1 Hal Koemer III, 24
23:29 (new male course record)
2 Leland Barker, 42
23:58
3 Betsy Kalmeyer, 39 (F)
25:47 (new female course record)
4 Tim Seminoff, 42
27:50
5 Phil Lowry, 34
28:50
6 Chris Miller, 29
30:56
7 Mary Workman, 39 (F)
31:37
8 Darin Wells,
34:31
9 Errol Jones, 50
34:46
20 starters
***************************************************************
>>> <Letsrun100@aol.com> 10/04/00 12:26AM
>>>
Jim O'Neil & Sue Norwood
"I know what I said the other night, but I didn't
mean it, you know that."
I'm referring to my babbling about never doing
another 100 miler again. Sue
listened patiently while I went through the
list of reasons why we shouldn't
be doing these things in the first place. That
was at 11:00 PM Friday night,
17 hours into the run, with 50 miles to go.
We were traversing the mountain
peaks in the Cache National Forest on the Bear
100 course. The night sky was
absolutely full of brilliant stars. The Big
Dipper sat on the mountain top
directly in front of us and the Milky Way was
the brightest I had ever seen
it. Earlier in the day we had seen some of the
most spectacular fall colors
one could ever imagine. The maples and birches
were a mixture of reds, greens
and yellows patchworked in the mountain valleys
as if they were placed by an
artist's paint brush. The reasons all made sense
to me at the time, but now I
can hardly imagine I had made such statements.
We spent a relaxing day driving to Preston, ID,
stopping for a bowl of hot
beef stew in West Yellowstone. As our drive
took us farther south, we enjoyed
the views of the Teton Mountains in Wyoming
to the east and the Wasatch
Mountains in Idaho to the west. We talked about
our goals for the run and
about Sue's last minute decision to join me
on the Bear 100 course.
Originally she had planned to crew and pace
me, but she had been training
hard for her 6th Mountain Masochist 50 Miler;
why not give it a try?
Arriving in Preston, we checked into our motel
and headed for a pizza shop
for dinner. The next morning, after a good night's
rest, we drove to the
start/finish area and hiked a mile or so on
the first trail section. This is
only the second year for the Bear so we had
very little information about the
course. The first and last miles are on the
same paved road. The remainder of
the course is on single and double track trail
and dirt road. There are lots
of ups and downs, almost 43,000 feet of change
on sometimes dusty and
sometimes rocky surfaces. It wasn't long before
we decided to save our energy
for the next morning. We spent the rest of the
day getting our drop bags
ready and watching Olympic events on TV.
The prerace briefing was fun and informative.
Leland Barker, the RD, held the
meeting at his trout farm in Smithfield, UT,
about 20 miles south of Preston.
We weighed in, received our numbers and shirts,
and listened carefully as
Leland answered questions. Afterwards, a few
of us, including Bozena
Maslanka, Dick Curtis, Betsy Kalmeyer and her
crewperson/mother, sampled the
tasty salad bar at Ruby Tuesday in Smithfield.
Sad to say we missed Steve
Pero and Deb Reno who were sitting in a different
area of the restaurant.
Sue and I got a good night's sleep, but morning
still came too early for me.
The race started just a tad late and unlike
the rainy start last year, the
skies were clear. There were 20 starters that
morning, but only nine would
finish. As we made our way to the top of the
first ridge, daybreak came. The
colors were so spectacular I hardly noticed
the difficult trail sections. The
weatherman cooperated fully; the weather was
perfect throughout the race.
Trail marking was adequate, not overdone at all,
just adequate. Actually,
because of the limited markings we were forced
to stay more alert, I think
that made our trek more interesting. We never
got lost, but did have some
hesitation at a few of the turns and intersections.
The choice of ribbon
colors, yellow and orange, puzzled me some;
with all the fall colors they
were sometimes hard to spot. I was also using
a four LED light after dark and
they were impossible to see with this kind of
lighting.
The beautiful sunset came early, around 7:15
PM, that's usually the time I
enjoy running the most. This time though,
I seemed to have lost all my
energy. Although Sue seemed to be running strong,
much stronger than I, she
didn't have her usual drive. We had eaten at
all the aid stations, gels,
chips, beef stew from our drop bags, even had
a hot dog at mile 44.
