Kansas City Trail Nerds

Operation Wyco Makeover, Phase One

2009-05-04T08:28:00.000-07:00

We had a great work day Saturday at our first organized trail work day for "Operation Wyco - Xtreme Trail Makeover." 13 Trail Nerds showed up to cut, hack and whack a new route from Shelter 11 down to Wolcott Rd. For those of you who may not be familiar with that area, it is the gnarly, deeply rutted trail on the east side of the dam. We cleared nearly 1/2 mile of new trail that will eventually replace the current trail. Don't be alarmed, we didn't make it any easier. There is still the same amount of elevation change but it will utilize a series of switch backs that should withstand erosion and the wear and tear of horses much better.

John Bower, Deputy Director of the Parks and Recreations Department for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County, addressed the group before we got started. Mr. Bower mentioned that our efforts will help make the trails a better place for citizens and visitors alike to enjoy the beautiful park. He said that the Parks Department appreciated our efforts and would also be working on the trails with us as we continue to make improvements.

Fueled by Starbuck's coffee and donuts, the Nerds completed cutting in the new trail corridor by 11:30am. We even took a few breaks to swing from grape vines, chat it up a bit and search for elusive morrels (no truffles spotted). Now we are ready for all the bench cutting that is planned for June 6th's National Trails Day Event (see attached flyer). If you haven't worked out your schedule yet, there is still time to get it on your calendar. We will be announcing an official RSVP line for the June 6th event in the near future so that we can track all the responses.

Thanks to the following Nerds for logging over 52 hours of trail maintenance on Saturday:

Sam Kevern
Deb Johnson
Stuart Johnson
Pat Robinson
Brett Hodges
Brad Bishop
Scott Dillon
Steve Myers
Greg Burger
Beth Hilt
James Barker
Sophia Wharton

Photos & Video

We may try to plan another maintenance day before June 6th (possibly May 23). So keep your eyes open for the announcement. Trail work may make your arms sore but it will make your feet happier later......

Thanks, Jim

Jim Megerson
Mrheatmiser@mindspring.com

Webpage

Free State Trail Run

2009-05-04T08:25:00.000-07:00

Well, what can we say? Weather-related issues can be an "issue" in Kansas. Luckily, the marathon was completely finished prior to the 5 sets of tornado sirens going off. Results are below. I'm sorry they took so long to get up.

The 40-mile and 100K Ultra Race results were problematic, due to the sirens, high-winds, heavy rain and confusion that started at about 10 hours and 30 minutes into the race. If you have any additions, submissions, confessions, questions or problems with them, please email me. Thanks.

2009 Trail Marathon Results v2

2009 40-Mile Results v2

2009 100K Results v2

Thanks for your understanding with the closure of the race prior to the stated time limit. There were impassible streams on the trail due to rains / flooding, and there were also high winds, lightning, and certain Park officials that told us to shutdown the race and hunker-down in shelters. One person (not in the race) was hit by lightning, just a short distance from the course.

We have the best volunteers in the world, and they worked extremely hard to make sure that everybody who could get off of the trails, safely did so. A special thanks goes to Phil Sheridan, for risking life & limb to sweep 10 miles of the course during the storm.

Thanks again for a great Free State Trail Run.

Happy trails,
Ben & Sophia

Photos:

Dick Ross' Photos (http://www.seekcrun.com/)
Action
Fun

Brad Trimble's Photos

2009 Race Reports:

Jim M. (Marathon)
Dr. Mark E Ott (2nd Place, Marathon)
Bobbie (40-Mile)
Mircea (40-Mile)
A Girl Named Sam (40-Mile)
John (40-Mile)
Adam (40-Mile)
Nick (40-Mile)
David Wakefield (40-Mile, First Place)
Coleen (100K)
Lee from Topeka (100K)
Dan (100K)
Gary (100K)
Trail Zombie (100K)

Webpage

Hui-Qing Yin (Photo by Dick Ross)

Emily "Mud Doc" Horn (Photo by Dick Ross)

Sloppy Runner (Photo by Dick Ross)

Sam & John (Photo by Dick Ross)

Danny Dehlin, winner 100K (Photo by Dick Ross)

Race Directors: Sophia & Ben (Photo by Brad Trimble)

Jim Davis (Photo by Brad Trimble)

Mona Latimer (Photo by Brad Trimble)

Wednesday Night Run

2009-04-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

The Trail Nerds hosted the traditional KC Track Club Wednesday Night Run, this week. What a success! The weather cooperated, and we had 36 runners show up, and all but 8 of them ran on the trails with us. (The others ran or walked on the paved trails).

Casey Yunger

Caleb "Wankson" Chatfield, had just flown-in from Chicago, and he led a group of the "fasties" on a short and fast, 7-mile trail run. Casey "the Hunger" Yunger, ran the medium and extra-medium-paced runners. And Jim "Heatmiser" Megerson, helped lead the rest of the group.

Jim Megerson

Sophia "Original Mud Babe" Wharton, grilled beer-boiled brats, sirloin burgers, and black bean burgers to the awaiting hungry runners, as they rolled-in after their various wanderings in the woods. Brett "Ho-Lotta-Smiles" Hodges, helped where necessary. I just stood back and helped host the event with Sophia, and had a very good time. The throng even helped polish-off a container of my "cool, brown emulsion fluid." Meanwhile, Dick Ross was on hand to take some fun photos. Thanks, Dick!

Caleb

Part of the group.

Me, sporting a Tejas Trail Nerds' Hoodie.

Girls, grills, and trails.

Pod Trod & More Media

2008-09-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

The Trail Nerds have been busy!

Last weekend, we hosted the first-ever Pod Trod MP3-Mile Challenge. Gary Henry was the official Race Director.

This race had three different courses, but started and finished at the same place and time.
All courses were approximately 3.1 miles in distance.
Participants did not know the courses in advance.
They downloaded one of the course's instructions in MP3 format (from our web site) the night before or the morning of the race. It was their choice which course they picked, and it was the "luck of the draw" as to which course was more difficult.
All entrants wore IPods (or other brand MP3 players) and followed the instructions given, to complete their selected course. (Runners had to provide their own IPods or MP3 players). They were required to pick-up "Trail Tokens" along the way to prove they completed the correct course.
If someone was "IPod Challenged" and couldn't figure-out how to download the attached files, they could run with someone who had an IPod, but were supposed to be wearing a shirt that had the words "I'm with Stupid" written on it.

This race had some fun categories and awards for:

Trail Savant: 1st place M/F for each different course
Semi-TrailTarded
Special Idiot
Blind as a Cave-dwelling Fish
Instuctionally Hearing-impaired
Rock-banging Neo-Luddite
Lost beyond all Possible Reason

We've also had some really good press...besides a newspaper article, podcasts, and a one-hour radio show, we had a 5-page article from an "embedded reporter" who ran with us.

We also had a lot of fun at the Mud and Muck run.

Trail Nerds Media Coverage

2008-09-04T09:22:00.000-07:00

The Trail Nerds have had some media coverage, of late. Here are some of the various articles, podcasts, etc:

Newspaper Article - Running Dirty

Video - Race for the Cure

Endurance Planet - Bad Ben's Chronicles: The Nipple Report
There's nothing that rubs endurance athletes more wrong than raw nipples. Today on Endurance Planet, a Bad Ben's Chronicles edition, we hear from the head trail nerd about how athletes can avoid chafing on those long training runs and races.

Endurance Planet - Bad Ben's Chronicles: Leadville Trail 100 Race Report
Podcast version of a race report from Tony "Semper Fast" Clark. Tony recently completed an especially difficult version of the annual Leadville Trail 100-Mile Run, and some Trail Nerds were there to help out.
Play in Windows Media
Play in RealPlayer Play mp3 stream Direct link to mp3 file

Kyle Amos & Ben Holmes on the Walt Bodine Show:
July 2, 2008. Kyle and Ben answer questions and wax prolific about trail and ultra running on this popular local radio show.
This show takes a look at a different kind of distance running as a growing number of people are moving off the pavement and onto the trails. Meet two runners who embrace trail running over distances up to 100 miles. Hear why they prefer this particular form and what makes them run these "ultra" distances. 1-hour long.
Listen
or Download To download this audio file, right click and select 'Save Target As...'

Psycho Psummer Trail Run

2008-07-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

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

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

2008 Race Reports:

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

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

Results for 2008:

15-Miler and 50-Kilometer Events

5K Event

2008 Photos:

Dick Ross Photography

More Dick Ross Photos

Gary Henry's Website (w/photos)

Summer Intro Run

2008-07-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

Content by Shane Jones.

We had a good race today. It took quite a bit of work to get the course ready for race day and it was a bit short, but I think it's a sweet loop that will be fun to train on as well. I had a decent race . Definitely shoulda started a bit easier. I ran the first mile in 4th and then I blew up. I couldn't smoke the long downhill like I wanted because I was still trying to recover from the hills.

I think I finished 8th or 9th in 19:25. Some dude tried to blow by me at the finish, but he got shut down. My son Jackson and his friend Austin both ran the race and they were talking about doing the 15 mile Psummer Psycho so they can get a medal.I had to go to work after, but some of the Nerds went to work on the Psummer Psycho course. I get out there and do some work soon.

Dick Ross' photos here and here.

Webpage and results.

Trail Nerds and the Media

2008-07-03T10:05:00.000-07:00

The Trail Nerds' had an interesting "media day" yesterday.

First on the daily agenda - Kyle Amos and I were on the 10-11 a.m. Walt Bodine Show, on the local NPR affilliate, KCUR FM. Kyle had been down at Lake of the Ozarks on a family vacation, and drove-up just for the show. The show was a lot of fun...just a quiet one-hour conversation about trail and ultrarunning.

Gina Kaufman, Walt Bodine's co-host, filled-in for the absent Walt. She's very good at what she does, and picks-up on key words and subject matter quickly.

Right after the show, Carolyn from The Pitch called me. She met and interviewed me for quite a while. She's run with the Nerds a couple of times, and might do a profile/story on a couple of the Nerds. By the way, we were voted Running Group of the Year last year by The Pitch's readers.

(So far, the New York Times hasn't called to do an in-depth story on the Nerds).

By the way...the News Director (and award-winning reporter) Frank Morris, originally clued the Walt Bodine Show's producer to do a show about the Trail Nerds. Frank has participated in our events before, and seems to like our quirky ways. But then again, who wouldn't? I'm quite the news-hound and researcher myself, and found out that 15 years ago or so, Frank was quite the local Grunge-era Rocker, in a band called "Guard Rails" or (something similar). Yeah, he's quirky and cool enough to be a true Trail Nerd!

I then gathered up our new event shirts and supplies, and headed up to WyCo Park to do some trail maintenance and marking for our race, with Shane, Adam, Oscar, and CynicalMudBabe. Afterward, we went to Shane's house and his wife Brandy had prepared some munchies and beer for us, and we proceeded to get our race packet stuffing completed. The lights went out quite a few times, due to a major thunderstorm.

Quite the day.

Here's where you can either listen to or download the show we did.

Free State Trail Run

2008-05-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

Free State Trail Run
100-Kilometer, 40-Mile, & Trail Marathon
Clinton State Park, Lawrence, Kansas
April 26, 2008
Bad Ben, Race Director

It was a beautiful April morning and the weather was perfect for a nice long run. A nice long run on single-track trail would be a bonus. Add some really decent aid stations staffed by experienced ultrarunners and their families, and some beautiful finisher's hardware and technical tee-shirts, and you have an event!

