Weekly Rundown #43

Steve Prefontaine

“A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they’re capable of understanding.”

Steve Prefontaine

iRunFar.com's report on the 2017 Western States 100

A couple different posts on Jim Walmsley's DNF at Western States 100:  Jim Walmsley  & Walmsley Blows up Again (glad he changed the original title).  At the end of the day lets hope Jim learns from this and moves on to the next big race which is UTMB.

Here is an interview with Jim and to be fair, as he did win after all, here is the GingerRunner interview with Ryan Sandes and one from iRunFar.com with Ryan.  Not to be left out in all the hype here is an interview with Cat Bradley the women's winner

A post on a subject I had not thought about and am still not sure what I think but for now I do not see them as a problem and for sure like the ability to see al the action I would otherwise not see: Cameras on the Course

Speaking of cameras.  Here is video of a descent in the Mont Blanc Marathon this past weekend at about mile 15.  According to a post from Sage Canaday this is where he got dropped as it was very technical and slippery.  While the title focused on Kilian I was impressed by the guy with the camera: Kilian Jornet Descends Treacherous Route at Marathon du Mont Blanc

More on Western States: A Western States Hangover.  It was good to hear that John Fegyveresi, who you might remember from The Barkley  Marathons Movie and got 3rd that year, was the next person on the wait list on his 6th try to get in and went to WS hoping someone might not check in.  Well check-in came and went and there was not a spot open., that is till Gordy Ainsleigh, yes that Gordy, gave up his spot to Jim.  To top it off Jim finished in a hard year, I think being a finisher of Barkly might make the word "hard" take on a new meaning, in 27:51:46 and 145 place.

UltraRunner Podcast talk with Kaci Lickteig - Kaci won Western States in 2016 but this year finished just over 24 hours

iRunFar.com's This Week In Running: June 26, 2017

LetsRun.com's The Week That Was in Running: June 19-25, 2017

I guess it was time for a change as the 2020 Olympic Trials will not be in Eugene or Sacrament but in L.A at Mt. Sac, home of the Mt. Sac Relays, in Walnut CA.

Interesting article on Prayer and sports

No problem with UTMB making money but charging races to have them be able to provide points for qualifying for UTMB seems stretching it.  Here is a response by The Hardrock Hundred as to why they will not pay: Why we won’t pay: UTMB, ITRA and the “pay for points” racket

If you want to see where you ended up in the 2016-2017 UltraRunning Race Series you can check out the results here

Check out the 2 Part interview at Heartland Running with Naresh Kumar:  A Story Worth Telling Part 1  &  A Story Worth Telling Part 2

Nice article on one of my favorite marathoners, Yuki Kawauchi - often known as the Citizen Runner.  He is a one of a kind runner who does not fit the mold of most world class runners in that he holds down a regular job yet this Sunday he will be running his 70th marathon (Gold Coast Airport Marathon) and of those 48 have been 2:15 or faster with 14 sub 2:10's and a PR of 2:08:14  -  Yuki Kawauchi: A Long Road of Long Races

Don't forget that the Mount Marathon Race in Seward Alaska is this July 4th.

Race report on the very wet Bighorn Trail 100 in Wyoming where of 437 starters only 175 finished.

If you are in the Colorado Springs area July 16th you might want to think about running the Barr Trail Mountain Race.  A 12.6 mile trail race that goes up 3630FT to the 6.3 mile point and turns around to descends back to the finish, here is the Strava Route.   One of the sponsors is Carson Footwear.


Masters Running News
Steve Spence keeps up his streak by running 4:55.7 to make it 42 straight years to dip under 5:00 for the mile

US Masters Track and Field Championship Results held in San Diego June 24 - 25, 2017


Races this Coming Week
Finger Lakes 50's, Hector, NY - July 1, 2017
Lake District's Ultimate Trails Challenge (110K & 55K), Lake District, England - July 1. 2017
Paris Diamond League, Paris, France - July 1, 2017
Gold Coast Airport Marathon,  Southport, AU - July 2, 2017
Mount Marathon Race, Seward, AK - July 4, 2017
Peachtree 10K,  Atlanta, GA - July 4, 2017
Lausanne Diamond League, Lausanne, SUI - July 6, 2017

Past Weekend Race Results
Lavaredo Ultra Trail, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy - June 23, 2017
Western States 100, Squaw Valley, CA - June 24-25, 2017
USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Sacramento, CA - June 22 - 25, 2017


When I started running Fukuoka was a major marathon.  Here is the 1982 race,


You Might Be An Ultra Runner If.........


