NOTE: My Grand Slam results for Farmdale were slightly off (I only used placing for Slam participants rather than all participants in the race). I have recalculated totals and the new "final" results are updated. Sorry for any confusion. The Illinois Trail Ultra Grand Slam (iTUGS) results are now final. We had 20 finishers. After four good trail ultras, Ellen Erhardt was the female champion and Matthew Condron took the male crown. Results can be found on my Google docs page here. There are three tabs: overall Slam starters, Slam finishers by last name, and Slam finishers by points. I have the actual finish times and placings for all the Slam runners, plus the overall points for the 4 slam races. The photo of the Slam shirt and individual race prizes is from GTI's blog.
You can find the Farmdale trail results on the IVS page (under IVS Forum=>Trail Running). I finished with a time of 6:19:03. Much slower than I expected. The course was _slightly_ long (around 33.6 miles), but the main culprit was my very tired legs. They felt like wooden sticks for the last 20 miles! I need to train better so I recover quicker from races. The Hobo 50K was still weighing me down...and that was 3 weeks earlier. Of course, there is always a silver lining...I finally beat Greg Isaac! He had just run the Chicago Marathon a week before, but I beat him fair and square.
I hope we can do the Grand Slam again in 2009. I have the date for Clinton Lake 30-Mile Trail run...it will be Saturday, March 28, 2009. Registration forms will be up very soon. I'll consult the other three race directors (and get feedback from the 20 finishers) to figure out next year. Start planning your 2009 races with these four ultras in mind:
-Clinton Lake 30
-McNaughton Park 50/100/150
-Rock Cut Hobo 50K
-Farmdale 33
Congratulations to all 20 Grand Slam finishers. You hung in there and finished four tough trail ultramarathons. I hope to see you on the trails in 2009. A special thank you to the other three race directors too: Andy, Larry, and Dave have been great to work with for the Grand Slam. Thanks guys.
PS: If you are one of the lucky 20 finishers, please keep an eye on your e-mail. I sent a survey to you on October 30 to gather feedback about the Grand Slam.
2 comments:
Yes, indeed, fair and square you won. I threw down the challenge and you responded like a real champ! And I bow to your general greatness! Gotta say, you were like a machine those last 2 miles. You were even kind enough to pause so I could catch up a little at the end!
But seriously, can't thank you enough for setting up and shepherding the Slam this year. It was a real pleasure getting to know you and a bunch of other great running folk this year. I'm looking forward to '09!
I'm not sure it was kindness or mocking at the end to try and get you to catch up to me. I was pretty wasted by that point. Mainly numb. I did have some serious adrenaline going that last 1-2 miles!
It was great meeting and getting to know so many new ultra runners via this Grand Slam. That's what makes this sport so awesome...we are all pretty neat individuals. Can't say the same for your typical 5K road runner. Plus, sharing the trail for HOURS (rather than a road for minutes) tends to bond us together. Hope to see you soon.
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