Yes the closet  finish ever took place last weekend in Virginia at the Massanutten 100, Todd Walker held off Keith Knipiling to finish just ahead of him buy  a couple minutes. This was a true test of will for both runners as they were almost together at the last aid station heading towards the finish. On the other hand the women’s race was won by Amy Sproston runner for the Wasatch Speed Goat Mountain Racing Team. She won by almost three hours and had one of the fastest women finishes ever at the rockiest course around.

Nice run Amy!!

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It turns out that the Thetan aliens who created and put us on earth might have been onto something when they designed our feet. An article in New York Magazine makes some interesting points regarding the relationship between shoes and physiological problems. The basic argument is that you walk and run in a way that puts less stress on your heels and joints when you aren’t using heavily padded shoes, so a better alternative to triple-fat Nike Shox might be a pair of these Vibram FiveFingers. The FiveFingers provide protection from hypodermic needles on the sidewalk and offer a little protection if you have to kick in a basement window, but they don’t provide any of the support of normal shoes.

Imagine running a 100 miler in these things? Your toes would swell and the shoe would not come off!

CamelBak will end up looking like the smartest guys in the room with their non-BPA bottles if the Canadian government tags the Nalgenes as a toxic chemical. Some undercover scientist leaked to the press that the Canadian government is prepared to let the world know that camping and baby bottles are slowly poisoning them. How many years of poisoning have you expreienced?

The public and industry will have 60 days to comment on the designation once it is released, setting into motion a two-year process that could lead to a partial or complete ban on food-related uses of plastics made using B.P.A.

When they say “public” they mean Canada, but I stopped using my Nalgene years ago—to dangerous. Now I just use it as an ashtray.

Choose your hydration products with caution!

via NY Times

Thr first ever blog sponorered trail running team is up and running. Scott from Wasatchspeedgoat.com put together 17 runners from all over the country! This gang is a group of seasoned trail runners who dedicate their whole life to the sport, running anywhere from 6 - 100 ultramarathons a year! The team is supported by several sponsors:

Natahn Packs, First endurance, Nuun, Petzl, Nordic Track, Backcountry.com and Wasatchspeedgoat.com.

We are not a shoe company or a retailer, we are the runners who drive the sport!

Stay tuned for updates on the team and their race reports!

Trail running is about to get a first hand view of the suffering and joy the Hardrock 100 hands out! This year I will be running in a Go Pro Head Cam during sections like Virginia’s Pass, Start, Finish and a couple others. This will give you a great perspective of the views we see and the snarly terrain in the San Juan Mountains!

It will be fun to see me unravel as the days moves on until the joy hits with a couple miles to go!

Wasatch Speed Goat

There is a new Ultra/Trail Running team in town! Masters Ultra runner Scott Mason is assembling a team of trail runners from all over the country! This team is a new concept, we are not a shoe company, not a on-line retailer we are just a group of hard core trail runners who dedicate our lives to the sport. We all share the same passion, “running through the mountains”. Most of us are married with families and working full time jobs, even though we may not set a course record we do drive the sport!

The new team is based from the web site Wasatchspeedgoat.com who partnered with sponsors like Nathan Packs, First Endurance, Backcountry.com and Moeben Sleeves.

Stay tuned for further details!

The North Face is putting down the cash to attract the fastest runners in the sport! Last year was a huge show down between Steidl and Carpenter as Steidl held on for the win. The 2008 Endurance Challenge has a four race series:

1. Bear Mountain, New York April 12

2. Seattle, Washington May 10

3. Madison, Wisconsin October 18

4. San Francisco, California December 6

Its great to see The North Face step it up and create a more competitive atmosphere with some prize money for the runners! The sport needs more recognition and competition with in specific races, this is one way to do so.

Wasatch Speed Goat

Time to get ready for the Silver State 50/50 in Reno, Nevada. I ran this race a couple years ago and what a great event. The course takes you through two states California and Nevada.The first half of the course is real run able until you cross over the highway and you hit some monster climbs and then traverse through some beautiful pine trees which will be full of snow!! In fact with the snow fall this winter the course is going to be slow gong the second half!

C-ya on the trails

Wasatch Speed Goat

Karl hooks up with Robert Kunz of First Endurance to discuss the advantages of using OPTYGEN and ULTRAGEN in the world of Ultrarunning! Karl is attempting to break the current record for running the entire Appalachian Trail in less then 47 days 13 hours and 31 minutes! He will need all the help he can get, his body must hold together and receive the right nutrition to accomplish this tough goal!

Karl Meltzers interview with First Endurance

Iron is one of the most abundant minerals on earth and is essential to normal human physiology. About 2/3 of the body’s iron is found in hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to cells. An adequate supply of iron is necessary for the body to produce hemoglobin and red blood cells (RBC). If too little iron is available, fewer and/or smaller RBC’s are produced, leading to decreased oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. This is called iron deficiency anemia and can cause fatigue, poor work capacity, and decreased immunity. It is important to understand there are different levels of iron deficiency. The least severe is when someone has low iron stores (low serum ferritin levels), the next is depleted iron stores (using cut-off values), while the most severe category is iron deficiency anemia.

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