Some Scenes from the 2017 Western States


Some video of the 2017 Marathon du Mont Blanc


Mt. Marathon - Salomon video on the race


Trailer for Run Steep Get High movie on the 2017 Western States 100 - Ice, Fire, Grit

Weekly RunDown #42

Bill Rodgers

"Anybody can be a runner. We were meant to move. We were meant to run. It's the easiest sport." 

Bill Rodgers

The repercussions of wrong ideas can lead to a host of problems: A Low BMI Could Lengthen Healing Time

Ever have issues with motivation how about looking at the difference between Push Motivation and Pull Motivation

Some thoughts by Toni Reavis on Track and Field and what makes for excitement: Teaming Up

How many of these do you eat, I am guessing at least one for most - Coffee: 6 Foods Every Athlete Should Eat

iRunFar.com's This Week in Running: June 19, 2017

LetsRun.com's The Week That Was June 12-18, 2017

While some may wonder if this is a ruse and she was indeed doping the bottom line is be careful about what you eat: Ajee Wilson Accepts Finding of No Fault

Shannon Payne and Joe Gray win the Mount Washington Road Race

I linked to the new part 1 of the Jim Walmsley video below and here is an interview that ties into that from Ultra Runner Podcast: Lighting the Fire for Western States 2017

A look at Peter Attia's Approach to Dieting for Endurance Athletes:  Part 1  &  Part 2

If you want to follow Saturdays WS100 you can do so at Ultralive.net .  iRunFar.com will also have coverage via Twitter and Live video of he Start, Forest Hill and the Finish here

This will be my next 50 miler (there is also a 50k), looks like a good run in the desert:  Colossal-Vail 50/50

With the AHA putting a full court press on Coconut Oil and Butter here are a couple articles on the benefits to them:

• Coconut Oil Noise: Back to basics on why endurance athletes (and us) use it in foods
• Vegetable Oils, (Francis) Bacon, Bing Crosby, And The American Heart Association

If you are on Facebook this is a video of Kilian Jornet going up Mont Blanc.  Pretty cool as he is in shorts and a t-shirt while everyone else is in full climbing gear.  Then at the top someone asks for a picture with him.

You can sign up here for SFuels.TV and then be directed to a code that will allow you to get a FREE sample pack, you just pay shipping, as well as more on transitioning to LCHF and get you some great info direct to your email.  Here is this last weeks video from Robin on LCHF meal planning.  Here is my video that talks about working towards optimizing your body to burn fat (video is also at the end of the videos below)

Masters Running News
Todd Straka does not have to go much faster to get the Mens 50 Mile WR

Here are the World Masters Rankings

Check here to see if you have met the standards to be a Track & Field All-American Master

Races this Weekend 
Western States 100, Squaw Valley, CA - June 24-25, 2017
USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Sacramento, CA - June 22 - 25, 2017

Past Weekend Race Results
Broken Arrow Sky Race,  Sqaw Valley, CA  - June 16th (VK) & June 17th (26K & 52K), 2017
Bryce 100, Bryce Canyon Utah - June 16-17, 2017
Bighorn 100, Dayton, Wyoming - June 16 - 17, 2017
Mohican 100, Loudonville, OH - June 17 - 18, 2017
Mozart 100K, Salzburg, Austria - June 17, 2017
Livigno Skymarathon, Livigno, Lombardia, Italy - June 18, 2017
Stockholm Diamond League, Stockholm,  - June 18, 2017

New video on Jim Walmsley - Lighting the Fire: Episode 1 One Wrong Turn


Another good video on Walmsley


This weeks MTN Outhouse


Livigno Skymarathon 2017


Nice video on the 2016 Hardrock 100


I may have shared this before but is an intriguing run to me.  Maybe its my English roots.