Kyle Amos, after finishing 100 Kilometers
Photo by Sophia Spencer

As some of you may know, events don't just happen. They take a lot of work by a lot of volunteers. So...the day prior to the beautiful race day morning, I was at packet pickup all day long in Lawrence, followed by a blast to Kansas City to the storage unit with the U-Haul truck and then a massive loading of the truck by myself. By the time I got back out to Lawrence to the race starting area, it was after 11 p.m. I decided to sleep in the cab of the truck. I got a full 3 hours of "quality sleep," followed by some drifting in and out of consciousness. (I've never been able to sleep well the night before race-directing an ultra event).

The "Red" Trail
Photo by Sophia Spencer

I was fully awake by 4;30 a.m., so I decided to unload the truck, set up the three pop-ups and the registration area. My volunteers started showing up after 6 a.m., so I let them handle packet pickup and late registration. I had a couple of races to start, damnit!

Registration

Volunteers Extraordinaire!

Many aspiring ultrarunners enjoy Free State's offerings of 'tweener ultra distances of 40 miles and 100 kilometers, and it shows. This 2nd-annual version of this race had a substantial increase in attendance, and not just the 87 starters in the non-ultra (marathon) distance. There were 48 starters in the 40-mile, and 34 starters in the 100K. This is a "Kansas City Trail Nerd" event, but we always have some fine help at the "Farside" aid station, staffed by Stacy Sheridan and a few spunky and ultra-enlightened Kansas Ultrarunners' Society members. The "middle of nowhere" Lands End aid station always gets double duty, and was once again staffed by Stacey Amos, Caleb Chatfield, and other spectacular help.

Rich Stigall and Caleb Chatfield at Lands End Aid Station
Photo by Gary Henry

Stacy Amos at Lands End Aid Station
Photo by Gary Henry

The Driftwood Tunnel
Photo by Gary Henry

Ya Gotta be Tough! Sophia and Debbie with another marathoner.

The race started without much fanfare at 7 a.m. sharp. The two-loop 40 mile and three-loop 100K offers a few interesting spectator spots, even though the course is 100% singletrack, and fully wooded. The course had been exquisitely marked by Greg Burger, who elevates course-marking to a fine art. Leading up to the race, we had had over 2 inches of rain earlier in the week, so we knew there would be a few sloppy sections to add to the rocky and root-bound "North Shore Norm."

Muddy Section
Photo by Sophia Spencer

Clark McLemore of Springfield, Missouri didn't seem to notice the mud. He ran an all-out assault on the trail, and blazed to a new 100K course record with a time of 9:23:18. Kyle Amos, last year's 100K winner and Dan Dehlin, last year's marathon winner, finished together and took 2nd place honors. It was Dan Dehlin's first ultra, and he learned a lot from Kyle, our Trail Nerd ultra veteran. Timothy Barnes had a nice sub-10-hour third-place finish. Tammy Stone, last year's 100K female winner (and last year's Leadville 100 female winner), came back to take 1st place again in the 100K. Her sister, (Cindy Stonesmith) took some convincing by the race director (me) to go out for her final 21-mile loop, but she was glad she had; she earned a 2nd place finish.

Kyle Amos & Dan Dehlin are finished.

The 40-mile distance had a very close race going on. Michael Adams of Manhattan Kansas smashed his old course record by 21 minutes and finished in 5:33:45. He had Gregg Buehler nipping at his heels. Gregg finished just 3 seconds behind! David Wakefield slid into third, followed by John Richardson. Lisa Trainor of Maple Grove, Minnesota blew-away the old 40-mile female record by well over 2 hours, with a time of 6:03:02! Just fifteen minutes behind her, Roxanne Zobava took 2nd. Local Trail Nerd, Emily "Mud Doc" Horn finished third, still ahead of last year's heat-zapped winning time.

Everybody had fun in the party-like environment. Trail Nerds like to have fun, and we really enjoy helping others to have fun at our events. Even though there were many successes, there were a few runners that had a not-so-spectacular-day on the course. For the last five 100K competitors, this was the case, indeed. Two of these were eager 100K first-timers. I had to pull them off of the course slightly before 1 a.m, in a driving (and cold) rainstorm. They had mixed feelings about it; they were happy to see me, but were upset they didn't finish the 100K. Next time's a charm, ladies!

Gary Henry adds: "Boy, you think you know a trail. You lavish hundreds, maybe thousands of running hours on it, in all seasons and weathers, flowery to desolate, muddy to snowy, dry to muddy, muddy to muddy. You pick up the trash. You clean it after races. You photograph it. You brag to all your friends how beautiful the trail is. And then, in the big race, in front of the people you most want to impress – ultrarunners from across the nation – your lovely little trail beats the snot out of you."

Andy Weinberg with daughter Gracie...marathon finishers!

Cynical Mud Babe (Coleen), on her way to her first marathon finish!

Kyle (with Dan behind)
Photo by Sophia

Sophia gives the trail a hug (unexpectedly)

The Kearney Klan in a huddle.

Conga Line of Runners
Photo by Gary Henry

Jim Davis Finishes.

More Photos by Gary Henry

Website

Race Results

April 1st Trail Nerd News

2008-04-01T08:06:00.000-07:00

Dick Ross (runner's photographer), being impressed with the recent "Bodies Revealed" collection on display at Union Station, has decided to use X-Ray cameras at the next Trail Nerds event.

Bad Ben put instant coffee in a microwave oven, and almost went back in time. He was quoted as saying, "my new race strategy almost worked...it may take some refinement. Expect great things from me, if I can just fix this darn Flux Capacitor."

Greg "LeCompton G" Burger has a new (successful) weight loss system. He shed 7 pounds, just by leaving one pocket of his Nathan pack empty on his last training run.

Dean Karnazes will attempt to break Kyle Amos' 100-Kilometer record at the upcoming Free State Trail Run in Lawrence, wearing only a jock strap, body paint, North Face shoes, and a toothy grin.

Results are in! And Chief Mud Babe, (Sophia Wharton-Spencer-AnchorWoman) has won the Bad Ben look-alike contest. (Winners were picked at random).

Scott Jurek is rumored to have spiked his vegan shake with Spirulina grown by European astro-scientists on the International Space Station. Supplement companies are scrambling to place wholesale orders for the $10 million per gram supplement.

The Trail Nerds have a new race sponsor, "Pricilla's." But will edible panties catch on as an aid station food?

Kevin Patrick Allen (of Endurance Planet fame) is being sued by Lucas Films LLC, for being a "Pod Racer."

Emily Horn reportedly loves the North Shore Trail in Lawrence, and may ask it to "go steady." She was quoted as saying, "I've never fallen for something so hard, since the Winter thaw."

Dr. Jesse Walden will be performing a "massage ultra" at two of our upcoming events. His hands have more miles on them than the Shuttle "Endeavor."

Bowing to criticism from Politically Correct Semanticists, the Trail Nerds will rename some of their events to have less-extreme sounding names. Expect next year's February event to be called the "Neuro Wyco, Walk Toto Walk."

Have a happy April Fools Day!
Bad Ben

Red Bridge Ramble Trail Race

2008-03-12T08:48:00.000-07:00

Race Details:
Vasque Red Bridge Ramble 8-Mile Trail Run
03/09/2008 (Sun)
8:00 a.m. Shelter #1, Minor Park, Kansas City, MO Trail run with river crossings.
This is always a low-key, high-fun family event, all for just an $8 entry fee.

2008 Race Report
Ben Holmes, RD

This year's Red Bridge Ramble was a little different. We had to re-route the course and eliminate our usual crossings of the Blue River, which was flowing fast and deep. The course was a Garmin-305-measured 6.84-miles, so we'll call it an "even" seven.

The participants feet still got wet at "appropriate intervals." Just as your feet would start to dry out, you would hit another water crossing. There was no mud...it was cold and "crunchy" on the trails.

We had the same number of entrants as last year...80; even though the weather was colder, there was a time change, and the course situation was "tentative." Everybody seemed to have a good time!

Thanks again to our sponsors:
Vasque, GoreTex, Garry Gribble's Running Sports, and Dr Jesse Walden, DC.,
Dick Ross (SeeKCRun.com).

And thanks to our wonderful volunteers:
Course setup: Rich Stigall, Shane & Jackson Jones, and me.
Course check-out: Kyle Amos, Caleb Chatfield
Course cleanup: Kyle Amos, Caleb Chatfield, Josh Pool, Emily Horn, Gabe Bevan, John King, Rick Mayo.
Finish Line and Pre-race: Kyle Amos, Caleb Chatfield, Dave Suptic, Ann Kohn, Kevin Pinkowski, and me.
Cheering section: Pat Perry and kids.

Dick Ross' Photos:
Action Photos are here
Fun Photos are here ..
Finish times are here
Photos by Dick Ross, SeeKCRun.com

Race Results for 2008

Psycho Runs Race Report

2008-02-26T07:17:00.000-08:00

4th Annual Psycho Wyco Run Toto Run
and Psychopathic 5K
Feb 9, 2008
by Ben Holmes, Race Director

The fourth annual Psycho Wyco event was once again a well-executed Fun-Fest, hosted by our fun-loving flock of Kansas City Trail Nerds. The wooded and hilly three-loop course consists of bridle trails & single-track trails, with just a skosh of pavement. The course's trails can be very challenging, due to rocks & roots and the sometimes muddy conditions, and the constant barrage of rolling hills. But remember, as the race motto states, "This is Kansas, so how tough could it really be?" In spite of the toughness of this course, Psycho Wyco still draws a fair number of first-time 50K runners.

Since it's a 10.35 mile loop course, we also offer a 10-mile and 20-mile option. This year, we added an additional and separate 5-kilometer race, on an out-and-back course.

Rick Mayo, 3rd Place 50K Male
Photo by Dick Ross

Weather is always a factor in the Midwest, at this (or any) time of year. Last year, we had an inch of ice on the course, and had to resort to NASCAR-inspired pit stops, staffed with "shoe-screwing" technicians wielding cordless drills, with attitude. This year, we had a week of snowfall prior to race day. On race day, the temperature started-out at about 28 degrees, but it warmed-up into the forties in a hurry. At the same time, there were three additional distance events going-on, with a total of over 400 participants. So by the third loop, the runners experienced quite the Midwest Mudfest Extrordinaire, stirred-up by a veritable Cuisinart of 800-plus runners' feet. Woo-hoo! Thirty-five of the 108 event starters decided to take the twenty or ten-mile option, in fact.

Gena Bonini, 1st Place 50K Female
Photo by Dick Ross

Despite the slippery course conditions, there was a new course record set in the men's race of 4:19:46, by first-time ultrarunner Mattew Laye, of Columbia, Missouri. He led the 50K field from the start, and was never really challenged during the race. The battle for 2nd place was fought by Matt Becker and Rick Mayo, with Matt toughing-out a solid sub-five-hour performance. Rick, a veteran Trail Nerd, has improved his race times significantly this past year, and ran a smart race with a lot of heart. In the female race, St Louis Ultra Grrl, Gena Bonini (45) took first place, followed by Katie Spaeth (26), of Kansas City, Missouri. Jacque Jackson of Lee's Summit, Missouri took third-place honors.

Matthew Laye, 1st Place 50K Male in 4:19:46!
Photo by Dick Ross

Last year's first and second place finishers, Caleb Chatfield and Kyle Amos respectively, staffed the Famous Amos Family aid station, this year. Kyle and several of the Nerds, including myself, had run in the Rocky Raccoon 100-mile race the weekend prior, and those same Nerds ended up working our Psycho event. Having the experienced "ultra talent" staffing aid stations and performing the special duties required to pull-off a successful ultra event, sure helps! Only ultrarunners know what ultrarunners want and need at an event.

