonathan Ferrell

Top 10 Women:
1. Meghan Arbogast
2. Amy Sproston
3. Pam Smith
4. Riva Johnson
5. Kristin Lundy
6. Leah Daugherty
7. Joelle Vaught
8. Aliza Lapierre
9. Alison Bryant
10. Elaine Stypula

Standings will continue to change as each race is completed. Check here for full standings, and tune in next week for updated standings through Way Too Cool 50km. We’ll see you all in Sacramento for AR50 in just a few weeks.