The Muddy Buzzard

It's M4 Time Baby!!!!!

2012-02-07T20:47:00.003-07:00

It's unique. It's super-competitive. It's a lung-burning, gut-busting batch of fun being held over 8 laps of the Montana State University track. It's in its 8th year and it's happening this Firday night. So..............what is it?????

It's the Montana Men's Master's Mile - aka "The M4". It's the brainchild of the manic, crazed, loveable John Zombro. What it's really about is finding the best of the best of Montana's runners who are 35 and older; putting them on the track over the magic distance of one mile; and, see who's February's Fastest Old Man.

Some great names of Montana master's running and racing have taken part: Hunt, Thomas, Strode, Judge, Kenworthy, Keller, Banovich, Braun, Demetriades, et al..........They've all raced the M4. They've all felt the pain. They've all had words with the gorilla on their back.

But, over the first 7 editions this race has belonged to two men - Scott Creel and Peter Dan Sullivan. Creel is an animal at many distances; but, is perhaps best known for his mastery of the Ridge Run in Bozeman. PDS is the cheetah amongst the gazelles. He's built for speed and loves the mid-distance stuff on the track.

Scott won the first 3 editions, including the meet record of 4:33.7 from year 2 in 2006. PDS has won the last 4 years. Between them, they have all 6 of the sub-4:40 times that have been run (each with 3). All the more impressive considering that Scott is 49 and PDS is 47. Impressive indeed.

Thanks to the continued support of the Montana State Track & Field program, this year's M4 will take place as part of the Bozeman Running Company Dual Meet Invitational (Friday the 10th). The race is scheduled to take place right at 7:00 - immediately after the singing of the National Anthem. Heeding the call will be:

Peter Dan Sullivan - Helena - 47 - 4-time defending champion. The nicest, happiest miling bad-ass that you'll ever meet. With 4:38's in 2010 and 2011, PDS is showing no signs of slowing down; and, unless something freakish happens - expect to see him near the front of the race right from the gun.

Scott Creel - Bozeman - 49. Event record holder. A racing animal with an unparalelled pain tolerance. Coming off a great 2011 season, will Scott come back to gain his 4th title?

Jesse Zentz - Helena - 35. An M4 rookie. Returning to Montana after several years as a journalist in Boise, Jesse has made his mark on the Montana scene over the last year. But, given his success as a West High Bear and a UM Grizzly - what else would you have expected.

Pat Judge - Helena - 41. The heart and soul of the Vigilante Runner's - Pat has had a resurgence in his running since turning 40. Could this be the year that Pat joins the sub-4:40 club?

Rob Walker - Bozeman - 43. Will Walker's strong performance at the 2011 MT Cup parlay itself into a fast mile? Can he break his streak of two straight 4:43's and get close to the magic 4:40 mark?

Kyle Strode - Helena - 47. Kyle has shown his skills from the Mile to the Marathon. If Kyle's healthy enough to toe the line, you knnow he's ready to be a factor in the race.

Shaun Marshall-Pryde - Bozeman - 48. The blonde bombshell moves away from the Biathlon to the one-dimensional, banked board lung busting.

Steve Bruner - Bozeman - 41. Consistent at times between 4:58 and 5:03, Bruner will be looking to move to the next level and a sub-4:46 (sub-74 pace).

Chris Colberg - Helena - 40. Another of the Team Vig crew and M4 virgin. Will his bald pate hold off the flowing locks of SMP???

Jeff Braun - Butte - 47. Like Pat Judge, Braun has seen some of his best racing since in the last couple of years. Can he get his first sub-5:00 at M4?

Dean Lipp - Missoula - 50. In his 2nd M4, can Dean get a sub-5:00 at 50?

Mark Slater - Bozeman - 50. A guy who doesn't race a lot. But, once he get's that big frame rolling, he's hard to stop. And, still competitive at 50.

Steve Gideon - Darby - 50?. Steve has some wheels at 400 and 800. Can he transfer his coaching skills from his high school athletes and pull off a sub-5:00?

Clint May - Bozeman - ??. Clint has really proven himself as a coaching genius with his championships squads from Bozeman High. But, he's not a regular on the racing circuit........so, he's perhaps the biggest unkown in the field.

James Walker - Utah - ??. aka Zombro's Ringer. Living in Utah now, Jim has solid ties to MSU. Can he parlay his knowledge of exercise science to a fast time?

Ray Hunt - Deer Lodge - 46. The ultimate sandbagger. Known to shoot flames out of his ass in the last 400. Ray is a racing fool - don't ever count him out when he's on the line.

So, there you go - 2012's M4 Field of Stallions. Who will come out on top in the year of the 'stache? I'll get results up here and on 406running.com as soon as I can.

In the meantime, check out these fun video's from the 2011 event. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTvV8Vf627U&feature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaYogmmYY_0&feature=related

The Muddy Buzzard.

The Buzzard's Wings Are Clipped

2012-02-06T18:23:00.000-07:00

There's no real good way to look at this - so, guess I'll just have to accept the reality of my situation. Unless something drastic occurs, it looks like my competitive racing days are over.

I obtained a 2nd opinion this past week from a physician at Billings who I know, respect and trust (Dr. Scott Sample - Interventional Cardiologist). He confirmed that my diagnosis with some form of cardiomyopathy is accurate; and, it's recommended that I consider the implantation of a defibrillator.

My heart funciton (primarily measured by the amount of blood pumped out of the left ventricle - e.g. Ejection Fraction) remains low. And, in fact, in my last check in November appears to have slipped backwards somewhat. With that continued functional reduction, together with the medications, it's pretty much like having a governor on my transmission. It just severely limits my work capacity (in a running sense).

On top of that, my ejection fraction puts me at an increased risk of sudden cardiac arrest. Turns out that's not a good thing. To provide a safety net, the doctors are recommending that I have implanted a defibrillator. Dr. Sample's 2nd opinion supports the original recommendation of Dr. Simone Musco in Missoula. So, although I have a follow up visit with the group in Missoula in a few weeks, it appears that this may be the path that I have to go down

Between the meds, the reduced Ejection Fraction, and a defibrillator - it just appears as though I won't be able to undertake the physiological efforts necessary to train or race at my historic levels. So, looks like I'll just have to accept this reality and say goodbye to my competitive racing days.

Without question, I'll still be around the sport. I'll still be able to run - and, to a lesser degree still be able to race. I still enjoy the time on the roads, in the woods, on the trails, and around the track. Sure, maybe everything is at a much slower pace/effort; but, there's lots worse things in life.

And, the sport has sure been great to me. I've met great people and made some lifelong friends. I've visited and run in and around some amazing places. I've been fortunate enough to have won more than my share of races over the years and have had more than my 15:00 of "fame".

But, I can't lie - I'm going to miss the competitive side of the sport. I've loved the racing. I've loved the hard training. The feel of coming hard off the corner on the track. Running hard down a trail. Charging along in the Montana Cup. The long 20-milers. Tempo Runs. Repeat Miles. I've probably seen the last of these type of efforts - and, I'm not really pleased about it.

I've tried to live a healthy, active lifestyle and do the right things to make my body an efficient, strong machine. It's hard to accept that it is now rebelling. But, what can you do. No sense being bitter. Life's too short for that. So, now it's time to move forward and make the best of a bad situation. What other choice is there really? It's time to begin the next part of my journey of life and see where it takes me.

But, until then...............don't worry....................

I'll see you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Early Open Indoor Results

2012-01-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

Indoor season is starting to heat up. A good meet was held last week at MSU (check out http://www.msubobcats.com/). There were plenty of good collegiate performances. But, wanted to make note of a post-collegiate/open peformance.

Lyle Weese continues to train hard and perform at a high level - as witnessed by his 2nd place finish at 3000 meters with his 8:20.75 effort.

Some other (native) Montanan's who still are racing hard on the track also include the two younger Ricardi kids.

Josh ran 8:39.64 over 3,000 meteres at the University of Washington Invitational on 1/28. At the same meet baby sister Lois ran a PR over the mile with her 4:47.35.

Looking for some more good open track performance yet this year. But, really jazzed for the annual Montana Men's Master's Mile (M4) next weekend at Bozeman. Preview and prediction will be coming this coming weekend.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

2011 Master's Womans Runner Of The Year

2012-01-22T09:17:00.000-07:00

So, here we are with the 4th and final category in the Buzzard's selection of the 2011 Runners Of The Year - The Master's Women. The field had more depth and quality this year - in part due to a few new women entering the 40+ category. So, with that introduction, here they are:

Number 1 - Nikki Kimball - Bozeman. A top ultra/trail runner over the years, Nikki seemed to have a renewed energy upon entering the over 40 group in mid year. Many of her best performances came at out of state races at her specialty. But, she also showed some wheels in a fair number of races under the Big Sky.

Big Butte Run 11K - 39 - 51:07 - 1st Woman
Don't Fence Me In 30K - 39 - 2:46:03 - 1st Woman
Bozeman Classic 5K - 40 - 19:46 - 1st Master Woman
Bridger Ridge Run - 40 - 3:56:39 - 1st Woman, 9th Overall - still the only woman with a sub-4:00 finish.
Bozeman Marathon - 40 - 3:15:18 - 1st Woman, 5th Overall

Western States 100 Mile - 40 - 18:17:39 - 3rd Woman (5 seconds out of 2nd place)
Bear 100 Mile - 40 - 22:19 - 1st Woman
Antelope Island 50K - 39 - 4:41:19 - 1st Woman
North Face Bear Mountain 50 Mile - 39 - 9:36:50 - 2nd Woman
North Face Endurance Challenge Atlanta - 50 Mile - 8:57:54 - 1st Woman, 4th Overall

It's pretty hard to argue with those types of performances. Sub-20:00 5K to top 3 at Wester States 100 Miler. Man, that is some serious range of performance. Local or national fields, she performed at the front. Not only was she the top Master's Woman, she is always competitive against the open women's field. It was a spectacular way to enter the master's rank.

Number 2 - Nicole Hunt of Deer Lodge. The 2010 Overall Women's Runner Of The Year, Nicole had a short but impressive season. Why so short - how about pregnancy (culminating in the birth of twins Roam and Ember in early November of 2011)!!!!!! She only got in four races in 2011 - not enough to get her back into the open ranks; but, the level of performance showed that she is clearly at the top of the women's masters field.

AOH Shamrock Run 6 Mile - 36:50 - 1st Woman
Ice Breaker 5 Mile - 32:16 - 3rd Woman, 1st Masters
Big Butte Run 11K - 53:34 - 3rd Woman, 1st Masters
Wulfman CDT 14K - 1:17:51 - 9th Woman, 1st Masters

Impressive races on their own; but, when you consider that all of them were completed while she was in the early stages of pregnancy, that borders on incredible. Nicole is back into training and looking forward to some hard racing for the 2012 season.

Number 3 - Dani Shahan, Bozeman. Dani doesn't race a lot - sticking closer to home and the family in the Gallatin Valley. But, when she does venture out onto the roads, she is ready to rock and roll. Even with just the 3 listed races, Dani clearly demonstrates that she belongs at the top of the 40+ lists.

Bozeman Classic 10K - 37:48 - 1st Overall Woman
Seatte Rock & Roll 1/2 Marathon - 1:19:40 - 6th Woman, 1st Master
Bozeman Marathon - 1/2 Marathon - 1:20:26 - 1st Overall Woman

With a few more races on her docket, Dani would have been a contender for the overall woman's list. Would love to see her hit a few more races this coming year and show us what she's really capable of.

Number 4 - Jenny Newton of Missoula. With the exception of Nikki, it seemed as though the rule of the Montana master's women is to not race too often. Jenny raced a bit more than some of the others; but, still a pretty limited season. Jenny is a true racer who's at home on the track, roads and XC. She had pretty wide range of performances from 800 meters track to 12K roads.

Mt. Sac Relays Master 800 Meters - 2:25.69 - 5th Master
Diva Day 5K - 19:29 - 2nd Woman, 1st Master
USATF Club Championships XC 6K - 23:24 - 12th Master
MT Cup 7.2K - 29:09 - 9th Woman, 1st Master
Bloomsday 12K - 48:17 - 5th Master

A good year for Jenny without a doubt. Love seeing the wide range of races and the willingness to compete against the best master's runners at the national level.

Number 5 - Julie Gilchrist, Missoula. Many people know Julie's daughter Paige as one of the best Montana girls prep runners...........but, if you've watched Julie race, you know that the apple didn't fall too far from the tree. Julie is a tough competitor. She tends to focus on the longer races; but, as can be seen from the MT cup results, she is pretty adept at the shorter stuff as well.

Snow Joke 1/2 Marathon - 1:36:51 - 1st Master
Run To The Pub 1/2 Marathon - 1:32:28 - 1st Master
Eugene Marathon - 3:17:07 - 5th Master
MT Cup 7.2K - 30:26 - 16th Woman, 2nd Master

Julie has already started the year off with a bang as she ran a 1:29 1/2 Marathon at Houston on January 15th. Her racing is a bit limited as she follows Paige around the state during track and XC seasons; but, she's a master's force without question.

Next year should be even deeper for the 40+ women as Jennifer Burke enters the mix (she turned 40 in October and just didn't have enough master's performances to be considered for the rankings this year). Would love to see the women race a bit more and would really love to see some more head to head performances within this group.

Performance Of The Year - Nikki Kimball's 3rd Place @ Western States 100 Mile. Western States is THE ultra trail race in North America; and, one of the top in the world. To finish on the podium at such a prestigious event is quite impressive.

Next up would be Jenny Newton's 2:25.96 800 Meters @ Mt. Sac. Those are some serious wheels, especially for a master's athlete. #3 would go to Dani Shahan and her 1:19:40 1/2 Marathon in Seattle - where she came through 10K faster than her winning time at the Bozeman Classic.

So, that wraps up our 2011 rankings. Looking forward to an exciting 2012 - full of fast and furious racing.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard.

2011 Open Women's Runner Of The Year

2012-01-21T09:41:00.000-07:00

Okay - so the 2011 Open Women's ROY has already been announce as Sarah Graves of Ballantine (see my January 7, 2012 post). But, let's recap what an amazing season Sarah had:

1st @ Wulfman CDT 14-K Trail (68:34) (# 3 Time on Course)
1st @ Women's Run 2-Mile (11:33)
1st Overall @ Beartooth Run 8.4 Mile (84:48) (2,000' elevation gain)
1st @ MT Marathon (Billings) 1/2-Marathon (79:05)
3rd @ MT Cup (only :33 out of 1st Place)
Houston Marathon - 1/30/11 - 2:47:21 - 16th Woman
Eugene Marathon- 4/30/11 - 2:46:20 - 6thWoman
Philadelphia Marathon - 11/19/11 - 2:46:24 - 6th Woman
California International Marathon - 12/4/11 - 2:44:25 - 16th Woman (Oly Trials Qualifier)

She then opened her new year with a 2:50:16 at the Oly Trials in Houston on January 14th. That's 3 marathons in 8 weeks with an average finish time of 2:47:01 - Simply Amazing. Yessirree, she was miles ahead (pun intended) of the rest of the Montana women this past year.

But, that by no means suggests that the rest of the females on the Big Sky racing scene were slackers. Unfortunately, they just ran into a buzz saw of a runner who had a career defining year. That being said, let's move onto the rest of the list.

The field on the women's side was suprisingly deep this year and picking a top 5 was a huge challenge. The choice is made even harder by the fact that some of the women don't race a lot (understandable since many of them have kid and family duties that most of us guys don't deal with quite as much). So hard in fact that I took the easy way out and went 6 deep for the women. I'll explain why later. The biggest challenge on the women's side was choosing between 2 and 3. But, after much deliberation - here goes:

Number 2 - Trisha Miller of Missoula. Trishs had a solid year over a variety of distances and terrain - from 5K to Marathon, roads to trails to XC, Trisha tackled them all. Her performances of note include:

Run To The Pub 1/2 Marathon - 1:22:59 - 1st
11 Miles to Paradise - 1:16:02 - 1st
Pengelly Single Dip - 44:11 - 1st
Hellgate 5K - 17:12 (short course ???) - 1st
Pacific Crest 1/2 Marathon (OR) - 1:22:24 - 2nd
Eugene Marathon - 2:54:00 - 3rd
Montana Cup - 7.2K - 27:34 - 6th

Trisha got big help in securing the #2 slot with her Eugen performance (just 1 place behind ROY Sarah Graves) and her head to head wins over Lisa Minnehan.

On the same day that Sarah was in Houston at the Oly Trials, Trisha was in Tempe, AZ at the PF Changs Rock and Roll Marathon....................where she scored an overall win of 2:49:12. That time didn't affect the 2011 rankings; but, may have some major bearing on the 2012 season.

That then brings us to Number 3 - Lisa Minnehan, Billings. A lot of people may not recognize this name. Lisa started her college career as a golfer; but, ended up running for Dave Coppock at MSU-Billings during her graduate work. Over the last couple of years she's been honing her running and racing chops; and, it's all starting to come together. She races often, at a wide range of ditances.

Women's Run 2-Mile - 12:17 - 2nd
AOH Shamrock Run 6 Mile - 27:02 - 2nd
Boston Marathon - 2:54:29 - 57th Woman
Jennie Kramer 5K - 18:38 - 1st
An Ri RA 10K - 38:21 - 1st (2nd Overall)
Heart and Sole 5K - 18:44 - 1st
Beartooth Run 4.2 Mile - 33:45 - 1st
Governor's Cup

10K - 39:59 - 1st
5K - 19:38 - 1st

Hellgate 5K - 17:23 - 2nd
Montana Cup - 7.2K - 28:37 - 7th
Big Sky State Games Athlete Of The Year

Lisa had a great year obviously. And, her same day Governor's Cup double was impressive. But, it was hard to overlook her 0-2 record against Trisha. And, given the tail wind at this year's Boston, I would say that Trisha's Eugene time is intrinsically superior to Lisa's Marathon.

But, it will be exciting to see if Lisa can take another step forward in her racing progression in 2012.

Number 4 - Jessica Johnson of Bigfork. Here's another name that may not be super familiar. Jessica races mostly within the NW and Western part of the state. But her forays to Missoula, Seeley Lake and Great Falls helped her move up onto the list.

Snow Joke 1/2 Marathon - 1:30:07 - 2nd
Riverbank Run Trifecta - 1st

10K - 39:05
5K - 18:20
1 M - 5:34

Herron Hustle 10K - 38:34 - 1st
Boogie To The Bank 10K - 38:21 - 2nd
Montana Cup 7.2K - 27:20 - 5th
Whitefish Lake Tri - 1st - included 19:07 5K

Would love to see her mix it up a bit more on the Missoula scene. But, living in the far NW corner of the state, it gets a bit tough to hit as many races as some of the other women.

Number 5 - Suzanne Huse - Missoula. Here's someone who doesn't race much due to taking care of the kids. And, she also spends a good chunk of her competitive time in triathlon. But, she had a couple of big performances that shows what a stud she is. Part of the powerful Mountain West group, when she shows up to race, you now she's going to be challenging for the win.

River City Roots 4-Mile - 23:02 - 1st (15th Overall)
MT Cup - 1st - 26:02
Spring Meadow Triathlon - 2nd

Sue clearly has the chops to place higher in the rankings. But, her lack of events keeps her from ranking higher. While she had some big wins - I'd have to see her wit more races under her belt at a wider range of distances to see how she would stack up against others on the list.

Number 6 - Michelle Bazanella of Butte was 4th in last years the open women's rankings (by the way - only Sarah and Bazz return from last year's rankings). This was my "Editor's Choice" if you will. Bazz races a lot - all across the state, in a wide variety of distances, on all types of surfaces. She's usually near the front; and, on almost any given day at almost any race against most all competition, she would be a top 5 finisher. All that being said, I just couln't let her seaon pass by without some recognition.

Veteran's Day 5.2 Mile - 35:29 - 1st
Governor's Cup 1/2 Marathon (Helena version) - 1:31:00 - 1st
Big Butte Run 11K - 52:28 - 2nd
Wulfman CDT 14K - 68:57 - 2nd
AOH Shamrock Run 6-Mile - 39:54 - 3rd
Boogie To The Bank 10K - 39:43 - 4th
Diva Day 5K - 20:00 - 5th
Montana Cup 7.2K - 13th - 30:00

In several of those races, she was only beaten by people like Nicole Hunt, Nikki Kimball and Lisa Minnehan. Her gutsy performance at the Wulfman was perhaps her shining moment of the year.

One person missing on the list was Nicole Hunt of Deer Lodge. The 2010 Overall Woman ROY was starting off gangbusters, with wins at the AOH Shamrock Run 6-Mile and a solid 3rd overall at Ice Breaker -both coming in the very early stages of her pregnancy (with twins Roam and Ember born in early November). But, if history shows us anything, Nicole will be back to the top of the ranks in no time.

Performance Of The Year: Easy Cheesy Selection. Without a doubt it would have to be Sarah Grave's 2:44:25 Olympic Trials Qualifying Marathon.

That would be followed by the new Snow Joke 1/2 Marathon course record of 1:23:57 set by Kara DeWalt of Missoula on a cold (-10 F) and snowy day.

Thanks for all the great performances in 2011 ladies. And, with the early season performances of Sarah Graves, Trisha Miller and Julie Gilchrist (Houston 1/2 Marathon) - we look to be off to another great season for 2012.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

2011 Master's Male Runner Of The Year

2012-01-15T20:39:00.003-07:00

So, now that the Buzzard has announced the Open Male ROY, it's time to move onto the Master's Male Runner Of The Year. And, for those of you who follow the Montana running scene, the number one choice shouldn't surprise you to much. After that, the choices got really tough. The masters fields keep getting stronger and stronger. But, that's a nice problem to have. Regardless, another strong year of master's running made for a solid group in the top 5 - and left some super tough guys in the wings. Without further ado......................

Number 1 - Scott Creel - Bozeman - 49. After a couple of years away from the racing scene (he kept running but also spent some more time with the family and in honing his climbing skills), Scott returned with a vengeance in 2011. While winning most of his master's races at age 49, Scott was also a force to be reckoned with in the open ranks. His performances for the year include:

Montana Men's Master's Mile - 4:41.91 - 3rd Place
Wulman CDT 14K - 57:32 - 5th Overall, 1st Masters - New Masters Course Record
Ridge Run - 3:17:19 - 1st Overall, 1st Masters. 10 for 10 in Ridge Run Wins. # 10 time ever (only other person to have a time in the top 10 is Mike Wolfe from the epic 2006 race)
Bozeman Classic 5K - 16:58 - 2nd Overall, 1st Masters
MT Cup 7.2K - 23:51 - 8th Overall, 1st Masters
Hugging For Stuffing 5K - 18:11 - 3rd Overall, 2nd Masters.

Not sure how you argue with those type of results. Road, track, trail, XC - Scott performed on them all. Races from 5:00 to 3 hours - didn't matter to Scott. He's the master's runner version of the Honey Badger. And, the way he ran, you would think that he just entered the master's ranks rather than being on the verge of entering the 50+ category. Pretty clear decision in the mind of the Buzzard to put Creel at the top of the old man pile.

Number 2 - Pat Judge - Helena - 41. Continuing the momentum of his 2010 campaign, Pat had a season that in most years would have qualified him for a Number 1 ranking. But, with Creel back on the scene, Pat has to settle for the runner-up spot (to complement his 2010 # 2 Ranking).

Montana Men's Master's Mile - 4:42.94 - 4th.
Don't Fence Me In 5K - 17:21 - 1st Overall
AOH 3-Mile - 15:18 - 2nd Overall, 1st Masters
Ice Breaker 5 Mile - 27:20 - 4th Overall, 1st Masters
Wulfman CDT 14K - 59:30 - 7th Overall, 2nd Masters
Montana Cup 7.2K - 24:17 - 2nd Masters
Governor's Cup 10K - 34:37 - 1st Overall
Vigilante Mile 5K - 16:59 - 2nd Overall, 1st Masters
Big Sky State Games 5K Track - 16:29 - 1st Overall, New Age Record
Veteran's Day 5Mile - 28:49 - 1st Overall (Has now won the race in 3 separate decades)

In addition to Pat's racing prowess, he is the driving force behind the juggernaut known as the Vigilante Track Club. One of the sports all around good guys, it's expected that he'll be a master's force yet again in 2012.

Number 3 - Mike Telling - Dillon - 42, Mike didn't have the greatest volume of racing in 2011; but, he certainly threw down some quality. And, his head to head races helped him to secure the number 3 slot (matching his 2011 ranking).

Don't Fence Me In 12K Trail - 51:58 - 4th Overall, 1st Masters
Wulfman CDT 14K Trail - 1:00:44 - 8th Overall, 3rd Masters
Ridge Run - 3:53:56 - 8th Overall, 2nd Masters
Riverbank Run 10K - 34:55 - 4th Overall, 2nd Masters
MT Cup 7.2K - 25:06 - 3rd Masters

Hopefully we'll see a strong healthy Mike for all of 2012 that will allow him to add some quantity to his quality. In any event, you can rest assured that when when he toes the line he'll be ready to race aggressively.

Number 4 - Steve Morley - Bigfork - 43. Steve's is probably a bit of an unexpected choice. He doesn't race much outside of the Flathead Valley. But, this year he expanded his reach a bit. Like the racers above him, he threw down some quality performances. And, when you look at his head to head performances - that's again what gave him the nod to rank in the top 5.

Roodell Run 5K - 16:28 - 1st Overall (winning over Pat Judge)
Whitefish Lake Run 5K - 16:37 - 1st Overall
Boogie To The Bank 3 Mile - 15:44 - 4th Overall, 1st Masters
Huffing For Stuffing 5K - 18:01 - 2nd Overall, 1st Masters (winning over Scott Creel)
MT Cup 7.2K - 25:17 - 5th Masters
River City Roots Run 4 Mile - 21:41 - 10th Overall, 1st Masters

With wins over Creel and Judge (ranked 1 and 2), Steve clearly has the chops to qualify for an even higher ranking. But, his Montana Cup performance kicked him back a couple of notches. Would love to see Steve continue to broaden his racing exposure in the coming year.

Number 5 - Don Demetriades - Bozeman - 51. This was probably the most difficult choice of the bunch. Jeff Braun of Butte had a great year with lots of quality performances at a wide variety of distances. And, at the shorter end of the spectrum, Peter Dan Sullivan of Helena was outstanding. In fact, both had the measure of Don at Montana Cup.

But, there were two factors swayed the ranking in Don's favor. First was his marathon in April. It represented the 5th decade in which Don has run under 2:50 - which appears to make him the only person in the US to have done so. And, he had some stellar performances at Ultra/Trail events.

Bighorn 50K - 4:19:19 - 2nd Overall/1st Masters
Thunderbolt 50K (Helena) - 4:48 - 1st Overall
Pocotello 50K - 6:44:38 - 6th Overall, 2nd Masters
Martian Marathon - 2:47:09 - 6th Overall/1st Masters
Huffing For Stuffing 10K - 42:31 - 9th Overall/2nd Masters
USATF 50 Mile Road Championships - 7:24:22 - 12th Overall, 5th Masters, 50-54 National Champion!!!
MT Cup - 27:58 - 16th Masters

Don's Marathon performance was pretty spectacular. At 51, he's still competing at a high level - and, his ultra/trail races show that he hasn't lost any of his endurance.