Photo by Dick Ross

We had many Trail Nerds finish their first 50K at this year's Psycho Wyco event. Emily Horn, Travis Spears, Jeremy Bunch, Laurie Euler, Heather Wyckoff, and James Burlingame were all first-time ultrarunners. James' longest run prior to his first 50K was 10 miles. He toughed it out, and finished with a 50-kilometer-wide smile on his face. Laurie finished, holding back tears. Emily raced the last 30 yards to the finish line like a "woman possessed." It was fun seeing so many first-timers finish, despite the course conditions and difficulty. It says a lot about the aid station volunteers, and the help they can provide.

Many Psycho Wyco runners opted for the 10 or 20 mile courses. Some of those dropped down to those distances from longer distances. But we had three runners "bump-up" to the 50K ! One of those runners, (Jeff Behrens) didn't want to be counted in the 50K results, and did an extra lap, just for the fun of it. You've got to love that! We also had Duke Stamper, (a canine trailrunner) do the 20-miler, while pulling his buddy (James) along.

We added a new 5K event this year, and called it the Psychopathic 5K. It started at the same time as the other events, but was on a different out and back course. It was a tough 5K, and that's evidenced by the finish times recorded. Jeremy Covey, of Cameron Missouri was first male overall, in a time of 23:46. First female honors went to Christina DeHamer of Overland Park, Kansas, in a time of 31:27. Keep in mind that Jeremy usually finishes a paved 5K in seventeen minutes and change, and Christina usually finishes a paved 5K in under 22 minutes. And a few entrants took over 45 minutes to finish. Proof positive that this course is tough!

The long-sleeve technical shirts and the mugs for the 5K were a different design and color from the other races. Jason Crosby came up with another terrific design that "pops-out" at you.

The motto for the Psychopathic 5K is, "the psychopath of least resistance is uphill on the way back." The race lived up to it's motto, and then some. I was pleasantly pleased with having over 100 entrants sign-up for this first year 5K event in the middle of a Midwest Winter.

All of the events went smoothly and everybody seemed to be having a lot of fun. Having amenites like homemade soup, cookies and the Amos Family "Scoobie Snacks" was a plus. James Barker did an excellent job once again with his homemade chicken noodle soup and his vegan lentil soup. Vicki offered her much-raved-about vegan bean soup at the main aid station to all of the finishers.

Our sponsors really stepped-up to the plate: Krispey Kreme doughnuts and Starbucks Coffee (Shawnee Mission & Monticello location) helped keep our bellies warm and toasty. Vasque trailrunning shoes was the series sponsor. Dick Ross and his helper took over 1100 photos. Garry Gribbles Running Sports provided gift certificates and an awesome packet pickup location. Dynamic Earth gave away Vasque shoes and some high-quality outdoor equipment items fit for the trail. Dirty Girl Gaiters provided some colorful prizes. Raul Flores' RaceDay Timing Solutions provided timing and results for the events. Skye Livingston offered Psycho Psports massage for free and at reduced prices. And Dr. Jesse Walden was once again providing Active Release Techniques to alleviate pain for many of the runners.

This event just keeps getting better and more people want to enter it, each successive year. It's all because of the great volunteers and our active group of Trail Nerds and their families. As Peg from Team Garmin said, "The course was well-marked, volunteers were great, aid stations and finish line amenities were plentiful. And we all loved the homemade soup at finish and the cool schwag—dog tag finishers’ medals, mugs and tech race shirts. Exceptional job. We’ll be back next year."

We also had some very good comments, including:
"I really appreciate your race and all that goes in to managing it. I am especially impressed with how the back of the packers are treated. This was my 268th ultra or marathon and I rank your race as #1 for all aspects of race spirit and organization. Thank you."- Les Martisko Ph.D.

Happy trails,
Bad Ben

More photos, race reports and information can be found on the race's web page.
All photos below, by Dick Ross.

Pre-Race Briefing with Bad Ben.

Psycho Wyco Race Start

The shirt for the Psycho Wyco Race.

Shirt for Psychpathic 5K race.

Eudora Cross Country Girls

On the course.

Angela Shellito shows off her event shirt.

Emily Horn finishes her first 50K.

Team Garmin

Matt Becker, 2nd Place 50K Male, and all-around nice guy.

Jackson Jones with his mom Brandy. Jackson finished the 10-mile course!

Jacque Jackson, 3rd Place 50K Female

Kendall Hughes and Jeff Behrens

Duke gets his finisher's medal.

Up and coming Trail Nerd, getting a taste for the gold.

More photos, race reports and information can be found on the race's web page.

Trail Nerds Have Been Busy, Busy, Busy

2007-11-26T07:29:00.000-08:00

This past month, the Kansas City Trail Nerds have had a lot of fun.

On Veteran's Day, November 11th, we had a little 4-mile race in Wyandotte County Lake Park. Sixty runners showed up to honor our veterans and to raise money for the Nathan Jones Recovery Fund.

Nathan Jones, a third grader from Gardner, KS had extensive surgery recently after his optometrist discovered a large white mass that was later determined to be a brain tumor. Nathan is presently experiencing paralysis on the right side of his body and his prognosis remains unknown. Nathan continues to make improvements but it could be a very long and expensive process during his stay in the hospital. His father is taking an unpaid leave from his job to be with Nathan but still needs to pay his monthly insurance premiums. Proceeds from this race went toward off-setting the cost of the insurance premiums.TRAIL RUNNERS ARE GENEROUS! We raised $609 dollars for Nathan's cause.

More information and photos are here.

On November 16 & 17th, the Trail Nerds helped set up Nathaniel's Run Ultramarathon, a 24, 12, and 6-Hour Solo & Relay run. A few Nerds participated, also.

It was a Trail / Cross Country Run that began on Friday, November 16th at 6pm. The course was a 1.3-mile loop course in Shawnee Mission Park on grassy, rooty, easy to moderate difficulty with some hills in mainly open, slightly wooded area.

Proceeds from Nathaniel's Run Ultramarathon benefitted the Flint Hills Therapeutic Riding Center, Inc. (FHTRC). The center is dedicated to improving the quality of life for anyone with a physical, mental or emotional disability through therapeutic riding and hippotherapy. Hippotherapy requires licensed and trained physical, occupational or speech therapists using the horse to influence the client’s movement, and combines therapeutic riding with formal therapy exercises that help clients improve confidence, strength, flexibility and balance.

You can see more here.

On Sunday, November 25th, a few Trail Nerds participated in Lou Joline's and the Blue Springs Runners' "Dude, Where's the Trail?" run. This run is a "fun run," and not a race. You leave with your team in wave start, and have to follow 4 pages of instructions and maps for the not-so-well-marked course. In this fun endeavor, there's a lot of bushwhacking involved (with no trail). Last year, my group put in an additional 4 or 5 miles from a wrong turn. We did pretty well, this year.

Our team this year consisted of Kyle Amos, Patrick Perry, Trish Williams (for 18 miles of it), and me. Rick Mayo, Gabe Bevan, and several other Nerds were also in attendance.

My photos are here.

Come out and join us for a trail training run, sometime. We have up to eight scheduled runs per week.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T18:14:00.000-08:00

Fall Fell 7-Mile Trail Run

2007-10-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

Fall Fell 7-Mile Trail Run, Race Report:

This was the first-ever (official) off-pavement event at Kill Creek Park. It was a low-key FUN trail race, like many of our smaller events. The Kill Creek Trail system is fairly technical, and has roots, rocks and two stream crossings, during the event. It's a beautiful park...you need to check it out, if you haven't been there before. Course Map

On race day, we raised $214 for ERTA for trail maintenance, despite our low $8 entry fee. Many gave more than $8, and we kept expenses low.

RESULTS, including "1st Knitter" and "1st Guy with a Cool Name"

Here are Dick Ross' photos

Remember, these thumbnail shots are free, but you can purchase "the big ones" at his web site.
I'll post a link (soon) to the photos that I took out on the course. Check the site later.

Many thanks to the volunteers, and to Shane Jones for helping me mark the course the night before. I've never known a guy that could keep a cigar lit while running on the "Eddy Trail" with his hands full.

Shane Jones

Fall Fell 7-Mile Trail Run
10/21/2007 (Sun)
Shelter #1, Kill Creek Park
Olathe, KS
Race web site

Some comments from participants:

What a great park and a great run. Even though it wasn't my best run ever, I had tons of fun. And I'm quite proud to be 1st Knitter (thanks, Ben). It doesn't get any better than this. Running in the woods, through creeks, over rocks and roots, under low handing branches, between trees, up the dry creek bed and then back again. Zippety doo dah!
- Cheri Sutton

All,
Thanks to everyone who put on this race. It was a great event. The course was excellent, challenging, and well-marked. The water (meaning, the 30-foot wide gushing stream through which we passed not once but twice) was highly refreshing. The post-race donuts sealed the deal.
Thanks again
J. Erik Hartel

Happy trails,
Bad Ben
http://psychowyco.com/

Race Directing & Quantum Mechanics...

2007-07-19T13:35:00.001-07:00

Race directing an ultra-distance event is both extra-tough and extra-rewarding at the same time. But the planning, preparation, and execution, doesn't always roll-out in a linear fashion. Sometimes I think that Quantum Mechanics and Ultra race directing have a lot in common. Both have their own versions of inherrent randomness and that ever-present "uncertainty principle" lurking in the background.

Uncertainties creep into the picture throughout the whole process. Will the event shirts be finished on time? Did I order enough, since I had to guestimate the total number one-month prior, based upon 12 entries? Will the medals show up on time, and will they look great, crappy, or just so-so? Will we have Severe Weather during the event? Will someone get struck by lightning or have a tree fall on them? Will someone fall down and severely bust their ass, this time? Will someone get bit by a snake, get Lyme's Disease from a tick bite, have an allergic reaction to a bee sting, fall face-first into poison ivy, have a heart attack, or get heat stroke? Will we be prepared for all emergency contingencies? Will enough volunteers show up on race day? Will our timing devices work, or will both laptops crash beyond all retrieval? These are just a few of the uncertainties that creep into ultra race directors' little heads at night, when they should be sleeping. And forget breaking even with the money! With a first year ultra-distance event, you'll be lucky to not completely bust your race budget.

Well, along with the uncertainties, there is a lot of CERTAIN hard work that you'll have to do, also. Especially if it's an ultra run on trails. For this last little (combined) 50-kilometer and 15-mile trail race event, we had a 15.7-mile loop course in a very hilly park. Two miles of this course did not even exist four weeks prior to the event.

Yep, you guessed it. We hacked-out two miles of NEW TRAIL for this event, with the park's permission, of course. And eleven miles of the existing trail was so severely overgrown with poison ivy, stinging nettles, and branches of various trees and bushes, we had to trim those trails back with a vengeance, too.

You can't imagine the hard work that my Trail Nerds put into this race. Imagine going for a ten to fifteen mile training run on a weekend, and then sticking around to operate a weed-wacker for four or more straight hours! And while you're operating said weed-wacker, you're getting covered from head to toe with pieces and parts of poison ivy, stinging nettles, and their plant's juices, all while being eaten alive or stung by wasps, bees, mosquitos, ants, and gihugic horse flies! Basically, it was a blast.

A gaggle of Trail Nerds.
Gabe, Greg, Rick, Kyle, Josh, and Lance.

As the race date quickly approaches, there's even more work to be done. There's always the presorting of aid station and start/finish line equipment and supplies. This is based on pre-existing lists, estimated need, and wild-ass-guesses.

Right before the race, there's the job of course marking of the trail. Actually, this task is the most fun. Groups of hardy volunteers get to run with sticks, signs, marking tape, and hammers in their hands. Of course after the race, we get to take down all of this stuff. That's even more fun. We get to run on rough terrain grasping scissors and knives in our hands while carring sticks. Woo-hoo! Everything your mom told you not to do when you were a kid! I guess we could make it even more dangerous; we could be naked while doing this...hmmm. (Nah)!

Rick Mayo and Kyle Amos (Trail Marking Coordinator, course designer, and a lot of other stuff).