Here is Saga Canaday's film MUT Runner that he has put up on YouTube


Using LCHF to help your body burn fat as fuel

Weekly RunDown #41

Steve Scott

"If you have a bad workout or run a bad race, allow yourself exactly 1 hour to stew about it--then move on."

Steve Scott

Some good thoughts here on Five Training Principles to Live By

When you are good your are good. Chrissie Wellington of Ironman fame is the first women at her first Ultra and second overall at the Race to the Tower in the Cotswalds.  Then again she did just run the 2017 London Marathon in 2:49:01 placing 13th among women and 1st in the women's 40-44 age group.  I say if she takes this up as her sport in her "retirement" watch out.

iRunFar.com's This Week in Running: June 12, 2017

LetsRun.Com's The Week That Was in Running: June 5 - 11, 2017

The Western States 100 is almost here (June 24-25, 2017) and iRunFar has posted the Women's Preview and the Men's Preview.   Also from iRunFar here is Part 3 of Andy Jones-Wilkins' 4 Part series on the race: AJW's Predictions for the Women's Race.   In case you missed them here is Part 2 & Part 1.

With regards to Western States it is good to see a number of people who have been in the Lottery for 5 years or more that are on the Wait List get in.  There is still someone at #39 who has been in the lottery 6 years and one at #49 who is at 5 years waiting.  Seems to me, and this is just my opinion, that if you have tried 5 times you should get an automatic qualifier, just saying.

After winning Comrades on the 3rd of June Camille Herron gets ready to run Western States next week

I was reading this article at Competitor.com, Endurance Fatigue: Perception is Everything, and it reminded me of Tim Noakes Central Governor Theory and iRunFar wrote on this, Peak Performance and the Selfish Brain, and my take-away is the mind is critical but externals play heavily into the picture so you have to work with both.

At Phil Maffetone's website for MAF running here are their MAF TOP 10 Posts

Info on the 2017 International Congress On Medicine & Science In Ultra-Endurance Sports Report

Allie Ostrander took up the Steeplechase this year and won NCAA's after some injury problems.  Allie for some may be best known for her running of the Mount Marathon run in Alaska.

Largest Road Races in the US in 2016, other than Boston this might be my list of races to stay away from as for me these large races are just a logistical pain.  I guess once it starts it is not too bad but not sure the work to get to the start is worth it.

Vashon Island 50k and Trail Run, sounds like a nice race - Race Website

The 57th running of the Mount Washington Road Race should be a good one

Have you logged yours yet, I haven't!  Strava is having The Strava Mile challenge for the month of June and all you have to do is log your fastest mile and tag the run with #MyMile in the Activity Title.  10 runners who post their time will win free shoes and also 10 of their followers will also win shoes.  So go and run your fastest mile this month and post it.

Speaking of miles 16 year old Jakob Ingebrigtsen who ran 3:58.07 in Eugene a couple weeks ago goes even faster in the Bislett Games (Oslo) "U20 Dream Mile" going 3:56.29.

I mentioned it last week but for all you coffee lovers I have been trying Christopher Bean Coffee and have found it very good.  Here is a link to get $10 off your first order and to be completely open I also will get a credit to buy coffee.  But hey $10 off is a great deal - here is the link where a message will come up with your discount code :  $10 off Christopher Bean Coffee

As mentioned before I have started working with SFuels to help promote a Low Carb-High Fat (LCHF) lifestyle for health and performance.  You can also sign up here for SFuels.TV and then be directed to a code that will allow you to get a FREE sample pack, you just pay shipping, as well as more on transitioning to LCHF and get you some great info direct to your email.  Here is this weeks video from Robin on LCHF meal planning.

Masters Running News
2017 National Senior Games: Track and Field Results,  Road Race- 5K & 10K.  Also here is an article and pictures from the 2017 Senior Games

Where do you fit in: Mastering Running as You Age?