And yet, that still leaves a lot of deserving folks off the list. Guys like Ray Hunt, Peter Dan Sullivan, Brent Ruby, Jeff Braun, Kyle Strode, Rob Walker and Steve Bruner. The best part is that this means that we have a healthy, competitive group of masters runners in the Treasure State. And, we have some new guys coming in like Chris Colberg of Helena.

Performance Of The Year - As with the Open Men, we also have a top performance to consider. For 2012, that would be Scott Creel's 3:17:19 at the Ridge Run. Running the event for the first time in 3 years, this was the #10 performance ever on the course. Only Mike Wolfe has also run sub-3:20 on the course. The other 9 times all belong to Creel. All that at 49.

The #2 performance was Creel's crushing of the Wulfman's Master's Course Record with his 57:32 time (breaking Mike Telling's old record by almost 3 minutes).

#3 was Demetriades 2:47:09 Marathon at 51.

2011 Open Male Runner Of The Year

2012-01-14T21:11:00.012-07:00

I’ve already announced the individual Open Women’s Runner Of The Year (Sarah Graves); but, we’ll do the first full category with the Open Men’s Runner Of The Year.

As with the last two years, there were some hard choices to make. But, this year, there was a whole new twist – how to compare runners in “traditional” road distances mostly within the state boundaries versus trail/ultra specialists whose major competitions were outside of the Big Sky State. There has been some wringing of the wings and gnashing of the beak; but, for better or worse, the Buzzard has made his picks.

Number 1 – Repeating on his ranking of last year is Alan King of Billings (that gives him rankings of 3, 1, 1). He had another stellar year at a wide range of distances. Here are some of the highlights:

Shamrock Run 16:35 – 5K – 1^st Place
Ice Breaker 26:02 – 5-mile – 3^rd Place

                                           15:27 – 3-mile – 1^st Place
                                           4:23 – 1-mile – 1^st Place
                Purple 5K           14:57 (PR) – 5K – 1^st Place

Big Sky State Games

16:15 – 5K – 1^st Place (6:00 p.m. Friday)
1:14:49 – ½ Marathon – 1^st Place (7:00 a.m. Saturday)

Quality of Life Run 24:24 – 5-Mile – 1^st Place (net downhill)

Fargo 1:11:07 – ½ Marathon – 1^st Place

Chicago 2:37:48 – Marathon

MT Cup 2^nd Place (just a couple of weeks after Chicago Marathon)

He had a number of other fast runs at smaller races in the Billings area. But, Alan is clearly not afraid to race against big or small field at just about any distance. When he shows up at a race, it’s pretty clear that he’s going to be in the hunt for the win. He made some valiant attempts to qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials in the past year – and, just to show how well he’s running – 2:37 was not a good day. Alan’s high quality record, fast times, range of distances and total number of races gives him the nod to rise to the top of the list.

Number 2 – And here is where the dilemma comes in. Mike Wolfe of Helena (moving up from #4 in 2010) is without a doubt one of the nation’s top ultra/trail runners (if not numero uno). The Buzzard’s challenge was to try to figure out how Alan and Mike would compare head to head. It’s hard to argue against Mike’s record in ultra events – could almost have gone either way and/or called them “co-winners”. But, this isn’t youth soccer where everyone gets a prize to feel good; and, the Buzzard had to make a choice. So, in the end, his lack of racing against other Montanan’s hurts his ability to get to the top of this podium.

But, all the same, let’s revel in some of the great races that Mike put together.

              HURL Fat Ass 50K – 3:40 Course Record and 26:00 win
              Way To Cool 50K – CA – 3:28:01 – 1^st Place
              Western States 100 Mile – 15:38:29 – 2^nd Place (and only 5:00 behind the great Killian Jornet)
              North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile – 6:18:57 – 1^st Place
              Huffing For Stuffing 10K – 36:32 – 3^rd Place

Can Wolfe – a full time attorney – find the extra little bit necessary to take down Jornet and the other top Europeans? Even without racing against Montanan’s that would clearly push him to the top of the list.

Number 3 – Jimmy Grant of Missoula. The 2009 ROY and # 3 in 2010 continues to run fast. This year he added a few new events (Wulfman and MT Cup) to his calendar; and, his performances across the board helped keep him in the top 3 (rankings of 1,3,3).

             Snow Joke ½ Marathon – 1:14:56 – 1^st Place
             Run For The Luck Of It 5K – 15:39 – 1^st Place
             Riverbank Run 10K – 31:39 – 1^st Place
             Wulfman CDT 14K Trail – 55:05 – 2^nd Place
             Missoula Marathon – 2:36:32 – 2^nd Place
             MT Cup – 7.2K – 23:22 – 3^rd Place

Would love to see Jimmy finally hit the sweet spot in the marathon and get that elusive sub-2:30.

Number 4 – Goes to the two-time #2 ranker – Thomas “Big Bird” Jodoin of Helena. It looked like Big Bird’s season may have been over after his quick race at the AOH St. Patrick’s Run in Anaconda and an apparent hamstring injury. But, he recovered well and had a strong season. But, with the competition as it was this year, even the performance below couldn’t get him ranked any higher.

AOH St. Pat’s Day – 3-mile – 15:13 – 1^st Place

               Don’t Fence Me In 12K – 49:29 – 1^st Place
               Governor’s Cup 5K – 16:16 – 2^nd Place
               Wulfman CDT 14K Trail – 56:50 – 3^rd Place
               Montana Mile - 4:31.95 – 3^rd Place
               August Road Race – Helena – 3.8 miles – 19:35 – 1^st Place
               MT Cup – 7.2K – 24:57 – 19^th Place

If Big Bird can go injury free through 2012, he may be poised to finally claim the top spot.

Number 5 – Mike Foote (matching his # 5 in 2010) - Missoula. Another ultra/trail specialist, Footie fell into the same dilemma as Mike Wolfe. How to compare his longer, off-road events to the other top runners from Montana? Mike made a huge jump in his performances and reached the national level in his specialty.

UTMB (France) 166 K – 24:25:12 – 11^th overall and 1^st American

              North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile – 6:52:30 – 9^th Place
              Pocatello 50 Mile – 8:40:30 – 3^rd Place
              Antelope Island 50K – 4:03:09 – 4^th Place
              Don’t Fence Me In 30K – 2:19:56 – 4^th Place
              Huffing For Stuffing 10K – 36:28 – 2^nd Place
              MT Cup 7.2 K – 23:31 – 4^th Place

With his new affiliation with North Face, will Mike make another jump in performance and form Montana’s very own Mike & Mike show on the US Ultra/Trail scene?

As always, there was a whole bunch of deserving runners who couldn’t crack the Top 5. Guys like Jesse Zentz, Devin Cowan, Zach Strong, Lyle Weese, Andy Drobek, Michael Fisher, Hunter Nelson and Graydon Curry.

In 2011, we maybe didn’t see quite as much head to head racing as the last couple of years. Would love to see the top guys bang heads at some of the events like Wulfman, Ice Breaker, Riverbank, Roots Festival, Big Sky State Games and Governor’s Cup. That would give us some great, great ability to really, truly be able to best define the ROY. Unlikely that we'll be quite that fortunate; but, here's to hoping.

On top of the Runner Of The Year – The Muddy Buzzard wants to also make note of the Performance Of The Year. And, for the Open Men, that goes to Elliot Welder’s 2:26:25 at the Missoula Marathon. After having company (from Jimmy Grant) through a 1:12:52 Half, Welder then went on to a solo 2^nd Half in 1:13:33. I may be wrong; but, I believe that this was the first sub-2:30 since the Hatcher, Zezotarski, Wold, Rothermel days of the 1980’s. Spectacular run by Elliot.

That would definitely be followed by Mike Wolfe’s close 2^nd place finish at Western States and Mike Foote’s 11^th place at UTMB.

What a great year we had in 2011. Perhaps the Olympic spirit will rub off in 2012 and we’ll see even more Big Sky magic.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard.

Trials Time

2012-01-13T15:39:00.000-07:00

Tommorrow morning in Houston is the bid day for US Marathoners as they try to become the first members of the USA Track & Field's Olympic Teams. The race will take off at 7:00 a.m. Mountain Time for the men and 7:15 a.m. for the women. The race will take place on a multiple loop course - first loop of 2.2 miles around downtown Houston, then 3 8-mile loops around downtown and Allen parkway to the west of downtown.

Race day conditions look fantastic at this point. Prediction of mid-30's for the low in the morning, warming up to only the high 50's or low 60's in the afternoon - so, it should be clear and crisp for the entirety of the race. Very light winds from the south at 5 mph shouldn't be a factor.

So, the big question - who will make the team. Just so that you can say you saw it here first, here are the Muddy Buzzard's predictions:

Men's Team:

I'm feeling pretty good about the first two slots - after that, it gets a little more sketch. But, here goes.

First Place: Ryan Hall. He's clearly the man of the moment in US Marathoning. Since his big sub-1:00 1/2-Marathon in Houston several years ago and his run to the 2008 Oly Trials win, Hall has been the class of the field on the US scene. It's his race to lose - even on a bad day, when you have sub-2:05 speed, I'm just not sure he can be beat.

Second Place: Dathan Ritzenheim. A great talent with 60:00/2:10:00 PR's. He seems to be reasonably healthy and is probably the biggest potential threat to Hall. Again, a place on the team is his to lose.

Third Place: This is where I think it get's interesting. After the two big boys, it gets a lot more cloudy with no dominant person to fill this slot. But, I'm going to go with Brett Gotcher of the McMillan Elite squad. He debuted with a mid-2:10 PR. He flies under the radar a bit; but, he had some solid races earlier this year at the US 10-Mile and 20K; and, ran well in Decmber's Club Championship XC race. I think that he just may be ready to pop the big one.

Dark Horse: Mo Trafeh. A serious talent with some speed. But, he's never raced beyond the half marathon. And, not sure that the trials is the place to debut. Just don't think he has the patience or marathon tactics to pull it off. I predict a DNF (after being with the lead group through about 20 miles). But, if he pulls it off and Ritz or Hall stumble, he could very well be on the team.

Sentimental Favorite: Meb Keflezghi. 2004 silver medalist. First American to win NYC (2009) since Salazar. But, he's getting bit older at 36 and he just ran New York in November (albeit in a PR). As much as I would love to see it happen, I just don't think that Meb's older legs will be ready to bounce back with the type of effort that will be needed to make the team.

Winning Time: 2:08:28 (4:54 pace)

Time to Make the Team: 2:10:39 (4:59 pace)

Women's Team:

Again, I think the front end is pretty clearly defined, unless one of the front runner's stumbles. So, here goes.

Winner: Desiree Davilla. The Hanson-Brooks runner, Boston Marathon suprise second placer and 2009 Worlds top ten finisher has been on a roll of late. Besides her great marathoning, she was also a top ranked American at 5,000 and 10,000 meters (setting PR's in both races). I see a race between her and Flanagan for the win - with Desi cranking it over the last couple of miles to put a stamp on the race - kind of the Hanson's

Second Place: Shalane Flanagan. 2:28 PR and US Record Holder at 10K. Perhaps more of a talent than Desi, she could easily be the winner. But, I see her being a bit wiser and a bit more patient than Davilla (as would be expected by a Jerry Schumacher coached athlete) and not going to the well just to get a win. I think she'll comfortably make the team and save her dig-til-you-puke effort in running for a podium finish in London.

Thrid Place: Deena Kastor. Bronze Medalist in 2004. Trials Champ in 2008. Quite since then. But, she appears to be as fit as many of the girls out there and is "under-raced" over the last couple of years. So, I'm thinking that her experience, race smarts and guts will be enough to carry her on to one last Oly team.

Most Likely To Make The Team If One Of The Front Runner's Falls Apart: Kara Goucher. 2:24 PR. She had a good Boston after coming back from maternity leave. But, since then she hasn't really been the same. Not sure that she has the sharpness needed to make te team unless some breaks go her way.

Dark Horse: Amy Hastings. 2:27:03 PR. She trains with the Mammoth Lakes group and they know how to get ready for the big races. Meb and Deena will surely give her some pointers. She could be the suprise of the day.

My Personal Sentimental Favorite For A Top 10 Finsih: Caroline White. 2:37 PR. Caroline is the sister in law of my old pal Kelly Fulton (sister of Kelly's wife Liz). She is a US Air Force pilot who currently trains full time in their Armed Forces program. A super stud, she's training at levels far beyond what she has been able to sustain in the past. If she runs a smart race and PR's into the low 2:30's - anything is possible.

My Personal Senitmental Favorite For A PR: Sarah Graves. Our very own Montanan - born and bred. Lives in Ballantine - runs for Brooks and the Yellowstone Rim Runners. See my January 7th blog entry for some more about Sarah. She's represents all that's good about running - my hope is that we see her scoring another PR and having the race of her life.

Winning Time: 2:26:00 (5:34 pace)

Time To Make The Team: 2:28:55 (5:40+ pace and the Buzzard's PR)

Speaking of Kelly Fulton - he is in Houston to watch sister-in-law Caroline, 3 college teammates and competitors, and Sarah Graves. I expect to get some race day input from him and will post his observations this weekend.

Go Red White and Blue

The Muddy Buzzard

She's The Top Of The Heap

2012-01-07T14:23:00.003-07:00

While the Buzzard hasn't finished compiling his full list - he has made his choice as his Open Female Runner Of The Year.

Carrying on from her fine 2010 campaign, Sarah Graves of Ballantine (NE of Billings) had a breakout year in 2011. She was the Buzzard's Open Female Runner Of The Year for 2010; but, was ranked behind the Overall and Master ROY Nicole Hunt. Given her 2011 season, there was no such question of Sarah being the best of the best of the Montana Women.

Let's look first at her top performances from inside the borders of the Treasure State:

1st @ Wulfman CDT 14-K Trail (68:34) (# 3 Time on Course)
1st @ Women's Run 2-Mile (11:33)
1st Overall @ Beartooth Run 8.4 Mile (84:48) (2,000' elevation gain)
1st @ MT Marathon (Billings) 1/2-Marathon (79:05)
3rd @ MT Cup (only :33 out of 1st Place)

Great Picture of Sarah (in Yellow Brooks gear on right) as she finishes her 2-mile win at the Montana Women's Run.
To her left is US running legend Joan Benoit Samuelson winning the 5-mile race.

But, where Sarah really shined in 2011 was at the Marathon distance at 4 different races across the country. In a snapshot, here's what she accomplished over the 26.2 miles:

Houston Marathon - 1/30/11 - 2:47:21 - 16th Woman
Eugene Marathon- 4/30/11 - 2:46:20 - 6thWoman
Philadelphia Marathon - 11/19/11 - 2:46:24 - 6th Woman
California International Marathon - 12/4/11 - 2:44:25 - 16th Woman

All by themselves, those are some prety top level performances. She's running in some pretty elite company at that level. And, her 2:44:25 at CIM in December is really something, especially considering that it came just 2 weeks after her race in Philadelphia. But, what's the most impressive part about that Sacramento race - by running under 2:46:00, Sarah qualified for the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials - where she will be the only Montanan (male or female) to compete.

Collectively, that set of performances puts her at the top of the Buzzard's list for Montana women in 2011.

But, I would be remiss if I didn't talk a bit more about Sarah and her journey to the Trials. With one week to go before the big race, I visited with Sarah by phone to get a little more insight into her efforts over the last 5 years to run on the hallowed ground of American Marathoning.

The race is scheduled to be held next Saturday (January 14th) on a multiple loop cource in and around downtown Houston. The runner's will do a first loop of 2.2 miles around downtwon, followed by three 8-mile loops along the Allen Parkway. The men start first (7:00 a.m. Mountain Time) with the women to follow 15 minutes later. Same day TV coverage will be on NBC from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Mountain Time. (Not sure if there will be any live on-line video coverage; but, Runner's World & Running Times will be doing live web coverage.)

Sarah first started trying to qualify for the 2008 Trials. She missed the 2008 standard by just 61 seconds at the 2007 St. George Marathon; and, had a couple of other efforts in the 2:52 range. Starting in 2009, she began her quest to meet the 2012 Qualifying Standard of 2:46:00. Her first attempt was at the 2009 Twin Cities Marathon, where she ran 2:47+, just missing again. She then made several attempts in 2010 running between 2:48 and 2:52.

Then she really went after the mark in 2011, coming Oh-So-Close on 3 occasions. She missed the time by 1:21 in Houston, :20 at Eugene and :24 at Philly. But, she just didn't want to close out the year thinking "Why didn't I give it one more try." So, with just two weeks of recovery, she packed her bags and headed off to Sacramento for the December 4th California International Marathon.

After Philly, she spent a couple of days walking around the City of Brotherly Love to give her legs some post race rest. Then, she did some easy running, with just one 10-mile run before Sacramento. She was relying on her solid base fitness to get her through the last chance effort.

At Sacramento, their were around 50 women all with the same thought in mind - hit the Q-Time. With that in mind, race organizers set up a pacing effot to get the group through halfway in 1:22 (for a finishing goal of 2:44:00). A group of about 30 hit the mark just right - 1:22:11. The group stuck together pretty well through about 35 Kilometers; the, it was everyone for themselves.

Sarah held on just right, coming through the second half in 1:22:14 (perfect, even splits) to hit her 2:44:25. The big group helped tow her along to the great finish time, with 14 women running between 2:43:48 and 2:44:51. In total, 29 women qualified to make the trip to Houston. Sarah clearly made the right choice in making one more attempt to qualify - and, she clearly picked the right race.

Via the California International Marathon site (www.runcim.org), you track down some cool photos of Sarah in the race and at the finish line. Try this link and it may take you right to the search pictures section of the official race photographer - http://www.sportphoto.com/Event.aspx?EventID=222

Since Sacramento, Sarah took several easy days. Then got back into the training groove with several 18 - 20 mile long runs, togeter with several tempo efforts. She says that her legs are feeling good and she thinks that she's pretty well recovered from her Philly and CIM efforts. (And, she clearly has the ability to sustain several hard efforts in short windows of time.)

She head to Houston this coming Thursday; and, would love to score a new PR - although she was coy about divulging any specific race or performance goals.

So, from The Muddy Buzzard and all of Big Sky Country - good luck. Run Hard, Run Fast, Run Happy. We wish you the best of luck as you line up with the best women in the US at our Olympic Marathon Trials.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

The Sum Of The Parts

2011-12-31T17:04:00.000-07:00

Did my yearly summation of my running log.

Miles for the year - 1,611 (2nd lowest in my 30+ years of keeping a log)

Days of 0 miles - 57 (not suprisingly - the 2nd high total in the 30+ years)

Cumulative miles in career as of 12/31/11 - 79,679

Number of races = 5

Number of long runs (> or = to 12 miles) = 7 (not sure; but, probably lowest of last 30+ years)

Minutes (Hours) of Alternative Exercise (due to foot stress fracture) = 760 minutes (12.67 hours)

Not really the numbers I had hoped for htis year.

But, the 2011 log numbers are now behind me. Time to be optimistic about 2012 and look for better things starting tomorrow.

The Muddy Buzzard

Making The Best Of A Bad Situation

2011-12-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

So - two weeks down in the boot - at least 2 more to go. Then, probably another 4 to 6 before I'm back to running.

As soon as I found out that I would be booted up, I took a day to wallow in self pity. What the hell. I've only had a few injuries that have required significant amounts of non-running time - far less than most runners who have been doing this as long I have. So, I figured I was due at least a 24-hour period of laying around saying why or why did this have to happen to me.

But, I pretty quickly decided that it was then time to move forward. And, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to find a way to achieve some general fitness goals. For the last couple of years, I've notice some general lack in overall muscle strength and power, stride length and overall flexibility.

So, while I can't be running, I've added a whole host of exercises to my daily routine. I'm getting in about an hour a day of workout in.

I've been starting with a series of dynamic flexibility drills.

Then, I move onto a routine (which varies pretty much every day) that involves some combination of core work, leg strength work, hip strength and flexibility and some light upper body work.

I then go directly onto the recumbent bike (my boot fits into the pedal straps) for 30 minutes or more of work. This usually involves 5 to 10 minutes of warm-up at low resistance. Then I'll do 20 to 25 minutes of some form of interval work. I try to up the resistance during the hard sections (while always maintaining 90 rpm's) and trying to get my hard rate up into the mid 120's or low 130's (at a minimum).

Then, I finish up with some static stretching.

On top of that, I've been having 2 or 3 days a week where I have to put in 30 minutes of snow shoveling (per day). And, I've had several days in the last 2 weeks where I've spent 60 to 90 minutes of splitting wood (which is now behind me since I have all the wood split).

It turns out that I've been able to get in quite a bit of work in spite of the added bulk of the boot.

So, I'm hopeful that coming out the other side of this thing I'll have improved my overall weight to strength ratio; improved my overall flexibility; improved my knee stability through increased leg strenght; and, maintained some basic level of cardiovascular fitness.

Only time will tell; but, I'm feeling good that this time off running - and forced use of alternate training methods/opportunities - will set me up for a fitter, stronger Muddy Buzzard for 2012.

Until then, see you in the gym, on the machines and the mats

The Muddy Buzzard

Something Missing

2011-12-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

So, something seems to be missing from my Christmas day today. What oh what could it be?

How about an Xmas day run - for the first time in many, many years I won't be heading out on the roads this holiday morning. In fact, I can't really remember a Christmas over the last 30 years or so that I haven't gotten out for my miles.

But, that's what a metatarsal stress fracture will do to you. Not much running to be done in das boot.

Don't worry though - I'll find a break between now and dinner to get in 30 minutes or so on the stationary bike at the gym. Especially with it being Sunday, need to worship the mileage gods (hopefully the stationary bike will placat them) and attend services in the Church Of The Blue Dome (with the windows in the gym, I can see the Blue Dome - so, we'll have to call that good!!).

See you (eventually) on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T11:26:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas to one and all from the The Muddy Buzzard.

We're having a white christmas here in the northwest.

Wonderful morning with Erin, Zoe and Erin's mom (Peg). Skyped with Nick and Katie.

The 4 cats and the dog are all in the house. The music is playing. The gift wrap is on the floor.

All is well.

The Muddy Buzzard

The Limping Buzzard

2011-12-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

Saw the doctor yesterday. And, the news was not so good. Took a x-ray of my right foot; and, as I feared, there was a stress fracture of the bone at the base of the 5th metatarsal.

Fortunately, it was a complete fracture, and there was no displacement of movement of the bone. And, since I haven't run in two weeks or so, you could already see evidence of healing.

But, am now in a walking boot for the next 4 weeks. And, the visiting orthopod suggests between 2 and 3 months before running again. Turns out, due to the location of the fracture, it's susceptible to re-fracturing if too much stress is put on it too soon. So, looks like my winter is shot.

Now, need to find some way to try to stay fit while I heal. Am going to try elliptical and stational bike to see if I can do them in the boot. Sure hope so. And, expect to be able to do many of my normal core and stenghtning exercises.

Here's my fashionalble new non-running footwear:

The Buzzard's Waling Boot

BTW - that's a Wulfman sock poking out to say hi!

So, even though it may be a while..................see you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

The Limping Buzzard

2011-12-11T15:15:00.000-07:00

Hasn't been the best month for the Buzzard.

Early in the month - saw the cardiologist for a 6-month follow up visit. Haven't seen any improvement in cardiac function. And, they are once again talking about a defibrillator. I'm working to get a 2nd opinion before making any decisions - but, it really wasn't the news that I was wanting to hear.

On the upside, the doc's didn't put any restrictions on my exercise or workout routines.

But, my own body is doing that to me. By the end of XC season, was having some problems with pain on the outside of my rigth foot. Was more or less holding it together through the end of the season - but, went on a trail run with Julie Gilchrist, Mike Foote and Anders Brooker the morning of the NXN regional meet in Boise and that seemed to put it over the edge. In the last couple of weeks, it's gotten to the point of not allowing me to run. So, have an appointment with the doc on Tuesday to see if there is any type of stress fracture. Here's to hoping for the best.

And, here's to hoping that the holidy season and the first of the year see the Buzzard healthy and ready to be back out on the roads, tracks and trail.

The Muddy Buzzard

Montanan's Lite Up XC, Road & Ultras

2011-12-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

Been a big last week for Montanan's on the running front.

On December 3rd, Mike Wolfe of Helena won the North Face Endurance Challenge 50-Mile Championhsip in San Francisco. Wolfe took down some of the big names in the ultra world, including Dakota Jones and Geoff Roes. Also representing MT was Mike Foote of Helena - who scored a big 9th place overall finish. Results are here: http://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.php?lang=eng&racecode=101612

On the 4th, Sarah Graves of Ballantine (outside of Billings), successfully fulfilled her 4+ year quest to qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials. Having made multiple attempts at the "B" standard of 2:46:00 - she had come close on several occasions - running a couple of races in the low 2:47 range (and, one in the high 2:46's I believe). On Sunday, she ran a spectacular 2:44:25 with even splits of 1:22:11 & 1:22:14. Congratulations to Sarah. Good luck in Houston. Reults here: http://www.flashresults.com/2012_Meets/CIM/searchind/Results.htm

This past weekend was the USATF Club Championship Cross Country meet in Seattle. Multiple Montanan's were present. In the master's women's side, Jenny Newton, Mary Thane and Jennifer Burke competed as a team for Mountain West TC and brought home a 3rd place team tropy.

Lois Ricardi Keller was part of the 3rd place Club Northwest team in the women's open division.

On the men's side, former Montann's Brent Winegar and Kevin Murphy also competed for the Club Northwest teams.

Also, this past weekend, Makena Morley of Bigfork placed 9th in the Footlocker Cross Country Championships in San Diego. She was the highest placing fresman in the meet.

All in all, a pretty impressive last week for Montanan's. The Big Sky studs shows that they belong on the national stage.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Costa Rica Baby

2011-12-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

The Buzzard took a nice little break to Costa Rica over the last week. It was a big trip for the family. In attendance were me and my wife, my brother and his family; and, my older sister and her family (including her 3 boys, 2 daughters in law, and 3 grand kids). There were 17 total of us and it was largely a celebration of my parent's 60th wedding anniversary this summer. It may be the last big trip we get to take with our parents; and, we enjoyed it thoroughly.

The week was dominated by lots of reading, relaxing and good eats. But, we still had time to fit in a bit of fun. Zip-Lining though the jungle canopy, snorkling at Isla Tortuga, swimming in the ocean, exploring the beach, and shopping in Montezuma.

Here was our beach outside of our rented house:

And, here is the beach area where I did my core work, strenght exercises and stretching every day. Not a bad workout room!!!!

But, now the Buzzard is back to reality - sub-freezing temps, freezing fog and the dreaded four letter word - WORK :-(

It was a great break though and the first extended time off in a couple of years. It was well worth the time with my family and the trip will be remembered for some time.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard

Tottin' In The Magic City

2011-11-27T07:34:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Kelly Fulton in his debut as a race director. Getting tired of seeing folks from Billings having to travel all the way to Bozeman to get in a Thanksgiving Day race (Huffin For Stuffin) - he decided to do somethng about it. And so, about 10 months ago, the idea of the Run! Turkey Run! was born.

