FANS Races

On June 4th I joined some of the fastest, coolest, and craziest ultra runners in the midwest for the 22nd annual FANS races. FANS is a time race in which runners run as far as they can along a loop, in this case around Lake Nakomis, for the appointed time. The person with the most distance at the end wins. FANS has both 12 and 24 hour categories, and I was running in the 12 hour. This was going to be the longest race I had ever done and the longest road ultra I had ever done as well, so a lot of learning for me.The race started at 8AM, and we could already tell that this day was going to be great be great weather....for going to the beach perhaps. The sun was coming out and foreshadowing the 85 to 90 degree temps that we would run in all day.

Pre-race with crew chief (and wife) Meg

The race started with a short out and back stretch to even out the split marks later in in the race, and then it was on to the roughly 2.5 mile loop. I for the first few hours with John Storkamp, well know Minnesota ultra runner on the Inov-8 team whom I "run into" at a lot races throughout the year, and Carolyn Smith a Wisconsinite and ultra running legend who was getting ready for the 100K nationals and worlds this year as well as going after her one year old course record.

After a bit more than 2 hours of running with John and Carolyn I moved out front and ran by my self for a while. I was running at between 19:00 and 21:00 minutes a lap through 5 hours. After that I started to slow down and was passed by John, moving me into second. I shifted my focus to the short term - PR'ing at the 50 mile distance. I pushed it in with my coach Jason Kask running with me a bit and hit 50 miles in 6:58, a PR.

Coming through the crew area after a 50 Mile PR

Then I hit a real low point here and really slowed down. The heat was more than I was used to so far this season, and I was starting to get dehydrated and sun burned. I ticked off some slow laps with Jason, my wife/crew chief Meg, and friend Erika. At about 8:00 John passed me a second time, and that got a bit of fire under me to pick it up. I had a Lara bar, a Honey Stinger, and some fluids and started to make up ground. I ran a few good solid laps after that in about 22:00 to 24:00 minutes.

I soon caught John while he was walking on the far side of the loop, and did my best to keep on pushing. I blew right though the aid station and check point and completed another lap, catching John just at the end of that lap to bring us even in the standings with about 1:00 to go.

I finished with 70.89 miles, got the win, and PR'd in the 50 Mile, 100 K, and 12 Hour. Like in many of my previous races, I really found another gear in the last part, in this case making up a 5 mile deficit and gaining 3 miles on the leader. It was a good race and I really showed myself the mental strength that I can have if I allow myself to push for it. I think I had the nutrition aspect dialed in well, and I learned some great lessons about ultra strategy as well.

Men's and Women's 12 Hour winners

A big thank you to the FANS race volunteers, my coach Jason Kask and crew (Meg, Laurie, and Dick), and my sponsors. Congratulations to Carolyn Smith for breaking her one year old 12 Hour women's course record, and to all of the racers!

Me after the awards: 2011 Men's FANS 12 Hour Winner