Guest Post by Alan Abbs
The White Trash Diaries, Vol 2
My Western States 2009 race report begins back in time — all the way back in December 2007. I make it through the selection process and get in, and I’m determined to get down toward that 20-hour mark, having done 3 straight sub 22-hour races, including [...]
“When you see grown men crying at the finish, you know you’re doing something that is important,” said Western States Board President Tim Twietmeyer at the start of the awards ceremony on Sunday after the 2009 WS 100 Mile Endurance Run. I imagine it sounds corny or ironic to some that a 100 mile run [...]
After missing last year due to an injury I got 21 days before the start of the 2006 race, I was determined to get to the starting line of the 2007 race healthy so I could run when Dr Lind fired the shotgun at Squaw Valley. I really wanted to get in the top ten [...]
Executive Summary: I run my normal conservative pace early and work up to 15th by Michigan Bluff (55 miles) and into 9th just past Green Gate (80 miles). A bad patch between 83-91 miles slows me down and I fall back to 11th before rallying to finish strong in 18:25, a 21 minute PR, in [...]
My Reflections on “States”
This one was fun. Not that my previous four 100 milers weren’t fun, but I have never been able to run as consistently through the full 100 miles. The short story is this. I see a rattlesnake, puke for the first time in about 35 ultras, run Cal St in three hours, [...]
I could summarize my 2002 Western States 100 run as solid. Not bad, but not exceptional. Finished in 19:44 in 15th place overall and 13th male. The field was very good, building upon last year and approaching the depth of fields seen in the 80s. My time this year would have placed me in the [...]
It’s about time.
In the summer of 1977 or 78, I can’t remember which, I’m camping down at American Canyon Creek near Auburn Lake Trails with my brother and step brothers when we see a very tired dirty looking guy running on the trail. He stops at the creek and wets himself down. He [...]