OBF & PCT 50M

For the third year in a row, I flew up to Portland Oregon, to attend in the Oregon Brewer's Festival, and participate in the PCT 50-mile trail run on and near Mount Hood.




This year, my son Matt and I went. We flew up on Wednesday, after work. It was our intent to meet up with my nephew Andy, but we were surprised when Andy's dad (my bro) Jim drove down from Spokane on Thursday.


The Holmes' Bro's. Matt and me in front, Jim and Andy in back.

Don't run over that Emo kid! You've already hit your scoring limit!

Our fist stop after our plane ride was Lucky Labrador Brewing, off of Hawthorne.
Good beer, good food, and lots of friendly doggies!



First Beer while in Portland. Cheers!

Watching it happen doggy-style, at the Labrador.
They don't call it the "Lucky" Labrador for no reason.

Wednesday night was filled with a night of Glorious Debauchery...in wondrous Stumptown Style.

On Thursday morning, we hooked-up with Greg and Christy, and hit the Bijou for breakfast, Whole Foods, and then Powell's books, before heading to Rogue Brewing for a breakfast beer.


Greg & Christy, (AKA "Lecompton G" and "Mountain MudBabe")

My breakfast at my favorite breakfast place in the entire universe.

Keith Moon, back from the dead, serving us breakfast beers with 'tude at Rogue, in Beervana, Oregon.

"Roguesque Beerscape," by Matt Holmes.

From Rogue, we wandered about Downtown Portland, and showed-off some of the sights. (Yes, there were a few Trail Nerd stickers still up from last year's all-city pasting). We showed-up at the Oregon Brewer's Festival (OBF), right after 1 p.m., or so.

Good times!

Serving station at OBF.

This girl is serious about her hops. I guessed right...she used Willamette Hops for the tattoo model. (I know my hop varieties).

Friday was reserved for rest and recovery, and letting my brother Jim get to know Matt a little better. We went to our favorite resort in Welches, Oregon, while Greg and Christy went to Cannon Beach (and then met us later at our digs, to sleep for the night).

Saturday...RACE DAY! Five Trail Nerds were there to run the race: Greg Burger, Gary Henry, Danny Miller, and Bobbi Ashwandi-Thomas. The rest were there to cheer us on, pace us, (and maybe ignore us and head to Hood River for a brewery tour to arrive back at the finish line 20 minutes late).

I hadn't really trained for this race, and I was out of shape. I've only been averaging 25 miles per week of running for the past 2 to 3 months, due to being busy and other issues. But I figured, what the hell, it's only a fifty-miler...right?

Upon arrival at the race, I gave the two female race directors (Olga and Monika) Mud Babe shirts. They proceeded to wow the race audience by stripping-off their tops and donning the stylish gaments forthwith.


The weather was perfect for racing: 52 degrees at start time, sunnyall day, and it never warmed up past the mid-70s. Compared to KC, the humidity level was "dryer than a popcorn fart." PERFECTCONDITIONS!


Near the start / finish area.

Me, getting my gear & shit ready for race.
No drop bags necessary for a short 50!

We're off!

Danny "Sandbagger" Miller did well. He nearly dropped out at the turnaround point on the mountain, but after sitting and regaining his insanity, proceeded to recover and start blazing down the mountain like a luge on teflon-coated ice. He soon passed Greg and me and ended up finishing in 10:14 or so.


Me, coming into Timberline Lodge aid station (at mile 25).

Scoring some tasty watermelon for fuel!

Greg "Lecompton G" Burger and I played leapfrog all day long. Three miles from the finish we decided to pace each other in, and finished together with arms raised shouting "Trail Nerds and Wu Tang Clan forever." We finished in 10 hours, 37 minutes.

Yep, I wore lucky number 69!

Gary "Luddite" Henry and Bobbi (AKA BAT) took the early 5:30 a.m. start. Gary finished in 11:07, and Bobbi a few hours later.

After the race, most of us repaired to a the Ice Axe brewpub (Mt Hood Brewing) on the Mountain, and proceeded to infuse mass quanities of food and "cool amber emulsion fluid" into our calorie-starved bodies. We met a couple of other addled souls (other finishers), and fed the mosquitos out on the patio until they popped in little blood-soaked explosions.


Greg, Gary, Danny, Matt, me, Christy, Jim, Andy.

Well, that's about it. We had a lot of fun, and then flew back on Sunday. My left hip was a little tweaked, but other than that, I'm feeling fine.

Happy trails,
Bad Ben

Psycho Psummer Trail Run

Well, we pulled-off another fun and successful Trail Nerd event.