Talk about a resounding success - over 1,500 registered finishers (with a couple hundred more that didn't get registered due to overwhelming race morning demand). Great local press (see Billings Gazette story at http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/inaugural-run-turkey-run-event-attracts-s-raises-thousands/article_97577728-6fff-5894-b2b1-ace68dbc324e.html ), good competition, fun social aspect, great fund raising cause (all proceeds went to the Billings Food Bank). And, the Buzzard's favorite - post race adult beverages courtesy of local breweries.

It's pretty much everything that Billings area runners could hope for to kick off their day of feating and football.

Up front, the race was fast and fairly competitive. Matt Adams (MSU alum) took the win in a speedy 15:11. Clearly, he's kept up the training since his Bobcat days. Second place wen to local stud Alan King in 16:22 with third place going to Zach Hunter in 16:52. 1st Master was Ian Blair of Billings with a nice sub-18 clocking (17:54).

The women't win went to Nicole Lair in 19:23.

Great job Kelly. And kudos to the Billing community for getting behind the event.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Gone Too Long

2011-11-26T08:49:00.001-07:00

Funny how life sometimes gets in the way of things you enjoy. That's been the case for the last couple of months with my ability to post.

Coaching XC at Plains HS takes a fair bit of my free time. And my professional life has been busier this year than at any other time since we moved to NW Montana. And, there's always plenty of things to be done around the house and property. All of those are good things - it's just that they don't leave me much free time.

That's meant that something's gotta give. And, unfortunately - that's meant that the buzzard hasn't pecked at the keyboard keys in a while. And, I'm not too thrilled about that. I like putting my thoughts down on (digital) paper and enjoy trying to keep up with the MT running and racing scene. I'm going to try to do better - more for my sake than anything. Writing in this blog is a stress reliever and "fun" thing for me to do. And, hey - we all need a bit more fun and pleasure in our lives.

Which then segue's me into thinking about a whole lot of fun that I had this fall. It started on the 3rd week of October at the MT High School XC Championships. One of the advantages of being a coach is being right in the thick of the day's activities. I had a great time with "my kids" from Plains High School. The individual highlight was the 3rd place finish in the Class B division by Carter Montgomery. But, just as much fun was hanging out with the kids at our post race dinner at Famous Daves. Being with these kids helps to keep my young and can be just plain fun. With the group of kids that I've had the last 3 years, it's been way more laughs than tears - which is a good thing.

The next weekend was a road trip to Great Falls for Montana Cup. Racing at the Cup is always a highlight for the year (even on years like this where my racing was the equivalent of a big steaming pile of dog poo). But, more than the racing is the ability to see a wide swath of friends from all around the state. One of the great things that this sport has blessed me wih is friends and acquaitenances from all corners of the state. And, Montana Cup is the place where I get to see many of them all in one place.

After a "free" weekend - it was back on the road with another bunch of high school kids (comprised of Carter Montgomery of Plains and the Missoula Hellgate varsity boys and girls teams) to go to the Nike Cross Regional Meet in Boise. 4 cars of parents and friends drove down 14 boys and girls (7.5 hours each way) to compete against runners from all over the NW. [It was 8.5 hours down for our car as we missed the turn to a bit of a short cut and took the long scenic route :-) ] On race morning had a great sunrise run with Julie Gilcrhist, Aders Brooker and Mike Foote in the Boise Foothills. Great trails as the sun rose over Boise on a crisp, calm morning - pretty great way to start your day. In my car it was me and 6 high school boys - and, let me tell you - that much crazed testosterone in one car for hours on end makes for some interesting discussion and body noises!!!

Then, a couple more weeks, and here we are at Thanksgiving. Early in the week my brother-in-law and nephew came to town to hunt; and, I got to spend a few hours in the mountains. Then, my Zoe came home for 5 days. It's nice to have her home from College for a few days. We had a nice Thanksgiving morning hunt in the mountains close to home. Then, dinner at the home of my wife's uncles. Most of her side of the family was around and it was a pleasant afternoon.

So, life for the last month has been awfully full for the Buzzard. Full in many ways - activity, work, friends, family, memories and more.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Big Kid Kamping

2011-08-09T13:22:00.000-06:00

For the 3rd time since 2005, a group of Montana distance runners got together for a weekend of running, story telling, imbibing, and hiking. Following on the heels of Camp Waterloo (2005) and Camp Vermillion (2008) the Helena crew (led by Pat Judge and Jeff Thomas) hosted Camp Vigilante.

Starting Friday night, we met at the end of York Road east of Helena in the Big Belt Mountains; and, took over 3 camp sites in Vigilante Campground. Present for the full weekend were Pat Judge, Jeff Thomas, Lila Thomas (solidly representing the female side), Alan King, Evan Eck, Thomas Jodoin, Ray Hunt and Josh Panasuk (representing the kiddie crew). For day campers, we had Chris Colberg (Saturday and Sunday morning runs) and Jesse Zentz (Sunday morning run). On Friday night we were even blessed with a visit by Peter Dan Sullivan. [However, his visit was made less stellar due to the fact that he arrived sans any home brew :-( ]

Friday started with a nice 6-mile run up the Trout Creek Trail (which takes off right from the campground). Pat, Thomas and Josh got out ahead of the rest of the crew (with Ray tagging along on his mountain bike). Tony, Jeff and Evan got up a bit later in the afternoon. We then waited for Alan, who was about an hour behind the rest of the crew.......................Funny Story: Alan calls me up en route to Helena. We meet up in Townsend and we're going to follow each other up to the camp (since neither of us had been there before, we figured that there was safety in numbers!). As we meet in Townsend, he realizes that he left all of his clothes at home. Running clothes, underwear, shoes, socks. All he has is what he's wearing in the car. So - he had to make a side trip into Helena to visit Target and Famous Footwear. [Sorry to throw you under the bus Al; but, figured Dave Coppock would be happy to hear of another Billings runner that had a challenging road trip.]

Then, it was on to some dinner, a few brews and swapping of stories. Oh yeah - and the seeting of the Big Honkin' Tent. Jeff Thomas once again brought out his old World War II surplus, canvas, wall tent. It's a monster. But, it's great to have when you want a bit of protection from the sun or rain.

Saturday morning is when the real fun started. Things didn't start too early; but, by 9:00 a.m. Ray had divided up the runners into four two-man teams for an interval relay workout. The campgound had a nice 550 meter +- loop around the perimeter. The first 200 meters were dowhnill t flat, then 200 or so of moderate uphill, with a nice final 150 or so of downhill. But, given the relay and format and the competitive nature of the group assembled there was only one possible outcome of the workout - as quoted by Clubber Lang in Rocky III..................................................PAIN.

So, here were the teams. Team Teeny Bopper = Evan Eck and Josh Panasuk. Team Vigilante = Chris Colberg and Pat Judge. Team Trail Kings = Alan King and Jeff Thomas. Team Birdmen = Thomas Joidon and Tony Banovich. Pretty quickly the relays turned into two "races" in one. The Teeny Boppers and the Viginlantes were in a tight battle right from the start. They were quite evenly matched and ran neck to neck all the way. In the end, the experience of Colberg and Judge won out on the final leg of their cat and mouse game. The other two teams were more of a tortoise and hare sort of affair. Big Bird Joidon went out hard against Jeff The Mountain Goat Thomas and built a bit of a lead. Then, Tony The Muddy Buzzard Banovich tried unsuccessfully to hold off Alan The King. And, that's how it went for the 6 laps of the relay. In then end, Alan blew by Tony in the last 200 of the last leg and easily secured the 3rd place finish.

After a bit of a cool-down, the runners were treated to a breakfast of Omelette's In A Bag by Lila Thomas.

Mixin' Up Some Bags O'Omelettes

Next up was some Montana Cup business. With 4 of the 7 Regions/Cities represented (Butte, Helena, Billings and Kalispell), we had a quorum. So, we took the opportunity to review the status of the event, talk about the 2011 event (to be held in Great Falls) and visit about any tweaks that could make the race even better.

After being fed and getting rehydrated, the crew headed off for the next adventure - a 12-mile hike (round trip) to Hanging Valley. It was pretty hot out; and, some of the crew had dogs that weren't handling the heat too well. So, the puppy mill headed back after getting in about two miles. Meanwhile, Pat, Tony, Alan and Josh did some hard hiking with the goal of getting back in time for 6:30 p.m. dinner. It was some tough hiking; but, in the end it was all worth it. The last quarter of a mile was through a narrow canyon bordered by towering cliffs of the Madison Limestone Formation. And, then - the trail abruptly ends at a fenced area that keeps you from stepping off a several hundred foot cliff. The view (which just happened to look down into the end of the Trout Creek trail taht we ran on Friday night) was spectacular.

The View down into the Trout Creek drainage from the end of the the Hanging Valley trail

Alan King, Josh Panasuk, The Muddy Buzzard and Pat Judge at Hanging Valley

Running a bit short on time, we really had to hump it back to camp. On some tired legs, we ended up jogging in the last 2 miles to try to make it in time for dinner. Which, was not to be missed. Nikki and Eric Eck - Evan's parent's - volunteered to drive up from Helena and bring us a fantastic dinner of Chicken Parmesan, Twice Baked Potato's and Fresh Fruit Salad. Add a Sam Adam's Boston Lager and it was the ideal refueling meal at the end of a long day.

Then, it was on to some videos. Ray had a bit of footage from Wulfman. Pat had a nice vid from the 2008 Cup. Then we got to see a great 5,000 with Pre, Shorter and George Young from the 1971 AAU Meet, the 1971 Dream Mile at the Penn Relays with Marty Liquori and Jim Ryun, and a quirky video about ultra runner Anthony Krupickza (sorry if I hammered the spelling of his name there). By then, the beers made us all a bit sleepy - puls we heard the trail calling for Sunday's run on the Refigerator Canyon trail and into the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness.

It was a 30-minute drive from camp to trailhead - where we met up with Jesse Zentz (Billings Native, UM Alum, current sports writer at the Helena Independent record). Off we went at 10:30, already about 80 degrees out, heading up Refrigerator Canyon and into the Gates of The Mountains Wilderness. The trail featured plenty of climb going out - which meant cranking down the pace when coming back in. It was a bit hot out; but, it was a great final run for camp.

Slot through the rocks on the lower part of Refigerator Canyon

How many people ever get to see wilderness areas?

And we got to run several miles into it!!!!

But, camp wasn't quite done yet. We had to do some refueling - and York Burgers and drafts of Cold Smoke Scotch Ale were the perfect recipe. Then - the super secret manly challenge. So secret that Pat Judge wouldn't share the details; and, turns out he ended up being the only one with the necessary tools for jumpinf off the York Bridge and into the Missouri River. So, even without towels and water shoes, 5 of the campers were up to the challenge. Pat, Tony, Thomas, Alan and Evan all made the stupendous "Leap of Death".

Big Bird (left) and The Muddy Buzzard (right) take flight off the York Bridge

And the, it was time to break down camp and head back home and the real world. But, what a great way to spend a weekend. Hanging out with some pals, runs on great trails, stories and laughter. What more could you want.

My recommendation is that when you get the chance for this type of camp/gathering/fellowship/ect. - take advantage of it. These types of opportunities make for great memories and great friendships. Good times indeed.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Life Is Good

2011-07-03T19:33:00.000-06:00

Had a chance to visit with Peter Dan Sullivan last night. One of the topics was the age old questions - how are things going. The primary focus of our discusison was with regards to my cardiac issues and it's affect on my running. But, we also got to talking about life in general. And, after thinking some more about our converation - I'd have to say that things are going all right.

Here's been my first half of the year:

In March, my son got married to a fantastic young girl.

In mid May, he graduated with a B.S. in Antropology and was accepted into the Doctoral studies program in Human Genetics at the University of Chicago.

In late May, our daughter graduated as co-Salutatorian of Plains High School and will attend Montana State University to study biosciences.

This spring, I coached the Plains H.S. track team - which included a double state champion, and 3 other athletes who brought home all-state honors.

I was cleared to return to full training. And, while my physiological issues aren't completely resolved, I have begun the long slow process of getting back to racing fitness after 9 months of limited training.

On this past Thursday, I was part of a suprise party to celebrate my parent's 60th wedding anniversary.

On Saturday night, I was able to celebrate the wedding of my good friend (we've known each other 33 years this fall) Jeff Thomas to a wonderful woman.

In a few weeks I'll celebrate my 26th anniversary to the love of my life - Erin.

And, at the end of the month, I'll spend a long weekend with some of my favorite running pals at a semi-regular group get together.

Through it all, I have a job that I enjoy at a company that does great work with great people.

So, yeah - I'd say that things are pretty good.

And, while the next half of the year approaches and life carries on......................I'll see you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard

The Wulf Was Howlin' Today

2011-06-18T19:53:00.001-06:00

WOW!!!! That pretty much sums up the results from the 4^th Annual Wulfman’s CDT-14K Trail Race. The race takes place on the Continental Divide Trail between Homestake and Pipestone Passes east of Butte, Montana. Named in honor of John “The Wulfman” Wulf, the Godfather of Butte’s Piss & Moan Runners, the race is held each year on the Saturday closest to the summer solstice, the anniversary of The Wulfman’s final group run.

Run in opposite directions every other year, this year saw the race in the northbound direction between Pipestone and Homestake. Although not considered a technical trail, the course makes up for it with a combination of climbs and altitude. With a starting elevation of 1935 meters, the course rises almost 400 meters in a steady climb over the first 5.5 kilometers. That leads to a series of ups and downs over the last 8.5 kilometers; but, with a net downhill to the finish at 1905 meters.

However, being a single track trail all the way – the race start has to be adjusted to accommodate the 214-person field. Based on predicted times and consideration by the race director (Ray Hunt), the runners are seeded to go out on the course in 10-second intervals. With the faster runner’s going out first, this allows all of the runner’s great access to the trail with very little needs for passing or other potential conflicts.

The 2009 running of this route was held in a cold, steady rain that made for some miserable racing conditions. Not so this year. Although a bit breezy in places – race day was cool and dry. And, in spite of the massive amounts of snow through the winter and the rain this spring – the course was mostly dry and fast. Just a couple of notoriously swampy spots held any mud. And, none of those were bad enough to have a negative impact on the race.

The result – a spate of fast times with a rash of course records. As with the race preview, we’ll start with the women’s event. The race at the front of the pack fell together much like predicted. Sarah Graves of Ballantine started the race 40 seconds ahead of co-favorite Michele Bazzanella of Butte. Bazz got several glimpses of Sarah on some of the switchbacks on the course. And, she gradually closed the gap ever so slightly throughout the race. But, in the end, Sarah prevailed by a mere 23 seconds – 68:30 to 68:53.

It was a great race between the two. Michele came into the race as defending champion; and, has proven herself over the last couple of years as a trail racing specialist. Sarah made a great transition from the roads. Having run 2:46:20 (and missing the Olympic Trials Marathon qualifying standard by a mere 20 seconds) at this year’s Eugene Marathon – she clearly has some wheels. In the end, Sarah’s speed was just too much for Michelle’s trail acumen.

Making a big jump in performance was Beth Schumate of Clancy. Moving up two spots from her 2010 5^th place, Beth was just 37 seconds back of Bazz by the finish – after starting 90 seconds back. That’s some big movement over the 14 Kilometers to get to the finish at 69:30.

The top 5 was rounded out by a couple of teenagers (but not strangers to the event). Olivia Wood (16) of Anaconda moved up 3 spots with her 70:16; and, 18-year old Bekah Kirtley of Fromberg broke the 71 minute barrier with her 70:57.

The top 3 men finished in exactly the order in which they started. Lynn Reynolds of Dillon and the U of M track and XC teams was out first. But, Jimmy Grant of Missoula made a hard charge in the first 5 kilometers and was nipping at Lynn’s heels at the top of the switchbacks. But, at that point, Lynn turned on the jets and blasted away from Jimmy for the win in 54:28. Jimmy held on for a close second, just 35 seconds back in 55:03. (Grant’s time of 55:03 bodes well for his projected attempt at a sub-2:30 marathon in 3 weeks at the Missoula Marathon.)

Both runners were under the old course record of 56:29 – set by Thomas “Big Bird” Jodoin in 2009 – and they were the first two runners to complete the course in under 56:00 (sub-4:00 per km). The CR and the sub-56 prime normally would have earned Lynn a $150 cash prize bonus. But, due to his collegiate eligibility and NCAA criteria, Lynn had to turn away the cash and settle for a round of applause and a hearty pat on the back.

Speaking of Big Bird, Thomas hung on for third in a fine time of 56:47 – just 18 seconds outside of his CR from 2 years ago. He seemed to race well; but, Lynn and Jimmy were just too quick this day. In 4^th was Big Bird’s Vigilante Track Club Teammate Hunter Nelson of Helena at 57:15. And, rounding out the top 5 was 48-year old Scott Creel of Bozeman in 57:29 (more on Scott below).

All in all, 7 guys ran under 1:00; and, it took a sub-62:30 to crack the top 10. A big, big jump in the level of racing at this great event.

The master’s races were based on two criteria. There were the traditional age-group results. But, the primary awards were based on age-graded criteria. In this format, your time is adjusted based on your age – trying to equalize your time against those of the younger, under-40 crowd.

For the women’s master’s – the age group ace was Nicole Hunt. Her 77:45 was a solid run (good enough for 9^th overall amongst the women). What really makes it special is the fact that she is in the 2^nd trimester of pregnancy – with twins no less!?!?!!? Holy $&!# It just proves – a stud is a stud is a stud. Rounding out the top 5 in the 40+ division was Elizabeth Chura of Gallatin Gateway in 82:53, Wendy Ferris Schoonen of Butte (who turned 40 on race day) in 86:04.5, Marnie Johnson of Belgrade in 86:04.6; and, Christine Evans of Bozeman in 86:37.

But, the age-graded awards were “owned” by ageless Debbie Magilke of Billings. A fixture on the Montana running and racing scene for over 35 years, Debbie was the 8^th overall master in 88:41. But, apply her age adjustment and she hit 65:58 – smashing the old age-graded record of 68:57 – and garnering her $75 in the process.

Following Debbie in the age-graded results were Sherry Vogel of Butte at 67:17, Elizabeth Chura of Gallatin Gateway in 69:47, Momma Hunt in 74:33; and, Marnie Johnson in 75:17.

The big fireworks for the master’s was definitely on the men’s side. 4 of the top 10 overall were of the over 40 ilk. The top of the over 40 crowd was led by Scott Creel of Bozeman with an incredible 57:29. Scott has been quiet on the racing scene the last couple of years. But, with his impressive wins and course record at the Bridger Ridge Run, he established himself as one of the best trail runners in the state. And, his February race at the Montana Men’s Master’s Mile showed he was back in the groove.

2^nd behind Scott was Pat Judge of Helena, himself pulling in a sub one hour run with his 59:28 and 7^th overall. Mike Telling (Dillon) was 8^th overall and 3^rd Master with his 60:41. Butte’s Jeff Braun was 4^th master in 62:29 – also breaking into the top 10 overall. Rounding out the top 5 over 40 was Paul Koch of Colorado Springs (and an old friend of Judge’s) with his 65:37.

But, it was the age graded results where Scott really blew things out of the water. The old age graded record was 56:13 by Kirk Keller. And, on the southbound course last year, Ray Hunt ran what was considered a stratospheric 53:48 age-graded. Scott reached into a whole new level of the atmosphere………………………at 48 (to be 49 in just a few day) Scott’s time adjust to and incredible 51:21. This resulted in prize money of $75 for the age graded record and another $75 for the 56:00 age graded prime.

The top 5 age graded looked a lot like the overall 40+ results. Judge (41) at 56:08, Braun (47) at 56:16 and Telling (42) in 56:51. Kirk Keller (at 52, the old northbound age graded record holder) cracked the adjusted top 5 with his 57:32. In all 8 guys found their way under 1 hour with age adjusted times. Pretty nifty running for some old guys.

The race clearly hit some new levels of competition and popularity. With several new records being set, the performances at all levels took on a whole new dimension. And, the 240 available slots were filled by April 30^th – over a month earlier than 2010. With great organization, a great trail, fantastic awards and a top-notch post race picnic – it’s no wonder that this is becoming a “must do” event on the Montana racing circuit.

The Wulfman would have been pleased to see all his people having such a great time out along the backbone of the continent.

A full complement of race results (cumulative, male, female, age group, age graded, etc.) can be found at http://www.buttespissandmoanrunners.com/Butte%20Races/CDT-14K/results.htm. A good selection of race comments (and photos coming soon??) can be found on the Wulfman’s CDT 14K Trail Race Facebook page. Make sure to check them out.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Getting Ready To Worship The Wulf

2011-06-08T19:38:00.003-06:00

Wulfman’s CDT-14K

2011 Race Preview

So, who’s going to rule the divide this year? Can Big Bird regain the overall title again this year and defend his odd-year crown? Will some new faces to the event master the route from Pipestone to Homestake? Will Bazz’s trail acumen and altitude training overcome the road speed of Sarah the flatlander? Can the old men make up ½ of the top ten finishers?

In an event that has become known for hot and exciting racing in its short, 4-year history – 2011 looks to continue the trend. Both the men’s and women’s races have some intriguing story lines. So, without further adieu, let’s get to the preview.

Starting with the women – we look to have a real contrast in styles in the potential front runners. The favorite role would have to go to Michelle Bazzanella (Bazz), with long-time connections to Helena & Butte. She’s the 2010 champ (Homestake to Pipestone route) and has finished no lower than 3^rd place in any of the first 3 editions of the race. As the Muddy Buzzard’s #4 open women’s runner of the year, she’s a classic trail runner whose stride is perfect for the course ups and downs; and, she should have no problem with the altitude (varying between 6,360’ and 7,700’). She’s already proven her trail mettle in 2011 with a solid 2^nd place female finish at the Don’t Fence Me In 12K in Helena.

In contrast to Bazz the mudder, you have Sarah Graves the roadie (and the Buzzard’s #2 open women’s runner of the year for 2010). With a pedigree that includes a 2:47 marathon PR and participation in the elite field of the Boston Marathon, Sarah has put out some top level performances at all distances from the mile to the marathon. While she mostly sticks to the roads, her win at the 2010 Montana Cup shows that she can also hammer on the trails. But, can she overcome the altitude and Bazz’s familiarity with the course? And, will these two push each other to a new course record (1:04:10 set by Nicole Hunt in 2009) (which could mean a $150 pay day for hitting the sub-65:00 premium time and the CR)?

As exciting as the competition between these two could be – let’s not forget about some of the other runners. Including Bazz, this year’s race includes 5 of the top-10 finishers from 2010. Maurie McLaughlin of Butte finished 3^rd last year; and, has the benefit of being altitude trained and familiar with the course. Beth Shumate of Clancy quietly shows up at trail runs around the state and consistently finishes near the front. Can she improve on her 5^th place finish from 2010? And, can all of these ladies hold off the charge from the younger crowd? Bekah Kirtley (18) of Fromberg and Olivia Wood (16) of Anaconda finished 6^th and 7^th respectively last year. Wood has the #12 all time performance on the N-S course and comes off a great season for the Copperhead XC & Track squads. We also have a potential dark horse in Haley Chura of Atlanta. Chura’s sister (Hannah) and mother (Elizabeth) of Gallatin Gateway were both top 15 finishers in the 2009 version of the N-S course. Could they have given Haley some tips on the course and strategy??

And, let’s not forget about our “mature” ladies. The over-40 race has some unique twists and turns of its own. As the Buzzard’s 2010 Open Women’s Runner of the Year, Nicole Hunt would normally be a hands down favorite for the master’s title (if not the open title). But, she’s currently in the second trimester of her 2^nd pregnancy; and, she’s slowed down just ever so slightly. Will she still be able to place near the top of the master’s category even while running for three (that’s right – Nicole & Ray are expecting twins!!!!)?

Or, will the N-S course’s #1 Age-Graded master, Elizabeth Chura of Gallatin Gateway, pull out the win. We also have Demaris Taylor of Helena returning – having placed 13^th overall in 2010. And, let’s not forget Sherry Vogel of Butte. Or, Billings’ own ageless wonder – Debbie Magilke. The age-graded master’s placings should prove very interesting indeed.

The biggest fireworks of the day are likely to come at the front of the men’s race. 2010 champ and University of Montana steeplechaser is back to take a whack at the Pipestone to Homestake route. Reynolds has got some young legs, which tend to be a help on the long downhill sections of the race. And, his performances in the steeplechase show that he’s fit and fast. Plus, the coordination and endurance that are necessary to run elite steeples tend to be a pretty big benefit on the trails.

Of course, he’ll have to contend with 2008 and 2009 Wulfman Champ and 2010 runner-up Thomas “Big Bird” Jodoin of Helena (the Buzzard’s 2010 #2 Male Runner of the Year). Big Bird had a bit of an injury snafu at the AOH St. Pat’s Day Run in Anaconda in March. But, as evidenced by his win at the Don’t Fence Me in 12K in mid-May, the hammy seems to be coming around and Thomas should be ready to go. He’s also the most experienced on this course; and, should be ready to rock and roll.

The third leg of the Wulfman trifecta team is likely to be Jimmy “The General” Grant. Much like Sarah Graves on the women’s side, Jimmy is known as more of a roadie. But, he has been known to put a foot in the dirt on occasion. On the road, he’s had a very solid last couple of years. He was the Buzzard’s Male Runner of the Year in 2009 and # 3 in 2010. Already this year he scored a big win with his 31:39 10K at the Missoula Riverbank Run. And, he followed that up with a 38:24 12-K at Bloomsday to finish 32 overall (out of 50,000 +).

But, wait – just like a TV infomercial – that’s not all. Including Reynolds and Jodoin, 6 of the top 10 finishers from the 2010 Wulfman will return this year, and 10 of the top 15. Plus, we have a new face in Christian Heck of Bozeman, 2008 3^rd-placer Dewey Peacock of Bozeman, trail ace Brian Wieck of Helena, 2008 4^th-placer Matt Edwards of Bozeman and youngster Josh Panasuk of Butte.

But the story within the story on the men’s side may very well be the shuffling of the old farts. As it has been every year, the master’s field is looking to be deep and fast. And, the sub-plot will be to see how many of the over 40 crowd can crack the overall top 10. In 2008 and 2009, there were 2 masters in the top 10. In 2010, there were 4 in the top 10 and 2 in the top 5. Some of the best of Montana’s old men will be at the CDT-14K.

41-year old Pat Judge of Helena is having a racing resurgence since turning 40. His last 2 years have probably been amongst his best since Y2K. The Muddy Buzzard’s #2 Master’s Runner of the Year, Pat will be running at the outside edge of his typical racing range. And, he’s typically more of a road and track guy; but, solid performances at the Don’t Fence Me In 5-K and the Montana Cup show that Pat can also crank it up on the trails.

Mike Telling (42) of Dillon has a history of fast and furious racing at the Wulfman with overall placings of 2^nd, 7^th and 5^th. History would show that when Mike toes the line, he’s ready to race. And, that’s doubly so when he races along the backbone of the continent. As the 2010 # 3 runner on the Buzzard’s Master’s list, Telling clearly has the pedigree.

Jeff Braun of Butte, at 47, has had an incredible last couple of years on the racing scene – at a wide variety of distances and surfaces – good enough to rank as the Buzzard’s #5 Master of the year in 2010. Can Jeff continue his string of fast finishes? Living and training in Butte, Jeff will have altitude training in his ditty bag – together with an intimate knowledge of the CDT.