Gabe Bevan and his helpers.

How did this race get it's start? We kicked-around the original idea while on a trail run, of course. This is how we plan all of our races. We have a Winter version of this race in this same park, called the "Psycho WyCo Run Toto Run." That race started with just 43 runners the first year, and after three years had grown to 300. We had it in the back of our minds to do a Summer version with a radically altered course, and it finally gelled by March or so of this year, when Raul, Nancy, and I decided to personally fund the initial cost. We would call it the Psycho Psummer race (with a "P" in Summer, of course).

Kyle Amos and Shane Jones had ideas as to how we could make our (Winter) 3-loop 50K course into a two-loop 50K for our Summer event. Shane had scoped-out a section of woods that we would design and construct a trail in. Eventually this section was named "Shane's Debacle." There's a precedent for this naming procedure. My dog helped design a piece of single-track trail 3 years ago. I just followed my dog in the woods, and he took the best line up and down the hills all while using existing deer trails and favorable terrain. We built a trail there, and we call that section, "Fester's Wander." Some of our race participants would probably rather call it the "kick Bad Ben's dog" section.

Kyle is always the mastermind when it comes to the actual route and direction the course will take to end up with not only enough miles, but with enough gruesomely grueling miles, as well. Our Winter course has a lot of elevation change for a 50K held in Kansas. It tends to surprise a lot of people. The Summer 50K course ended up with even more elevation change. Yes, blame Kyle! At this point, I should lead a stirring rendition of South Park's "Blame Canada," using Kyle's name instead. But I won't. It's a beautiful course; a real keeper. It's also one of the toughest races that you'll run in the Midwest. And the Trail Nerds get to run on it all of the time!

Map of the Psycho Psummer course.

Course Profile.

There's a lot more to planning a race of this magnitude. I don't want to bore you with any more details, though. But I will let you know that our first year Psycho Psummer event lived up to it's name, and basically went off without a hitch.

All of our Trail Nerd volunteers were awesome. Prior to the race, we had out-of-towner Wynn Davis, the eventual winner of the 50K race helping to mark the course with Caleb Chatfield, champion and record holder of the Winter 50K event. In fact, many of the race's front runners helped mark the course. My buddy Pat Perry (that I paced at Western States) ran his own aid station with Caleb (and others') help. Cheri Sutton greeted all multi-loop runners with ice and cool bandanas and basically ran the main aid station. Mike Swords, James Barker, and many others performed multiple days' worth of help. People came out of the woodwork to help us, and many families of runners and volunteers were involved, too.

Caleb Chatfield and Wynn Davis

Yep, that's the kind of selfless volunteers that we always get. That's why I love trail running and ultra running. And we always have fun doing it!

Happy trails,
Bad Ben

Registration staffed by Melissa, Sue, Allison, and Mel.

Mark Jacquez using the chip reader on the finish line.
Raul and Allison keeping time in the background.

Pat Perry hauling equipment.

Mike (in yellow) and James (in blue) at their "Spillway" aid station.

Kyle and Stacy Amos are still marking the course right before the race.

Dr Jesse Walden works on a participant.

Cheri & Vicki prepare the main aid station food.

Cheri Sutton attaches an ice-filled bandana to cool a runner.

Some of the equipment needed for the race.

Summer Intro Vasque Trail run

2007-06-25T16:15:00.000-07:00

The Vasque Summer Intro Trail Run is in the books now and wow what an event it was! Pre-registration saw numbers for our little race at about 45 or so with another 10 entries coming at packet pick up held at Gary Gribbles on Friday before the race. Saturday morning, we had another 50 sign up to put us at 105 entrants for this 10k 'ish race in the Shawnee Mission Park trails.

The rain the night before made the trails a little muddy, but it wasn't enough to dampen anyones' spirits. Everyone had a great time and we even saw some impressive times for this 6.5 mile run in slippery conditions!
Dick Ross came out to photograph the event and we had Ty Stevens representing our title sponsor Vasque while putting in an impressive performance as well.

The participation was a little larger than we had anticipated, but race director Kyle Amos handled everything in stride with the help of some willing and flexible volunteers.

Race results and more photos on the web page.

Race Results:

Place	Time	Name	M/F	Age
1	44:25:00	Matt Riley	M	19	1st male overall
2	46:05:00	Tom Kreisser	M	37
3	47:35:00	Ankur Tarneja	M	25
4	48:52:00	Greg Buehler	M	35
5	49:55:00	Ty Stevens	M	31
6	49:58:00	Marvin Mastin	M	41	1st male masters
7	50:08:00	Mark Wall	M	36
8	50:14:00	Ryan Voss	M	26
9	50:30:00	Lee Roger	M	43
10	51:11:00	Dan Kuhlman	M	53
11	51:22:00	Daniel Zehr	M	19
12	51:38:00	Cody Jones	M	22
13	52:11:00	Josh Pool	M	27
14	53:00:00	Steve Riley	M	53
15	53:16:00	Greg Burger	M	40
16	53:27:00	Rick Mayo	M	31
17	54:14:00	Aaron Meek	M	34
18	54:26:00	Luke Austell	M	41
19	54:28:00	Ryan Francis	M	24
20	54:30:00	Richard Sigel	M	39
21	54:39:00	Wes Brown	M	24
22	55:45:00	Shane Jones	M	32
23	56:05:00	Stuart Johnson	M	47
24	56:10:00	Josh Weber	M	32
25	56:43:00	Gabe Bevin	M	34
26	56:55:00	Brent Walker	M	45
27	57:07:00	John King	M	34
28	57:50:00	Rich McNally	M	48
29	58:06:00	April One	F	15	1st female overall
30	58:15:00	Steve Knox	M	25
31	58:22:00	Keith Dowell	M	53
32	58:43:00	Brian Charlton	M	24
33	58:49:00	Rob Clower	M	47
34	59:04:00	Gene Wee	M	50
35	59:13:00	Geoff Clark	M	36
36	59:33:00	Jackie Jackson	F	39
37	1:01:15	Gery Henry	M	50
38	1:01:35	Robin Haberstroh	M	26
39	1:02:16	Shawn Beeton	M	36
40	1:02:21	Travis Spears	M	30
41	1:02:26	David French	M	38
42	1:02:28	Lance Calvert	M	36
43	1:02:45	Steve Fox	M	15	????
44	1:02:46	Mark Wozny	M	25
45	1:02:49	Steve Meyer	M	40
46	1:02:53	Mac Bishop	M	31
47	1:03:09	Greg Fox	M	45	????
48	1:03:10	Sally Sack	F	18
49	1:03:35	Stepanie Astell	F	44	1st female masters
50	1:04:20	Brent Patterson	M	35
51	1:04:26	Emily Horn	F	30
52	1:04:32	Eric Williams	M	25
53	1:05:33	Dustin Yantzi	M	15
54	1:05:39	James Megerson	M	41
55	1:06:06	Carrie Bishop	F	30
56	1:06:19	Greg Fox	M	45
57	1:06:44	Fritz Menninger	M	50
58	1:07:13	David Hoefer	M	48
59	1:07:36	Rick Roeber	M	51	Barefoot Rick
60	1:07:59	Dan Scheoph	M	45
61	1:08:00	Dan Saale	M	47
62	1:08:19	Ricardo Mejia	M	49
63	1:08:43	Jay Mooney	M	38
64	1:08:56	Michael Gleeson	M	38
65	1:09:09	Kelli Conway	F	24
66	1:09:36	Deb Johnson	F	47
67	1:10:17	Bob Malkames	M	62
68	1:10:18	Mark Stovall	M	39
69	1:10:26	Kami Bates	F	34
70	1:11:18	Tracey Groff	F	37
71	1:12:31	Brad Stephenson	M	43
72	1:13:03	Heather Wyckoff	F	35
73	1:14:01	Michael Smith	F	28
74	1:14:21	Christine Cowan	F	28
75	1:14:56	Krista Stigall	F	37
76	1:14:58	Sarah Sinning	F	23
77	1:15:32	Edgy Sack	F	47
78	1:16:16	Wes Rains	M	50
79	1:16:40	Matt Ernst	M	45
80	1:18:04	Niki Morris	F	24
81	1:18:26	Julie Funk	F	43
82	1:18:27	MK Thompson	F	43
83	1:18:37	Deanne Yates	F	46
84	1:19:11	Trish Williams	F	42
85	1:19:13	Dan Yates	M	50
86	1:19:50	Joseph Loranger	M	44
87	1:23:55	Beatty Suiter	M	34
88	1:25:10	Constance Tieghi	F	37
89	1:26:05	Amy Suiter	F	34
90	1:26:06	Amy West	F	35
91	1:26:07	Karna Pfoltner	F	48
92	1:26:37	Susan Robinette	F	62
93	1:30:50	Stacey Amos	F	32
94	1:30:50	Dan Suiter	M	62
95	1:31:17	Rick Christmann	M	54
96	1:32:50	Joseph Rooney	M	36
97	1:34:10	Megan Jenson	F	26
98	1:35:37	Nicole Rooney	F	34
99	1:35:39	Nicolette Cumming	F	17
100	1:46:27	Laura Gawecki	F	44
101	1:48:53	Beth Hilt	F	48

A special thanks goes out to the Earth Riders organization for the fantastic work they've done in building and maintaining these and other Kansas City area trails. Proceeds from this race were donated to them in appreciation of all of their hard work.

Thank you to everyone who came out to participate and a BIG THANK YOU to all the volunteers who helped make this a success!

Next up on the schedule is the Psummer Psycho on July 14th.

More about the Summer Intro 10K: race report, photos, etc. Click Here.

Preventing Foot Problems...Blisters & Black Toenails

2007-06-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: There are some strong opinions expressed here, but most of them were acquired over time by (me) making many stupid mistakes, and learning from those mistakes. Take it or leave it, it's just information (with some personal opinion added). Most of this information applies to trail runners, but much of it crosses-over to regular pavement running, especially for marathoners.

I disagree with runners that think they have to lose toenails and get blisters on every ultrarun or marathon. It's ridiculous. Especially runners that aren't front-runners in races...(that's a different level of folks who are pushing the limit and probably will lose toenails and get blisters because of racing shoe choices, never stopping to adjust anything, etc). But if you are a slow to upper-middle-of-the-pack runner in long races, what I would call an "Extra-Mediocre Runner," blisters and black toenails are preventable. I haven't had a blister in 3 years and have NEVER lost a toenail...(sound of wood being knocked). And that includes hilly & mountainous ultra races, and more than a few 50 and 100-milers where my feet were wet & muddy for the whole course.

If you get blisters or black toenails every time you run a race...change something...anything, darn-it! On a recent 3-day training run on trails through the Sierra Nevada Mountains in May 2007, I didn't have a problem. Lots of other folks did. On the first day, we ran 34 miles of technical trails in the mountains. We had 3 major (40-minute) steep decents, and 3 major (one-hour) steep climbs throughout the day. Half of the "first day folks" had major problems with feet and leg issues, and most of them dropped out of training camp. It was easy to see what they were doing wrong, in most cases. The "toenail losers," "ankle twisters," and folks that got "stone bruises" were always wearing "normal" road running shoes or racing flats, instead of trail-running shoes. And most of the blister folks didn't have their shoes tied tight enough, or didn't know anything about electrolyte consumption or foot care.

A training run on the Western States 100 Trail.

Blisters are caused by 3 causal factors: heat, moisture, and friction. Trying to eliminate all 3 of these from your running experience can be impossible, but you can usually minimize at least one of the factors during a run, and thus prevent blisters.

Gnarly heel blisters on some poor sap.