There was a lot of mud, sweat and tears at the 2nd Annual Psycho Psummer Trail Runs and Psychopathic 5K trail run. The volunteers made it happen. I'll post a longer report, later. Until then, here are some race reports to read:

2008 Race Reports:

Tony "Semper Fast" Clark (50K male winner)
Chris Hoffman (50K)
Scott Giddings (50K)
Gregg Lynn (50K)
Coleen "Cynical MudBabe" Voeks (50K)
Sophia "MudStudMudBabe" Spencer (50K)
Mickey Woolard (50K)
Adam Monaghan (50K)
Laurie "Nerdo" Euler (50K)
Jim Megerson (50K)
FunkySpunkyPenguin (50K)
Scott Hill (50K)
John (15-Mile)
KC Stine (15-Mile)
Sarge (15-Mile)
Shane Jones (15-Mile)

Mark Stovall: Complaints
Mookie Thompson (first 50K): Thanks



Psycho Psummer 50K
Wyandotte County Lake Park
Kansas City, Kansas
July 5, 2008
Race Director's Race Report

Many ultra-newbies set their sights on Kansas to run a flat, fast “first 50K.” They enter our little race under the assumption that our race will deliver such. What they get is a challenging course with exceptional aid station help, who all have massive “ultra-cred.” Many of the runners, when they realize they’ve bitten off more than they can chew “go with the flow” and settle in to “just having fun” and “enjoying the ride.” Others take the challenging course head-on with a vengeance. Some do better than others in the attempt, but the course tends to be much kinder to those who have both trail and ultra race experience.

This year’s two-loop course was slightly different, and had another 600 feet of elevation change added. We figured that the 2007 Psycho Psummer course just wasn’t tough enough, so we had to eliminate a slightly flat section and add yet another hill. And it’s a beautiful hill, with a lush, jungle-like demeanor. People leaving Kyle and Stacy Amos’ aid station (with an Indiana Jones theme) tended to love this section. Our other staffed aid station out on the course was manned by Pat Perry, who had just completed the Bighorn 100 with Kyle Amos. He had set-up a portable shower set up to cool-off runners, and had some other wondrous goodies in his bag of tricks to encourage a fabulous finish from every passing runner.

The men’s race had some decent competition. Tony “Semper Fast” Clark, just back from also running the Bighorn 100 two weeks prior, ran with Gregg Buehler for a while on the first loop. Tony ran at a smart and consistently strong pace to finish first in 4:33, a course record (for this new course). Randy Myers slipped by Gregg and hammered-in to finish second, with Buehler finishing slightly behind in third.

The fun race to watch was in the female division. Ultra veteran Beth Seuferer was running a smart race, trailing ultra-newbie Margaret Drew. Margaret ran the first loop at a breakneck pace. She was worried about another competitor that was nipping at her heels. What she didn’t know was that same competitor was planning to drop at just one loop. So she headed out on the second loop like gangbusters, and had a gastro-intestinal crash landing at Pat’s aid station (where he nursed her back to running health, eventually). Beth and (ultra-newbie) Cheri Fine would end up passing her, but all of them would be passed, as well. Jonette Killmar, one of our local Trail Nerd “Mud Babes,” is a veteran on this course and many other tough ultras. This Mud Babe is strong! She ran as consistent as a human metronome, and clinched a record-setting first place finish. Beth took second ahead of last year’s winning time, also. Cheri Fine had a great “first ultra,” and still looked fresh (albeit slightly muddy) while finishing third.

We love this park, and we love the folks who come to race in it. It’s just way too much fun, showing-off our little piece of Kansas Trail Heaven!

Happy trails,
Bad Ben

Somebody always has to complain…

Trail Nerds,
Lest you get a big head from another fine race....I thought I'd issue some complaints.
1. I only found two ticks on my person, both of them small and more interested in hitching a ride than feasting on my blood.
2. The aid stations were entirely too well staffed and stocked. Given the number of runners that turned out for a post-holiday run, I was counting on supplies running out.
3. The mud was only shin deep at best. The addition of the fresh horse manure was a nice touch, I'll give you that, but it was not of a sufficient volume to make up for the modest quantity of mud.
4. The temperatures were much too pleasant. I know you can't control the weather, but maybe you should consider rescheduling the event if the forecasted heat index is below triple digits.
Sunday, I felt great with a total lack of burning urinary pain. I feel cheated!

Begrudgingly healthy,
Mark Stovall
Blue Springs, MO

Mark,
Your complaints are duly noted.
1. You can blame Tony Clark (1st Place finisher in the 50K) for the lack of ticks, AKA "Arachnid Americans." Tony picked-up a lot of hitch-hikers, (being one of the first runners to fly through the course). A couple of them were big enough that they bullied me into giving them finisher's medals!
2. We tried our best to run out of fruit, food, water, ice, and electrolytes at our over-stocked and well-staffed aid stations. Our volunteers were shoving all kinds of crap into the runners' mouths in a valid effort, (but vain attempt, nonetheless). Our solution: Next year there will be a "mouth size requirement" for any runners entered in the 50K event.
3. Lack of mud was a problem. Next year, we're going to stage a long-distance horse event on the same day, and have the Chinese Army help with cloud-seeding operations prior to the race. Six inches of rain just wasn't enough, this year.
4. If the temps aren't high enough for next year, we have an action plan. We'll initiate our "Harrison Bergeron Handicapper Standard." Any athlete that is not wearing a thick winter parka will be considered to be under–handicapped, and should be regarded as "extremely dangerous," and will be disqualified immediately.

Happy trails,
Bad Ben Holmes
Race Director

James Barker, course volunteer extraordinaire adds:
“What exactly are you doing on the trails to anticipate suffering from a “burning urinary pain”? And, more importantly, who are you doing it with?”


Results for 2008:

15-Miler and 50-Kilometer Events

5K Event

2008 Photos:

Dick Ross Photography

More Dick Ross Photos

Gary Henry's Website (w/photos)