Generally regarded as the father of American ultrarunning, Corbitt died in Houston on December 11 from cancer.

Born in South Carolina in 1919, Corbitt was a quarter miler in college at the University of Cincinnati. He began running marathons in 1950 and competed in the marathon in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. He ran his first ultra, a 30-mile race, in 1958 and in 1960 was elected the first President of the Road Runners Club of America.

In 1966, RRCA established a national 50-mile championship and Corbitt finished second. He won the 1968 RRCA 50-mile championship in a time of 5:39:45. He continued his competitive career well into his 50s, setting an American record at 100 miles (13:33:06) at age 50 and running 134.7 miles in 24 hours at age 54.

Injuries and asthma removed him from the competitive scene for many years, but he continued to run well into his 80s, and completed 303 miles in the Sri Chinmoy 6-Day race at age 82. He worked as a physical therapist for more than 40 years, and could often be found quietly volunteering at races in the New York City area. Corbitt was inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame in 1998.

A founding father of Ultrarunning.

It is time to get your application in for the Hardrock 100, this buy far is the toughest 100 in the world. With only allowing 150 runners in the race due to the National Forest Service rules this is one of the toughest races to get in to! If you are a lottery winner be sure you are ready to take on the toughest course you will ever due in the San Juan’s Mountains which starts and ends in Silverton, Colorado. There is just about 33,000 vertical climbing most above sea level, so hang on for the challenge of a life time because you have 48 hours to finish!

Beginning August 5th on the summit of Mt. Kathadin Karl will begin his quest to run to Georgia faster than anyone else has. Andrew Thompson currently holds the record of 47 days and change. A stiff record that will be tough to challenge. GPS tracking and daily updates will give the world a chance to watch a goat run through the woods…all day long! Any takers or supporters out there? I welcome any assistance, but will NOT be muled in any form. -Speedgoat Karl

Happy new year to all, it is time to run off all that holiday bulk! Here in Utah it is tough to get training in but thank goodness for all the ski resorts. We put on our headlamps and run up and down the ski resorts on the groomers. The only catch is you got to be able to out run a snow cat, these guys will through a spot light on you as you sprint away downhill! This type of training is great fro base work and low impact training. When spring arrives you hit the dirt running! Our first race for Karl Meltzer and I is the Red Hot 50k in Moab Utah! This is usually the toughest race of the year because I am not in race shape yet~

Wasatch Speed Goat

I smell winds of change as Montrail was gobbled up buy the large corp. Columbia Sportsware. Columbia has decided to discontinue the Montrail Ultrarunning Team which I have been on since the year 2000.
So what do you do? Go try the La Sportiva Fireblade , this is a very well made shoe. The Italian shoe company has the same thought process as the other Italian companies I have used like Scarpa ski Boots and of course Ferrari’s. The Fireblade is a sleek fast trail shoe with no ex-tra bulky material, the shoe fits real snug around the heel and arch area with plenty of room for a big toe box. The stiff heel really helps with pronation control and rolling your ankle. I was really concerned about the skinny heel cup but it really works well on preventing the ankle roll problem. I have been used to floaty boaty shoes that were bulky and loose fitting, now I have shoes that fit like it should, if you like the roads and dirt I highly recommend this Fireblade as it runs real well on all terrain!

Purchase: La Sportivas Fireblade right now for (MSRP: $71.96)

Uli Steidl wins the Northface 50 Mile Challenge over the great Matt Carpenter! Wow! With 10,000 dollars on the line Uli and Matt ran close the first 44 miles and Uli was able to burn Matt off the last 6 miles to win a thrilling race! I raced Pikes Peak two years ago and watched Matt beat Uli on the technical mountain race but the less technical Texas course played into Uli’s hand as he won the biggest paying Ultra of the year!

Uli Steidl’s race report

Wasatch Speed Goat

Foreigners dominate Sunmart Race

Jaroslaw Janicki of Poland flew over the big pond to lead a large contingent of runners from another land. 6:07 and change was nowhere near Greg Crowthers superb time last year of 5:37. However, a deep foreign field put the first american (Akos Konya) back to 5th place,
next US runner was Mark Godale (9th). Konya’s bid for runner of the year gets another point in the standings.

Helena Crossan of Ireland won a hot womens race only 4 minutes ahead of Great Britain runner Adela Salt. Crossan ran 7:18. Third women was Jean Perez from the US in 7:29. Great race for the women.
Wouldn’t it be cool if someone from Europe would invite a bunch of us to run Mt. Blanc, and take care of travel?

Wasatch Speed Goat

What to do with empty gel packs during a 100 mile race? When I was running the Bighorn 100 this year I discovered the convenience of putting those empty gel packs under my water bottles inside my Nathan Pack! This works real slick, they are easy to pull out and dispose of at the aid stations while the crew fills your bottles. Did you ever finish a 100 miler with a pocket full of empty gel packs that dried into a clump of crystallized sugar? The empty gel packs end up a little wet from the water bottles so they do not stick to the pack, this is for only lumbar packs If you have a convenient way to rid those sticky gel packs into a running back pack, let us know! Remember speed tip based on eating two to three packs of gel per hour! Bahahaha!

Wasatch speed goat

It’s that time of year to get out the check book and start sending applications! Hardrock and Wasatch 100 process opens January 1st, once all the applications are in the lottery takes place on February 2, 2008. The Massanutten 100 used to take time to fill as this year it only took a couple hours, you better be quick on the drawl or you will not get in. Just like Karl Meltzer and Antone k. did not get in to Western States and they’re calling that 100 miler the world championships?

I will be at the Wasatch 100 lottery, if you want a live update on your status leave a comment and I will contact you during the lottery on Feb. 2, 2008! Good luck getting the race schedule finalized!

Wasatch Speed Goat

It’s that time of year when it is easy not to run in the dark cold winter weather! I just finished a month of rest and it is time to get back in the saddle. Winter running on the snow can be real beneficial for base training, you can run every day with a low impact workout to rest those weary joints but yet you can build base and cardiovascular levels through the winter. When the snow does melt you can hit the dirt full speed ahead in shape!

This will help you with your early season races but be careful at the end of the summer that you are not to beat up for the stretch !

WasatchSpeedGoat

Time to sign up for the Squaw Peak 50 Miler in Utah!