Wearing socks that wick-away moisture is a huge plus. You should never wear cotton socks! They stay saturated and are like wet sandpaper on your feet. Find a synthetic sock or sock combination that works for you (during training). I personally use Injinji Tetrasok (toe-socks) in combination with a very-thin outer sock, like a Bridgedale, Smartwool, or Ultimax (depending on the season/weather). This combination works well for my feet, but you may need something else, entirely. Try out your sock experiments during training...duh! What about not wearing socks? Unless you actually have your shoes "painted" onto your feet for a super-custom fit, you will just end up being a really-stinky-footed-and-blistered-idiot.

Injinji Tetrasok

Sizing your shoes is important, because your feet will expand up to 1/2 size during a very long run. I buy shoes that are 1/2 size larger than my feet for ultra-running distances. Your feet (and hands) will also swell if you don't take-in enough electrolytes during a race or long run. Foot swelling can cause blisters. Here's a good article about that:
Blisters, Black Toenails and Sodium by Karl King: http://www.succeedscaps.com/blisters.html

Also, tying your shoes correctly or tight enough is very important, especially in hilly or muddy conditions. I use a lacing method (called lace-lock) that prevents heel-slippage on steep up-hills and in muddy, shoe-sucking conditions. On steep down-hills, if your shoe laces are loose, your toe will slam into the front of your shoe and cause major toe and toenail trauma. This is how many folks get dreaded "black toenail" and lose nails after a race. It's also a recipe for severe blistering. Like your mom used to say, "Tie your shoes!"

Wearing shoes "appropriate for the conditions" is paramount. If I run a race on pavement, then I will wear racing flats or other road running shoes. On a rocky and root-infested trail, I always opt for true trail-running shoes. The stone-bruised and ankle-twisted runners at the end of every race are usually wearing road-racing flats or soft, non-protecting road running shoes. Most of them end up with lost toenails, as well, (because the toe-box on these shoes is real tight). Unless you are a really fast & fluid trail runner, or a "World-Class" trail runner, I would not opt for road-running shoes on any trail ultra, trail marathon, or trail race.

Vasque “Blur” Trail Running Shoes

As I've said before:
True trail-running shoes are not just road-running shoes with more durable upper soles and added traction. Trail-running shoes should be fairly light, and have more protection for your toes and forefoot area, to keep from getting "rock & root-induced trauma." You also want your heel to sit lower within the back of the shoe to avoid ankle sprains. Road-running-style "motion control shoes" tend to be higher in the heel area, less flexible, and more prone to putting torque on your ankle area than true trail-running shoes. While wearing these "higher-heeled" shoes, If you were to step on an small stump, rock or root, (which you eventually will), you would have a much higher chance for a severe ankle injury. Not good. Also, the stiffer the shoe, the less of your shoe bottom contacts the surface of the unevenly-surfaced trails. You therefore have less control and less "trail feel" with a stiff shoe. Stiffness also equals heavy, in most cases. There is absolutely no reason why a decent trail-running shoe should be any heavier than a road-running shoe. More information here.

Taking care of your feet during the run is important. I always see ultra-newbies and uber-superstitious runners at races with drop bags "bigger than a bus," filled with shoes and socks to change in to, during the race. This is a very naive tactic, in most cases. In a wet race, your feet will be wet again within minutes. (And now you've just lost 7 or 8 minutes changing shoes/socks at the aid station, all for nothing). A better tactic is to treat your feet when problems arise. When you feel the pain of a "hot spot" forming that will eventually become a blister, pull to the side of the trail and put some lube on the particular spot. Carry a small amount of lube with you. I use a water-resistant and thick silicone gel. You can also use any anti-chafing sports lubes found at running stores. I only pull back the first sock layer, then apply lube directly to the sock surface at the "hot spot" location. It takes me 30 seconds to do this, but it will make all of the difference in the world. Also, in a dusty/sandy race, gaiters can work to keep friction-producing crap out of your shoes. Taking care of your feet BEFORE a run or race is important, also. Trim and file your toenails prior to any long run. This will lessen the chance for toenail trauma.

Training "for the conditions of the trail" is important. If you train only on pavement for a trail marathon or a trail ultra, you are either a TOTAL MORON, or you are a poor sod that has no "trail options" in your immediate area. For instance, I am always amazed at the number of 100-mile racers that NEVER train on night trail runs, even though up to 40 miles of their 100-mile race will be done at night. Training on trails for events (and on trails at night) teaches your body to "feel" the trail, and to react to trail surface conditions quickly...to "go with the flow" of the trail. It's called "proprioception." You will learn to become a fluid trail-runner that hardly ever trips and rarely falls, if you train this way. This is a good thing, if you intend to race in long-distance trail races, do well, and not fall flat on your face or have other troubles.

In summary, preventing most foot problems is easy:
Tie your shoes. Wear appropriate footwear for the conditions. Wear the proper size of shoe. Never wear cotton socks and find socks that work for you. Take your electrolytes. Take care of your feet immediately when any problems arise. Pick your feet up high enough to clear objects on the trail, (then repeat); this can be practiced while ACTUALLY TRAINING ON TRAILS. Our group of "Kansas City Trail Nerds" has free group trail runs up to 6 times per week, so there's no excuse not to train on trails in the KC Metro.

Happy trails,
Bad Ben

Berryman Trail Marathon

2007-05-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

(Photos at bottom of this post)

This past weekend, Vicki, my dog, and I drove down to the Ozark Mountains of southeast Missouri. For once, they were a part of my annual pilgrimage to the Berryman Trail Runs. The event headquarters is in a campground between Steelville and Potosi, Missouri. The course is run on hilly single and double track trails, and is in quite the gorgeous setting.

We pitched our tent in the primitive campground near the start/finish line. The smell of the tall pine trees there always reminds me of camping in the Pacific Northwest. The weather was nice, if not a little hot for the 50-milers in the afternoon. Forty-seven degrees overnight, and mid-eighties by the afternoon.

I had signed-up for just the marathon this year, and I had a good excuse to opt-out of the longer distance. I'm going out to WS100 training camp next weekend, so I didn't want to rip myself up too badly doing a 50-miler. Especially when I know that it will be a tough 70+ mile weekend in the mountains and elements.

Saturday morning, the day of the race, I woke up at 5 a.m. feeling okay. Vicki fixed some coffee for me in the French Press while I ate a banana. She also fixed a chicken salad sandwich, and that tasted wonderful early in the morning. I'd already prepared my race stuff the night before, so I donned it and got ready.

Prior to the start of the race, I got to give away some Vasque Trail Series schwag: some bottle openers, a couple of shirts, and a pair of Vasque shoes. I included Berryman in our Midwest Vasque trail series, as well as it being a TrailRunning Mag series race. David and Victoria White, the race directors, let me put up the series banners, also.

About David and Vicky and their daughter, Jessica: they have that race buttoned-down, nicely. Every detail is accounted for, and it goes off without a hitch. I love to not only run in this race, but also sit back and learn from them the proper way to put on an event. I can honestly say that most of what I've learned about proper ultra event race direction was from the Whites, the Sheridans (KUS), and Joe Prusaitis (of Rocky Raccoon, Bandera, etc).

The race started right at 7:00 a.m., as planned. There is an out and back on a dirt road at first, and then you hit the trail. This is a good thing, because everyone spreads out to their own paces, instead of bunching-up on the trail. I got into my "trail rhythm" right away. The sights, the forest aromas, and the sounds of birds waking up made for a wonderful start to my day.

I was running the race with the intention of not expending too much energy, but at the same time trying to hit the downhills as hard as I could. I wanted to give my quads a darn good pounding. My intention was to get my legs ready for the long downhills on the Western States course that they would encounter next weekend. (I was "reasonably sore" on Monday, so it must have worked).

My race strategy was not only enjoyable, but was working well for me. Maybe I'll do this more often. I was really using the downhills more than normal, and basically short-stepping all of the uphills. I noticed some of the same folks that I was letting pass me on the uphills, I would blast by them on the down side.

After the Brazil Creek crossing and aid station, I decided to wear my earbuds and listen to music for last nine miles of the run. For my Shuffle's mix, I went with easy-going Jazz, Dub, Soul, Alt-Country and Underground Hip-Hop, this time. Most notably: Miles Davis' "Sketches of Spain" for the Jazz, some Scientist and Sly and Robby for the Dub, Al Green for the Soul, Hank III for the Alt-C, and El-P's awesome new album for the Hippizzle. I think I'll stick with this kind of mix for my next 100-miler, except I'll add some Blues, as well. It kept me "flowing" down the trail, instead of hitting it in fits and starts, like when I listen to Punk.

The race seemed shorter, this year. Maybe it was the music, or maybe it was the cooler weather (compared to last year's record-breaking scorcher). I didn't realize that I was running up the last hill until I saw the road crossing and campground, otherwise I may have finished one or two places ahead.

The results were just posted. I was 3rd in the "Senior" division, with a time of 4:42:00. I'm happy with that result, because I haven't had a lot of long runs of late, due to being too darn busy.

A lot of the times were fast this year, and the competition was fierce. Eric Grossman broke the old record for the 50-miler by quite a bit, with a time of 6:33:27. Tom Whalen broke the old record also, finished 2nd overall, and set a new Masters record by 63 minutes! "Trail Nerd" Paul Schoenlaub took 7th place overall. There was no stopping Deanna Stoppler; she was 9th overall and first female with a time of 8:51:05. (She won my 40-miler at Free State two weeks ago, also). Dave Wakefield dropped from the 50, but finished with a respectable marathon time of 3:58:17. Brian Beckort of Indiana set a new open Marathon record with a 3:11:46. David Lawhorn of Kentucky was 2nd, and Andrew Karandjeff (a fellow SLUG) was third. First Female was Marla Luckey in 3:57:00. Don Fichtl set a new Senior record, with a time of 3:46:39. Tony Kramer set a new Grand Master record, in 4:33:20.

Pat Perry, who I'll be pacing at Western States, finished the marathon with a time of 4:10:33. He also brought 22 other folks from his Lees Summit, Missouri company (Genesys), that he has coached for the past year. It was his folks' goal to run their first marathon as a trail marathon as part of their wellness program. They not only succeeded, but they had matching shirts and had a lot of fun, also. I was honored have one of their team's shirts given to me.

Post race, there were burgers, brats, and other food fixin's. Kevin "the Mathineer" brought some of his pale ale homebrew, also. Thanks, Kevin! Just hanging out after this race is a lot of fun. I had a blast.

If you want to run a fast and runnable trail marathon in a beautiful setting, with great race direction, you've got to do this race.

Happy trails,

Bad Ben

Lounging around after the race.

The Digs and the Dog.

Eric Grossman, 50-Mile winner and record-setter.

Pat Perry (#1000) at the start of the race.

Dave Wakefield and me (about 1 minute after I finished).

Race Director's Report: Vasque Free State Trail Run

2007-05-04T14:39:00.001-07:00

Well, the 1st Annual Vasque Free State Trail Run, held at Clinton State Park in Lawrence, Kansas is now history. What a fun event! I loved every part of this process…the planning, the build-up, and especially the delivery.

Photo by Rachel Seymour, Lawrence Journal World

The Planning:
For the past 4 years or so, Kyle Amos and I had kicked-around the idea of holding a 50-miler at Clinton State Park, on the North Shore trails. We even had it in a local race schedule (in 2004) for a few months before pulling it. The reason we pulled the plug on the idea? This venue didn’t conveniently lend itself to a 50-mile course, with loops of a little over 20 miles per loop. We also thought that 50Ks and 50-Milers are done to death in the ultra-world at large. And it just didn’t “feel” right.

Photo by Dick Ross, www.seekcrun.com

Flash forward to Winter of 2006 – We were on a Thursday night training run on the Blue River Trails, when Kyle said, “why not a 40-miler and a 100-K?” That idea struck us like a bolt of lightning. Later on, Greg Burger thought it would be nice to add a trail marathon as well, with the intent of drawing-in some crossover pavement-pounders. Yep. Another good idea.