Nothing was working for us. We just didn't want
to be out there for another
19 or 20 hours, and at the pace we were moving,
that's how long it would have
taken us to finish. We pulled into the 50 mile
aid station and talked it
over; neither of us had enough left for another
50.
We were hoping we could get a ride back to the
finish from a crew;
unfortunately it was a fairly inaccessible aid
station and no crews came.
Fortunately for us though, the aid station people
had the makings for two
beds for two tired runners. They improvised
crude sleeping compartments made
from 4'X6'X4" foam pads which they duct taped
together on three sides. They
were comfortable, but the cold night air still
found its way in. We slept as
best we could and as daylight broke decided
to make a run for it. This was
also the 90 mile aid station, so we only had
ten easy miles to get us back
home.
Ha!! This "easy" ten mile section consisted of
a newly constructed trail
along the side of a mountain. Although it was
fun and I'm glad we did it, it
was tough. Betsy later described the section
as "bushwhacking." Sue called it
a mountain-goat trail. I found it beyond
words suitable for this forum. :)
As I said, only nine out of twenty runners finished,
a lower finish rate than
last year. Maybe people just weren't aware of
the difficulty of the course
and weren't prepared. I believe that was the
case with me. Next year, yes I
will be back, I know what to expect and I will
finish. I'm not out to settle
a score or revenge a DNF, I really enjoyed the
whole experience.
The aid station folks are still fairly new, most
aren't runners, but they did
an outstanding job. They are genuinely caring
and did the best they could;
with experience they will improve. My hat is
off to all of them, they all
deserve special recognition.
The post race dinner at the Deer Cliff Inn was
excellent. Menu choices were
steak, chicken and rainbow trout from Leland's
trout farm. The dining area
was outdoors next to a creek and we watched
a mountain goat walk along the
rocky edges a hundred feet up the side of a
cliff. All the finishers received
a personalized plaque AND a buckle. This year,
for the first time, there were
two Wolverine Buckles (under 24 hours) awarded:
24 year old Hal Koemer
(23:29), last year's winner and Leland Barker
(23:58). Hal won the race,
beating Leland by only 29 minutes. Betsy Kalmeyer
(25:47) won the women's
race. Both division winners, who also set new
course records, received
beautiful handcarved wooden plaques.
Leland has a first class race, it will only grow
better, and I want to be a
part of that growth. The Bear is very different
from larger, more established
100-milers we've run. It's small and personal,
and very satisfying to be a
part of it.
Oh, the trip home was icing on the cake. We decided
to get off the freeway
for the return and diverted to Grand Teton and
Yellowstone National Parks.
Saw bison, elk, snow capped peaks and glaciers.
Had lunch at the lodge and
saw rainbows in the sky. Have I mentioned how
much I love living out here?
Good Running,
Jim O'Neil (& Sue Norwood)
Billings, Montana
***********************************************************
More...
>>> "Pero, Stephen M" <PEROS@polaroid.com>
10/04/00 01:54PM >>>
Ok, Ok...I see that Jim and Deb sent in their
nice little reports on the
race, so I guess I oughta put my 2 cents worth
in...
Awesome race! Great people! Nice views! ...but
did that altitude ever
suck...
Yeah, who was I to think that I could just arrive
at the race, which runs
from 5000' to about 10,000 when I live at or
below sea level. Even at
Hardrock, I was there about 1 week ahead, did
some high altitude hiking and
still got severe headaches while trying to keep
up with Sue Johnston, who I
was supposed to be pacing.
Same thing happened at the Bear...after a couple
of hours I mentioned to Deb
that I felt that familiar pressure behind my
ears and knew it was going to
be a long day and night. A couple of Tylenol
(no, not ibuprofen) every now
and then kept the edge off of it, but as the
day wore on it just got worse.
Deb and I had planned on just staying together
to help get each other
through this with some running, but mostly just
an enjoyable power hike
through the beautiful Wasatch Mountain range...We
estimated about 28 hours
and was on pace to do this at 50 miles and still
moving quite quickly, but
our ability to get good substantial fuel at
the aid stations was for naught.
Now, I am not AS bashing here...they were all
friendly and wonderful people
who volunteered their time to help a bunch of
smelly, dirty runners run
through their mountains. I just thought that
in this type of run, the Aid
Stations should have had more than crackers
and M&M's...We needed soup and
sandwiches to fuel our tiring bodies through
the cold night on the ridgetop.