Kirk Keller, 50, of Three Forks has the #1 over-40 Age-Graded performance at the CDT-14K. After some injuries in 2010, will Kirk be ready to return to form in 2K11? He’s been in the top 10 overall before – can he find that magic again.

But, the biggest factor in the master’s race could be the presence of Bozeman’s Scott Creel (48 – and just days away from B-day 49). Scott has been on a bit of a racing hiatus in the last couple of years while he focused on his wildlife research, his kids, and some other outdoor pursuits. But, he had a successful return to the track in February with his 3^rd place finish at the Montana Men’s Master’s Mile (M4) in 4:42. And, as the course record holder at the Bridger Ridge Run, Scott’s trail racing prowess and pain threshold are legendary. If Scott’s at the starting line, look for him to be ready to hammer.

So, lot’s of excitement is brewing as we approach the 4^th Annual Wulfman CDT-14K. And, lots of questions will be answered on the morning of the 18^th. But, a few things we can be pretty certain of. The racing will be hot and fast, the race management will be exemplary, the post race festival will be trail running’s best social event of the spring, and each and every one or the competitors will get their money’s worth.

The Buzzard is circling the skies above Butte and just waiting for the time to swoop in and take part in the suffer fest along the divide.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Breaking Ice & Breaking Wind

2011-04-23T16:56:00.000-06:00

On a morning that lived up to the name of the race - the Ice Breaker Road Race took place last Sunday in Great Falls.

On the men's side, Ezkysas Sisay of Ethiopia took the win in a stellar time of 23:15. Pulling in 2nd was Bernard Langat of Kenyan at 25:00. But, the rest of the top 5 was comprised fully of Montanan's.

Alan King picked up where he left off in 2010 - running 3rd in a speedy 26:02.

Alan King battles the snow at Ice Breaker

Next in was Pat Judge - hitting it big on both the open and master's scene. His 27:20 was a most impressive time for an old guy :-)

And, it held off the charge of young buck Jesse Zentz's 27:21. Jesse is a Billings West and UM grad. For the last couple of years, he's been a sports writer in Boise. He recently moved back to Montana and is writing sports for the Independent Record. A nice welcome home race for Jesse.

Also cracking the top 10 was master's runner Jeff Braun with his 28:56.

On the women's side - Evelyne Lagat of Kenya won in 27:28. Next up was Rachel Brewer of Great Falls in 30:02. She was followed by Nicole Hunt (who also took the master's crown) in 32:16. 4th and 5th place also broke the 33:00 barrier - Great Fallsians (what do folks in GF call themselves) Marilee Woyth and Sandy Thomas hit 32:43 and 32:48 respectively.

King wasn't done with the racing however. On a whim, he decidedc to do his own personal trifecta and won the 3-mile in 15:27 and the Mile in 4:23. Not a bad day for Mr. King.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Beans and Walnuts

2011-04-23T16:30:00.000-06:00

A few impressive performances by Montanan's on the big stage(s) last weekend.

First up was the track and field frenzy that is Mt. Sac. Held each year in Walnut, CA - it is regularly one of the races that many of the top US runners use to kick off their outdoor track campaign. Such was the case of the brother & sister steeplechase team of John and Lois Ricardi-Keller. Both ran in the Elite divisions of the steeple - John placing 5th in 8:44.88 in the men's field; and, Lois hitting 10:12.85 in placing 7th on the women's side.

In the 1500, MSU's (and Laurel native) Patrick Casey ran 9th at 3:43.69 (the equivalent of about a 4:01 mile). Included in the field were Chris Solinsky (the American Record holder at 10,000 meters) and Olympian Matt Tegenkamp. 9th place in this field was a stellar performance.

A couple of days later (Monday the 18th) was the Boston Marathon. On a day of low temps and a strong, steady tailwind times were smoking fast. With the men's winner at just over 2:03 and the women at slightly over 2:20, it was an incredibly fast day on this storied course. Included in those fast times were a few folks from the Big Sky state.

First in was a temporary Montana resident - Jacob Bradosky is currently a member of the Air Force who is stationed at Malmstrom Air Force base in Great Falls. A past winner of the Marine Corps Marathon, Bradosky hit it big in Beantown - how about this for impressive - 2:21.11 and 25th overall (including a negative split racde of 70:56 and 70:15).

Next in was Gardiner native and MSU alum Josh Ricardi. Running under 2:30 for the first time - he placed 65th overall and hit a super time of 2:27:48. Great split of 73:41 and 74:07.

On the women's side, former MSU-Billings runner Lisa Minnehan of Billings hit 2:54 - placeing 57th in the women's field.

One of the performances of the day came from someone who isn't really a Montanan - but, she has a strong Montana connection. So, figured I would give her some props anyway. Many of you know Kelly Fulton of Billings. Kelly is married to Elizabeth White (originally of Tacoma). Elizabeth has a younger sister Caroline. Caroline runs for the US Air Force.

Well, Caroline ripped it on Monday. Running splits of 79:12/78:20, she hit a 2:37:32 to place 20th in the women's field. That time was an auto qualifier for the Oly Marthon Trials in Houstone in January, 2012. And, it currently has her sitting at position #9 on the US marathon lists. Pretty damn impressive.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard

Run To Paradise

2011-04-10T10:21:00.000-06:00

Here's a great opportunity to take in a trail race in the Buzzard's neck of the woods. On Sundary, May 15th, The Eleven Miles To Paradise Trail Race will take place on the beautiful River Trail near and along the Clark Fork River between St. Regis and Paradise, Montana.

This is a great single track trail - rolling trail, lots of timber, a few open meadows, some great views of the Clark Fork River.

It's a point to point race that will require shuttling. But, the race organizers (Runner's Edge in Missoula) have an efficient shuttle plan all figured out.

The end of race activities will take place at Quinn's Hot Springs. Good food, drink and soaking will be available.

Quinn's is also offering a good discount on lodging for folks wanting to stay the night before the event.

Race information can be found at http://www.runnersedgemt.com/events/eleven-miles-to-paradise-trail-race/

It's a race worth thinking aobut.

The Muddy Buzzard Buzzard

Continental Divide Running Clinic

2011-04-10T10:00:00.000-06:00

So - you want to attend a great clinic on running and running performance? In a great setting with some amazing trails (including the segment of the Continental Divide Trail used in the Wulfman 14K race)? With a great camp staff (see more below)? At a perfect time leading into the late summer and fall racing season?

If you're interested, check out this promotional video for the Continental Divide Running Clinic: http://vimeo.com/21887123

It will be held from the evening of Friday, July 22nd until noon on Sunday, July 24th at the Homestake Lodge outside of Butte.

Camp staff will include Kirk Keller - a competitor and coach in Montana for over 30 years; Jim Walker, PhD -Sports Science Director and former Oly Trials competitor; John Zombro - masters runner and owner of Zombro Physical Therapy; Casey Jermyn - MSU alum, multiple Big Sky Conference champion, owner of Bozeman Running Company; and, Julie Gilchrist - master runner and marathon champion.

It should be a good time and a great opportunity to learn more about improving your running and racing.

If you are interested, contact Kirk Keller (Keller Coaching) at kkeller145k@gmail.com. (Also visit Coach Keller's website at http://www.kellercoaching.com)

One other item of note - the great video was shot by two distance runners from MSU-Billings: Daniel Lombardi and Ryan Blomback. After checking out the clinic video, check out some of the other great stuff that they have produced.

The Muddy Buzzard

Good News For The Buzzard

2011-04-10T09:32:00.000-06:00

Saw the cardiologist for a follow up visit on Tuesday the 5th. At my last visit in March, I had an new echo cardiogram done where is it showed that my cardiac function had improved pretty significantly since my initial visits last fall.

With an ejection fraction now measuring somewhere in the 45% - 50% range - that puts me at near normal or mildly compromised.

Now, it does still mean that I'll need to stay on the drug therapy for at least 6 more months to a year (and maybe longer) to see if I can realize even more improvement to my heart function. Although I'm not getting my hopes up, the doc suggests that I may continue to see improvement; and, there is some chance that I may get back to a normal ejection fraction in the 60% + range.

More importantly was his answer to my question at the end of the visit. (Paraphrasing a bit, it went something like this):

Muddy Buzzard: "Well, I would really like to get my mileage back up to normal, start back to some hard training and start competing again. What do you think about that?"

Cardiologist: "I want you to be careful and really pay attention to what your body is telling you. But, with the improvements that we're seeing with the drug therapy..............................go ahead and do what you want."

Now, it got a little awkward when I then shrieked like a Justin Bieber fan, jumped in his arms and gave him a big wet one on the lips. Funny, but he seemed to leave the exam room pretty quickly....................hmmmmmmm, wonder why.

Actually, we had a bit of a talk about that. He's okay with me returning to full running and competition. Again, he does want me to really pay attention to how I react physiologically. And, the nature of the drugs that I'm taking (especially the beta blocker and the ace inhibitor) may very well may place some limits on my performance (due to the manner in which they tend to reduce blood pressure and heart rate). But, outside of that, he feels that my test improvements pretty much eliminate any concerns that they had about things like sudden cardiac arrest and such. As he put it - there's a world of difference between 35% ejection fraction and 45% to 50%.

So, consider the Buzzard to be one happy bird. (Even did my first hard workout in months with my kids. 8 X 200 uphill repeats. It hurt ---- in that familiar good hurt kind of way.) Not sure where it will all lead; but, at least I'm not able to get back to training and pushing myself. And, removes a bit of a dark cloud that was kind of lurking in the back of my mind as to my overall cardiac health.

Now the grand experiment of pushing the limits of personal endurance can begin again. Oh Happy Days.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard.

Is Big Bird Broken????

2011-03-27T19:02:00.000-06:00

Sad news from Anaconda's AOH St. Patricks Day run on 3/12/11.

Thomas Jodoin, aka Big Bird, of Helena pulled off the repeat win in the 3-mile event. For a guy who's run this event in the low 14's, he got away early and looked well on his way to a quick, easy win.

But, in the latter part of the race, Thomas had to pull up a couple of times with some hamstring troubles. He held on for a close win over master's stud Pat Judge; but, the win came at a price.

Having fought hamstring issues over the years, it appears as though they've come back and reared their ugly head once again. Post race comments by Jodoin suggest that the injury may be serious and may curtail his racing this season.

Let's hope it's not as bad as feared. Big Bird is one of the good guys on the Montana racing scene and the Buzzard would hate to see him out of action in 2011.

Heal Thy Wing Big Bird

The Muddy Buzzard.

Whirlwinds and Fever

2011-03-27T10:03:00.000-06:00

The Buzzard's had quite a ride over the last 3 weeks. It all started on Sunday, March 6th. Really felt bad all that day with chills, body aches and a fever. Feelign a bit better by Monday, but still pretty wimpy; and, my sinuses were killing me. But, didn't really have time for such nonsense. This was Nick's wedding week and we had to head to Phoenix. Tuesday, March 8th was a hectic day of work, packing,visit the doctor, pre-season track practice and loading into the car to head to Missoula to start our trip south.

Over the next several days we ran around the Phonenix-Mesa-Tempe-Scottsdale area as we helped the kids get ready for the big event. I took a dose of antibiotics that I got from the doc; and, by the end of the week was feeling mostly nornal. Saturday the 12th was a day of emotion as I proudly watched my son take the next step on his own life journey. The ceremony was fantastic and fun was had by all.

Nick and his new bride Katie

It's amazing how something like a wedding take take such an emotional toll on you. Suprisingly, I cried like a baby through most of the ceremony and during the toasts. I've never really responded that way before at a wedding; but, it's clearly a whole different ballgame when it's you own child.

But, as taxing as the week had been - there was no rest for the weary. Up early the next morning to get in a run - then off to the airport for a 12-hour travel day to get back home by about 9:30 p.m.

Monday the 14th brought a day of work and the first day of track practice. Follow that up with travel to Butte - as the first leg of a trip that required me to be in Billings by 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Tuesday and Wednesday saw me in Billings working on some corporate issues at the home office - then, off to Butte again on Wednesday night. But, did have the chance to get in a run in Bozeman on Wednesday evening (just before dusk) as heavy snow came down during a spring storm.

Thursday was travel to Missoula for some work in the Garden City, to Plains by 3:30 for track practice, then a wrestling team banquet that night.

Friday was back in the office to try to start getting caught up from the travel and PTO of the last couple of weeks, then track practice, then a community fundraising event in the evening. Though all of this, had been feeling pretty good. Was getting in some runs, even though my left piriformis was pissed at me from all the traveling, and figured I could get back to my normal routine after a weekend of good sleep.

Saturday the 19th started off pretty well. Up early to do an optional practice with some of the track kids and to squeeze in my own run. Then a long, but mostly relaxed day of getting caught up on administrative tasks for track. Things were going along pretty well until about 7:00 p.m. At that point, started to feel a bit crappy; but, figured I was just a bit tired. Headed off to the High School Prom's Grand March at about 10:00. (In a uniuqe bit of small town charm - parents and family head to the prom and watch as all the kids march across the dance floor. Quirky but charming.)

By the time we got home, tings were not looking good. Could tell that I was not feeling well. And, by Sunday morning - it was clear - I was back to the point where I started two weeks earlier. And, in fact, I was going backwards. Chills, fever, body aches, muscle and joint pain, hacking cough. Not a fun place to be. Laid me low all day Sunday..................and all day Monday....................................and all day Tuesday. Probably the first tme in about 10 years that I've missed a day of work for illnes ----- so, you know it must have been bad. And, running was not event getting close to the edge of the radar.

By Wedneday, I was able to work a little bit; but, after 4 hours of work and track practice, I was wiped out. Now up to 4 days off running. Thursday was a bit of an improvement. Made it through the day a bit better; and, was even up to tormenting a couple of my track kids. Definately a good sign.

By Friday the 25th I was feelign about 80%. Still a bit weak; and, not quite at the top of my game; but, I'm pretty comfortable at this point that I'm on the upward part of the spiral.

Yesterday was a pretty good day. Got some chores done. Got though some track tasks. Did some internet browsing. Even got in a run - 3 slow, easy miles - but a run none the less. Was pretty tired by the end of the day; and, ended up in bed by about 9:30 (and then getting about 10 hours of sleep)

So, here we sit at the end of a crazy 3 weeks - most of which have devolved into nothing but a blur. It's a cool, wet day (woke up to snow coming down). But, I got a good night's sleep. Feeling mostly good. Getting ready to cut some wood and burn a slash pile. Things are definately looking up.

Here's to hoping that the next few weeks are just a bit less intense and let me get back to a normal life.

In the meantime, see you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard

No Green On The Buzzard This Weekend

2011-03-10T08:22:00.000-07:00

With all the St. Paddy's day run action this weekend; and, with the Butte Rat blood that runs through my veins, you'd think that I'd be all over the racing scene this weekend - wearin' some green; drinking some beer; spreadin' some blarney; etc.

But alas, The Muddy Buzzard won't even be in the Big Sky State this weekend. Rather, I'll be in sunny Arizona attending the wedding of my first born. Hard to believe that the precious bundle of joy that came into our lives on a wintry January day in 1987 is now starting his own family.

Nick has been in the Phonenix/Tempe/Mesa area for a bit over 5 years now. It's been a great place for him to grow into a fine young man. He's getting ready to graduate from Arizona State in a couple of months with a B.S. in anthropolgy; and, will start in a human genetics doctoral program at University of Chicago this fall.

But, before all that, he's got the big event coming up on Saturday. Around 4 years ago he met a local girl by the name of Katie Hunt. We met her at my nephew Chris's wedding in Santa Monica on 7/7/07 - and, we hit it off with her right away. They had a few ups and downs along the way; but, about a year ago it clearly was getting serious.

This summer, they came to visit us in Plains. He took Katie up to a little spot on the mountain behind his grandparent's house where he and his cousins used to play when they were little kids. Erin and Zoe had secretely set up a blanket, picnic basket and deocrations ------ and, he proposed in a spot that was near and dear to him. What a great way to start their adventure together.

Here's a pic from the engagement album of the happy couple

We'll be in Mesa for a few days to help out ahead of the wedding; the big event on Saturday afternoon and evening, then back home on Sunday. And, as much as like a good St. Paddy's Day race...................I can't think of a better way to spend this weekend. Seeing my son take the next step in life with a wonderul young lady is a blessing indeed. It's as much as a parent can ask for.

So, have fun for those of you hitting the races this weekend. But, I find it hard to believe that any of you will be able to have a bigger smile or a fuller heart than mine.

Peace........Love.................Happiness

The Muddy Buzzard (aka - Happy Dad)

Buzzard Update

2011-03-10T07:58:00.000-07:00

Had a follow up visit at the cardiologist last week. Had been on a drug regimen for my cardiomyopathy diagnosis since October; and, this visit was 3 months after my heart catheterization procedure in early December.

Through that angiogram, they determined that there were no signs of arterial disease/blockage; but, they did confirm that my left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was only in the 35 to 40% range. The LVEF is a measure of the amount of blood that is pumped out of your heart and into your arteries. In most cases, the normal amount may be in the 55 to 65% range. So, clearly I was only pumping out a small fraction of what I should have been.

Since October, I had been on a cocktail of beta blockers, ace-inhibitors, statins and blood thinner. The goal was to lower my blood pressure and blood viscosity in order to make it easier for my heart to pump out the blood. By lowering the pumping resistance, the theory is that the heart can get stronger and improve function.

The big concern of a low LVEF (35% or below) is a pretty big increase in the risk of sudden cardiac arrest. So, if we weren't seeing an improvement in my LVEF, he wanted to have a discussion about implanting a defibrillator. Although the risk is still pretty low of a cardiac event (even at 35% or below it's maybe 1% risk), there are no warning signs/pre-cursor events. If it happens, it occurs without warning and unless you have an internal defibrillator or an AED available for immediate action, it's almost always fatal.

Needless to say, none of that discussion was very comforting.

So, off I went to get another echocardiogram to see if the meds had been at all successful. After waiting for several days, I got a phone message from the doctor's nurse yesterday with some good news. My ejection fraction has improved to the 45 to 50% range. Not yet in the normal range; but, a significant improvement over a few months ago. And, most importantly - it takes the discussion of a defibrillator off the table.

Have another follow up visit in a month - at which time we'll visit some more about continuation of treatment by meds and lifestyle issues (i.e. running and racing). But, it certainly looks like there's a bit of a ray of light shining through.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

To Your Marks

2011-03-10T07:18:00.005-07:00

A big, big weekend of racing coming up in the Big Sky as road racing kicks off as winter begins to fade. In fact, the pre-Saint Paddy’s Day weekend has turned into one of the busiest weekends of the entire year for Montana distance enthusiasts.

Perhaps the grand-daddy of them all would be the AOH (Ancient Order of the Hibernian’s) St. Patrick’s Day runs in Anaconda. Over the 30+ years that this race has been around, there have been some super competitive fields including many of the who’s who of Montana distance runners. I personally have some great memories of this race from the early and mid-80’s - great competition followed by some great post race socializing at the Locker Room bar (aka – throwin’ back a few brews and telling road race lies).

Another long time staple on the racing scene (and more geared to the eastern part of the state) is the Yellowstone Rim Runner’s Shamrock Run. This race serves as the club’s membership event and always draws a big group of Billings and Billings are runners. There was a period of about 15 years where this race served as my kick off the season. Fond memories indeed.

Then we get into some of the newer events on the schedule. There’s the Run To The Pub in Bozeman for Bobcat fans and the Run For the Luck of It in Missoula for the Griz (which starts and finishes at Sean Kelly’s Irish Pub) ……………………..hmmmmmm – seems to be a bit of a malt beverage theme in the college towns :D

And, let’s not forget the March Meltdown in Polson; the Saint Patrick’s Day Dash in Great Falls (a benefit for the UGF track & XC programs); or, the Lucky Leprechaun Fest in Helena (a benefit for Eagle Mount Helena – a great program that provides outdoor recreation opportunities for folks with various disabilities).

With cabin fever setting in, lots of folks look forward to getting out and putting on their racing shoes during this weekend. Some will use the races just to get the season started. Others are using the events as tune-ups for Boston or other spring marathons. Some will be running their first ever road race and getting indoctrinated into the wonderful sport that the Buzzard enjoys so much.

Regardless, this weekend starts to set the stage for who’s going to be the hot runner’s for the season. Expect to see names like King, Hunt, Grant, Newton, Jodoin, Judge, Braun, Strode, Bazzanella, Gibson, et al at the front of the fields. And, who knows - maybe some new names will emerge as "leaders of the pack". No matter what the case, it should be a fun weekend.

The Buzzard can only say one thing – Run Hard, Run Fast, Run Happy

See you on the roads, track and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

End Of February Results & Highlights

2011-03-10T07:10:00.001-07:00

Some surprisingly good racing up front for at the Snow Joke ½-Marathon a couple of weeks ago. On a very cold Saturday morning, with less than ideal road/footing conditions, Jimmy Grant of Missoula defended his 2010 title. Breaking the tape in 1:14:56, Jimmy secured an almost 4 minute win over Adam Jensen (1:18:25). Great time given the conditions. After not hearing much from Jimmy during the fall season, he’s clearly back in the game for the 2011 racing circuit. A close 3rd went to Flathead High School distance ace Zac Perrin in 1:18:51.

On the master’s side, Scott Gaiser of Kalispell held off Brian Fruit of Missoula – 1:25:20 to 1:29:22
The women’s field was headed by Kara DeWalt in 1:23:57. But, the best female race of the day was on the master’s side. Julie Gilchrist of Ovando secured a win over the 2010 Master of the Year Debbie Gibson of Helena – 1:36:51 to 1:38:36.

You can find full results at http://www.cheetahherders.com/SJResults2011.html

The other big news from the Montana distance running scene was at the Big Sky Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships. And, two of the stars at that show were MSU’s Patrick Casey and UM’s Katrina Drennen.

Casey won his signature event with a 4:10 mile. In addition, he was a member of the winning Distance Medley relay team. Having an off day in the 800 (word has it that Patrick was fighting some illness in the week leading into the meet), he placed 6th @ 1:55.58. Pretty incredible talent when an off day gets you a 1:55!!!

Drennen probably did Patrick one better during the meet. Securing wins at the 3,000 meters and the DMR, she added a 2nd in the mile. Pretty big day of points for the Griz star.

Both will be in action on Friday, March 11th at the NCAA indoor track and field championships. Casey has the #1 seed in the men’s mile (based on his sub-4:00 effort at Bozeman earlier this year – and the subsequent altitude adjustment); and, his heat will take off at 4:00 p.m. Looking at the field, I think Casey should easily get himself into the final. And, if all falls into place properly – he clearly has a shot at an individual title.

Katrina will be next up at 4:15. Seeded 16th in the women’s field, she’ll have a harder path to make the finals. But, magic can always happen at the big meets – that’s why they base the results on the actual races and not the seed times.

Good Luck to both Patrick and Katrina at Nationals. Go Cats!!! Go Griz!!!!

The Muddy Buzzard

Weekend Happenings

2011-02-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

A couple of big events this weekend.

On the local level - the annual Snow Joke 1/2-Marathon. It comes at a great time of year for people wanting a tune-up before spring marathons like Boston. The weather always has the potential to be a factor at this race. And, road conditions on the back side of the lake (a bit more than 1/2 of the run) are typically dicey even in the best of years. But, this year figures to be a doozey. Western Montana has had some healthy snow this year; and, temps this weekend are likely to be a bit frigid. So, fast times are likely to take a hiatus this year.

On the regional level, the Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships happen this weekend. Can Patrick Casey get an 800/mile double? Will he run some fast times and stamp himself as a favorite for the NCAA's? Will Katrina Drennan get a mile/3000 double? Any more UM school records on tap for her?

Nationally, we'll see the big boys take to the oval at the USATF Champs. Check the web for live coverage schedules.

The Muddy Buzzard

Some Damn Fine Writing

2011-02-21T18:19:00.000-07:00

Tim Dumas is a writer for the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

Tim Dumas is a runner.

Tim Dumas is a multi-time competitor at the Montana Men's Master's Mile (M4) (including the 2011 edition).

Put these things all together and what to you get.......................a piece of writing in Tim's Chronicle blog (The Dumas Prospectus) on February 13th that was a masterpiece.

For a great read check it out at: http://dumasprospect.wordpress.com/2011/02/13/chairmen-of-the-boards/

See you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard

Montana Running History

2011-02-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

Here's a great piece on one of the big time studs of the running world and a Montana native. Saw it this morning in the Missoulian and figured I just had to share it.

Montana history almanac: Deer Lodge native runs record 3-mile

Feb. 22, 1941
Missoula's Greg Rice set a record for the three-mile run at the National AAU championships in New York's Madison Square Garden.

The 5-foot-5 Rice, with his parents Joseph and Mamie of Missoula watching in a crowd of 14,000, lapped all four of his rivals. He was timed in 13 minutes, 51 seconds, breaking his own record of 13:52.3.

It was the second world record in eight days for Rice, a 1939 Notre Dame graduate and the reigning Sullivan Award winner as the nation's top amateur athlete. On Feb. 15, at the New York Athletic Club Games, Rice set the indoor two-mile record. In March in Chicago, the 25-year-old Rice ran 2 miles faster than anyone had before, indoors or out - 8:51.1. Four days later he was declared physically unfit for the U.S. Army. The reason: A triple hernia.

Rice went on to win 55 straight races, though his shot at Olympic gold was dashed by World War II. The string ended in 1943 after joined the U.S. Maritime Service.

Born in Deer Lodge, Rice won state championships in the 880 and mile runs for three years running at Missoula County High School.

21010 Women's Runner Of The Year

2011-02-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

Last year, The Muddy Buzzard announce his first ever Male Runners Of The Year. But, didn't really follow the women's side in 2009; so, did chose a female ROY for 2009. But, that changes here and now.......so, in follow up the Male ROY's that were identified in late January here are the The Muddy Buzzard's First Annual Female Runners Of The Year for Montana.

Now, let me first suffice this by saying that I had a bit of dilemma on how to handle some of the rankings and where to categorize one of our top athletes (you'll understand as you review the rankings). She started the year as an open runner; but, entered the Masters category just before Bloomsday. So, in the end, I took a bit of an easy way out. The Buzzard will have 3 female categories this year - Overall, Open and Masters.

And, with that, let's get right to it.

Nicole Hunt @ 2010 USATF Club National XC

The picture above pretty much gives away The Buzzard's choice for Overall Female Runner Of The Year ---- Nicole Hunt of Deer Lodge. And, I think it was a pretty easy choice to make. During the season, Nicole had only a handful of losses on the open side all year. Her only loss in the Masters category was at the USATF Club XC Championships.

Just a couple of years removed from the birth of son Eon, Nicole has thumbed her nose at the 40 year old age barrier and has returned back to the dominating form that she showed in the late 1990's and early 2000's. Here range of distance and terrain were stunning. Here's a list of her top performances from 2010.