Emily Horn Photo by Dick Ross, www.seekcrun.com

Why would we pick a 40-mile and a 100-Kilometer distance, you might ask? Why not? Many aspiring ultra-distance runners would like to move up in distance from a 50K to a 50-miler, but want to run an "in-between distance" first. The same goes for runners who have finished a 50-mile run, but would like to move up to the 100-mile distance. There just aren't enough in-between distance ultras to run "out there," especially ultras that are on 100% technical single-track trails. It would also be nice if these in-between ultras were positioned in the Spring, prior to some of the popular 50 and 100-mile races. It would also be nice if these races were close to a major airport, thus eliminating the need for long drives in rental cars for out-of-towners. It was a slam-dunk of an idea!

Sarah Sinning Photo by Dick Ross, www.seekcrun.com

With the planning for numerous short-distance trail races and our three years of experience planning and implementing a successful 50K in the dead of Winter, (Psycho WyCo Run Toto Run), we knew we had the knowledge, skills, and connections to pull it off. Having Vasque (trail shoes) pony-up as our 2007 Trail Series sponsor helped, also.

The Build-up:
We ran on the actual race course on multiple Sunday mornings for the months leading up to the race. Us “Trail Nerds” seem to do our best planning on our feet; especially on long trail runs. The re-hash every week in our muddy outdoor “meeting room” seemed to have paid off. We looked at the race from a lot of angles, and fleshed-out the details pretty darn well.

Greg Burger. Photo by Dick Ross, www.seekcrun.com

We had nothing but a good and helpful experience with Clinton State Park, Kansas Department of Recreation & Wildlife, and the Army Corps of Engineers, as far as planning and getting the necessary permits in order. Top notch folks, all-around. We also had some expert help for race day coming from KUS, (the Kansas Ultrarunners’ Society). Stacy Sheridan, Phil Sheridan, Randy Albrecht, Jim Davis, and Matt Becker signed-on to run our half-way aid station. This helped put my mind at ease quite a bit.

Photo by Dick Ross, www.seekcrun.com

The week leading up to the race was of course, very busy. It was also raining cats and dogs. The race was going to be held on Saturday, April 28. On Thursday night, Greg Burger and I marked about 4 miles of the course. On Friday, I was at packet pickup all day with the Midwest Vasque rep. (Dan Dehlin), while Kyle led a group of Trail Nerds (Greg, Ben Reeves, Mike Swords) to mark the majority of the course. It was raining hard and threatening tornados as they marked it.

Friday night, my wife (Vicki) and I camped at the park at the Start/Finish area, along with Josh Pool and Caleb Chatfield. I drove my last load of stuff out to the park at 12:30 a.m.

Jason. Photo by Dick Ross, www.seekcrun.com

The Delivery:
Saturday morning was beautiful. We did some last-minute marking and logistics deliveries, and then started checking participants off of the list as they arrived.

I started the 40-mile and 100-K ultra races very close to the scheduled 7:00 a.m. starting time. The marathon soon followed at 8:00 a.m.
And, they’re off!

In very short order, it was obvious that it was going to be a hot, sunny, and humid day; our first “hot running day” of the season. When Kyle Amos came in on his first 20-mile loop of the 100-K, he said, “start pushing the electrolytes and water, and keep it up all day. It’s getting hot out there.”

We didn’t get the middle aid station setup until after the start of the marathon. This aid station was a logistical challenge. All of the supplies had to be driven to Campground #1, taken through a special gate, and then hand carried to the course location. And, there was an additional challenge. There was very limited access to Campground #1, because of a road bicycle criterion being staged. This station had to do double-duty as well, because the runners went through it twice on each loop. (This fact had escaped us during the initial planning, for some reason). Stacy Amos, Josh, and Caleb were in charge of this important station, and they did an awesome job, despite the restocking issues.

In the meantime, the 3 races were proceeding nicely. We had some notoriously fast trail runners for all three events. We also had some “trail rookies” and quite a few trail veterans.

Of the marathon speedsters, we had our Midwest Vasque representative, Dan Dehlin, who had recently won a tough trail marathon in 2:52:00. He ended up winning the Free State marathon in 2:40 and change! He had also been a big help at packet pickup the day prior. Maria Eifler, of Lawrence, took 1st place female honors in a time of 3:36:40. Dann Fisher (sans his usual K-9 race companion Bart), flew through the course and took 2nd place overall in just under three hours. Ivan Marsh from Ashland Nebraska was third. Second place female honors went to Emily Horn, of Lenexa, Kansas. Third place (and enjoying the race the whole way) was Erika Nilles-Plumlee of Lawrence, Kansas.
The 40-Miler had two fast runners battling it out for first place. Michael Adams (36), who had won the Lake McMurty 50K just two weeks prior, was competing with Alex Luedtke, a fast young runner from Omaha. Both men are new to ultra-distance trail running. Michael won the 40-mile race in 5:54:22, with Alex a little way back at 6:12:43. Rich Stigall did very well in his first ultra, taking third overall in 7:05:17. Rich, a resident “Trail Nerd,” is slowly gaining confidence and will be hammering out 50-milers soon enough.

In the women’s 40-mile race, S.L.U.G. Deanna Stoppler of Ashland, Missouri cruised to a 8:15:18 victory, followed by local (Shawnee, Kansas) Trail Nerd, Deb Johnson. Deanna had way too much fun, and hung around to eat multiple burgers and was excited about winning a pair of Vasque trailrunning shoes. Deb, ever the tough trail runner, was paced on a loop by her ultra-hubby Stuart. Third went to Rachel Kugel, of Des Moines, Iowa. Rachel seems to like our Trail Nerd races as much as we like having her run them.

In the 100-kilometer race, there were three front runners: Kyle Amos, Phil Sheridan, and Tammy Stone. Kyle and Phil were within a minute of each other for 40 miles! Tammy was always within striking distance, just in case either one of them slowed significantly. All three of these runners were a joy to watch; they were focused, friendly, and were having fun, despite running a tough race.

Kyle is co-founder of the Trail Nerds, and is a fast and solid ultrarunner. He had spent all of the rainy day before the race marking the course. Phil has set records and masters records at many ultra trail races. He’s also a favorite co-Race Director of the Rockin’ K Trail Runs, with his wonderful wife, Stacy. Tammy Stone is a fast veteran ultrarunner from the sleepy little ex-coal mining town of Florence, Colorado. She ended up mining our 100K for gold! She ended up as first-place female and third overall, with a time of 10:59:03.

Kyle Amos and Phil Sheridan were hitting aid stations at about the same time for their first two 21-mile loops. It was fun to watch. They even took a cooling dip in the lake at about the same time. Both men were doing their best to stay hydrated and cool on the very humid and warm day. At the aid stations, Phil would have us put ice in his hat, and Kyle had us put ice in his neck bandana. Caleb Chatfield was working the middle aid station with Josh Pool and Stacy Amos and waiting for Kyle’s last loop (to pace him the last 15 miles). That was the turning point for the Kyle-Phil first place battle. Caleb pushed Kyle back out of his comfort zone and into a pace 1 to 2 minutes faster per mile. He finished in 10:02:34, and Phil finished in 10:16:50. Gary Henry (Lawrence, KS) ran a steady race and took 4th Place at 13:06:13, followed shortly by Chis Corbin (Sand Springs, OK), and Patrick Perry of Lees Summit, Missouri.

Pat Patrick enjoys his 100-K Photo by Dick Ross.

Kyle Amos directly after his 100-K finish. Photo by Stacy Amos

Gabe Bevan ran a smart and steady race and nailed the 100-K race in under 14 hours. Greg Burger had a tough last loop, but had the fortitude to finish his first distance over 50-Kilometers. He was very emotional after finishing, to say the least. His words at the finish line (to Gary and me) were, “how the heck do you guys run one hundred miles?” One step at a time, was what we told him.

Steve Hughes (of Chicago), “toughed it out” to the end. Charles Stroud (from St Louis, Mo), who’d had me a little worried earlier in the race, finished strongly. Kelvin Riley of Olathe, Kansas finished last, and just 13-minutes and 5 seconds under the race’s deadline. Kyle Amos, who after his race-winning finish, had gone to work the middle aid station with his wife, had decided to “sweep the course” and come in with Kelvin. On his way in, he also picked up course markings. (Keep in mind he also led the course marking effort the day before the race in a rainstorm).

Kelvin was an inspiration to all of us. He had never run further than a marathon distance and had only one (short) trail run to his credit. He was a very determined runner. “Quit” was not part of his vocabulary. I’m sending him the “most inspirational award” for his day long life-changing experience. This is what makes being a race director such a rewarding experience!

We had so much good help with this race. Stacy Sheridan, Phil Sheridan, Randy Albrecht, Jim Davis, and Matt Becker (and Jay) took care of the half-way (KUS) aid station in the Army Corps of Engineers area. Stacy, Phil, Randy, and Jim are ultra-distance race directors, and Matt, Phil, Randy, and Jim are top-notch ultrarunners.

In the middle (Land’s End) aid station, Stacy Amos has 3 years experience of taking care of ultrarunners at aid stations. Caleb and Josh are very speedy ultrarunners, and know just what the runners want, (even if the runners don’t know what they should want , themselves). And Kyle…well he’s just terrific.

At the main aid station, we had Vicki Holmes, aid station worker and “Cook Devine.” We also had Sara Risser, who knows how to put on a race, and local speedy “trail-ace” David Wakefield, helped me with the finish line, (especially when I was out rescuing runners). Ed Payne and Laura were huge helps, also. And Ben Reeves was everywhere; he would restock water, drive and or run everywhere and anywhere needed. Mike Swords was Mr. Everything, too, along with running in the marathon. As Gary Henry put so succinctly in his race report (about experienced ultra-distance race event help), "they've all been through it, so they know how to do it." Even my 4-1/2 year old grandson got into the act, and would help me run with some of the finishers up that last hill. He also helped me pick up course markings the next day.

Speaking of rescuing runners, I had to rescue two from the edge of heat stroke. But I had help. Jesse Walden, D.C., was giving “active release” massage at the main aid station to any (sweaty & muddy) runners that needed or wanted it. He had also provided this service at our Red Bridge Ramble run back in March. In fact, he was working on me at the time (between runners coming in), when I received a phone call from Stacy Amos that Shane Jones was “down on the course,” and was somewhere around the “Mile 5” marker on the White Trail. Jesse heard this and asked if he could go with me to help. We both hopped in my Honda Element and headed to an area that we could get near that course area in a speedy fashion.

Jesse Walden, DC. Photo by Dick Ross.

We started running down the trail, but soon realized when we came to a mileage marker that we were going the wrong way. We headed in the other direction, and cruised right along. Jesse is a decent runner, but had never run on rocky trails before. He commented, “much more of this, and you may be carrying me out of here.”

We found Shane laying on the ground and in a bad way. Sarah Sinning was with him, and had been making sure he wasn’t left alone. We got him up and moving (with some help), and got him out of there. Some electrolytes, air conditioning, cold packs and lots of water helped get him going in the right direction (physically).

Soon after that episode, we got a call for another “runner down.” This was a potentially serious situation, also. The poor guy had cramps and “Charlie-horses” so bad that he was in terrible pain and couldn’t even walk. With some help from a relative of his that was pacing him, we got him out of there and back to the main aid station. His wife was a Registered Nurse, and she went to work on him. With some electrolytes and water, we got him to start recovering within 30-minutes.

Well, that’s the long-winded version of my Race Director story, and I’m sticking to it. I love to run in these races myself, but it is so darn rewarding to see a race from “the other side” also, especially a race that came together so beautifully.