I need to work on working on adding strength work

Races this Weekend 
Broken Arrow Sky Race,  Sqaw Valley, CA  - June 16th (VK) & June 17th (26K & 52K), 2017
Bryce 100, Bryce Canyon Utah - June 16-17, 2017
Bighorn 100, Dayton, Wyoming - June 16 - 17, 2017
Mohican 100, Loudonville, OH - June 17 - 18, 2017
Mozart 100K, Salzburg, Austria - June 17, 2017
Livigno Skymarathon, Livigno, Lombardia, Italy - June 18, 2017
Stockholm Diamond League, Stockholm,  - June 18, 2017

Past Weekend Race Results
2017 IAU Trail World Championships, Badia Prataglia, Italy - June 10, 2017
NCAA D1 Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Eugene, OR - June 7 -10, 2017
San Diego 100, Lake Cuyamaca, Ca - June 9, 2017
North Face Endurance Challenge, Wachusett Mountian Ski Area, MA - June 10, 2017
Run Under The Starts -10 Hour Run, Paducah, KY - June 10-11, 2017
Portland Track Festival, Portland, OR - June 10-11, 2017
Dipsea Race, Mill Valley, CA - June 11, 2017


Steve Scott's 1982 Dream Mile win in Oslo



Broken Arrow Sky Race 2016


Wow, 1:51.24 at 14 years old - World Record by the way and a negative split of 56.51  then 54.73 .  This was from 2016 and this he year ran 1:50.84 to set a Freshman record and win the Missouri State meet.


What would the Weekly RunDown be without this weeks Mountain Outhouse News


The 2016 Mozart 100k in Austria - the 2017 event is this week


Bryce 100 - 2015 Video


Highlights from 2016 Mohican 100


2016 Livigno Skymarathon

Weekly RunDown #40

Bill Dellinger

“Good things come slow, especially in distance running.”

Bill Dellinger

With the Western States 100 quickly approaching (June 24-25, 2017) iRunFar is posting a 4 part series on the race and here is Part 2: Four Intriguing Stories at The 2017 Western States 100.  If you missed it here is Part 1.

Camille Herron wins the women's race at the 2017 Comrades.  She was the first American woman to win since Anne Trason won in 96' and 97'.  Here is Runner's Worlds article on her win.

iRunFar.com's This Week in Running: June 5, 2017

LetsRun.com's The Week That Was: May 29 - June 4, 2017

Winner of Wednesday's NCAA Men's 10,000 meters does so after having a seizure and being in the hospital the Monday before the race as was not released till about 30 hours before the race.

Not directly running related but an amazing achievement none the less: Interview with Alex Honnold who climbed El Capitan without ropes.  Here is Outside Online's article on the climb

Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba to lead the Ethiopian marathon team at the 2017 World Championships in London.

Ultra Run MD writes on Ultra Marathon Aid Stations for Beginners.  It is a place you will need in a long race but also a place that much time can get lost if you are not careful and even a race can end at one if you let it.

Who do you pick for your team: An Ultrarunning Thought Experiment

Jamil Coury writes about getting back "Back to My Roots" that includes a run up Mt. Lemmon in Tucson.  What is cool is I have run up Mt. Lemmon back when I lived in Tucson, many many years ago, but never ran it from the side he did.  Here is a video of the run.

I guess by this definition being a trail runner I may be a Liberal Leftie, and you might be as well, no matter how you vote:)

A Nordic Track interview with a number of Ultra runners on: Making the Leak to an Ultramarathon

Speaking of Nordic Track, there is a fair amount of stuff on their site and while it is to their best interest to promote their machines it is nice to see them do more than just sell equipment.  Here is an article on Common Running Injuries and How to Avoid Them on Your Treadmill

Nice to see Timothy Olson back to Competing

A multi-day stage race sounds like a good way to get miles in over a short period of time

Speaking of multi-day races, how about 5 - 50Ks in 5 days on 5 different Hawaiian islands: Epic 5 Challenge.  Better enter quick as there are only 25 entrants allowed for the first running and you might need to dig into your savings for this one.

Check out this new app that will link with Strava or Garmin and give you a cool view of your run, much like what I hear Suunto has for their watches: Relive.  Here is my Global Running Day workout.