AOH Saint Patrick's Day Run - Anaconda - 3 mile - 15:50 - 1st

Big Butte Run - Butte - 11K - 50:05 - 1st

Don't Fence Me In Trail Race - Helena - 12K - 54:12 - 1st

Ice Breaker - Great Falls - 5 Mile - 29:33 - 3rd

Bloomsday - Spokane - 12K - 43:43 - 17th overall, 1st Master

Governor's Cup - Helena - 5K - 18:04 - 1st

MT Washington Road Race (Uphill) - New Hampshire - 4th overall, 1st Master - new masters course record

World Mountain Running Championships - Slovenia - 17th overall, 3rd American

Bozeman Classic - Bozeman - 5K - 18:36 - 2nd overall, 1st Master

MT Helena - Helena - 43:34 - 1st

Montana Cup - Billings - 6K +- - 24:45 - 3rd overall, 1st Master

Veteran's Day - Butte - 5 miles - 32:51 - 1st - new masters course record

USTAF Club Championship Cross Country - 6K - 21:50 - 3rd Masters

Pretty hard to argue with that record that Nicole wasn't well deserving of of the overall Runner Of The Year designation. Add to that the fact that she's a pleasant, unassuming, hard working, passionate person only makes it all the better. Nicole is a true ambassador for the sport and a fantastic role model for younger female runners.

And, while Nicole's record stood out for it's breadth of competition locally, regionally, nationally and internationally The Muddy Buzzard's Open Woman Runner Of The Year was ever so close to matching those accomplishments.

I got to know this woman during the time that we lived in Billings. Like Nicole she is kind, pleasant, humble and unassumming. She's also one of the most aggressive racer's that I've ever seen on the women's side and has an incredibly wide performance range.

Sarah Graves at 2010 Montana Cup

Sarah may not be a household name to most of you in the Montana running scene. She's one of those athletes who quietly shows up, hammers her race, cheers the rest of the field, then heads back home. But, she virtually always leaves a mark on the field of any event from the mile to the marathon. Here's a look at some of the best of what Sarah accomplished last year.

New course record at the Newport Marathon in 2:47:52 (and less than 2 minutes from an Oly Trials qualifier)

1st at the Montana Women's Run 5-mile in 30:01

1st at the Heart and Sole 5K in 18:41

1st at the Beartooth Run 8.4 mile (uphill) in 65:53

1st at the Montana Marathon Half Marathon in 78:40

1st at the Montana Cup in 24:24

3rd at the Run To The Pub 1/2 Marathon in 88:17

5th at the Montana Mile in 5:19.4

82nd at the hot Chicago Marathon in 2:55:43

Sarah just missed qualifying for the 2008 Oly Marathon Trials; and, as you can see above, is just off the mark for the 2101 Trials. If the Buzzard could have one wish granted for the 2011 year, it's that Sara will finally get that 2:46 mark and make the field for Houstan.

Behind Sarah came a tight field of athletes; and, it was a challenge to pick a ranking order; but, here goes:

# 2 Open Runner - Meg Lerch of Missoula. Meg didn't race a lot in the 2nd half of the year due to some nagging hip issues. But, she had a great 1st half of the year; especially at the 5K distance. She went sub 17:00 3 times - winning the Oregon Twilight Track Meet in 16:42, a 16:43 at Mt. Sac, and a 16:27 in winning the Riverbank Run (and placing 5th overall against the full field). She also was 28th overall in February at the USATF Cross Country Championships (28:58 8K) and won the Missoula Marathon half marathon in a course record 1:22:24. She finished off her competitive season with a 23:09, 2nd place finish at the Roots Festival in Missoula. Here's to hoping that Meg gets her leg woes behind her and is back to full force for the entire 2011 season.

#3 Open Runner - Marta Fisher of Helena. A trail specialist who rarely raced on the roads, Marta had a stellar year playing in the dirt. 1st at the Don't Fence Me In 30K in 2:58:54; 1st at the Pengelly Double Dip in 2:03:42; 2nd at the Big Butte Run 11K in 52:55; 2nd at Wulfman CDT 14K in 70:33; 2nd at Mount Helena in 46:26; 6th in the 35-39 age group at Bloomsday in 49:36; and, 8th in MT Cup in 26:24.

#4 Open Runner - Michelle Bazzanella of Helena. Another trail runner, Bazz had some epic battles with Marta. But, with Marta having a 4-2 head to head record, Michelle just misses the top 3. She won the Wulfman in 69:16; got seconds at Don't Fence Me In 30K (2:59:32), Pengelly Double Dip (2:05:56), and Veteran's Day (35:34); thirds at Mount Helena (47:30) and Big Butte 11K (53:20); and, 6th at Montana Cup (26:18).

#5 Open Runner - Dani Shahan of Bozeman. Dani will be entering the masters rank later in 2011; but, like Nicole, she isn't letting age slow her down. Dani would likely place higher in the rankings; but, her lack of racing keeps her from jumping ahead of Marta and Michelle. Dani won the Bozeman Classice 10K in 38:12, won the Run To The Pub 1/2 Marathon in 85:57, was 2nd at the Montana Marathon 1/2 Marathon in 79:56, and was 4th overall at Ice Breaker in 30:01.

Just missing out on the top 5; but, still having solid years, were (in no particular order) - Jenny Newton, Trisha Miller, and Rye Palen and Beth Shumate.

The Master's women don't have quite the depth of fields or performances that we see on the men's side - yet. But, with folks such as Jenny Newton and Dani Shahan crossing the 40+ mark, I expect 2010 to be different. That being said, we still had several top notch women master's in 2010.

The top of the list was pretty easy to conclude (especially with my chicken-$&(8! way of creating the Overall category and taking Nicole out the mix :D ). The choice was made even easier by the "lobbying" that was put forth by her team members of Helena's Vigilante Running Club as they provided ample evidence of her great year.

Debbie at 2010 MT Cup
Part of Helena's Blue Thunder

Debbie Gibson of Helena had a great year, with only one loss at the master's level in Montana. Debbie excels on the roads and trails; and, is a distance and ultra specialist. Some of her highlights last year included:

Run to the Pub 1/2 Marathon - 1M - 1:39:58

Wulfman 14K - 4th overall, 1st Master - 72:41

Montana Cup - 13th overall, 3rd Master - 27:32

Montana Marathon - 1st overall - 3:16:11

Last Chance Half Marathon - 2nd overall, 1st master - 1:25:25

Snow Joke Half Marathon - 1:37:30

Le Grizz 50 Miler - 1st overall - 7:26:44

Missoula Marathon - 1st Master - 3:15:26 (new masters course record)

Fat Ass 50K - 1st overall - 5:29:32 - new course record

A solid season with competitions at a wide array of distances against some very solid competitions; and, Debbie had a solid, consistent season. And, that's exactly the type of thing that will get you a top billing by The Muddy Buzzard.

2nd on the Master's list is someone who doesn't race a lot; but, when she did, it was pretty spectacular. She won (overall) the Diva Dash 5K in Missoula in 19:11; was 2nd in the 45-49 age group (and 6the overall master) at Bloomsday in 48:05; and, was 3rd in a master mile at the USATF Indoor Championships in Albuquerque in 5:12.94. That's some solid racing. Work and family limit her racing; but, man, does she make the best of the time when she toes the line.

After that, the depth and level of performances starts to drop off. Towards the top of the remaining list would Janika Umile of Missoula who had a solid run at USATF XC in Februry, finished just behind Mary at the USATF Indoor Mile, and had a couple of good races in the Missoula area.

Suzie Kaluza of Butte, now in the 50 - 59 age group, continues to perform quite well in the master's category.

Demaris Taylor of Helena, Kristina Smith of Great Falls, Julie Gilchrist of Ovando and Joann Weber of Helena all had some good performances. But, just didn't see enough volume to really develop a deep ranking on the women's master's side. I'll be a bit more diligent this year to keep track of the women master's to try to have some more meat to this part of the ranking.

So, there it is for 2010. My take on the Women Runners Of The Year.

Would love to hear any comments or feedback.

See you on the Roads, Tracks and Trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Catchin' Up

2011-02-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

The Buzzard has had a wild last couple of weeks; and, that's made it tough to keep on top of the posts. It started with a trip to Scottsdale, AZ at the end of January. Headed down to see my son and meet his fiance's parents. Got home on a Sunday afternoon; then, on Monday morning, headed to Billings for a week of work. My days there went from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 or 8:00 at night.

Got back on Friday then headed to Arlee for Divisional wrestling tournament all day Saturday. Sunday was filled with getting caught up on chores. Over the last couple of weeks, I've been working hard on a couple of projects at work; and, that's meant being in Missoula on multiple occasions. And, had a trip to Hamilton for State wrestling. Finally, started voluntary pre-season track workouts with the H.S. kids this last week and that has eaten into my days.

Finally, we have a full weekend where we don't have to travel - so, that's allowing me to get caught up on a few things: including getting The Muddy Buzzard off the roost.

There have been some big things that have happened in these last couple of weeks.................................................so, here we go on catching up.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you should have heard by now that Patrick Casey cracked the 4:00 barrier. Last year, the Laurel native and MSU Bobcat came oh so close. On Friday, February 4th at the MSU Dual Invitationals, he ran a solo time of 3:59.76. Straight up haulin' butt by Casey!!!!!!!! The first ever sub-4:00 on Montana soil and the second native Montanan to break the barrier (the first being UM alum and Poplar native Scotty McGowan in 2004). That time will get him a ticket to the big show of the NCAA indoor championships. Here's a video of the race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRMXMz5RB30&feature=player_embedded

But, as if that wasn't enough, Patrick had another big run the following week at the Bozeman Running Company Invitational. This time he dropped down to half the distance and ran a solo 1:47.67. With the win by 6.5 seconds, he garnered himself another NCAA qualifier and has begun to build up a bit of a reputation and following on the national scene. In fact, he's been getting some regular mention on the Let's Run message boards.

Some big runs also came the weekend of February 11th for members of the Lady Grizzly track team. On Friday night at the University of Washington Husky Invitational, the distance medley relay team set a new school record of 11:36.27, breaking the old record by some 10 seconds. The next morning, Senior Katrina Drennan shattered the old school record for the mile. The old record was set by Vonda Harmon in 1990 at 4:45.69. Running in the elite heat, Drennan cranked out the first sub-4:40 in school history with her 4:39.82.

But, my personal favorite action of the last 2 weeks was the fantabulistic rock show known as the 7th Annual Montana Men's Master's Mile (aka M4). Held as part of the Bozeman Running Company Invitational at MSU - the field was made up of a dozen of the best 40+ runners in Montana. The Buzzard wasn't able to make the trip to compete or spectate; and, what a shame ------ this race was perhaps the best race in the short history of the event.

As may have been expected, Scott Creel of Bozeman and Peter Dan Sullivan of Helena took the race out hard. Creel and Sullivan are the only 2 men to have won the event - Creel winning the first 3 editions, PDS #'s 4-6. Creel (also the course record holder of the Ridge Run) has been away from the racing scene for a bit; but, if he's toeing the start line, you know it's going to be a battle.

Mid race, Creel took the lead from Sullivan; and, it stayed that way until the last couple of laps of the 200 meter track. Sullivan took the lead; and, it looked like PDS had his 4th consecutive win. But, in the last 200, Chad Coley of Bozeman put on a Ray Hunt like flames shooting out his ass type of kick. At 150 to go he blew past Creel. At 50 to go he passed Sullivan and it looked like the race was his. But, alas, the gorilla jumped on Chad's back with about 10 meters to go and he faltered and stumbled to the track. Peter Dan cruised past to get the win at 4:38.7. Coley got up and lumbered across the line, just holding off Creel for 2nd - 4:41.5 to 4:42.0. What a thrilling finish to a spectacular race.

The field was rounded out with:

Pat Judge - 4:42.3
Rob Walker - 4:43.6
Kyle Strode - 4:45.6
Shaun Marshall-Pryde - 4:55.1
Steve Bruner - 4:58.8
Jeff Braun - 5:01.6
Tim Dumas - 5:04.7
Mark Slater - 5:06.3
Steve Gideon - 5:12.3

For a video of this event, check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTvV8Vf627U

So, that's some of the highlights of the last couple of weeks and the early part of the 2011 season.

Next up on the Buzzard - time to wrap up the 2010 season review and name the Female Runner's of the year.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Running Under Cover

2011-01-23T15:43:00.000-07:00

The indoor season within the state kicked off Friday night at the MSU meet in Bozeman. Nothing of real excitement - probably the best performance of the night was Patrick Casey's 8:24 3,000 - which is a qualifier for the Big Sky Conference meet (Daniel Jackson of MSU also made the BSC qualifier with his 8:35).

To me the real highlight of the meet were the teams that were competing. Sure, there was MSU and a small squad from UM. Both schools from which we expect to see track teams every year. What was different about this meet were some of the other schools that had athletes competing.

How about MSU-Billngs, Rocky Mountain College, Carroll College and University of Great Falls? It's fantastic to see these schools expanding their programs to include not just cross-country; but, also indoor and outdoor track. It allows our in state, high school athletes to have more competitive opportunities without having to leave the state. That's good for the kids; and, it's good for the sport in general.

The Muddy Buzzard

How Bout Dem Old Guys

2011-01-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

Now the Buzzard moves onto the cream of the crop in the old guys divisions - the 2010 Montana Master's Runner of the Year. This was a much more challenging choice than the open men since we had two athletes with some stellar results and some great head to head competition. Both members of Helena's Vigilante Runner's, Kyle Strode and Pat Judge are well known around the Montana running community - and they have continued to compete at high levels as they have crested the 40-year old age mark.

In fact, Pat may have had his best year of running in at least the last 5 years with a resurgence in his fitness as he entered the masters ranks. And, that newly returned snap in his legs gave Kyle a run for his money (both literally and figuratively). The two squared off in races around the state throughout the year; and, in the end, the head to head competition was a near draw. But, the tie-breaker in this oh-so-close battle goes to the wide range of distances on the portfolio of Kyle Strode.

From a 4:48.98 mile at the Montan Men's Master's Mile (M4) to a 2:47:00 at the Missoula Marathon - Kyle had an incredible string of performances over a wide range of distances. Aren't we all a bit envious over a season like this:

Snow Joke 1/2 Marathon - 4th overall, 1st Master - 77:37
M4 - 4th place - 4:48.98
Across the Bay 12K (San Fransisco) - 4th Master - 41:57
Ice Breaker 5 Mile - 10th overall, 1st Master - 28:22
Don't Fence Me In 30K - 3rd overall, 1st Master (and beaten by only two of the top 5 open men) - 2:29:10
Missoula Marathon - 4th overall, 1st Master - 2:47:00
Montana Cup - 13th ovarll, 1st Master - 22:03
August Road Race (Helena) - 3.8 miles - 3rd overall, 1st Master - 20:43
Carrol College Open Cross Country Meet - 5 miles - 2nd Master - 28:22
Veteran's Day Run - Butte - 5 miles - 3rd Overall, 2nd Master - 29:35

Kyle's "run to the top" has been building steam for a couple of years. He had a very solid season in 2009; but, in 2010 he really was hitting on all cylinders. With so many top 5 overall finishes and just a couple of defeats in the Masters catefory, it's pretty hard to not give the to nod to Kyle. And, on top of all that, he did the running world a big favor by "outing" an apparent cheat by the name of Kip Litton. Turns out this guy has been running all over the country (including the Missoula Marathon) under the presumed goal of setting a world record for the number of marathons under 3 hours. But, in the end, turns out that he was a big fraud. If you're interesed in a bizzare story of the lengths that some people will go to in order to get some attention, check out this post by Kyle from another blog: http://kiplitton.blogspot.com/2011/01/update-discussion-on-history.html

It was a hard choice to leave Mr. Judge off the top spot. He also had a fantastic year - with top performances that included:

M4 - 8th - 4:59.51
Big Butte Run - 2nd overall, 2nd Master - 44:11
Don't Fence Me In 5K - 1st overall - 17:48
VIG Scrimmage Mile - 4th ovearll, 2nd Master - 4:51.8
Governor's Cup 10K - 5th overall, 2nd Master 35:40
Carrol College Open XC - 13th overall, 1st Master - 27:31
Big Sky State Games 5K (track) - 2nd Master - 16:35
Montana Cup XC - 14th overall, 2nd Master - 22:09

And, his coup de grace for the year - The Veteran's Day Run in Butte - 2nd overall and 1st Master - 29:18. What made this race all the more special was the sportsmanship that Pat demonstrated towards Big Bird Jodoin. Check out the story here: http://www.buttespissandmoanrunners.com/Butte%20Races/Vets%20Day/Results/2010%20Results.pdf I would also be remiss if I didn't also make mention of Pat's great contributions to the Helena running scene with his involvement in the Vigilante Runner's and his leadership of Helena's Montana Cup team.

After Pat, the Buzzard is going to go with what may be a bit of a suprise - Mike Telling of Dillon. He had a season that was shortened due to some pretty significant injury issues in late summer. But, his early season efforts were pretty impressive. 1st overall at the Frigid Digger Run, 1st overall at the Big Butte Run, 6th overall and 3rd Master at the Don't Fence Me In 30K Trail Run, 5th overall and 2nd Master at Wulfman 14K Trail Run and 6th overall and 2nd Master at the Missoula Marathon.

Mike is followed by the ageless speed demon himself - Peter Dan Sullivan of Helena. Dan continues to hold onto an amazing amount of speed and turnover. How about this set of miles - M4 in 4:38.59, VIG Scrimmage - 4:40.6 and Montana Mile in 4:34.3. Throw in the Governor's Cup 5K in 16:52, 4th ovearall/3rd Master in 30:10, and 5th in August Road Race (Helena). Dan is arguably held back in the rankings to some degree by his limited racing outside of the Helena area and the fact that his cumulative race distance for the year is less than the marathons run by Strode and Telling. He gets high marks in the Buzzards's book for that sly Irish grin that always seems to be plastered on his face.

Another guy whose "stock" has soared in the last couple of years is Jeff Braun of Butte. He had top 3 Masters finishes at the Riverbank 10K in Misosula, the Roots Festival 4 Mile in Missoula, Montana Cup and Wulfman. Plus, he had Master's wins at the Don't Fence Me In 12K Trail Race, Lewis and Clark Half Marathon and MT Helena. For such a quiet, laid back guy before the race, he's a fierce competitor once the gun goes off.

One guy who was on his way to a top 5 ranking before fracturing his left patella (aka busted kneecap) was the Waterloo Wiz - Ray Hunt. He had the performance of the year in the Master's Category with his 4th place overall finish at the Wulfman CDT 14K Trail Race. Running under the old course record (the open record that is) and to an off the charts age graded performance, Ray literally ran himself sick. It was a stunning performance that was inspiring to all of us over 40 lads.

It was a great year for Master's competition. Consider some of the names that didn't make the list this year - Scott Gaiser, Jeff Thomas, Kirk Keller, John Herring, Steve Bruner and Rob Walker. Just goes to reconfirm the notice that moving to a new age group doesn't necessarily make things any easier.

In the next few days look for the 1st ever ranking on the women's side. Just like th men, there was some intense competition on the distaff side and some great performances. Plus one very difficult challenge for the Buzzard on exaclty where to categorize one of the state's top females.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard.

The Muddy Buzzard's Open Male Runner Of The Year

2011-01-21T20:31:00.000-07:00

This was a bit easier of a choice than in 2009 due to Alan King's dominance at a wide variety of events, conditions and distances. Within the state's border's Alan I believe that Alan suffered just 2 defeats all season. When the racing was tough and the competition tougher, Alan pretty much rose to the occasion in all instances.

Here are some of his highlights for the year:

US 1/2 Marathon Championships, Houston, January 17th - 69:37
USATF XC Championships, Spokane, Februyary, 12K @ 39:35
Twice under 16:00 at 5K - Shamrock Run & Heart & Sole in Billings - (March & June respectively) - 15:54 and 15:59
Solo 67:28 1/2 Marathon on same course used by the Montana Marathon events
32:02 on the Track in Bozeman at the Big Sky Conference Last Chance Qualifier
New Course Record in Big Sky State Games 10K @ 33:49
Qualtiy of Life Run 5-Mile in August @ 24:09
Montana Marathon 1/2 Marathon in September (1:14:47 (after running with me over the first 4 miles at about 24:00)
Ice Breaker 5 Mile - 2nd overall @ 25:39
Montana Cup XC overall champion in 20:20
MSU Billings XC Invitational - 8K @ 24:59

Alan @ 2009 Ice Breaker

Just a very solid year for Mr. King. When he showed up at a race in 2010 there was no doubt that he was going to be considered one of the favorites. And, if he was going to be beaten, it was going to take some fast, hard and painful running to get the line ahead of him.

Alan's only off moment all year came in December at the California International Marathon. After coming through the half at 69:31 (right on pace for an Oly Trials qualifier), he developed a bad stitch and fell off the pace. At that point he dnf''d rather than abuse the body any further. But, don't count out Alan and his Trials Qualifying quest just yet. His recovery after CIM went really well and he's geared up to take another shot at the ING Miami Marathon on 1/30 (less than 2 weeks from now). He just ran a sub-9:00 3K on the indoor track (in the midst of his marathon training) and looks primed and ready to go at South Beach.

As easy a choice as Alan may have been for the Runner Of The Year - the guys that followed him were a bit more of a challenge. What to do with guys like Jimmy Grant, Mike Wolfe, Mike Foote and Keifer Hahn?

Behind that would perhaps have to be The Big Bird himself - Thomas Jodoin of Helena. Okay, he had a bit of an off day at MT Cup (9th in 21:46 - but still only 20 seconds out of the top 5); but, the rest of his year was pretty solid. New course record of 14:07 at Anaconda AOH 5K, wins Veteran's Day for 4th year in a row, double win at Governor's Cup 5K & 10K, 2nd at Wulfman, 1st in Don't Fence Me In 12K Trail in Helena and a 15:49 5K in San Diego in late December.

In the end though, he was 0-2 against Alan and that bumps him off the top spot. An ideal year for 2011 would be to see Alan and Thomas injury free, running fast and going head to head on 4 or 5 occassions. That would be some hot, hot, hot competition.

Jimmy Grant - the 2009 Runner of the Year - gets the next nod. He didn't race a whole lot in 2010; but, they were all solid performances. 72:51 to win Snow Joke:, 31:44 at Riverbank Run 10K; 39:20 for 34th overall at Bloomsday and 71:09 for 1st in Missoula Marathon 1/2. Only off day was a 6th against a stacked field (including several Washington runners) at River Roots - where he still ran 20:21 for 4-miles.

Next up is Mike Wolfe of Helena. 2nd @ Snow Joke, 4th in 10K at Riverbank Run (0-2 against Grant), 6th in Riverbank 5K (and 4th in the Trifecta), 1st in Don't Fence Me in Trail Run 30K in Helena, 3rd @ MT Cup and new course record at Big Horn 100 mile. His biggest performance of the year though was the Europe based North Face Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc - were he place 2nd against an international field over the wet, rugged 100K event.

Mike Foote of Missoula (and an employee at The Runner's Edge) is next on the list. He had wins at the Bear 100 in Utah, the Bridger Ridge Run, the Colter Run and the Pengellay Double Dip. He was 3rd at the Hardrock 100, 2nd at the Don't Fence Me In 30K and 4th at MT Cup (and 0-2 against Wolfe). I also witnessed a morning where Mike had done about 3 hours of warm-up around Mount Sentinel, then did a 4:53 in the Missoula Mile (4th overall) then finished up with another hour on the trails up the Rattlesnake. Pretty impressive range of distance and terrain.

Keifer Hahn's list of events was just a bit too short to move into the top 5. But, he had perhaps the performance of the year (for runs within the state's borders). His 2:30:37 solo effort at the Missoula Marathon was a thing of beauty. Breaking his own course record by 2 1/2 minutes - he was oh so close to the sub-2:30 barrier. And done all by himself. Winning by over 10:00 - he had no help with the pacing or keeping the pace on track. It's probably the best marathon performance in Montana in at least the last decade, if not longer. Keifer is a focused, talented athlete - he doesn't toe the line often; but, when he does show up - you know he's going to be cranking the pace and making the race fast.

One last mention - I've obviously excluded collegiate athletes. My focus here are post collegiate athletes who have remained committed to the sport. That being said - there is one Montana collegiate athlete who reached the rarified air of the super elite. Yes, I'm speaking about Patrick Casey - Laurel Locomotive Alum and current MSU Bobcat. 3 races pretty much tell the tale of his talent level. Fist up is his 4:07.9 at the Big Sky State Games Montana Mile. Pretty impressive for mid-July for a collegiate runner. Of course, this is nothing compared to the 4:04.44 he ran in Bozeman on the indoor track in the winter. Both of which paled in comparison to his big day - how about this for some big time flames spewing out your butt type of day - 3rd place at the NCAA Indoor National Championships in 4:01.87. Impressive indeed.

But, as I said - the Buzzard is focused on those of us who have left the nest of high school and college, have stayed involved in the sport and continue to compete against the best that the Big Sky State has to offer.

So that's the view from the Buzzard's roost. You may or may not agree with my picks; but, either way - would love to hear you weigh in on your thoughts on who you think is the best of the best.

Next up - Masters Men (aka Old Men Running).

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Early Season Action

2011-01-16T17:57:00.001-07:00

So, the new year is upon us and we're starting to see some action inside and outside of the state's borders.

Even though it was technically held in 2010, the Buzzard is consider Run Wild Missoula's New Year's Eve Indoor Track 2-mile Race as a 2011 event. And, that's were Pat Judge of Helena flexed some early season master's muscle. Running right on the heels of 21-year old Thomas Everett of Missoula (and a collegiate athlete at South Dakota Tech) Pat ran a solid 10:23 to get the year started right.

New Year's Day saw the year start off at the annual 5K run in Thompson Falls. Cold temps and lots of snow on the roads kept time's slow and the field a bit smaller than in some past years. But, fun was still had by all - and, a surprising number of folks also took part in the Polar Bear Plunge.

Week two of the year was a quiet on the running front. But, there was a big bang of activity this weekend - all of it out of state; but, involving Montana athletes.

Let's start with the Yellow Jacket Open at Black Hills State in Spearfish, SD yesterday (1/15/11). Alan King, in the midst of a marathon training cycle, equals his PR at 3,000 meters with a 2nd place 8:58.58. In two weeks Alan takes a stab at a fast marathon at the ING Miami Marathon. In addition to Alan - Rocky Mountain College (Alan coaches at RMC) and MSU-Billings (coached by Dave Coppock) were there and running hard. See full results of the meet at: http://bhsuathletics.com/sports/mtrack/2010-11/files/2011_YJ_Open_Results.htm

Also yesterday - the University of Washington Indoor Preview meet in Seattle. The Ricardi kids were at it - both now in their post-collegiate careers - at 3,000 metes. John ran an 8:46.66 in the men's race. Lois (now married and running under the name Lois Keller) ran a stellar 9:50.41 for a 4th place overall finish.

Today's PF Chang's Marathon and Half-Marathon had a full complement of Montana athletes (see full results at http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventLinkageID=15). Leading the way in the full marathon was Brendan Halpin of Missoula. He placed 18th overall with a 2:38:39 performance. Also under 2:45 was John Fitzgerald of Missoula at 2:42:45.

In the half marathon, Ben Rush of Helena ran 1:16:12 to lead the Big Sky finishers. Joe Anderson of Billings (not a name that's familiar to The Muddy Buzzard) ran sub-78 with his 1:17:39. 60-year old Tim Brooker of Plains (and The Runner's Edge) ran a solid 1:29:47 to come in as the 3rd Montanan.