Once again, we also had some wonderful designs come to fruition for our shirt, medals, and the 100-K buckles. These were designed by Jason Crosby (http://jasoncrosbyillustration.com). The Park’s staff was very helpful. And there were many folks involved with the setup, logistics, marking, and de-constructing of this race. Good things just don’t happen by themselves.

Until our next race…keep your powder dry and your shoes dirty.

Happy trails,
Ben Holmes

For more photos, results, and race reports, go to: http://www.psychowyco.com/id1.html

Vasque Free State Trail Run, the Aftermath

2007-05-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

Well, the 1st Annual Vasque Free State Trail Run, held at Clinton State Park in Lawrence, Kansas is now history. What a fun event! I loved every part of this process…the planning, the build-up, and especially the delivery.

Waiting for the final 100-Kilometer runner to come in after 17 hours and 47 minutes may sound like a drag to you, but I loved it. It was so worth it, just to see the expression of accomplishment on his face.

I would like to thank all of the volunteers. You folks are the tops!

I'll post a formal Race Director's report soon. Until then, here are a few photos:

Photo by Rachel Seymour, Lawrence Journal World

Photo by Dick Ross, www.seekcrun.com

Kyle Amos, 100-Km Winner Photo by Rachel Seymour, Lawrence Journal World

Aid Station relief. Photo by Rachel Seymour, Lawrence Journal World

Phil Sheridan, 2nd Place 100-Km Photo by Rachel Seymour, Lawrence Journal World

Photo by Rachel Seymour, Lawrence Journal World

Tammy Stone, Female 1st Place 100-Km Photo by Dick Ross, www.seekcrun.com

Sarah! Photo by Dick Ross, www.seekcrun.com

Photo by Dick Ross, www.seekcrun.com

Photo by Rachel Seymour, Lawrence Journal World

Update: Free State Trail Run

2007-04-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

We have 77 runners signed-up for the 1st annual Free State Trail Runs. This is a very good first year showing for a unpaved venue that doesn't have any races shorter than 26.2 miles!

This is the breakdown:
Fourteen 100-K entrants (with a couple more that I know will sign up on Friday).
Twenty-seven 40-Milers
Thirty-six Trail Marathoners, including "Barefoot" Rick.

To see all of the entrants so far, Click Here.

Keep in mind that packet pickup will be at:
Sunflower Outdoor & Bike Shop
On Friday, April 27, 11am-5:30pm.
Sunflower Outdoor & Bike Shop
802 Massachusetts St
Lawrence, KS 66044
(785) 843-5000

There will also be race day packet pickup at the race's start/finish area in the State Park.
Just show up early for your event!
Start times:
40-miler and 100-K: 7:00 a.m.
Trail Marathon: 8:00 a.m.

PS:
There is also race day entry, for all of you procrastinators.

Happy trails,
Bad Ben

2007 Rockin' K Trail Runs Race Report

2007-04-09T15:39:00.000-07:00

Wow. The Rockin' K trail Run.

Every year that I've shown up for this race, the weather has always been a factor. We've had "the wind year," the "rain year," the "heat years" and now the "snow year." Record cold temperatures made for an interesting trail run, and a fun time camping, too.

Kyle, my son and I decided to carpool to the run and camp out. We left about noon on Friday. Kyle had trained well and was looking for a decent race. Matt was going out to just get away from town, and to help crew us during the run. I was just looking to finish the damn 50-miler for once, rather than opting for the marathon option (like I have for 3 tries in a row). I haven't completed the 50 for 4 years. It's usually due to a pre-existing injury or illness, but this year I went to the race feeling fit and fine, for once.

Many Trail Nerds showed up for the race. The list was large:

50-Mile Starters:
Kyle "Famous" Amos
Greg "LeCompton Gee" Burger
Gary "Dam" Henry
Bad Ben
Willie "Ya Shoe, you betchyou" Lambert
Rick "Hyperbolic" Mayo
Paul "Chatterbox" Schoenlaub

Trail Marathon Starters:
Gabe "Buff" Bevan
Ed "Silver Bullet" Payne
Josh "by Gosh" Pool
Sarah "Forgiven but Still" Sinning
Krista & Richard "Cutest Couple Ever" Stigall
Julie "Swiftfoot" Funk

Support:
Caleb "Gumby" Chatfield
Matt "Coffee Whore" Holmes

Caleb is recovering from an injury, so in lieu of running, he was pitching-in to help Phil Sheridan at the main aid station. He's a true-hearted Trail Nerd. You can always count on Caleb to help out, whether or not he's running in a race. His dad Lonnie is always a big help, too.

My son and I took Friday off from work. We loaded up the rig, and Kyle showed up around noon. After a couple of in-town diversions, we rambled off on our 3-hour westward jaunt to Kanopolis State Park. Around Salina or so, we started noticing this weird white stuff on the side of the road. SNOW!!! There had been record cold temperatures, and it had snowed in this part of Kansas. We also found out when we arrived at the park, that it had snowed 6 inches on our course! This added an extra ingredient to the mix, for sure.

A preview of our course from the car window.

Sunset. Photo by Matt Holmes.

We were once again fed a delicious spaghetti dinner by Stacie Sheridan and her daughter, and had our little "trail talk" from Phil. After some good conversation, we decided to hit the rack and check out how cold the tent was going to be that night. I think we all slept okay, but I did have to get up at one point and put on another layer, and lay my coat on top of my sleeping bag. I also had a chance to see the stars in all of their glory that night, and listen to the coyotes sing.

The next morning I awoke with ice on the outside of my sleeping bag (from my breath). Must've gotten real cold. Actually, it dipped to 14F, that night. Kyle and I got ready and went through our normal pre-race routines. I decided to wear a thin layer of Capilene long underwear under my shorts. I might regret it later, but I could always take them off...right? We got up to the start/finish shelter early enough to find a close spot to park the Element. After another "Phil talk," we were off.

And we're off! Photo by Matt Holmes.

The course started out with the breaking of new snow, and the mud was frozen solid, so there wasn't much slipping going on. I got into a nice pace and held it. I ran with Willie and Julie from Topeka for a while, and had a good time talking with them. At a couple of early (low) water crossings, I pulled up my thin layer of long underwear to my knees. Willie asked if I was wearing "men's Capri's" at one point. I told him that I was a trendsetter, and he should probably carry them in his Topeka Running store. When we got to the manned aid station for the first time, I got to see Caleb. He was helping all of the runners. I opted for a little bit of mashed potatos, and they hit the spot, believe me.

From the aid station we went out toward the "Big Bluffs" loop. On the way there, we had to straddle some barbed wire fence, and slog through some 20-inch high drifted snow. Big Bluffs. As Gary "Dam" Henry describes in his race report, this section consisted of "three gnarly ascents in a short distance that require you to pull yourself up with your hands, using rocks, trees and cuss-words." Going down the hills requires some finesse, in this section. The views and scenery in this section were awesome, though.

After Big Bluffs, you head back in to the only manned aid station. Caleb fixed me up with some mashed potato and noodle soup. Once again, it hit the spot. Heading out from there, the course started to thaw in the sun. Sections were now getting slick with mud and fresh snow melt. In one of the downhill sections, I slid for about 10 feet (but stayed upright), and came to an abrupt stop with my right foot on a big, dry rock. My right foot could not be bent without pain, from that point on. I thought, "great, 8 miles to the main shelter, and my right foot doesn't work." From that point on, I tended to favor my other foot more, since I had no push-off with the right. I slowed considerably. Somewhere along here, Julie "Swiftfoot" Funk passed me like I was a rock or tree. She was finishing very strong indeed, in her first-ever marathon! (What a 'thon to pick for a first). Gary Henry, Dann Fisher, and Bart the Ultra-Dog passed me about there, also.

One of many water crossings. Photo sent by Gabe Bevan.

The last few miles have some interesting water crossings. The deepest one hit me slightly higher than my belly button, (and I'm 6-feet, even). It's also tens of yards across, and has shoe-sucking mud on the bottom that feels a lot like quick sand. I knew it was coming, so I was mentally prepared for it. I was still fearful that with the combined cold of the water and air, my "body parts" might retract like landing gear into my body, never to be seen again. To hell with "shrinkage," this was "private parts terrorism."

Gabe crosses "the deep one." Photo sent by Gabe Bevan.

After that crossing, I knew that I was only 2 miles from the finish. My foot had stopped hurting entirely (due to being completely numbed by the cold), so I could manage a fairly decent pace again. I ended up running in with 3 others, and finished the marathon in 5:45 or so. I thought about continuing on another loop to complete the 50-miler, but after taking my right shoe off and checking the functionality of my foot, I decided to cut my losses. (As it warmed up, it hurt like hell). The rest of me was fine though, so fitness wasn't an issue. It was a good decision. I have a busy running schedule, and I don't want to jeopardize myself pacing my buddy Patrick at Western States, this year...especially since he's funding my trip there.

I hung around the finish line and got to see the 50-milers finish. Tom McCullough (sp?) was 1st, and Paul Schoenlaub was 2nd, overall. Kyle was a little further back, but had a decent run. Ed had left me two "special" beers at our campsite. I sipped those while watching runners come in.

Julie Funk Finishes her first marathon and looks Stong! Photo by Matt Holmes.

Kyle Finishes the 50-Miler. Photo by Matt Holmes.

Dann and Bart. It was Bart's first 50-miler. Photo by Matt Holmes.

My son drove Kyle and me back to town. We stopped in Salina along the way at a restaurant called "Nacho Mama." Of course, we had to order nachos! We also stopped at a gas station, where my son remarked to Kyle that running from the car to the station's door was probably the only footrace he could beat Kyle in, due to his haggard condition at the time. Some tunes and comedy kept us awake for the drive home.

Once again, despite all of the difficulty, this is one of my favorite races to run. What makes it special is the Sheridan family, KUS, and the volunteers. And as an added bonus, the course is beautiful and challenging, as well

Happy trails,
Bad Ben

Tres Nerdos Amigos: Rick, Gabe, Caleb. Photo by Matt Holmes.

The Shelter's Fireplace. Photo by Matt Holmes.

Trail Nerd and TrailRunning Design Work

2007-03-28T14:03:00.000-07:00

The Artists Among Us

Jason Crosby recently designed some "hardware" for our upcoming event, the "Free State Trail Runs." The Trail Marathon and 40-Miler finishers will receive medals, and the 100-Km finishers will receive a pewter Western-style belt buckle.

Jason also has an illustration in this month's TrailRunning magazine. That makes him the 2nd trailrunner to have run with us Trail Nerds to have contributed artwork to TrailRunning.

Of course, Jeremy Collins: artist, climber, trailrunner and fellow Kansas Citian normally contributes to TrailRunning and climbing magazines on a regular basis. There's also Eric Tiffany, an illustrator for the Kansas City Star and single-speed MTB'er extraordinaire, who runs with us quite a bit.

By the way, Jason has designed the Kansas City Marathon shirt for a second year in a row:

Jason has also designed all of our Trail Nerd designs, to date. We're kinda fond of his work! You can follow his latest designs on his blog.

Vasque Red Bridge Ramble 8-Mile Trail Run

2007-03-20T08:20:00.000-07:00

03/17/2007 (Sat) 8:00 a.m.
Vasque Red Bridge Ramble 8-Mile Trail Run Shelter #1, Minor Park, Kansas City, MO Trail run with river crossings.
This is a fast and fun introduction to REAL TRAIL RUNNING.

