Published by Rob at July 28th, 2009
If 2008 was the year of smokin’ (literally) records, we figured 2009 would be a more typical year with abundant wildflowers, sunny views of Mt. Shasta, and some wild aid station themes. As it turned out, we got that and a lot more. Race morning dawned calm and crystal clear as a record 164 starters from ten different states and Canada, hit the PCT at 7AM to the sound of ringing cowbells (no actual cows were involved). Max King’s outrageous course record of 3:42 from 2008 appeared to be one for the ages (particularly since the 4 hour barrier had been breached only one other year in the previous 10 editions). Erik Skaggs, however, seemed to have other ideas after finishing second to Max in 2008. By the turnaround Erik had opened a substantial gap on Rob Bien and looked to have a chance of matching Max. He barely ruffled the red dresses at the mile 20 aid station and seemed to be handling the elevation and climbs with little difficulty. In the end, he blasted across the finish in an astounding 3:39 looking like he was out for a brisk 10K run. Where will it end? Perhaps Max will return next year to try and reclaim it. Rod Bien claimed 2nd with a fine 4:01 followed by Gerad Dean and top master JC Callans.
On the women’s side, Kami Semick’s record was safe, but an extremely deep women’s field battled it out for first place honors. Anne Hitchcock from Auburn edged Teresa DeBlieck and Tia Gabelita in an excellent 4:35. A record number of women cracked the 5 hour barrier in what turned out to be a very talented and deep women’s field.
Of note was Peter Fish, at 73 years young cruising across the line for his 10th SOB finish. Not bad for a guy who marked the course only two days earlier. He earned a first place cowbell and 10 year mug for his efforts.
The 15K ironically also had 157 finishers. Olympia’s Chris McIssac led the men in 59:28 and local Marci Klimek took women’s honors with a fine 1:09:52.
Although the SOB often earns its moniker with its tough climbs and elevation, the finish line was anything but. All of the 157 50K finishers were treated to a finishers medal, Dagoba chocolate from our local chocolatier, a bottle of Southern Oregon Brewery’s finest, and finisher socks, complements of Rogue Valley Runners and personally handed out by none other than store owner and two time WS champ Hal Koerner. Not a bad way to finish a beautiful day in the mountains! Although this year’s race t-shirt kept true to our Shakespearean traditions in Ashland with the Puck quote of “Lord, what fools these mortals be”, we suspect the only fools were the non-starters who missed a gorgeous day of trailrunning and a pirate’s booty of swag. Top finishers in the 50K received, what else, commemorative cow bells. As for next year, plan on entering early if you want to be an official SOB and we’ll definitely plan on having more cowbell!
John and Rob
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Published by OD at March 28th, 2009
What is the well dressed ultrarunner wearing this season? One of your top picks has to be the lightweight tech T’s from SportHill. What if you could get a great price on it and that great price includes shipping. But wait – that’s not all. Act now and we’ll print the Oregon Trail Series logo on the front, and list the races on the back. Part of the proceeds help support awards for the Series. Won’t all those California runners be jealous?
men’s short sleeve:
women’s short sleeve:
long sleeve:
order form (pdf):
order form (MS Word):
-OD
Front of Longsleeve
List of Races on Back
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Published by Ronda at February 23rd, 2009
GO! GO! GO! YEAH BABY!
It was a great start to the 2009 Oregon Trail Series events at Hagg Lake 50K last weekend. So much of the day was amazing. The day started with perfect sunny weather, a dead skunk holding an empty Hamm’s beer can on the road section, and a great impersonation of Richard Simmons by Sean Meissner. Sean’s costume brought a lot of laughs and gasps. The men in skirts tried to convert “Richard”. Mike Burke started out in a Navy Blue pleated tennis skirt, only to surprise us all by striping it off on his second lap and unveiling his HOT PINK mini skirt. It was nice to see the skirt tradition continue. All of that plus a semi mud free trail made for a fast day.
The woman’s course record went down with three ladies under the previous record. Joelle Vaught from Idaho blazed to the finish in 4:10:54 beating Kami Semicks previous time of 4:31:37 set back in 2005. On the men’s side our winner was Lanny Gower who ran 3:48:56. Lanny was followed closely by Rod Bien.
Looks like Hagg Lake may be losing its reputation for being a serious mud fest. This is second year in a row we have had a dry course and dry weather. There were reports that the second loop was even less muddy due to the sun drying up all the slippery stuff. Stacey and I are wondering if we need to wet the course down just to be sure we hold up our end of the bargain. We want to express a Huge thanks to the continued support of our very dedicated volunteers, sponsors FitRight NW and Montrail (we couldn’t do it with out you!). Thanks to the participants that keep coming back for more mud! We had a full field again this year. The race closes earlier every year, is this a sign of the times? Keep that in mind as you plan your 2009 season. Get your applications in early!
Posted in Hagg Lake 50k | 1 Comment »
Published by OD at December 30th, 2008
The Siskiyou Out Back celebrated it’s 10th running in July with a very successful and fun race. The next 10 years start off with new race directors as Marilyn Bailey and Tom Pelsor hand off to John Price and Rob Cain. John and Rob are familiar names around the Series as both are active and experienced ultrarunners. Every indication is that they’ll do an excellent job and bring some new ideas to the event. Watch the SOB website for registration information for 2009! Marilyn and Tom thank everyone who’s run or volunteered at SOB (or both in the same year, as Laurie Thornley has done!) – we all know that these events don’t happen without lots and lots of support!
submitted by Marilyn Bailey
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