Lewis Elliot of Phoenix (but a native of Billings) ran a 1:15:03 after going out with the lead pack in the first 5K. Lewis is a national level triathlete who just returned to Arizona after a multi-week Christmas break with his family in Montana.

A lot of the action in the next few weeks will be indoor track based (and on the collegiate level). But, there are a few road races in the state; and, Big Sky athletes will be traveling to a few out of state events. The Buzzard will do his best to keep you all up to date on what's going on with the distance running scene in and around the Big Sky State.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard

OHHHHH - The Pain In My A$$

2011-01-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

A little known; but, debilitating condition none the less. You never hear of this affliction as part of polite conversations; and, it's never something that you mother wants to hear discussed at the dinner table. But, it's time that we move this out of the dark closets and sweaty locker rooms and increase the awareness of this dreaded condition. That's right, it's time to talk about ass callouses.

Most of you have probably never heard of Ass Callous Extremus (aka ACE) before. But, it's real and it's more rampant than one might expect. So - exactly how does one come down with this affliction? Well, it generally comes about during the months of December, January and February and is directly correlated to high school wrestling season.

Here in western Montana, it begins with a long trip to Eureka for a double dual meet. 6 hours of driving and two hours on hard bleachers. That's when you see the butt skin begin to thicken and harden. Epsom salts, hot water soaks and liberal application of lotion only delay the inevitable. You think you have it managed during quick trips to Thompson Falls and Superior. But then, the tipping point comes and a towel snaps you right across both cheeks.......................yes, the dreaded trip to Choteau's two day tourney.

Early on you trick yourself into believing that the 4 1/2 hour drive won't have any effect. And, heck, you brought your stadium seat and that should protect you for the 8 hours in the gym on Friday. And; who knows, maybe you are successful in keeping it at bay. You even get in some early morning runs in the bitter cold to help keep the body loose and limber. But then comes Saturday and the day of reckoning. First you drive an hour from Great Falls (since the Choteau area doesn't have enough rooms for all the teams, fans and officials). Then, 10 hours of wrestle-backs, semi finals, consolation finals and championship matches. And the coup de grace - the 4 1/2 hour drive home in the dark.

And, that's when it's complete - your soft as a baby's behind has been transformed into a hard, cracked slab of rawhide. You're now the proud owner of your very own personal Ass Callous. On the bright side, perhaps that will help you to make it through the last couple of invitational tournaments, divisional and state.

Then again, with track season just around the corner, your ACE affliction isn't bound to go away any time soon. Experience would suggest that it generally doesn't subside until you've had the chance to soak in the lake a couple of days around the 4th of July.

Yeah, being a wrestling fan is some tough duty. But, the friends, family, athletes, coaches and officials who are part of these events are die-hard and rabid. We never expected that our daughter would turn us into a wrestling family; but, here we are. And, in the last 4 years I've developed a new respect for those that participate in and are connected to wrestling. It's been a great ride. And, I'm wearing my ass callous proudly this morning after watching some impressive Class B & C athletes on the mat this weekend.

From a gel cushioned seat, I'll see you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Weird Wild Weather

2011-01-13T20:59:00.000-07:00

Experienced some weird weather as we drove across the state today. Left Plains (NW Montana) at about 2:30 this afternoon. Drove through temps of low to mid 30's all the way to Missoula, then up to Lincoln and over Rogers pass. All the while it was light rain and mist.

Then, at the bottom of Rogers Pass, things dried up and warmed up. The snow was gone and the road suddently was bare and dry. All aided by the gusty chinook winds that had the temps up to the mid 40's.

Then, we turned onto Hwy 287 and headed north towards Choteau. About 10 mintues up the road we suddenly crossed the weather front. The wind quit blowing and the within minutes the temperature dropped to 5 degrees. Utterly bizarre.

Living most all of my life in Montana - that's without a doubt the most abrupt weather change I have ever experienced. But, at the same time, it's one of the great things about living in Big Sky Country.

Now, here I sit in Choteau (we're here to watch the big wrestling tournament this weekend) with a temp of about zero. Looks like a frosty run tomorrow morning.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard

Love Being In The Groove

2011-01-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

Ending 2010 and entering 2011 saw me fighting some alingment issues with my right knee cap. The resultant pain was throwing off my form and rythm and made every run a bit of an effort. But, things came back together this week; and, on this past Wednesday I had a run that made me forget all about the last couple of weeks.

If you've been a distance runner for any amoutn of time, you know what a great feeling it is to get in the zone during a run. Finding that "groove" can be almost magical. As things begin to flow, all that exists is the sound of your breathing and your foot falls. Time seems to get compressed. The pace seems to be almost effortless. Your legs seem to roll over with almost no effort and your shoes feel like feathers.

This doesnt' happen very often; but, when it does - it's worth remembering.

Rarer still are those occassions when you are out on a group run with 2 or 3 or 4 of your pals. You approach the end of a long run and that's when it happens - the conversation ends, the pace starts to ratchet down a bit and all you hear are the foot plants of the group. And the pace starts to drop a bit more. And pretty soon, you're not really racing; but, it's no longer just a long run. It's morphed into a symbiotic effort of speed and grace - almost like a dance of power and speed. Magical indeed.

We've all had days like this; and, hopefully we all have more in our legs. Just remember, the next time it happens - remember to enjoy and embrace the run.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard

Close One Chapter, Open The Next

2011-01-01T16:31:00.001-07:00

2010 - in some ways, a year that I would like to just wipe away from the books. And, a lot of that is based on just one factor in my daily life (albeit a big one). Turns out that viral cardiomyopathy tends to put a pretty big damper on your running performances. And, when partaking in the sport is a bit of a passion, that tends to cast a pall on things. And, the cloud continues to hang low while I wait till March to see if the drug therapy is working; or, if my heart weakness/low ejection fraction is going to be a long term and/or permanent issue.

But hey, even with that, the big picture still remains all fine and dandy. When I really kick back and look at things, life is pretty much fantabulishous.

A great wife in Erin - we celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary this summer !!!!!!! Two great kids in Nick and Zoe. A great career in a job that is challenging and my employer treats me at a valuable part of the organization. Coaching the Plains High School XC program for the 2nd year was a kick and it was truly enjoyable to get to hang out with this group of kids in the fall. My parents are now 81 and they're still around to enjoy their grand kids. My brother just had his first baby at the age of 46; and, it's fantastic to have a new member in the clan. Thanksgiving with my family in Paradise Valley. Christmas with Erin, Nick, Zoe and Peg (mother in law) at home in the Clark Fork Valley. 4th of July weekend at the Vermilion Bay property. XC camp in August during the Huckleberry Festival. Taking mom and dad to my brother's new house in the Seattle area over Memorial Day. Doing the Dave Matthews Day Concert at the Gorge Amphitheater in Washington with Nick over Labor Day weekend. Following Zoe all year to Track, Cross Country and Wrestling events.

When I look back, it was a great year filled with rich and enjoyable memories. But, 2010 is now in the books. Today begins a new future. An empty basket just waiting to be filled. And, looking ahead, it has all the makings of being filled with with amazing life adventures.

Nick getting married in March in Arizona to our soon to be daughter in law Katie.
Nick scheduled to graduate from Arizona State (cum laud no less) in early May.
Zoe scheduled to graduate from Plains High School (possible valedictorian???) in late May.
My first season as the Head Track Coach at Plains High School.
Camp Vigilante in July.
Nick heading off to pursue his PhD in genetics this fall (so far he has interviews schedule at Cornell, Duke and Chicago)
Zoe heading off to college to study material science (so far she has been accepted at Montana State and Illinois); and, she hopes, Navy ROTC.
Tony & Erin becoming empty nesters and having to learn how to live without kids in the house.

And, running - what adventures will happen to this old buzzard during the coming season???????? I suspect that lots of that will ultimately be dictated by what goes on with the old ticker and how successful I am in seeing improvements to my cardiac function. Regardless, I'm looking forward to undertaking a weird personal science experiment and maximizing my potential for the year. We'll just have to take what gets thrown at us with the cardiomyopathy and the age (48) and make the best of it.

And, no better time to get started on that path than this morning. We spent New Year's Eve at Silver Mountain Resort in Kellogg, Idaho. (We being me, Erin, Nick, Katie and Zoe.) The other 4 went out this morning to hit the ski slopes. But, thanks to some nagging knee pain in my patella, I begged out. The vastus medialis (the head of the quadriceps on the inside of the leg and just above the knee) on my "bad" leg (the leg in which I fractured my kneecap in 2008) seems to have gotten pretty weak over the last couple of months. The resulting atrophy has meant that my kneecap isn't tracking properly right now and is causing some pain when running. (But, especially in any activity causing eccentric contraction - i..e skiing, jumping, etc.) Since being told to cut back on my mileage for a while by the cardiologist, I had also backed off the core and strength work. Quad got weak. Knee got sore.

My form and rhythm have been compromised a bit in my running. But, I can get in some miles if I really watch my foot plant and keep my pace in check. But, didn't want to risk really getting it sore by putting on the skis. So, just hung out at the resort all day. Sort of a relaxing day of kicking back, doing a little reading and playing on the computer.

But; first, had to worship the mileage gods on the cold (4 degrees) crisp morning. Mostly on the Cour de Alene Trail (that runs 71 miles from Mullan to the west) that runs right past the resort. With the sun out, it felt warmer than 4; and, I got through 3 very easy miles. My form is pretty ragged; but, when I got down to about 7:30 pace, things smoothed out and the knee felt way better. Got back to the motel and did about 15 minutes of quad work and strenghtening for the quad/knee stability. In just a week of getting back to the strengthening work, I'm already seeing improvements.

It's amazing how much fitness I've lost since I backed off the miles in early November. And, while wallowing in self pity a bit, my diet suffered some as well and I'm about 8 to 10 pounds heavier than I would like. Add a gimpy knee and it's makes for a situation that will take some time to get turned around. But, as I said earlier. I'm actually looking forward to it a bit. A new challenge, some new goals, a new chapter, a new trail. 2011 - here comes the Muddy Buzzard!!!!

See you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The King Visits Sacramento

2010-12-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

Alan King will be taking a big shot at dream this weekend. He left today for Sacramento, CA in preparation for the 2010 California International Marathon (CIM) on Sunday.

It was at this same race in 2007 where Alan finished in the top 10 (9th overall) and set his PR of 2:29:25 (2:29:21 chip time). But, this time around, he's looking to take a "run" at the next level.

Alan Running With The Big Boys @ USATF XC Nationals - 2010

His goal - 2:19:00 or faster and make the qualifying time for the 2012 USATF Men's Marathon Olympic Trials. It's a big jump from his current PR ----- but, over the last 3 years, Alan has become a truly different runner. And, in 2010 he's become a dominant runner on the Montana scene.

With the exception of the Bozeman Classic race in early August (where he still got 3rd place in a time in the mid-33's), he's competed at an extremely high level all year.

Alan @ Ice Breaker

Here's to Alan in his quest for stringing together the set of 5:18's that he'll need in order to make a trip to Houston in January 2012. Hopefully he has some company out along the course. CIM has offered some cash incentives to those making the qualifying time; and, CIM is known as a good, fast course. So, the expectation is that there should be a train of guys in that 2:17 to 2:22 range that he should be able to latch onto.

Weather forecasts looks mostly good - low 40's at start to maybe low 50's at finish. A light tailwind to quatering wind possible. The only hiccup could be rain. There is a 50% chance of rain, with some heavy rain forecast for Sunday night. Let's hope it holds off until sometime after noon on Sunday (with race start at 7:00 a.m., Al should be done by 9:19 :D ).

I believe that he is number 124; and, CIM indicates that they will have race day athlete tracking ( see website at http://www.runcim.org/ ); so, get online and check out Alan's progress.

Good luck Al - Run Hard. Run Fast.

Do The Big Sky Proud.

The Muddy Buzzard

The Streak Ends

2010-12-02T18:13:00.000-07:00

Now - I'm not a true honest to goodnedss streaker. Yeah, I would rather run every day then not. But, missing a day or two here and there thru the year generally isn't the end of the world. But, early this summer it dawned on me that it seemed like I hadn't missed a day in a while. And, it turns out that I was right.

As of Tuesday, I was at 705 consecutive days. And.......................that's where it ends. 705 days and some 4,500 to 4,700 miles later.

So,, what was it thta end the streak - Well, I got to spend an exciting day yesterday at the Montana Heart Institute undergoing a heart angiogram.

Good news was that the pipes look clear.

"Bad" news, angio did confirm an ejection fraction of only 30% to 35%.

So, they'll keep me on a medical regimen for now. In 3 months we'll do a new echo cardiogram and see if the meds have helped to improve heart function.

If so, we'll keep at it. If not, we'll figure out the next step then.

Will be able to keep running (as soon as I fully recover from the angio procedure - which should be maybe by the end of the weekend); but, do need to keep the quality and quantity in check.

At any rate - in spite of it all - life is good. Day to day lifestyle hasn't changed and I don't have any limits there. If I have to back off running a bit for my long term health - that's not the end of the world.

Enjoy the upcoming holiday season everyone; and,

I'll see you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard

Already Tired of Winter

2010-11-22T20:06:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here it is ---- only the 2nd day of real snow for the year and it's 19 degrees out (balmy compared to the Billings and Great Falls areas) ----- and, I'm already feeling that this is going to be a long winter at The Lodge @ Bad Rock.

Funny how shoveling your loooooong, steeeeeeeep driveway for 3 hours does that to you. But then, it couldn't be at all due to the fact that I only got 2/3 rds of the driveway done in that time. Or the fact that by the time I got back to the house and the top of the driveway, the area I had originally shoveled already had 2 new inches on it. Or the fact that the area I didn't get to has about 8 - 9 inches that I have to fight through.

Good thing I'm mostly in running on the treadmill or I'd be really pissy about this whole thing.

See you (with a grouchy look on my face) on the roads, tracks, trails and treadmills

The Muddy Buzzard

The Buzzard Flies Low For Awhile

2010-11-05T17:38:00.000-06:00

Well, for about the last 18 months, performance levels have been less than what I would have liked. Yeah, I've had a couple of decent runs. 2009 and 2010 Bloomsday's were okay. As was the 2010 USATF XC Championships. And, the 2010 MT Marathon 1/2 Marathon wasn't the worst day ever.

But, more often than not, my races were train wrecks. Things typically were starting off bad and then went "downhill" from there. The last couple of Montana Cups were prime examples. No matter how comfortably I went out, I just fell apart within the first mile and fought like hell just to keep things moving forward. 73rd overall and 18th masters is just not the expectation that I have for myself.

For awhile, I thought it was a matter of getting back my fitness after being off due to my patellar fracture. Then, there came a point where the fracture was fully healed and mileage was, more or less, at normal levels of 50 - 55 per week. At that point, I thought that maybe I needed some tweaks to my training - maybe different mixes of VO2 Max versus Threshold versus Speed versus Endurance. Then, I thought maybe it was more a matter of being a bit older and needing to cut back on quantity. Finally, I got to the point of having tried a bit of everything; but, to no avail. So finally, I bit the bullet and decided to go see my physician and see if there was something more going on.

Went to the doc, and got some blood work and a chest x-ray. Blood work showed normal iron levels (so no anemia); but, did show a very low free T4. What does that mean - hypothyroid. So, he wanted me to get started on some synthetic thyroid to try to get that balance out.

The radiologist saw an enlarged heart (which didn't completely suprise me - I had seen that in some past tests and none of my prior physicians had suggested that this was a problem) and recommnended a stress echocardiogram. And, that's where things got a bit interesting.

Most everything looked okay; but, it did point out a low Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction. The EF is a measure of how much blood is pumped out of the left ventricle and into the body by way of the arterial network. Typically 55% to 65% of the blood coming into the ventricle is ejected/pumpe out. For me, the testing was suggesting somewhere between 35% and 50%. So - that means that I was only pumping out about 60% to 80% of the normal range.

Turns out that not pumping out as much oxygenated blood as normal is not a good thing for high performance running.

So, what does this mean. Well it's certainly not a good thing. But, doesn't appear to be anything that's going to make me keel over tomorrow. Looks like it's probably related to one of two things. And, the other silver lining - at least it answers the question of why I've been running like a pile of dog poo over the last 18 months.

First, it could be a result of some arterial disease issues (i.e. plaque clogged arteries). Not likely. But, they have scheduled an angiogram to rule this out (or in).

Second, it is more likely what is called a viral cardio myopathy. Basically, some reduced function of the heart muscle as a result of a virus. To treat this - they have put me on some heart meds. One a beta blocker, the other an ACE Inhibitor. Both serve to make it easier for the heart to pump blood. The theory is that it will allow the heart to get stronger.

My cardiologist suggests that the vast majority of patients see improvement with the drug therapy. Some have even returned to near nornal. He does suggest that it's going to be a bit of a challenge to dial in my drug therapy due to the fact that my heart rate is already quite low and I have low blood pressure. And, my existing level of fitness means that I'm not there normal patient type.

But, there is some hope. Hope that I can get back to approaching my prior levels of performance. Hope that this doesn't have a long term affect on my day to day life (it hasn't yet to this point).

So, for now - we'll just follow doctor's orders and see what comes next. For now, he's told me to limit my miles and level of intensity.............code words for slow, short, easy jogging :-( I'll start the drug therapy and get an angiogram on December 1st. After that, we'll see what the next steps are.

But, rest assured, I continue to plan to.................

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

MT Cup Weekend 2010

2010-11-05T16:52:00.000-06:00

Had a great time last weekend sandwiched around the Montana Cup.

Went over to Billings on Wednesday evening for some business at the home office of Sanderson Stewart on Thursday and Friday. Friday night headed over to Kelly & Liz Fulton's to spend a couple of nights. We started off the weekend with a couple of hearty brews at Carter's Brew Pub on Montana Ave. That was the first time that I had been to Carter's; and, I'm hear to tell you - it's some of the finest brew that I've had...........................ever. We finished off the night with a nice pasta topped with a pheasant burger meat sauce. Liz rocks the kitchen!!!!!!

Up early the next morning and headed out to the Rocky Mountain College Equestrian Center NW of Billings on Highway 3. It was a lot of un helping Alan King, Brad Coutant and the rest of the Rim Runners finish setting up the course and getting ready for the onslaught of runners. And, did the runners ever come. Some 214 men and women, boys and girls toed the starting lines.

First up were the women. Using a strong push over the last half of the race, Sarah Graves of Billings took home the win over high schooler Dani Aragon (Billings) and master's stud Nicole Hunt (Butte/Deer Lodge). Sarah's win came just a couple of weeks after a 2:55 marathon performance in Chicago. Sarah continues to amaze me with her ability to run races at any time at any distance and always turn in top level performances.

The men's race was settled pretty early. At the top of a climb right after 2K, Alan King put in a hard surge, opened some daylight and put the win to bed. In the end, he had a 20 second win over Mike Wolfe and Dominic Smargiassi, both of Helena.

It was a perfect day for cross country running. Maybe in the '50's, some light clouds, little to no breeze, and dry. The course was fantastic. A few hills to make it a challenge, some footing that was sketchy and vistas that were limitless. Alan King did a great job of setting out the course, making it so that no one was going to get lost and having accurate mile and kilometer marks.

The Yellowstone Rim Runners did a great job of hosting the event. Packet pick up was seamless. Results (courtesy of Becca King) were quick and accurate. The awards were unique. And, the amount of post race food was enough to leave everyone with a full belly.

For more on the results and a great race write up - check out http://www.montanacup.com/. Ray Hunt did his usual great job of capturing the essence of the day's events.

As for me - the results were dismal. But, see other posts for some reasons behind that whole train wreck. But, I had a great time out on the ranch. How could you not - watching the Helena bus pulling up and spitting out what seemed to be 1,000 folks in Blue. Pat Judge and Ann Seifert do such an amazing job in getting the Helena running community behind the Cup. Pretty easy decision to make Pat and Ann members of the Montana Cup Hall of Fame.

Getting to see old friends is so great - folks like Dave Coppock, Jeff Thomas, Bob Boland, Jaque Maillet, Anders Brooker, Ray and Nicole Hunt, Big Bird Joidin, Eddie Walker, Brad Coutant, Brian Wieck, Dewey Peacock, Alan King, Kelly Fulton, Zach Hunter, etc., etc, etc.

Watching some of the hottest competition of the year is great. Coming one week after the State H.S. XC Championships - its a back to back smorgasbord of running over hill and dale. Good times indeed.

After helping with some clean-up and a quck shower, it was off to the Yellowstone Valley Brewing Company's garage for some post event refreshements. While there, some of the old Sunday Morning Run Club members had a couple of cold ones for old times sake.

Left to Right - The Muddy Buzzard, Dave Coppock, Alan King (aka The Champ) (wearing Gerry), Kelly Fulton, Zach Hunter

A couple of more brews at Carter's (man, they were as good on Satuday as they were on Friday night). Then finished it off with some Mexi Food at Don Louis'. Neeless to say - it was a loud and smelly night at the Fulton house.

Sunday morning, we hit the trails from Zimmerman Park and beyond Indian Cliffs. It was great to be out with Kelly, Alan and Zach - it had been a long time since we had convened a service of the Church Of The Blue Dome. It was a glorious day - calm and crisp. Just right for an hour run with your pals.

Church members right after confession to Gerry

Monday found me back at work (and still in Billings). But had a nice run with Michael Sanderson (who happens to be my boss) out at Riverfront Park. Hadn't been out there in a couple of years. We did the back loops on the east side of the park (they've made a bunch of improvements back in this section), then did a loop around Norm's Island. We got out a bit late; but, the upside was that we were able to see a magnificant sunset and finished just as dusk was settling in. It was cool and calm - the sun just setting ----- another great run. It was amazing to be in Billings at the end of October and have so many days of warm weather with little to no wind. Pretty spectacular conditions.

All in all, it was just a great weekend of malts and miles (beer and running :-) )

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Gone Too Long

2010-09-23T15:10:00.000-06:00

Hard to believe that it's been two months since I really last posted anything of note. But, with the onset of summer came long days (and evenings) of working on the house. Then XC season started and that meant practices, settting up schedules, meets, etc.

In the end, the last couple of months have been a whirlwind. And, I just couldn't quite juggle all the balls - so, something had to give. Although not happy about it, The Muddy Buzzard got the short end of the stick.

But, I expect that in the next couple of weeks I'm going to be able to find a bit more time to devote to getting back to my inane commentary on the sport we love. The Buzzard enjoys putting pen to paper (or keystrokes to computer) and letting his thoughts flow.

Until then, thought at least one or two folks might be wondering if I'm still alive and kicking (yes and yes :-) )

See you on the roads, tracks and trails; and, of course at MT Cup 2010 - Pain On The Prairie

The Muddy Buzzard

PDS and The Judge at BSSG

2010-07-19T13:36:00.000-06:00

So, Peter Dan Sullivan (PDS) had a great run at the Montana Mile on Friday night with his 4:34. Then, up early the next morning and hit the track for a hard 5,000.

Just like they did a few years ago, PDS and Pat Judge teamed up to see what they could do about dragging each other to some fast times. And, once again, it was a successful strategy.

Both set new age group records. PDS got 2nd overall and a new 45-49 record with his 16:27.4 (5:17 pace). Patrick got a 3rd overall and a new 40-44 record at 16:35.1 (5:20 pace).

Great running guys.

See you ont he roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard

Not To Late For Naegeli Ranch Run

2010-07-18T12:42:00.000-06:00

Still time to consider heading to the Thompson Falls area for the Naegeli Ranch Run next Saturday (July 24th). It's a benefit for the Thompson Falls and Plains Cross Country teams and will be held on the Naegeli Ranch west of Thompson Falls.

This is a true trail run. Jacob Naegeli has fashioned 3K and 8K courses righ throught the heart of the ranch. It has forested sections, meadows filled with wildflowers, several creek crossings (one without a bridge :-0 ), cow paths and game trails. The 8K has one tough, gnarly hill section. He basically took his hand mower and has carved out 5+ miles of pathways. It will be a course that you won't soon forget.

Check out http://www.runmt.com/ for more info on the run. Race time is 11:00, so plenty of time to head up to the race, get registered, run, check out the towns in the Clark Fork Valley and still make it home for a later supper.

Hope to see you there.

The Muddy Buzzard.

Big Sky State Games Notes

2010-07-18T12:32:00.000-06:00

Patrick Casey pulls off another great performance at the Montana Mile. He and John Ricardi (just having finished up at Idaho State) had a great race over about 1400 meters. But, in about the last 200, Patrick put in the big finish and set a new raace record at 4:07.9. This gave him a bit over 3 seconds at the finsh, with John hitting 2nd at 4:11.3. Those are great times for both. Over the last 2 or 3 years; these two athletes have taken the Montana Mile to a whole new level of times and competitive performance.

John's performance comes after a long season of cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. His outdoor track season alone included having to be on top of form all the way to June and the NCAA outdoor championships. Amazing that he could still pull out a 4:11 when he's well beyond his competitive sharpness for the year.

And, Patrick is equally impressive. After hitting a 4:04 mile this indoor season and getting 3rd at the NCAA indoor championships, Patrick reshirted his outdoor season to build some strength and get ready for a big XC season. Well, the work is clearly paying off. To hit a 4:07 in your off-season, with no recent competitions to get you sharp - it bodes well for what we'll see from Patrick in the upcoming year. I dare say that he could be positioning himself quite well to be part of the NCAA middle distance elite over his next two years.

Another big time run came from super master Peter Dan Sullivan of Helena. At 45, he hung right into the pack for a spectacular time of 4:34.3. Just goes to show that you don't have to lose your leg speed when you get old and decrepit. Way to go PDS.

Lois Ricardi Keller also put on a good show for the folks in the stands. Winning by almost 100 meters, and figting off the effects of a pre-race hammy cramp, she set a new race record of 4:58.8. Meanwhile, the Aragon sisters of Billings Senior and Nicole Reitz of Billings West continued their year long "rivalry" with Alexa running 5:17.2, Dani at 5:17.4 and Nicole at 5:17.7.

On the roads, Alan King fought through 97 degree heat on Friday evening to win the opening ceremonies 5K at 16:44. He came back just 12 hours later (when it was already in the mid-70's at 7:00 a.m.) to win the 10K in a new race record of 33:10.

On the women's side, just one week after place 2nd at the Missoula Marathon (3:05 and change if I remember correctly), MSU-Billings' Lisa Minnehan pulled off a double of her own. Winning the 5K in 19:15 , she came back yesterday morning to win th 1/2 marathon in a new course record of 1:30:25.

So, once again - Montana's athletes show great reliliency in the heat of Billings and turn in some great performances at the big sky state games.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard

Missoula Marathon

2010-07-13T17:51:00.000-06:00

Year number 4, and the Missoula Marathon continues to be among the standard bearers for excellence in running events in Montana. Having won the 2009 Runner's World Reader Survey as Best Overall Marathon in America, the event almost doubled in size this year - from 2300+ runners to about 4200. In spite of the rapid rise in participants, the race still kept a great "hometown" feel. Great energy, great excitement, great times. Now - on to the Buzzard's thoughts from the race.

Great peformances in both the full and half marathon.