Web Site Report
Photos by Dick Ross

Race Report:
Well, we had a record year at the Red Bridge Ramble. Eighty Starters braved a cold morning to run on the beautiful trails and go splashing through the multiple water crossings.
The top 3 spots were claimed by speedy young runners, led by Justin Andrews of Kansas City. Angela Ballard was first female, with Emily Horn and Sarah Sinning coming in 2nd and 3rd females, respectively. Mike Swords was first Masters Male, and Deb Johnson was 1st Masters Female. Israel Gulley (8 years old), was our youngest trailrunner to date, and Lou Joline claimed the "Oldest Root-Tripper" award.
Thanks to all of the volunteers, the Kansas City Trail Nerds and Vasque Shoes for making this a memorable race.
Dick Ross (http://www.seekcrun.com/) took some great photos of the event HERE .
Remember, we have many more trail races in store for you this year.

This is a Kansas City Trail Nerds event.
This race kicks-off our 2007 Vasque KS-MO Trail Series.
*8 Points* toward the Vasque KC Trail Nerds Trail Series (Short Race)

Almost Famous: Podcast Starring Good Ben & Bad Ben

2007-03-20T08:17:00.001-07:00

Kevin Patrick Allen from Endurance Planet interviewed Ben and me after our trail race last Saturday:
http://www.enduranceplanet.com/programs/03-20-07_KC_Trail_Nerds.mp3

2007-03-14T15:02:00.000-07:00

I haven't done this for a while, but here's a list of my (current) favorite trail-running shoes:

1st Place:
Vasque Blur - my current fave and an all-around good shoe. Good for 5K's to 100-miler distances. Decently lightweight with a flexible forefoot and really good rock protection. They have very good "trail feel" for a shoe as cushy as they are. They dry fast (after water crossings), too. You can now get these shoes at Garry Gribble's,as well as at Red Wing Shoes on Johnson Drive.

2nd Place (tied for 2nd place):
The 2007 version of the Mizuno Trail Wave Ascend (the Wave Ascend 2)- Much better than their 2006 model...a terrific trailrunning shoe with light weight and good traction. They have excellent trail feel, they dry-out fast, and just feel fast. They would be a very good choice for running in warmer weather, as well. I ran the last 60-miles of the Feb 3rd Rocky Raccoon 100 in these shoes. They were terrific for the long-haul, too. Garry Gribble's carries these locally.

2nd Place (tied for 2nd place):
The new La Sportiva Pike's Peak. Good cushioning without being clunky. Good forefoot flexibility, very good traction and "trail feel." I ran 20 miles in these last weekend (on a rocky trail), and my feet felt fresh at the end of the run. They are awesome on the rocks!!! Garry Gribble's carries these locally.

3rd Place:
Montrail Odyssey - If you want decent, lightweight trailrunning shoes, with lots of trail feel and flexibility, these are it. I wouldn't use these on a muddy run, though, because they have a large "mud pocket" built into them. Garry Gribble's and Great Plains Running Company (in Topeka) carry these locally.

A distant 4th place:
Montrail Continental Divide - A decent shoe, but not as good as its predecessor, the Leona Divide. (Too tall in the heel area and "too substantial" for my tastes). I've had better results with this shoe on flatter trails (and actually on pavement), and they felt great under those circumstances. This shoe would be a great choice for running very long distances on the Trolley Track trail, on the Blue Springs Little Trace trail, or at the Heatland 100/50 mile trail races. They would cross-over between pavement and trail, nicely. Garry Gribble's and Great Plains Running Company (in Topeka) carry these locally.

Where can you purchase trail-running shoes locally? Click right HERE

Gaiters for Trail Runners

2007-03-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

Some folks may not know what gaiters are. Old-timers might call them "spats." Gaiters are fabric "wraps" for the end of your legs that help keep the crud out of your shoes on trail runs. Crud can cause friction. Friction causes blisters. Gaiters are not meant to keep water out of your shoes during water crossings, but they will keep the "occasional splash" out, though. (Don't jump to the conclusion that GoreTex shoes with GoreTex gaiters will keep water out during stream crossings...BECAUSE THEY WON'T).

I rarely use gaiters. I only use them for severely sandy courses like the Javelina Jundred, or mountain courses with a lot of "scree." But when I do use them, I use the lightest weight, most stretchy, and most breathable type obtainable, with the least seams to rub on your legs and ankles. That type of gaiter tends to keep your feet drier, because they trap less sweat (or wet) underneath the gaiter and in your shoes and socks.

There are more than one type of ways to attach gaiters. Most of the commercially available gaiters use under the bottom of the shoe strap type. The straps on these tend to wear out after only 20 miles or so on our local rocky trails. For strap-type gaiters, I replace the nylon cord (that comes stock with the gaiters) with stainless steel multi-filament wire and "swage" some special fittings onto the ends of the wire, attaching them to the gaiter's grommets at the same time. This is a pain in the butt, but it works.

But there are light, inexpensive and STRAP-LESS gaiters that I would rather recommend, instead:

Dirty Girl Gaiters http://dirtygirlgaiters.com/
Gaiters By JoeTrailMan http://www.joetrailman.com/

Other pertinent gaiter information:

In the Kansas City area, Garry Gribble's Running Sports is now carrying OR-brand nylon-fabric gaiters.

Here's what some other ultrarunners say about gaiters: http://www.ultrunr.com/gaiters.html

Happy trails,
Bad Ben

One Week of Trail Nerds Activities

2007-03-05T14:07:00.000-08:00

Well, we had another decent week of Trail Nerd activities and running.

Last Tuesday night, we had a decent run in Shawnee Mission Park. This was the last time that we'll meet at 6 p.m, for a while. We're changing our night runs to 7:00 p.m., starting this week.

Thursday night, we participated in a talk in Topeka at Great Plains Running Company, regarding trailrunning. There were some good questions asked by the attendees.

Saturday, we ran at Perry Lake on Willie Lambert's Rock Creek trail series (5K & 10K) course. David Wakefield and Matt showed-off these fine trails.

Sunday's training run was again at the Clinton Lake North Shore trails. Some of us ran 21 miles, and Kyle, Greg, and Gary ran a few more. These trails are where we will host the first annual "Free State Trail Runs" on April 28th. We have three events that day: a Trail Marathon, a 40-miler and a 100-Kilometer race. If you want to see the course and trails (first hand) prior to the race, please come and run with us at 7:15 a.m. on most Sundays...we'll be there.

The Free State event is going to be a lot of fun. Even though the work and logistics involved for this is seemingly never-ending, it's fun to be involved with it's creation, and get new ideas and work-out issues while we actually run on the course each week!

Race Report: Psycho WyCo Run Toto Run

2007-02-15T12:13:00.000-08:00

This was last weekend's event:

Psycho WyCo Run Toto Run
50 Km, 10 Mile, & 20 Mile Trail Runs
3rd Annual
Saturday, February 10, 2007
8:00 AM
Wyandotte County Lake Park Kansas City, KS

What a fun day we all had at the 3rd annual Psycho WyCo Run Toto Run. Check out some of the race details:

We had record attendance: 281 entrants.

We had a severely icy trail!

We had a "Shoe Screwing" pit stop.

We had a new course 50-kilometer record of 4:39:17, set by Caleb Chatfield, during really icy course conditions.

Caleb Chatfield-------------Photo by Rick Mayo
We had another "Trail Nerd," Kyle Amos, give Caleb some serious competition.

Kyle Amos-------------Photo by Rick Mayo
We had terrific volunteers and knowledgeable aid station personnel.

We had good, hot soup.

We had a lot of Muzzurahns, quite a few Kansans, way too many Iowanians, more than a few MNsotans, 1 German, a Cuban, some Oklahomans, three terrific Texans, two "Joisy" girls, a few fast Nebraskans, and our first BAREFOOT finisher.

Photo by Rick Mayo

"Bad Ben" & "Good Ben" ------Photo by Dick Ross

More race information, including race reports & photos

2007 RACE, OVERALL RESULTS

2007 RACE, AGE GROUP RESULTS

Happy trails,

Bad Ben
Head Trail Nerd
"Dirty Feet, Run Dirt Cheap"

Trail Nerds Play hard and work hard!

2007-01-22T08:22:00.000-08:00

If you've ever run with us Trail Nerds, then you know that our trails are in good shape. Partially because we keep so much traffic on them, but also because we build them to stand up to the elements while remaining as natural as possible. We don't want to have too much of an impact on the land that gives us so much enjoyment.

This past weekend, there were several workdays around our area. One of those was down in Fall River Lake State Park near Fall River, KS. If you've never heard of it, don't worry. Neither have most people in the surrounding area. It's a beautiful park with a good sampling of various terrains to enjoy.

As you can see from the picture, it turned onto quite a snowy day. The weather ended up cutting our work time short due to safety reasons, but we still got about 4.5 miles of initial ground breaking done with the Kansas Single Track Society and the Kansas Trail Council organized by Mike Goodwin.

This project is planned in four phases and total mileage planned is around 31 miles. This is going to be a beautiful trail system worth making a short trip to experience!

Fun on the Ice and Psycho Activities

2007-01-15T11:42:00.000-08:00

It's cold and icy out on the trails! As long as you're dressed properly and are wearing some "winter traction devices", you'll be okay running this time of year.

Here are two good choices for traction on the ice while running:
Screwing your shoes or Yaktrax (the "Pro" model, only). The YakTrax "Pro" model has an extra strap across the top of your shoes, and stays on your feet; something the regular model has problems with, while running.

Putting screws in an old pair of running shoes works exceptionally well, also. Be sure to follow the instructions closely, though. As Cheri Sutton recently said, "I tried out "screwed shoes" for my Saturday trail run this past weekend. They worked like a charm! And they worked great in the parking lot afterwards too."

You can find the YakTrax product in the Kansas City Area at:
Garry Gribble's Running Sports
Cabela's
Sitzmark Sports (the ski shop)
Dick's Sporting Goods

Trail running advice such as this can be found on our "Advice and Info" webpage.

"Group runs" update:
During our group runs this past week, we've had no fewer than 8 runners show up on any given group running day. The weather hasn't made much of a dent in participation for trailrunning, at all. One of the main reasons: If you run in the woods, you are out of the cold wind. Out on the roads and sidewalks, windchill is a factor, but not on the trails that we run. Also, it's much safer to run where there are no cars to slide into you. For road runners, winter is the most dangerous time of year. (And they have to wear all of those flashy lights, reflective vests, etcetera). We can run in "stealth mode" and can be more a part of nature.

Psycho WyCo update:
In one short month, we'll have our group's first race of the year, the "Psycho WyCo Run Toto Run." We already have over 100 runners signed up. Thirty-five are signed up for the 50K, alone. This is the 3rd annual version of of the race, and I'm expecting about 300 entrants, this year. We had 213, last year. The first year we only had 44. You can download the most current list of entrants for this year's race here.

The course for Psycho WyCo is tougher than most runners expect to find in Kansas. On each 10.35-mile loop, there's over 5000 feet of elevation change. The footing is also very technical for about 50% of that. We usually only have a 50% finish rate for the 50K and 20-miler. Being a 3-loop 50K, the temptation is always there to drop out at the end of your 1st or 2nd loop. So it's also mentally challenging. You can download a course map here.

We always have nice shirts and finisher's hardware for the race. This year, we'll have long-sleeve "technical" shirts with the "Psycho" logo on the front:

I won't divulge the color of this year's shirts in advance, though. That's something left for you to find out on race day.

Our finisher's medals are pretty cool, also. The 50K and 20-miler finishers get this medal:

The 10-milers will get a "dog tag" version of the medal. The design was created by trailrunner and talented graphic artist, Jason Crosby. He now lives in South Carolina, but will be traveling back to K.C. for the Psycho WyCo race.

All three race distances have a $30 entry fee. Any leftover funds goes toward trail maintenance activities and the Parks Department for the area.

This low entry fee is typical of our group's trail races. Many of our shorter races cost less than 10 bucks. Our motto is "Dirty feet, run dirt cheap."