Way Too Cool 50k Preview

Phew! It’s been an exhausting last week, some of it pleasant, some of it not. I had a great long weekend hanging out with Gretchen and Amy, including the Seneca Creek Greenway run. However, three straight days of socializing left me exhausted and the week was interesting… On Monday, I worked until 11:30 and decided not to go for a run when I got home at 12:15 a.m. I was completely beat when I got home on Tuesday evening and took care of business around the house instead of run, hoping that I’d get in a good workout on Wednesday. Wednesday had me staying late at work and then hanging out at a metro station for an hour while mistakenly waiting for a friend. By the time I got home all the roads and sidewalks had refrozen from the days snow into an unending sheet of black ice. I played it safe and stayed in. When you add all that to skipping last Sunday’s planned 50k and replacing it with an easy 5k I’ve got a wicked good unintended taper for the Way Too Cool 50k! :-D (I’d planned to mostly train through this week with a light runs on Thursday and Friday.) I was a bit rusty on yesterday’s run and couldn’t get into a rhythm with frequent icy patches on the bike path. If I get a chance, later this afternoon I’ll change at Auburn Running Company while I’m there to check in for tomorrow’s race and heading out for an easy couple miles on the course. I’m still hoping to finagle my way into tonight’s pasta dinner… I booked my travel too late to know if I’d be in California in time for the dinner.

Ok, now onto more important business. I’ve spent some time scoping out my competition for tomorrow. The competition is so deep that it makes little sense (or perhaps I am just too chicken) to post an ordered prediction of men’s finishers tomorrow. Instead, I’ll rank people into three categories. Those with the best shot at a Western States slot (top 3), those with a decent chance of top 10, and those with a shot at top 10. This race has many Western-based ultrarunners, and I’m sure to leave some of them out… and I’m sure to over rank some for whom I have only limited previous WTC results. I am doing this mainly because I need to get ready for this year’s Bull Run Run Pick-the-Winner contest. Here they are (in alphabetical order by category): [I missed Guillermo earlier]

Contenders
Eric Bohn
Eric Grossman
Scott Jamie
Guillermo Medina
Bradley Mongold
Roy Rivers
Erik Skaden

Chance at Top 10
Alan Abbs
Michael Cook
Graham Cooper
Garett Graubins
Andy Jones Wilkins
Bryon Powell
Kevin Sawchuck
Craig Thornley

Could Make Top 10
Dave Covey
Christopher Craig
Bob Evans
Tim Knudsen
Mark Murray
Greg Nacco
Brian Purcell
Lewis Taylor

These predictions are in no way my saying that I’m not going to put it all out there and go for top 3, rather these are how I think things would naturally work themselves out. Actually, now that I’m looking at my final categorization, I feel like I even being a bit ballsy even putting myself in that second category, but what’s done is done. I am, however, going to go out on a limb and call my Montrail-Nathan teammate from the East, Eric Grossman for the win. While I’m out on that limb, Bradley Mongold will make himself known at this race – Dr. Mongold greatly impressed me with his second place run at the Holiday Lake 50k a couple weeks back.

Related articles:

1. Way Too Cool! I just found out that I won an entry to the Way Too Cool 50k in California! And another race goes on to the schedule (March 10)....
2. Quick and Dirty on Way Too Cool 50k Ok, so I was not quick nor did I get dirty today at WTC, but this post is both those things. It’s an email I sent to a couple friends...
3. Looking for Floor Space for Way Too Cool 50k (and a Workout Report) So I’m headed out to California next weekend for Way Too Cool and am hoping that someone who reads my blog lives in the area or is headed to WTC...

Filed under Bryon, Races · Tagged with preview, Way Too Cool 50k

Bryon Powell is the Editor-in-Chief of iRunFar.com, which he founded five years ago. Also the author of Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons and a contributing editor at Trail Runner magazine, he's quickly approaching 10 years as an ultrarunner and 20 years as a trail runner. These days he calls Park City, Utah and its trails home.
All posts by Bryon Powell