Meg Lerch with a new CR in the women's open half at 1:22:24.
Debbie Gibson with a new CR for the women's master's marathon at 3:15:26

All 4 open winners (men's and women's full and 1/2) from Missoula.
Men's and Women's Master's full marathon winners from Helena.
Great to have a race of this size and competitive level with a bunch of home grown talent.

Jimmy Grant continue's his hot running year with a 1:11:10 half marathon win (just one week after a 1:13:15 to win the Twin Cities Red, White and Boom 1/2).

The performances of the day however came on the men's side. Both of these runs were impressive enough that they equal billing from the Buzzard.

Keifer Hahn wins his 3rd Missoula Marathon (and defends his 2009 title) in a new course record 2:30:37. A 2:40 improvement on his record from last year and oh so close to the first sub-2:30 in Montana in over 20 years. He went out hard (1:13:11 at the half), was never challenged and won by just under 11 minutes. It was a great performance.

Equally impressive - Kyle Strode's 2:47:00 to win the master's race and place 4th overall and beats the master's record by 7:50. Beats a great master's field that saw 6 guys under 3:00. Kyle Litton (not sure of hometown)(2:49:07), Mike Telling of Dillon (2:50:43) and Scott Gaiser of Kalispell (2:54:20) were all under the old record as well.

I do have to aplogize to Kyle. I had missed him when he first came in. We were having some computer problems and he got "lost" in the crowd of 1/2 marathoners. I saw Telling come in and assumed that he was the first master and gave him credit for the new record. A few minutes later I saw Kyle in the finish area, he signed to me his time and it became clear that I had some back pedalling to do.

Seeing the Higgins Bridge completely full with spectator's and runners for a couple of hours from about 1:30 into the race until about 4:00 into the race.

Seeing the crowd go ape shit as a big group of runners cranked over the bridge and just made it under the 4:00 barrier.

Trisha Miller wins the women's marathon at just over 3 hours (3:02:22) and blows kisses to the crowd as she crosses under the line.

Hearing the crowd noise when 83-year old Bob Hayes comes into the finish line.

Watching almost 1500 marathons head out in the early morning sunrise and fill the road for about 100 meters behind the start line as the UM ROTC cannon blast breaks the morning silence.

Getting a chance to hang out wit a bunch of runner's over the weekend and visiting with lots of friends at the expo on Saturday.

Working on a new personal tradition of marking the course late on Saturday night with Anders Brooker and his uncle Jay.

The excitement as Fran Gilday came across the line. This was Fran's 50th state in which she finished a marathon. A goal she first started working on in 1983. She had a support crew of about a dozen folks, all dressed in red, coming over the bridge with her.

There were just so many great stories during the course of the weekend - it really helps a guy to stay in love with the sport after spending a weekend like that.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Catching Up on the Wulfman

2010-06-28T18:39:00.000-06:00

A bit behind on this; but, check out the results of the Wulfman CDT 14K Trail Race on the Butte's Piss & Moan Runners website.

Full results by overall, male, female, age groups and age graded (40+); plus, a race summary by the Muddy Buzzard himself.

The Piss & Moan Runners site is @ http://www.buttespissandmoanrunners.com/Butte%20Races/CDT-14K/cdt_14k.htm

Also, check out the race's Facebook page @ http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=214474434957&ref=ts#!/group.php?gid=214474434957&v=wall&ref=ts to check out some pix from the event.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Naegeli Ranch Run

2010-06-15T19:04:00.000-06:00

Up here in the northwest part of the state - we're having a bit of a struggle to continue to have our schools support high school cross country. Both the Plains and Thompson Falls programs are at risk of losing school funding and having to "self fund" in order to keep the sports alive. We're not quite there yet; but, with the impending fiscal issues that will be coming out of the 2011 legislative sessions, we expect that we could be at the tipping point where we move from partial funding to self funding.

So, to try to be proactive and get our fundraising solidly in place, the Clark Fork Valley Running Club will be hosting a fun little trail race on the Naegeli Ranch outside of Thompson Falls. Sarah Naegeli is the coach at Thompson Falls H.S. and her family will be opening up their property to any and all Trail Nerds.

Below is the information from the entry form. So, if you're open that day, want to have some fun at a new race and help out the next generation of runners - head up on up Higway 200 and visit the Naegeli Ranch. Put a smile on the Muddy Buzzard's face and help out some fellow harriers.

Here's Da Facts:

NAEGELI RANCH RUN

A Trail run located just outside of Thompson Falls, MT

3K and 5 mile Trail Run on Saturday, July 24

This race might include trees, logs, hay bales and creeks to cross, hills, forests, irrigation systems, cows, hay fields, and anything else you might imagine on a ranch!

Race Day registration starts at 9:45am RACE BEGINS AT 11:00 AM

Entry fee: $15 for 3K, $18 for 5 mile for entries received by July 17

$18 and $22 day of race registration

Entry fee includes unisex sized , t-shirt

Make checks out to Clark Fork Valley Running Club

Mail to: Carol Brooker PO Box 794 Plains, MT 59859

Or turn entry forms in to The Runner’s Edge, Missoula, MT

Directions

We are located 12 miles west of Thompson Falls, MT.

Travel north on Hwy 200 approximately 10 miles past Thompson Falls.

Turn left (west) on Big Beaver Creek (before the 40 mile marker).

Travel ¾ of a mile up Big Beaver Creek and turn left on Little Beaver Creek Road.

We are the first driveway on the right, approximately ½ mile up Little Beaver Creek.

Contact Sarah at tfl4887@blackfoot.net or 827-4887, or Tony Banovich at badrock04@msn.com or 672-6700 for more information

Many thanks to Runner’s Edge for sponsoring the race.
Proceeds to benefit Cross Country teams of Clark Fork Valley (Thompson Falls Bluehawks and Plains Horsemen)

Wulman CDT 14K Preview

2010-06-10T22:06:00.001-06:00

Wulfman 2K10 – Who To Watch

Another year of hot, hot racing is in store at the 3rd Annual Wulfman’s CDT 14K trail race. This 3rd edition of the race, to be run from Homestake to Pipestone in this even numbered year, looks to continue the same high level performances seen at the first two editions.

The women will have a new champion in 2010. The winner of the 2009 event (and course record holder for northbound route), Nicole Hunt will be focusing on her race director duties and leave the running to others this year - which makes the race up front wide open.

Early favorites would have to be Marta Fisher and Michelle Bazanella, both of Helena. M & M finished a strong 1-2 at the Don’t Fence Me In 30K Trail Race in Helena in early May and a 2nd and 3rd at the Big Butte 11K in April. Trail and endurance race specialists, they should both perform well at the high altitude and on the southbound trail climbs. A dark horse could be Maurie McLaughlin. Getting the win at the Wulfman Frigid Digger 7-miler in February, she’s looking take the honor’s in the Wulfman’s warm-weather race.

Master’s ace Debbie Gibson could also be a factor in the race for the title. With a 5th place in 2009 and top finishes at the 2010 Snow Joke and Run To The Pub ½ Marathons, Debbie looks ready for a top 3 finish.

Other women who look to make the elusive top 5 podium finish include Jennifer Burke and Laura West, together with a couple of teenagers in Rebekah Kirtley and Olivia Wood. All the women will be chasing the southbound course record set by Sarah Keller in the inaugural (2008) event of 1:10:36.

The men’s field looks to be deep, deep, deep – especially on the master’s side. Thomas Jodoin, the event’s one and only winner, will be back to try for the 3-peat (and to challenge his record time of 58:51). And, Thomas has been on a bit of role this year. With wins at the AOH 3-miler, the Vigilante Road Mile and the Don’t Fence Me In 12K, together with a 3rd at the Ice Breaker 5-mile, Thomas is looking sharp in the 2010 season. But, the converted middle distance track specialist will have his hands full. Keifer Hahn, the 2009 CDT runner up will return to give chase to Thomas. He doesn’t race a lot; but, his runner-up finish in the Riverbank Trifecta shows that - like always - when he races, he runs for the win. And, fresh off another stellar season at the University of Montana, Lynn Reynolds will look to improve on his 4th place finish in 2009.

A few of the other open men running to reach the podium include Matt Choquette, Colin Gaiser, Josh Panasuk, Adam Peterman, Ben Phipps, Doug Wadle, Brian Wieck and Dylan Zitzer. But, these youngsters will have to hold off some old guys as the top echelon of Montana master’s runners are coming to race along the great divide. In the first two editions of the event, master’s athletes took several of the top 10 spots; and, with this year’s group, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see up to half of the slots going to the 40+ crowd.

Two-time top 10 finisher Mike Telling (and masters champ in 2008 and 2009) will be back and will certainly have a start position at the front of the pack. Scott Gaiser and Jeff Braun have both have had a string of excellent performances dating back into 2009. Don’t overlook a couple of 50+ athletes in Kirk Keller and Mad-Dog Marvin Speece. And, mountain specialist Jeff Thomas is having his best season in the last several years and loves to run the hills and at altitude. Although both have fought a few injury issues the last couple of years, Ray Hunt and Tony Banovich are always a threat. Ken Newhall and Mark Slater will also be in the mix and ready to rumble.

With a sold out field, clear trail conditions and the hospitality of the Homestake Lodge, all the pieces are in place for an amazing mix of racing, camaraderie and a celebration of the Wulfman and the trail he loved.

Whrilwind

2010-06-05T10:21:00.000-06:00

The last month has been a flury of activity.

A big chunk of my time went towards remodeling our living room. When we bought the place, only the back half of the main floor was finished. The basement was completely unfinihsed - just open studs. We've put in a bedroom and an entryway (although there is still a bit of finish work to be done; but, we do have functional spaces) in the basement and a laundary area.

The primary living area on the main floor was finished with old, dark-dark, paneling. Think 1970's basement type stuff. It was on all the walls and the ceiling. It was like living in a cave. Well, we finally got things put together to get the room upgraded. We had sheet rock put on the walls and toungue and groove pine on the ceiling. I had contactors do the drywall and install the tongue and groove; but, I had to stain all the boards (some 140 of them), stain the boards for the window and door trim, install about half the door and window trim and install all of the base boards. Also installed some new lighting fixtures.

It turned out great. The room fits well with the existing finish work in the rest of the house; and, it brightened up the space so much. With the high ceilings (19' at peak) and open beam structure, it really gives it the look of a light, open lodge type setting. It's made a huge difference in the space. We're super excited about seems like a whole new house. Erin is very pleased that we finally jumped in and got the job done.

But, for most of May I was working from the time I was off work-work until somewhere between 9 - 11 at night. And all of my open time on the weekends was spent on the house as well.

On top of that, we spent lots of Saturdays traveling to track meets to watch Zoe and the rest of the Plains kids.

And, last weekend (Memorial Day) we took an extra long weekend to take my parents out to the Seattle area to see my brother's new house.

Needless to say - with all that going on I haven't really had the energy or time to get to the Buzzard. But, over the next few days I intend to get caught up on what's been going on in our sport and some big things that are coming up.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard

Mountain West At Oregon Twilight

2010-05-13T21:33:00.000-06:00

4 of the Mountain West ladies made the trip to the land of Pre last weekend (May 9th) for the Oregon Twilight meet.

First up were Meg Lerch, Jennie Newton and Rye Palen in the women's 5K. Long story short - it was a good day to be wearing the MW colors.

Meg Lerch gets the win with a stellar 16:42.04. She is on a roll this seaon and looks poised to hit sub-16:30. Jennie, getting oh so near to the masters ranks, runs a sub 18:00 with a 7th place 17:58.95. And, in 8th was Rye - her 18:05.68 also well under 6:00 pace.

In the 1,500, Dianne Cummins continues to run fast. Her 4:17.25 (roughly a 4:35 mile) brought her home in a close 2nd place to Oregon's Nicole Blood.

Way to go Mountain West ladies.

Bloomsday Pix

2010-05-13T21:28:00.000-06:00

Courtesy of Ray Hunt

Jimmy Grant Looking Fit and Fast In His

Stylish Big Sky Distance Project Singlet

Yes, Nicole - it is okay to smile when

you're running fast and kicking ass!!!!

Look at the that old buzzard holding off

the young punk

(Okay, so - the young punk came back and got me at the finish. But, I made him hurt if he was going to get past me :-) )

Checking Out The Blooms With 50,000 Of My Closest Friends

2010-05-13T21:09:00.000-06:00

Okay - so it's a bit late in coming; but, here's the Buzzard's report of Bloomsday (Sunday, May 2nd).

The weather was kind of sketchy in Spokane as we pulled into town on Saturday afternoon and arrived at the convention center to pick up our race packets. Periods of heavy rain and gusty winds had me a bit nervous about what things would be like on race morning. But, not too worry. Conditions were extremely good as we woke up early Sunday.

Clear skies, cool (but not cold) temps and only mild breezes created the 49,000 + runners who made the annual pilgrimage to Don Kardong's festival of running. Erin and Zoe headed to the start line a bit after 8:00 (we stayed at a motel within about 1K of the start); and, I followed at about 8:30. It was a perfect warmup distance to the second seed corral; and, had time to hit the porta pottie and get in a few strides.

The only real mistake I made was settling in a bit too far back from the front of the second seed runners. Once the gun went off, I probably was 3 to 4 seconds before hitting the start line, then had about 400 meters of very crowded street. But, I really tried to focus on staying controlled and keeping the pace reasonable. My training hadn't been going to well over the last month. Felt flat, heavy, fatigued and uninspired. Felt like a case of overtraining; but, whatever the case, didn't have really high expectations.

Earlier this year, I had hopes of running 42:30 to 43:30. But, with how I had been feeling and running recently, I was thinking that 47 or 48 may be as good as I was going to see. So, I was pleasently suprised when I hit the first mile at just under 6:00 pace. Then, got into a bit of a groove and just kept hitting 6:00's. Just barely over 6:10's for the miles that include sections of Doomsday hill.

Ran pretty strong into the finish and was happy to be right about 45:00. Turns out, ran exactly the same time as 2009 - 45:09. So, while not the time goal I had set earlier this year; it, was a pleasant suprise given how I felt coming into the event. Clearly though, I have a few things to work on over the summer.

In looking at pix and videos from my last couple of races, I see that my leg lift and stride length are pathetic. My leg turnover and general leg speed are also woefully lacking. And, I probably need to get some bloodwork done to make sure that I don't have some underlying physiological issues that are contributing. But, I'm confident that I can get back on track and be ready for lat summer and the fall racing/XC season.

As to the rest of the Montana crew. Here's a list of the top 25 Big Sky runners:

1. Jimmy Grant, 31, of Missoula, MT 0:39:20

2. Dewey Peacock, 30, of Bozeman, MT 0:42:21
3. Noah W Stout, 21, of Darby, MT 0:42:34
4. Ian C Blair, 38, of Billings, MT 0:43:34
5. Nicole B Hunt, 40, of Deer Lodge, MT 0:43:43
6. Jesse Q Carnes, 24, of Missoula, MT 0:43:52
7. Scott Gaiser, 47, of Kalispell, MT 0:43:53
8. Patrick T Murphy, 28, of St Ignatius, MT 0:44:23
9. Ted Burnham, 40, of Kalispell, MT 0:44:35
10. Doug Neil, 31, of Bozeman, MT 0:44:38
11. Jake Neil, 31, of Bozeman, MT 0:44:40
12. Ed Detzi, 43, of Bozeman, MT 0:44:52
13. Adam Peterman, 14, of Missoula, MT 0:44:57
14. Steve L Morley, 42, of Bigfork, MT 0:45:06
15. Tony Banovich, 47, of Plains, MT 0:45:09
16. Donald P Rosenleaf, 36, of Butte, MT 0:46:53
17. Brett J Larsen, 29, of Missoula, MT 0:46:54
18. Eddie P Mundall, 36, of Thompson Falls, MT 0:46:54
19. Mike D Jr Kallas, 25, of Butte, MT 0:47:07
20. Makena Morley, 13, of Bigfork, MT 0:47:22
21. Kal J Tucker, 22, of Bozeman, MT 0:47:24
22. Scott Stearns, 37, of Missoula, MT 0:47:39
23. Randy T Welch, 33, of Townsend, MT 0:48:03
24. Gary L Caton, 51, of Bozeman, MT 0:48:04
25. Mary K Thane, 46, of Missoula, MT 0:48:05

Some of the performances of note (from my pespective): Tops has to be Nicole Hunt's run. Competing with the elite women, she was 17th overall woman, 6th American and 1st master's women (she turned 40 just days before the race.). Here 43:43 is a screaming fast time and placed her 5th amongst all Montanan's. Kudo's to the new fastest old chick on the block.

Next up was Jimmy Grant of Missoula. Continuing his string of solid performances dating back to early 2009, Jimmy repeated as the fastest Montanan. His 39:20 got him 34th overall and was 3 minutes ahead of the next Big Sky athlete.

Dewey Peacock had a great run as the second Montanan and the only person besides Grant to break the 43:00 barrier.

Adam Peterman of Missoula, a Hellgate High freshman, took a break from his track season to pop off a sub 45 with his 44:57. That strenght served him well as the next weekend he just missed the sub-10:00 3200 mark. Not a bad "rookie" season.

Finally, there is a Makena Morley of Bigfork listed with a 47:22 time and an age of 13. If that's all accurate, we may very well have our next Zoe Nelson. Does anyone know anything more about this girl? If so, let me know.

Well, there you have it - another year of Bloomsday behind us; and, I'm glad that we made the trip over. Gave me a little shot in the ass and has inspired me to really commit to doing the little things that I need to do to get my times back down to be competitive with Ray, Kyle, Pat, Herring, Telling, et al.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

The Buzzard Took A Nap

2010-05-13T20:42:00.000-06:00

Been away for a bit from posting. First off, we got back from Bloomsday on Sunday evening. I took off the next morning for a 4 day trip to Billings for work. Got home late Thursday and spent Friday getting caught up at home and work. Then off to Kalispell all day Saturday for the Archie Roe track meet.

On top of everthing else, we have been remodeling our living room. When we bough the house, the living room walls and celing were "finished" in ugly, dark brown paneling. '70's basement rec room flashbacks every day. It was dark and really detracted from the rest of the house.

So, we finally undertook getting it upgraded. We had someone come in to do sheetrock on the walls; and, hired someone to do tongue and groove pine on the ceiling and pine board trim around the doors and windows. In order to stay ahead of the contractors, I was using all of my free time to stain boards, trim out electrical devices and do general clean-up and dust control.

We're getting close to being done; but, still have to stain and install boards for wall base and trim around a closet and some upper windows. And, need to put up a "built in" book case that goes from floor to the 12' ceiling. It's been a lot of work and has really killed my "free time"; but, man, it really looks great. Will post some before and after photos when we get it all done.

But, now I'm back and ready for some posting on the last couple of weekends.

The Muddy Buzzard

We'll See Some Things Bloomin' This Weekend

2010-04-29T21:03:00.000-06:00

Bloomsday coming up this weekend. Not sure who all from Montana will be present; but, you can be sure that there will be some good representation from Big Sky Country.

The Buzzard was hoping to have a good first weekend in May. But, not so sure that I'll be pulling it off.

Had a good early spring of training. But, by about mid March was starting to feel flat. And, it hasn't gotten any better. Almost feels like a bit of overtraining. Flat, some lingering fatigue, no snap. Didn't really thingk that I was doing that much in the way of mileage or quality. But, apparently, it was enough to allow me to cross onto the bad side of that proverbial line.

But, we'll give it a go anyway. Hey, us runners are always like the Bon Jovi song - "Livin' on a prayer". Who knows - life can be funny. Even when you think that you're about to run like the big ole doggy doo, you pull off the flyer (and vice versa). So, we'll go, run hard, have fun and enjoy the spectacle of Bloomsday.

For those of you who are also heading to Spokane - best of luck.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard

Big Weekend In The Big Sky

2010-04-28T21:20:00.000-06:00

As expected, the racing was hot this weekend.

Saturday saw the 38th running of the Riverbank Run in Missoula. Even though the weather turned windy later in the day, the morning saw some real nice racing conditions. At the time of the 10K (9:00 a.m.), the temps were in the mid-40's with little to no wind. And, it really didn't start to get ugly until noonish. By that time the races were all done and complete.

First out of the gate was the 10K, with Jimmy Grant toeing the line to see if he could defend his 2009 title. And, with a solid 31:44 time, he got the win and a continuation of his stellar 2010 season. It was a tough win with a slew of solid times coming in behind. 2nd was UM assistant coach Phil Keller with his 31:53; and, another 10 seconds back was Kiefer Hahn in 32:03. The top 5 were rounded out by Mike Wolfe of Helena in 32:42, then Joseph Peelgrino ( a new UM grad student) in 33:23. Courtesty of Ray Hunt, here's the lead pack of the 10K.

Phil with glasses, Kiefer in white, Wolfe in Grey, Jimmy with hat, Pellegrino in red

Top men master was Brent Ruby (42) of Missoula. His 34:38 placed him 6th overall. 2nd master was Scott Gaiser at 35:40 (9th overall) and 3rd was Jeff Braun - 10th overall at 36:03.

The first woman was Jenny Newton, with her 38:30, giving her a 75 second win over Katherine Aune of Missoula. First master's woman was Mary Pat Ostger of Stevinsville at 43:44.

Then came the 5K (and the 2nd leg of the race's trifecta - where athletes run the 10K, 5K and mile and the lowest combined time is the winner); and, like the 10K, the lead was dominated by the trifectors (hey - that's a great made up scrabble word isn't it :-) ). Here Pellegrino got the better of the 10K boys with a stellar 15:09 allowing him to break the tape.

Pellegrino leading Keller and Kiefer into the 5K finish

Next in was Phil Keller at 15:13, Kiefer at 15:15, Quentin Decker at 15:25, then Collin Fehr at 15:29 and Mike Wolfe at 15:42. 7th overall and 1st master was Antoine Cuervo of Whitefish in 15:05.

Meg Lerch was the women's winner and was unchallenged with her 16:27 for 11th - missing out on a top 10 finish by only 2 seconds.

Then comes the last bit of pain for the trifecta folks. The mile - after 9.3 miles of hot running you then have to put the hammer down, keep the lactic acid at bay and let the lungs burn. And; boy, did they burn it up.

Clearly, it was hot and fast right from the start and stayed that way to the end. Pellegrino picked up his second win of the day with his 4:44. Right on his heels were Kiefer Hahn at 4:45 and Phil Keller at 4:46. Mike Wolfe rounded out the sub-5:00's with his 4:58.

In the end, Keller got the trifecta win with a combined tme of 51:52. Then Kiefer at 52:02, Pellegrino in 53:15 and Wolfe at 53:20. The women's winner was Jeenifer Sauer with a 68:24 combined time.

Great day in River City.

A day later was the Ice Breaker Road Race festival in Great Falls. More of the big guns were on hand, with a head to head match up of Alan King and Thomas Jodoin. And, they didn't disappoint in the marquee 5-mile event.

With Bernard Langat (the requisite Kenyan getting the win in just under 25:00), Alan pulled off a 2nd place overall with a 25:39. Jodoin got the 3rd overall (both of them beating the other "ringer") at 26:21. Although some heavy rain affected the race, it didn't seem to slow the boys at all. Kyle Strode of Helena kept his hot 2010 year going, taking the masters win at 28:22.

The Kenyan women took the top 2 spots; but, then came Nicole Hunt at 29:33 (15th overall) and Dani Shahan in 30:01 (16th overall). I believe that this was Nicole's last run as a sub-master - she'll be a 40 plusser come Bloomsday. For this event - Laurie Detzi was the women's master champ.

At the 3-mile distance - Moses Leavens got the win at 15:44, with jared Reyes (of UGF) in 2nd at 16:06. 3rd overall, and 1st masters was Antoine Cuervo (coming back a day after his 7th overall/1st master run at the Riverbank Run) in 16:25. Of note on the masters side was 50-year old Charlie Lucero - 8th overall - in 17:42.

The women's winner (and 1st master as well) was Kathie Perrins in 18:56. Another 50+ athlete had a big day - multiple 3-mile winner in past years Suzie Kaluza of Butte was 3rd overall today in 19:42.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Talk About Tough

2010-04-21T19:27:00.000-06:00

Okay, so one of you runs the fastest ever American time at the Boston Marathon (2:08:41). Another runs within 15 seconds of his PR (2:09:26). And what did those efforts get Ryan Hall and Meb Keflezghi??????
How about no better than 4th and 5th place.

That's what happens when the winner runs a course record 2:05:52 (Robert Cheruyiot of Kenya) and second place runs 2:07:23 (Tekeste Kebede of Ethiopia). Then, the third place guy (who ran in the lead until the last 4 kilometers) "blows up" and still holds on for third in 2:08:39.

But, that's what happens when the world of elite marathoning has reached a new benchmark for excellence. 2:07 is basically the new lower threshold for elite performance. And, you pretty much have to be ready to run 2:05 or 2:06 to be even think about winning a major marathon.

It's a far different world than it even was just 5 years ago.

On the upside, the American men seem to be getting closer. We now have guys "in the mix" at some of the big marathons. We have Hall and Meb in the top 5 at Boston, and Jason Lemkuhle pulled off a 9th to give us 3 in the top 10.

But, they're going to have to get in a whole different mid-set to be ready to take it to the next level and be prepared to hit 2:06 or 2:076 everytime that they toe the line. 5:00 pace (2:10 effort) isn't going to cut it any longer. They're going to have to adopt a bit of the Kenyan philosophy where you go for broke. You very well may crash and burn; but, you may also flame brilliantly, hit a flyer and have a performance for the ages.

I remain hopeful that we're making the progress we need to and that the young guns like Hall, Ritzheneheim, Rupp, Tegenkamp, Fernandez and others are going to be solid competitors on the world stage and set the tone for the up and coming generation of American distance runners.

The Muddy Buzzard

A Win For Mountain West

2010-04-21T19:12:00.000-06:00

Diane Cummins pulled off a big win at the Mt. Sac Relays on Saturday. Running in the elite/invitational section of the 800 meters, Diane won the event in a stellar time of 2:03.25. Considering that 2:00 is the line of excellence in the international world, Diane is basically there during an early season meet. Great start to the year for Diane. And, kudos to the Mountain West Track Club of Missoula being represented by Diane in the 800 and 1500 meters, as well as Meg Lerch in the 5,000 meters.

Great work ladies.

Beantown on Monday

2010-04-17T08:26:00.001-06:00

The Boston Marathon is Monday and there's a number of ways to see the action.

Universal Sports will be broadcasting the race on the web. Connect to the action at http://www.universalsports.com/

There will be real time web coverage at http://www.runnersworld.com/ and http://www.runningtimes.com/

And, of course - lots of information (including web coverage) at the Boston Athletic Association site @ http://www.baa.org/

The BAA's athlete tracking isn't quite as user-friendly as some other races: But, if you know someone who is racing and are willing to spend a couple of minutes on the website, you can get their numbers and track their performances through the race at multiple check points.

It will be exciting to see if Meb Keflezghi or Ryan Hall can finally break the domination of the East African's and bring the laurel wreath back to the US.

The Muddy Buzzard

MT Sac

2010-04-17T08:09:00.000-06:00

Pretty decent Thursday and Friday for Montanan's at Mt. Sac.