We were getting to the point where We would
rest by sitting on the side of
the trail for a short spell (less than a minute)
before trudging up the
hills, but as the evening wore on, it was starting
to get too cold to do
that because We weren't creating enough heat
to keep warm...it got mighty
cold up on the ridgetop and when You got out
of the trees, the wind would
blow across and be even colder. We were tempted
to get off the trail, curl
up and take a short nap, but I was afraid that
We wouldn't wake up...Oh, but
what a sky!!!! And when Deb wanted to look at
the Sky, she'd ask me to hold
her to keep her from falling backwards...
We had a great 57 mile run/hike in the mountains
and if I had to, knowing
the outcome, I'd still do it. As Deb said, We
will have pictures of this and
MMTR50 that I will have on a website for your
viewing pleasure...
So anyway what happened to Deb and me was that
We began to bonk and Deb got
severe nausea and I had my headache and was
also having trouble staying
awake and could not get coffee at the stations
because it is Mormon country
and they don't do caffeine..no Coke or coffee!
So bring your caffeine pills
next year if you run..which I do highly recommend.
I will most likely be
back next year if I don't kill myself at Hardrock
first.
This is only the 2nd year for this event and
I'm so glad to have been a
part of it in it's infancy...I will say here
that this will be a much bigger
event in the future as it is very much like
Hardrock without the extreme
climbs and altitude.
I have emailed Leland Barker, the RD, and he
assured me that the aid
stations will be better next year..but I would
still say to bring what you
like and put it in drop bags.
See some of you at David's MMTR50 in 2 weeks
and also at the Chancellor
Challenge this weekend. No, I'm not running
it, just helping Ruthie Kessler
get through it and also to see some of the fine
ultra thoroughbreds in
action.
Steve Pero
Bellingham, Mass.
peros@polaorid.com
******************************************************************
FYI...
>>> <Runtrails1@aol.com> 10/05/00 05:48PM
>>>
Jim Garcia wrote about the Bear 100:
> So far all three posts said (in so many words)
that the aid stations were
> not up to par. What really happened?
Crackers and M&M's only?
No, there was a lot more than that, but not what
some runners expected,
based on previous experience running bigger,
older 100s. I feel like I need
to defend this race a bit . . .
Jim O'Neil and I were actually surprised at how
GOOD most of the aid
stations were in the 60 miles we ran of the
Bear, considering it's just
the second year for the race and there were
only 20 starters. Our
expectations were actually too LOW; it wasn't
as bare-bones as we
thought it might be. Volunteers far out-numbered
the runners. Most
worked the race the first year and came back
because they enjoyed
the experience so much. Even though they weren't
all runners, there's
a lot to be said for their enthusiasm and willingness
to learn! We
were very grateful for their support.
There was one ultrarunner ( whose name I can't
remember) who very
competently manned the aid station at 20/39
miles all by himself. He
commented on the "publicity" I was giving Tropical
John by wearing my
Miwok 100K shirt, a race he's run. This fella
either ran the Bear last
year, or crewed/paced another runner, and decided
to "man" that aid
station this year to lend more ultra expertise.
He was great!
Most other folks we encountered were also very
helpful and ASKED us
for suggestions for next year. When asked, we
suggested more solid
food like turkey sandwiches and more hot soup
at nite. The first aid
station we hit after dark ran out of fuel to
heat water for the soup and
hot chocolate they had; that was a disappointment,
but we ate (warm)
hot dogs (a food I'd never touch any other time!)
and they hit the spot.
Unfortunately, that was an aid station where
we didn't put drop bags
with our own "emergency" food. Next time, we'll
have one there so we
can get something more substantial, if needed.
[The young kids
running around that aid station were a nuisance,
too, but we didn't want
to appear ungrateful or rude and tell the AS
people they shouldn't have
their *#$%&* kids camping overnite with
them!] :-)
The 50/90-mile aid station where we spent a very
cold nite when we
dropped out was nearly out of water before any
of the folks came back
through the second time. That wasn't good, either.
Fortunately, only 9
runners came back through, and the next aid
station 3 miles later, on
the fastest section of the whole course, had
plenty. They know real
clearly to have more water there next year,
and we didn't have to tell
them that.
