Wild Duluth 100k

On October 15 Duluth Played host the 3rd annual Wild Duluth races. This year's edition included a half marathon, 50k, and 100k. I raced in the 100k, and was primed for a great race - my last one of the 2011 season. Coming into the race I felt like I was in good shape and healthy, well recovered from the rest of the season.

The Wild Duluth 100k course runs along the Superior Hiking Trail

The race started and ended at Bayfront Park in Downtown Duluth and ran along the Superior Hiking trail to Jay Cooke State Park and back - slightly longer than 100k i'm told. With a race start of 6AM, we were running in the dark for about an hour and were treated to a beautiful sunrise above my neighborhood of Spirit Valley. The weather stayed pleasant for the duration of that day with little to no wind, temps in the mid 40's and blue sky.

Running towards the Jay Cooke State Park turn around

As the race stated I ran with a small group at the front of the line of 100k'ers. We climbed to Enger tower, due to be rededicated by the King of Norway in a few days. At the top of the climb to enger tower I moved to the front of the group to better see the trail for the upcoming technical sections and only one other racer moved up with me. Together we towards Spirit Mt., and before entering the aid station there I moved into the lead, which I would keep for the remainder of the race.

Grand Portage aid station with one of my great crew members

As the race progressed I was able to get into a great rhythm and maintained good pace. I race with my Nathon hydration pack and really like the results. It allowed me keep my arms and hands free and loose as well as reduce the amount of time I had to stop at aid stations along the way. I think that using my hydration pack in similar trail ultras is something I will do more of in the future.

Going into the turnaround I was about 15 minutes ahead of the second place runner, and still feeling very comfortable. As I made my way back to Bayfront Park in Duluth I continued to expand my lead. My over distance runs and long threshold workouts allowed me to gain a lot of time on the challenging climbs near Jay Cooke and the tough section over Ely's Peak the second time. Coming into the Spirit Mt. aid station with the majority of the challenging climbing done I started pushing a bit harder to get the finish line.

I meet my crew for the last time at the 24th ave west aid station just 5k from the finish and knew if I kept up a strong last few miles I could break the course record too. (The current course was first used in the race's second year) I flew through the closing miles with little trouble descending the hill I had climbed a few minutes after 6 that morning and crossed the road into Bayfront Park.

I took the win by about 40 minutes and broke the 1 year old course record. It was a great race, and I could not have asked for a better close to my 2011 race season. Now I will be racing the last few NMTC fall trail series races, then reducing my training volume for a few weeks before increasing my volume again in late November for the snowshoe season. A big thanks to my crew as well as the volunteers who were out there helping make the race possible. Also thanks to my coach Jason Kask of Superior Performance for another ultra racing season with great results, and thanks to the Andy and Kim Holak for organizing the Wild Duluth races.

I will be posting less over the next 3 to 4 weeks of lower volume training, but will try to keep the blog updated with what is going on and my tentative race plans for the coming year are. Enjoy the end of fall!

First place at the Wild Duluth 100k