Thursday - Steepelchases:

Men Olympic Development Division
     John Ricardi - Idaho State (Gardiner) - 8:52.80 6th out of 20 (6/20)
     Matt Adams - Montana State - 9:01.44 (9/20)

University/Open Division -
     Zach Nordahl - Air Force (Rapalje) - 9:17.70 (13/18)

Women Invitational - Lois Ricardi Keller - Unattached (Idaho State)(Gardiner) - 10:16.50 (6/18)
    That time meets the "B" standard for the 2010 national championhsips and is only 4.5 seconds off the A standard. So, it's very likely that we'll see Lois lining up with the big girls at nationals this summer. Way to go Lois!!!!!

Friday -

1,500 Women's Olympic Development
     Heather Haug - Montana State (Livingston) - 4:26.48 (13/18)

1,500 University/Open - both the Ricardi's came back from their Steeples in the 1,500
     John Ricardi - 3:49.68 - 18th out of 94 (combined from multiple heats)
     Lois Ricardi Keller - 4:30.62 (12/86)

Women's University/Open 5,000 meters
     Meg Lerch - Missoula/Mountain West TC - 16:43.94 (16/31)

Women's Invitational 1,500 meters
     Diane Cummins - Missoula/Mountain West TC - 4:12.81 (3/9)

Great job to one and all. Specail shout out to Lois and her meeting the national qualifying B standard.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Here's What's A Comin'

2010-04-13T16:04:00.000-06:00

Fair amount of stuff going on this weekend - mostly on the track.

The road racing scene is a bit quieter this weekend. There's the Jenni Kramer 5K in Billings, the Summit Classic in Kalispell and the Superfund Runs & The Bust a Gut events in Missoula. Great community events; but, not the super intense up front races. That comes next weekend with the Riverbank Run in Missoula, the Ice Breaker in Great Falls and the Peaks To Prairie in Billings. Those will be some of the first races of the year that really tell where people stack up against one another.

For this weekend though - most of the college teams will be in Missoula for the Montana Open: including UM, Great Falls, MSU-Billings and Rocky.

The MSU thinclads will be heading south and running at Mt. Sac and Long Beach.

Also at Mt. Sac will be Megan Lerch of Missoula in the elite field for the women's 5,000. Go Meg.

We're starting to get into the HS track season now. No real eye opening performances yet; but, it's awful early in the season. By the end of this month should start to see what kids are going to be the ones to beat by the state meets at the end of May.

Good luck to everyone who's competing this weekend. Run Fast, Run Hard, Run Happy.

The Muddy Buzzard.

MSU 10K

2010-04-10T20:45:00.000-06:00

Check out the MSU meet results from today at http://www.montana.edu/cats/frameset3.htm

One of the highlights was Alan King's 32:02 10,000. If we was in college, he would have qualified for the Big Sky Conference Championhsips. By lapping the field, it was pretty much a solo effort. Great run for Alan.

The Muddy Buzzard

The Buzzard Catches Up

2010-04-10T20:21:00.000-06:00

Catching up on a few race updates.

Great performance by Kyle Strode last month in S.F. at the Across The Bay 12K. Finishing 47th overall, 4th in the 45-49 and 4th overall master - he sped to a 41:57 finish. At 12K, that's a 5:37 pace (that's 3:28 per K for Ray and his ilk :-) )

At the March Meltdown 10K in Polson on 3/13 - Matt Shyrock led the way in 32:56. Triathlete Lindsey Corbin (who won this morning's Grizzly Triathlon) was 2nd overall and 1st female in 37:16. She was followed by master's champ Ted Burnham in 38:06.

At the Buttercup Run 5K in Arlee on April 3rd - Forrest Lumpry won in 17:26. Missoula's Jenny Newton matched Corbin's March Meltdown effort and pulled off a 2nd place overall finish with her 18:40. Kevin Plumage was 3rd overall and 1st master with his 19:09.

Master's Men ruled the day at the Big Butte Run. The only sub-40 man to crack the top 6 was Dewey Peacock. Outside of that, old guys kicked a little runner booty. Led by Mike Telling at 44:07, the top 6 were rounded out by Pat Judge (44:11), Dewey in 44:59, Ray Hunt in 45:58, Jeff Braun in 47:12 and Marvin Speece (first over 50) in 47:52. On a blustery, chilly day - it was a back and forth race at the front with Dewey and Pat trading the lead for 8K to 9K. But, Mike Telling got on his horse on the run into the finish, caught Pat on the last hill and pulled out the win (see a great write up at the Butte's Piss and Moan Runners web site).

On the women's side, Nicole Hunt (with only a few weeks left until she hits the masters ranks) won handily with her 50:05 effort. She was followed by Mara Fisher in 52:55, Michele Bazzanella in 53:20 and ultra great Nikki Kimball in 54:00.

Some great racing on both sides of the gender divide.

In the 5K, Suzie Kaluza won for the gazillionth time. Crossing into the 50+ age group hasn't slowed her down.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard.

Casey & Ricardi Interviews

2010-04-02T19:33:00.000-06:00

Check out these interviews with Patrick Casey & John Ricardi.

http://www.flotrack.org/articles/view/1813-pat-casey-kwik-e

http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/236780-2010-stanford-invitational/321455-john-ricardi-making-the-trip-from-pocatello-855-steeple-2010-stanford-invite

The Muddy Buzzard

Another Anniversary Come and Gone

2010-04-02T15:53:00.000-06:00

So - two years ago was the day that the Lady Fate came up and bitch slapped me on April Fools Day. Actually, it was more like a Mafia Don taking a tire iron to my kneecap. Now, two years after a fractured patella, and all is mostly well.

Things have turned out quite well. The knee seems to have healed fully. I don't have any limitations on my mobility or day to day life activities. And, I'm running normal mileage at normal effort. In fact, my workout today include a segment of tempo pace, as well as a series of hill repeats on steep, gnarly hill.

I do appreciate evryday that goes by that I'm able to be out there on the roads enjoying the sport that has given me so much.

Needless to say, yesterday was a good day.

Happy to say that I'll see you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Odds And Ends

2010-03-28T19:42:00.000-06:00

A few notes from some races on the national and international stage this past weekend.

Friday night was the distance carnival at the Stanford Invitational. Two of the Ricardi siblings hit the track for the steeplechase, with good results. Lois (now running as an unattached married woman) was 7th in the top section with her 10:29.28 time. Little brother John (now wrapping up his time at Idaho State) was 9th (also in the top section) with a stellar 8:55.96. Great to see him under 9:00.

David McNeil of NAU (who won the 3,000 at the Big Sky indoor meet and who won the 5,000 at NCAA's) won the 5,000 with is 13:25.63. Jessica Pixler of Seattle Pacific (Division II in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference - same conference as MSU-Billlings) won the women's 5,000 with a solid 15:44.07. My reason for bringing up these two is to demonstrate the level of competition that kids can have by staying close to home and running for the in-state DI, DII and NAIA schools.

On the international scene, Shalane Flanagan led the US women to a bronze medal podium finish at the World Cross County championships. For those of you who made it to Spokane in February, these were the very same American women that you saw at the front of the pack at that race. To get more info on the World XC results, check out http://www.usatf.org/ or http://www.iaaf.org/.

The Muddy Buzzard

A Good Morning Full Of Hurt

2010-03-28T19:33:00.000-06:00

Happened to be at Fairmont this weekend. Called Ray and Nicole to say hi - and the first words out of Nicole's mouth was "hey, we're doing a workout tomorrow - wanna come?" Well, couldn't pass up a chance to run a few miles with Nicole, Jeff Braun, Michelle Bazanella and Marvin Speece now could I?

So, showed up this morning at the designated spot on a dirt road East of Opportunity. Ray and Marv had shuttled some vehicles so that we had the wind at our backs. The road was soft dirt and gravel and everyone was bright and cheery. We started off at a nice, easy pace with easy banter and all seemed good in the running world.

Then, I made the mistake of asking: so, Nicole. What is the workout plan for today? So, the words coming out of her mouth: 30:00 warm-up, then 5 times: 1 mile at 10K pace, 1:00 rest, 400 at 5K pace, 3:00 rest, then cool down to Racetrack. Probably about 13 to 14 miles total. Now, those were the words that came from her mouth; but, all that I could hear were the words of Clubber Lange in Rocky III. "My prediction.............................PAIN."

And Clubber was right. I felt like Rocky in the first fight - taking shot after shot to the ribs and kidneys. By round 3, I was in some pain. In fact, was thinking that backing off was starting to sound like a good idea. But, then - I remembered a post I made a while ago. The general essence of that post was that I had, more or less, forgotten how to go to the well and make it hurt. That had been something that had come about after missing an extended period of time when I fractured my patella a little less than 2 years ago. That's when I realized that it was time to "cowboy up". What better time than the present to start reversing the trend and to start making pain my friend once again.

So, I went to my personall happy place and settled into a rythm and buckled down to the business of the last 2 repeat sets. And, yeah - it hurt. But, it was great. Pounding out a hard workout was a great way to spend a Sunday morning. And, doing it with a great bunch of folks made it even better. The topping on the cake was when I held up through the workout and pushed through even when it would have been easy to back off and drop off the pace.

As an added bonus, go to see first hand how hard the Continental Divide crew actually trains. No wonder why they do so well at MT Cup. And, seeing Nicole in action is always a treat. Just a bit under a month from her move up into the master's crowd and she is going to se the 40+ crowd on fire. She appears to be in great shape and I see her doing some big things this year at races like Bloomsday, the mountain running circuit, etc.

So, thanks to the Pissers and Moaners for hosting me for a great Sunday morning.

See the rest of you on the roads, tracks and trails

The Muddy Buzzard

King Keeps Krankin'

2010-03-21T17:36:00.000-06:00

As most of you probably know, Alan King is the head cross country and distance track coach at Rocky Mountain College in Billings. Rocky is an NAIA school - and, in NAIA, they have a marathon as part of their national championships in outdoor track.

The kids can qualify by meeting standards in the full marathon or a half marathon. To help the kids in the Montana colleges meet the standard, Alan has hosted 2 qualifying races at the 1/2-marathon distance. They use a modified version of the Montana Marathon 1/2 course. They had the first race in mid-January; and, a second version was held this morning.

At the first event (billed as the Battlin' Bear Half Marthon), Shane Donaldson of Univeristy of Great Falls (1:15:37) and Noah Kirpono of Rocky (1:16:29) both met the men's "B" standard of 1:16:40. On the women's side, Amber Watson of Rocky got an automatic qualifier with her 1:25:49 ("A" std = 1:33:00).

This morning, Rocky held the RMC Spring Half Marathon and a couple of more runners got their qualifiers. On the men's side, Noah Kiprono lowered his January time and go the auto qualifier with his 1:12:43. Cullen Cantwell of UGF also got the auto qualifier with a 73:58 time (auto qualifier on the men's side = 1:14:00). For the women, Christina Bruce o UGF got a "B" time of 1:35:06.

But, the big news of the day was coach King. Taking advantage of a some nice tailwinds over the last half of the course, he set a 2:00 PR with his 67:28 performance. This come on the heels of his 69+ run at the Montana Marathon 1/2 in September, his 69+ 1/2 at Houston in January and a sub-16:00 solo 5K just a week ago. The mileage gods must have smiled on him to repay him for the efforts of providing opportunities for the states NAIA kids to qualify for nationals. Whatever the case, Alan has established himself as the man to beat in Montana this spring.

The Buzzard is looking forward to the first time this year that Alan, Jimmy Grant and/or Thomas Joidon get the chance to race each other. Should make for some smoking good times.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard.

Spring Has Sprung and All Is Quite

2010-03-20T08:41:00.000-06:00

So, here we sit on the first day of Spring. The sun is just rising over the hills to the east of Plains, the buttercups are in bloom and it has all the appearances that it's going to be a nice day. May even have to hit the trails a little bit on my run today.

The only down side is that the air is pretty smokey from all the open burning that is going on. One of the unique things about living in the rural forest areas is learning a little bit different cycle of life. You have the tree cutting season - trees cut for lumber or firewood and the limbs & branches all get piled into nice big slash piles. Then, in the fall and spring - you burn them up. And, in the spring, you also get the farmers and ranchers buring the old dead grass along fence lines and irrigation ditches.

Even though the smoke is sometimes a bit of an irriatant (I have to admint to being thankful that I don't have any asthma type problems), burning a slash pile is also a bit of fun. I generally have 2 to 3 piles a year on my place (mostly from firewood debris, fallen limbs, dead trees, scrap wood from home projects, etc.) that I have to take care of. Maybe it's just the kid in me; but, I still get a kick out of lighting up what is, essentially, a giant bonfire.

Which brings me to a bit of a digression and a happy old memory. Back in the day, the annual Butte Central - Butte High Football game always kicked off the new school year. One of the traditions at Central was the bonfire the night before the game. It used to be held behind Tech at what is now the HPER parking lot. The cross country team would make torches out of wood and diesel soaked rags. We would run them down the hill around the football field, circle the big old pile of wood, then toss the torches into the pile to light it up. It was a great time - nothing says fun like little pieces of burning cloth dropping onto your arms and legs as you run downhill towards a screaming frenzy of high schoolers.

At any rate - back to the present. After last weeks state wide rush of St. Paddy's Day runs - everyone seems to need a week of rest. Really not much going on this week. The Wheat of Montana Run in Missoula and the Handicap Run in Bozeman. At least one, small local fun run in Missoula also (being done as a senior class project by one of Anders Brooker's Hellgate HS runners - Ashley Mix). But, that's about it. No big, super serious competitions. And, there's only a handful of events next weekend also.

But, then April comes about and things start to heat up. More of the bigger road races start to pop up regularly on the calendar. And, the HS and College track teams get into full swing. So, enjoy the quite while you can. Because, before you know it, the wild and crazy days of spring, summer and fall are going to be here and we'll be awash in events and activities.

So, for this weekend, I plan to enjoy the buttercups, get out in the sunshine a bit, do a few household chores and maybe even catch a little bit of March madness. But, after that, I'll................................................

See you on the Roads, Tracks and Trails

The Muddy Buzzard

Runnin' O' The Green

2010-03-17T21:51:00.000-06:00

Since it's actually St. Patricks Day, seeme dlike a good time to do a recap of last weekends St. Paddy's Day races.

With the weekend, the Muddy Buzzards big 3 of 2009 have now all got their first races of 2010 out of the way. You'll recall that Jimmy Grant won the Snow Joke 1/2 Marathon the last weekend of February in a solid 1:12:51.

The next winner was Thomas "Big Bird" Jodoin of Helena. He made the short trip to Anaconda for the annual AOH Locker Room Bar St. Patrick's Races. With a new course "record", he handily won the 3-mile race in 14:07. With a net downhill course and a good tailwind (this year wind gusts of 15 - 20 mph were present) you have all the elements in place for a screaming race. And Thomas took full advantage of it.

Ray Hunt was 2nd overall and 1st Master with a solid 15:13. He was followed by Josh Panasuk (Butte HS) in 15:35, Brian Wieck in 15:39 and Mad Dog Speece in 15:59 (2nd Master and 1st ever 50+ runner to be sub-16:00 at this event).

On the women's side, Nicole Hunt had a stellar start to the year with her 15:50 (also a new course record). With her time, she was also 5th overall. For someone nearing the master's category, there is no sign of her slowing down.

In the 6-mile race, 52-year old Ray Matteson won overall in 35:16. 40+ runner Craig Kenworthy was 2nd in 35:48, followed by Butte's Ozzie Rosenleaf in 35:57. Good day for the old guy set.

For full results, check out http://www.buttespissandmoanrunners.com/

Over in Billings, Alan King kicked off his Montana campaign. (He had started his year in Houston in January with a 1:09 1/2 marathon.) At the annual Shamrock Run, he had a very solid 15:54 for the 5K distance. Having run this same course many times during my 16 years in Billings, I can attest to the fact that a sub-16 time on this course is a very solid run. Steven Kosnar was the master's winner in 17:50, good for 7th overall.

In Missoula, Justin Yates won the inaugural Run for the Luck of it 5K. On a breezy day, he put together a 17:00 time for the overall win. First master's was Tony Banovich in 18:21, good for 3rd overall.

Have not yet seen results for Run For the Pub in Bozeman or the races in Polson, Great Falls, and Helena. If you know of where I can find those results, let me know.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard

McNeil does Big Sky Proud

2010-03-12T19:25:00.000-07:00

Just watched the men's 5,000 meters at the NCAA Indoors.

David McNeil of Northern Arizona had a thrilling duel with Sam Chelanga of Liberty. Chelanga beat McNeil at last falls XC championships. But, today, McNeil got his revenge with a strong last 200 meters and beat out Chelanga, running 13:36.41 to 13:37.01.

For those of you who were at the Big Sky Conference Champs in Bozeman a couple of weeks ago, you'll recall McNeil (an Australian native) winning the 3,000 meters and just getting outkicked by MSU's Patrick Casey in the mile.

With McNeil winning the 5000 and Casey qualifying for the mile finals, it was a good day for the Big Sky Conference.

TMB

Casey Qualifies at NCAA

2010-03-12T19:23:00.004-07:00

For those of you who haven't already seen it, Patrick Casey of MSU has made the finals of the mile at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships (being held at the University of Arkansas).
Running in the 2nd of two heats, Casey finished 4th in the heat in 4:05.72 to make the final (top 4 in each of the two heats, plus the next 2 fastest times qualified). It was a super close heat. The winner ran 4:05.53, with 6th in 4:05.91 (that makes 6 guys within .48 seconds of each other).
The final will be tomorrow at 5:15 p.m. our time. The NCAA has some live webcasting going on. Check out this site: http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=ncaa&media=171623
The NCAA championships website (with live results - which at this point don't seem to be working properly) is located at http://www.ncaa.com/sports/c-itrack/champpage/c-itrack-div1-index.html

Good luck to Patrick. He has been getting some love on the message boards and is considered one of the dark horses to be among the front runners. With his racing instincts and the speed that he has shown this year, it's not out of the question that he could be in the running for the title. And, as a sub-plot - can he get the 2nd sub-4:00 mile by a native Montanan.

Tune into the NCAA sites tomorrow to check it out.

TMB

Drobek Gets Vertical

2010-03-09T20:34:00.000-07:00

This last weekend, 1,555 firefighters from around the world descended on Seattle to compete in the annual Firefighter Stairclimb. The event runs up the 69 flights of stairs in the Columbia Center (Seattle's tallest building) and is a fund raiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Out of all of those firefighters - Andy Drobek (frsh off his 1:17:37 1/2-Marathon at the Snow Joke) (and a member of the City of Missoula Fire Dept.) finished second overall.

This is no cake walk. The competitors wear 50 pounds of gear (including breathing apparatus) and climb 788 vertical feet in the 69 sets of stairs. It's got to be a gut-busting, puke inducing effort to finish at the front of the pack.

Congrats to Andy.

The Muddy Buzzard

Some Highlights of the Last Week

2010-03-07T20:40:00.000-07:00

A couple of highlight items for the last week. Last Saturday (2/28/10) was the 31st Annual Snow Joke 1/2 Marathon in Seeley Lake. In some less than typical winter weather, it sounded like it was a pretty pleasant day for a run around the lake. Work has it that pretty much all of the course was in good condition and that most of the back side of the lake was pretty clear.

On the men's side, it was the Muddy Buzzard's 2009 runner of the year Jimmy Grant with a fast February 1/2 getting the win in 1:12:51. That gave him almost 2 full minutes over runner up Mike Wolfe's 1:14:39. Next in was Joel Pellegrino in 1:16:11.

In a close race for 4th and 5th between Kyle Strode and Andrew Drobek. With only 7 seconds separating the two at the finish, Kyle got the 4th place overall finish (1:17:30 to 1:17:37) to top off his overall master's win. A pretty solid range considering that Kyle ran a 4:48.98 mile (4th place at the Montana Men's Master's Mile) just 2 weeks prior. Kyle is definately setting himself up for a great 2010 season.

On the women's side, Trisha Miller set a new women's course record with her 1:24:59 for a 5:25 win over Darr Trucknott. On the master's side, there was a close race for the top 3. Debby Gibson prevailed in 1:37:30, with Julie Gilchrist in second at 1:38:47 and Mary Dean in 3rd at 1:38:57. Pretty impressive running across the boards on the women's side.

A week after their standout performances at the Big Sky Conference Championships, Nick Atwood and Patrick Casey of MSU headed east to the Alex Wilson Invitational at Notre Dame this past Saturday (3/6/10). Atwood just missed the provisonal qualifying standard for the NCAA indoor championships at the 3,000 meters event. Finishing 4th overall, he ran at fantasitc 8:05.60 (missing the standard by less than 1 second).

Patrick Casey continued his amazing season winning the mile. He got the win; but, missed the magic mark of the sub-4:00 mile (remember that I don't buy into the altitude adjusted nonsense). Yet, he was oh so close. Running 4:00.19, he led a pack of 4 under the 4:01 mark. It also got him another mark under the provisional qualifying standard. Will it be enough to get him into the NCAA meet? Let's hope so. With the season he's having, combined with his racing savvy - anything is possible once the gun is fired.

On the bigger picture - there seems to be very little doubt that he'll be the 2nd person on the native Montanan sub-4:00 list. (Joining the ice breaker Scotty McGowan his own self.) It's pretty much a matter of when (passing right over the if).

Coming up this next weekend is a busy one on the racing scene. With St. Pat's races in Anaconda (the grand master of the St. Pat's day races), Missoula, Polson, Billings, Bozeman and Great Falls (at a minimum) - there's more than ample opportunity to get your racing season started this weekend.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails (wearin' the green no doubt)

The Muddy O'Buzzard

Houston - We Have Lift Off

2010-03-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

In an unprecedented move, USATF awarded a joint men's and women's Olympic marathon trials to a single event. On January 14th, the marathon trials will be held in Houston as part of the Houston Marathon weekend. It will be a great way for Houston to celbrate the 40th anniversary of their signature event.

After a few down years of the event around 2000, the event has really rebounded in the last couple of years with some 2:07 winning times and the 1/2 marathon has had some super fast times as well.

Never before have the men's and women's trilas been held in the same location. Houston did host the women's trials for the 1992 Olympics. But, from a running perspective, that seems like a lifetime ago.

For more info on the announcement, see the USATF release at http://www.usatf.org/news/view.aspx?duid=USATF_2010_03_01_06_18_01

or the LetsRun.com announcement at http://www.letsrun.com/2010/houstonkarpas0301.php

There are also a couple of stories about the reactions of Boston and New York (the other prime bidders) (and the hosts of the 2008 trials races for women and men) at http://www.letsrun.com/2010/olymarathon0302.php
and http://racingnews.runnersworld.com/2010/03/a-brief-chat-with-guy-morse-and-glenn-latimer.html

Some interesting insight into what happens at the top end to get the big tickets events like the olympic trials.

The Muddy Buzzard

The Mighty Casey Rolls On

2010-03-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

The Big Sky Conference championship meet took place this last weekend in Bozeman. The indoor track at Brick Breeden fieldhouse hosted the best of the Big Sky - and, from a distance perspective this meant Patrick Casey versus David McNeil. Casey, the super sophomore from Montana State (Laurel High School grad) has been on fire this indoor season (not that his frosh and soph XC or frosh track seasons were all that bad). McNeil, a senior from Northern Arizona (and Australian native) finished second overall in the 2009 NCAA Division I cross country championships.

Casey had gotten second in the 800 in an NCAA provisional qualifier and (I believe) a new personal best of 1:49.97 (missing the title by an oh so close 0.03 seconds)

McNeil took the 3,000 title in an NCAA provisional qualifier in 8:11.93. Pretty fast time, especially at the Bozeman altitude. He had a confortable separation of about 10 seconds on the second place finisher (teammate Ahmed Osman).

The two studs then met in the at between distance of 1-mile. After sitting comfortably in the pack for the first 1,000 meters, Casey went to the lead with about 600 meters left. McNeil came pushing up to Casey's shoulder; but, with a 54 second last 400, Patrick wasn't going to be denied. His 4:09.92 was a stellar tme and his 3rd sub 4:10 indoor mile of the season. He beat out McNeil (4:10.14) and NAU's Jordan Chipangama (4:10.75)(who had beaten out Casey in the 800).

To see a video of the mile, check out this you tube vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ4AmYh8EOg

A few other highlights from the meet:

Brooke Andrus of MSU (Bigfork) placed second in the 800 and Chloe Palakovich of Idaho State (Whitehall) placed 6th.

Heather Haug of MSU won the women's mile, with Kara Dewalt (UM) getting second (both are Montana natives).

Getting 8th and 9th in the mile were Montana natives and ISU students Zac Barrett and John Ricardi.

Katrina Drennen of UM won the women's 3,000 in a stellar time of 9:47.

Ricardi also came back to get 11th in the 3,000 meters.

Full results can be found at http://www.montana.edu/cats/frameset3.htm

Pretty solid performances by the Montana kids. The home grown crop rose to the top of the top of the talent pool and showed that they can compete against some of the best of the kids from around the country.

Congrats to all the kids who competed and good luck to those who may be fortunate enought to qualify for the big show at the NCAA indoor championships.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails.

The Muddy Buzzard

Spokane and Geriatric Set Redux

2010-02-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

Okay - so finally have found some time to get to the last race of the USATF XC Championships Recap - that being the Old Man's Run (aka Mens's Master's 8K).

First, a little recap of the conditions. The course was at the Plantes Ferry Sports Stadium in Spokane Valley. It's a big regional park with baseball and soccer fields. It is an all grass surface that is in pretty good condition. Not quite a golf course; but, not much different. It's mostly flat, with a couple of short bumps/hills at about the 1K point on each of the loops.

Friday day was wet and drizzly. No wind, mild temps - would have been a great day for a race. But, we were a bit nervous about how sloppy the course would be with the steady rain.

Race day dawned clear and clam with very mild temps. Even for the first races, the temps were in the low to mid 40's and there was just a mild breeze (it picked up off and on; but, never really was strong enough to be a significant factor during th race). Amazingly, after such a short time, the rain had no real effect on the course conditions. The grass was mostly firm; and, only a few very short soggy spots. As with the temps and the wind, the course conditions weren't going to be a factor in the race.

Okay - now onto the race itself. The field wasn't as big or as deep as it has been at some past master's races; but, was stll a reasonably solid race itself. Some of the top finishers included guys like Tracey Lokken (champion), Mike Blackmore, Darren DeRueck, Andy Ames, and Danny Salazar.

For me, the race went pretty solidly. I ran pretty consistent loops (the course was series of 2 kilometer loops) of 7:30 to 7:40 per segment. I got out pretty comfortably; but, made a classic mistake and didn't cover a pack break up at about 1,500 meters. As a result, I was in no man's land for the last 4 miles of the race. I picked up a few guys - but the bigger pack of guys that I probably should have been with were well out of reach.

In the end, I had a respectable performance of 29:42 for 8K (just under 6:00 pace) and got 25th ovearll and 10th in the 45-49 age group. It was right about where I had thought I could be in the race; but, still about 1 minute off where I was in 2007 and where I would like to get back to.

Jeff Thomas had a great race. For a guy who has battled some tough injuries and illness - he came through like a trooper. With a 30:44 time, he finished 33rd overall and 24th in the 40-49 age group. It was great to see him back in the saddle and riding hard again.