This non-running father/son duo was also asleep
when the front-runner,
Hal Koemer, came flying through earlier than
expected. Poor Hal had
to sign himself in and out and find something
to drink by the light of his
flashlight!! He didn't complain, though.
He was on a roll, trying to stay
ahead of Leland. Hal had run (and won) the race
last year, the first year
of the race, and he had a great attitude about
the laid-back style of the
race. Even though he's young and hasn't done
many 100s, he exemplifies
the ultrarunner who's prepared for the worst
and DEALS with it when it
occurs. (Yes, he won, but his big lead dwindled
in the gnarly new trail
section in the last 7 miles when he got lost
in the dark. He was gracious
about that, too.)
That same non-running aid station duo (Bill and
Zach) at 50/90 miles
also did their best to keep three of us who
dropped there warm all night
until we could run back to the finish in the
morning (no crew cars came
there, as we hoped). Jim's earlier post described
the foam "cocoons"
they crafted for us to sleep in. When they discovered
I was shivering and
couldn't sleep, they gave us their warm sleeping
bags and tent to sleep in
for several hours while they got up to greet
the runners who straggled in
at 90 miles in one-to-two-hour intervals during
the long, freezing night.
(Be forewearned, folks: it's dark and cold for
*12* hours during this race,
not 6 or 7 hours like summer 100s!). Bill and
Zach loved helping the runners
last year, returned this year, and want to do
it again next year. They had
as much enthusiasm as any volunteers I've ever
met in any race, and
solicited our feedback on how they can improve
next time.
Sure, we could've used more soup and sandwiches
and other "real" food.
But Jim and I have enuf experience running 100s
to know that **it happens.
You always have to prepare for the worst-case
scenario, so we had 6 drop
bags covering 9 of the 17 aid stations (3 were
used twice on loops or out-
and-back sections). We put in canned beef stew,
PB&J sandwiches, Boost,
V-8, Starbucks cappucino (caffeine!), pudding,
gels, energy bars, Snickers,
and other foods we know we can handle during
100s.
We do this at "big" races, too. Even better-stocked
races like Leadville,
Vermont, and Arkansas may not have foods to
which we are accustomed.
And we do the same drill if we're crewing for
each other, in case the crew
person can't get to an aid station as planned
(and in the Bear, not all the
aid stations are accessible by vehicle).
Bottom line: be prepared, and be flexible.
RD Leland Barker is an experienced 100-miler.
I don't know his ultra
resume', but he won Wasatch in '99 and was 3rd
there a month ago.
He ran his own race this year, and has probably
already talked with his
aid station captains to give them feedback.
He sort of bonked between
50-58 miles himself, so maybe he realizes he
and other participants
could have done better with more solid food.
Leland said before the
race that he pretty much left it up to the aid
station captains re: what
they provided (i.e., loose guidelines). With
the feedback he received
from the runners this year, I think he'll give
them more structure in the
future so the aid station offerings will start
to approximate what runners
are used to in larger, more established races.
But then, that might change the character of
this small race. Leland
wants it to grow slowly, and Jim and I agree.
It's such a refreshing
change from hyped, popular 100s we've run or
worked, and we hope it
stays small and charming. We like it that
way. (So please, don't
everybody decide to run The Bear next year!)
:-)
Cheers,
Sue Norwood in beautiful Billings, MT
*****************************************************************
This was very funny. A light hearted humorous
reply to Jim. See below - Irv
From Laurie in response to Bear 100's reputation
for not serving caffeinated drinks.
Hey Jim (re Bear 100 supplies at aid stations),
Not only can you not get a Coke in Utah, but
you will be ID'd for ordering coffee. You will also find it very
difficult to order anything on any menu anywhere that
doesn't include Jell-o. Further, you could
be very easily held up, not by thieves, but by missionaries. They travel
in pairs...they ride bicycles everywhere...they
wear name tags at all times. And they
will corner you at the most inopportune times to talk about... "the scripture."
And they've been known to set up ad-hoc aid-stations at Wasatch & provide nothing to eat nor drink...just the BOM (Book of Mormon).
Be forewarned. All those stories are really true.
Barely hanging on to my sanity here in SLC,
Laurie Staton
l-staton@wcslc.edu
*******************************************************************************