For all you coffee lovers I have been trying Christopher Bean Coffee and have found it very good.  Here is a link to get $10 off your first order and to be completely open I also will get a credit to buy coffee.  But hey $10 off is a great deal - here is the link where a message will come up with your discount code :  $10 off Christopher Bean Coffee

Also, while I am handing out codes, I am a Carson Footwear Ambassador, if you want to try a pair of shoes you can get 10% by using the following code: Run2017tonyk
Carson Footwear

As mentioned last week I have started working with SFuels to help promote a Low Carb-High Fat (LCHF) lifestyle for health and performance.  As part of being an ambassador for them I put out a SFuels.TV that is posted at their SFuels YouTube channel and here is was my first attempt at one.  There will be more to come from myself and the other Ambassadors over the coming weeks and months.  You can also sign up for SFuels.TV and get a free PDF download on transitioning to LCHF and get you some great info direct to your email.  monthly video to.  Here is a link to the latest video by Dave Coles and it is also posted at the bottom of the page.


Masters Running News
This is from the same article above from iRunFar but worth repeating here as there are some great Masters news from the 2017 Westerns States 100 as there will be three septuagenarians ( Gunhild Swanson, Wally Hesseltine and Gordy Ainsleigh ) going for sub 30 hours and also three 50+ runners (Meghan Arbogast, Mark Lantz and Dan Barger) that would like to break the 50+ record of 18:50:19.

Runner's World article on the National Senior Games and here is a link to the games that take place June 2 - 15, 2017

Christian Cushing-Murray still cruising along at 49, turns 50 this year and ran 16:14 at the Carlsbad 5K this year.


Races this Weekend 
2017 IAU Trail World Championships, Badia Prataglia, Italy - June 10, 2017
NCAA D1 Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Eugene, OR - June 7 -10, 2017
San Diego 100, Lake Cuyamaca, Ca - June 9, 2017
North Face Endurance Challenge, Wachusett Mountian Ski Area, MA - June 10, 2017
Run Under The Starts -10 Hour Run, Paducah, KY - June 10-11, 2017
Portland Track Festival, Portland, OR - June 10-11, 2017


Past Weekend Race Results
Golden Gate Dirty 30, Black Hawk, CO - June 3, 2017
Cayuga Trails 50, Ithaca, NY - June 3, 2017
USATF Mountain Running Championships;  Men & Women - Cranmore Mountain Race, North Conway, NH - June 3, 2017
Ultra SkyMarathon Madeira, Madeira Island, Portugal - June 3, 2017
Comrades Marathon, (Uphill Direction - Durban to Pietermaritzburg), SA - June 4, 2017


Preview of this weeks IAU Trail World Championships


Ultra-Trail World Tour Episode 2 - Marathon Des Sables



2017 Tarawera Ultramarathon



This weeks Mountain Outhouse


If you have not seen it before here is Mountain Outposts first video - The Drop Bag Challenge



2017 Great Manchester Run 10K - Dathan Ritzenhein (28:06) really worked it to the end and Bernard Lagat (28:13) at 42 is still moving along.


Walmsley moving along in the snow at the Western States Training Camp on the Robinson Flats section of the course


More Video clips of the Western State Training Camp.  Here is Walmsley blazing along on the Cal Street section of the trail.  He sure makes it seem effortless.



I may have shown this before but a great finish by Craig Virgin to win the 1980 World Cross Country Championships.  Virgin also won in 1981.


Newest video from SFuels.TV - Dave Coles talking on MAF and how it relates to LCHF

Weekly RunDown #39

George Sheehan

"Listen to your body. Do not be a blind and deaf tenant." 

Dr. George Sheehan 

 With under a month to go to the Western States 100 iRunFar.com looks at Six Interesting Features of this years race.

Not settling for one ascent of Everest Kilian Jornet went up again but this time from Advanced Base Camp (ABC).  Whether any of the times are a record or not it is still an amazing achievement, 2 ascents in a week even if both are not from Base Camp, is amazing.  Also, here is a good article on the ascent by Ian Corless: Kilian Jornet Summits Mt Everest

All three Ingebrigtsen brothers run sub 4:00 in one meet, one in the main "A" heat and two others in the "B" heat.  Of those brothers the youngest,  Jakob at 16, set the record for youngest under 4:00 running 3:58.07.

Here is Zack Bitter's Part 3 of his blog posts on Periodizing Nutrition - Specified Phase.  Here are Part 1(Rest and Low Intensity) and Part 2 (Peak Base).

LetsRun.com looks at the Pre Classic that wrapped up this past weekend and also here is their Week That Was for May 15-21, 2017

iRunFar.com's This Week in Running: May 30, 2017

In my neck of the woods, literally I am in the woods, it is getting hot so here is some helpful info from Trail Runner Magazine on The Basics of Heat Training.  If you are in Australia/New Zealand. or the like, you will have to wait a few months to apply this:)

Looks like a nice run: Pen Llyn Ultra Marathon (75 miles/121KM) starting and finishing in Pwllheli, Wales - near Snowdonia National Park.  One of the race directors is Huw Williams who just ran the 2017 Marathon Des Sables and I interviewed at the end of March.

Also, if you want to run the 2018 Tarawera Ultra in New Zealand entries will be open by the time this is posted.  If the 102KM is not far enough they are adding a 100 miler but you cannot enter that race till July or August.

Michael at UltraRunMD.com writes on Fat is Your Friend, I know it is mine.

Speaking of diet; Brad Kerns and Zack Bitter talk on the Trail Runner Nation Podcast about nutrition and Metabolism

Strava is having The Strava Mile challenge for the month of June to have you log your fastest mile and tag the run with #MyMile in the Activity Title.  10 runners who post their time will win free shoes and also 10 of their followers will also win shoes.  So go and run your fastest mile this month and post it.

Interesting article from Outside magazine on running needing another Steve Prefontaine - sorry there will not be another one - there will have only been one 'Pre.'

If you are in the Colorado Springs area July 16th you might want to think about running the Barr Trail Mountain Race.  A 12.6 mile trail race that goes up 3630FT to the 6.3 mile point and turns around to descends back to the finish, here is the Strava Route.   One of the sponsors is Carson Footwear.

I have started working with SFuels to help promote a Low Carb-High Fat (LCHF) lifestyle for health and performance.  As part of being an ambassador for them I put out a monthly video to SFuels.TV that is posted at their SFuels YouTube channel and here is my first attempt at one.  Video is also embedded at the end of this post.

Masters Running
Wally Hesseltine, 72, will be running Western States this year.  Here is the Ultrarunnerpodcast.com interview.  Also, check out the video below of his run that was oh so close in 2016.

Check out the film Running Big, see below, about 64 year old Alan Gossard's running of the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon back to back in the movie that won the Indy Film Festival Audience Choice Short Award.

Anyone running the 2017 USATF Masters Track & Filed Championships?

Races this Weekend 
Golden Gate Dirty 30, Black Hawk, CO - June 3, 2017
Cayuga Trails 50, Ithaca, NY - June 3, 2017
USATF Mountain Running Championships - Cranmore Mountain Race, North Conway, NH - June 3, 2017
Comrades Marathon, (Uphill Direction - Durban to Pietermaritzburg), SA - June 4, 2017

Past Weekend Race Results
Prefontaine Classic, Eugene, Or - May 26-27, 2017 (Recap)
Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon, Spain - May 28, 2017
MaXi-Race, Annecy, France - May 27, 2017

"30 Hours" - Wally Hesseltine at Western States 2016

Thirty Hours from alex on Vimeo.


Alan Gossard "Buck" at 64 runs the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon back to back in "Running Big"


Latest Mountain Outhouse


Zegama Aizkorri Marathon 2017


From this past weekends Western States 100 Camp - Robinson Flat (30.3 Miles) to Forrest Hill (62 Miles)



First attempt at a video for SFuels speaking on a LCHF diet



And what would a week be without a flashback video - here is Ovett racing Rono to a 2 Mile world record in 1978