Across the Years News

Aravaipa Running is pleased to announce a new family of races to be held at Nardini Manor on November 20, 2010 — the Fat Ox Endurance Runs, consisting of 50-mile and 50-kilometer races. Details are on Aravaipa Running's Web site.

Arivaipa Running is pleased to announce a new family of races to be held at Nardini Manor on September 4, 5, 2010 — the Buckeye Marathon, 50-Mile, 100K, and 100-Mile Runs. Details are on Aravaipa Running's Web site.

Greetings all. This message is to alert everyone that there have been some changes to ATY's method of communicating with the external world.

This blog has moved to the URL

http://atyblog.blogspot.com

The only persons affected may be a few who have created feeds to the blog which will need to be updated.

There is now an Across the Years "fan" page on Facebook for discussion of Across the Years topics which anyone with a Facebook account can subscribe to. The URL is:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Across-the-Years/110410868986214?ref=ts

This replaces two things:

The ATY Discussion Group, which is a Google Group, is no longer supported, and will be disabled shortly. When I created the Facebook page people began signing up for it in droves, whereas the Google resource was almost never used.

Someone created a Facebook page Bring back Across the Years 72/48/24 Hour Footrace, which has had almost no traffic. This will not be removed (I didn't create it), but it is a "group" in Facebook terminology. Practical experience with other groups and fan (company) pages has proven that a fan page is more useful for other users. For one thing, its messages show up in the news and status feeds of people signed up for it, which doesn't happen with groups. People have to check a group explicitly in order to see what's been posted on it. Therefore, we expect to be using the page above for more general discussion.

Don't forget that the deadline for signing up for the Across the Years lottery is April 30! Runner selection will be made on May 1, and notifications will be sent out within a few days.

Oh yeah, one more thing ... Yes, I'm back again, serving as webmaster for 2010, with the capable collaboration of Dave Combs and our race directors Jamil and Nick Coury.

--
Lynn David Newton

This blog is now located at http://atyblog.blogspot.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://atyblog.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.

Gang,

The final validated splits for all runners have now been uploaded to the website. Just go to the front page, select 'Final 2008 Standings' and click on the runner number of the runner you're interested in (clicking on the runner's name will take you to their biographical information instead.)

Cheers!
Dave Combs

December 31, 2008, 11:11 AM

Dave again. First off, a big correction to yesterday's report. 72-hour race leader William Sichel is a Scot, not Irish! I'm not sure where I got Ireland from. ;-) William continues to look really good--he's a small, light guy and has a nice low stride and doesn't seem to waste any energy at all. He just keeps cranking out laps--they don't look very fast, but he doesn't seem to slow down much over the hours, and I've only seen him walk for a short distance a couple times, and the miles keep racking up. He's using this as a test race before a six-day in Athens in the spring. I'm betting that unless the wheels fall off or he decides to shut things down early, he's going to come very close to, if not pass, 300 miles. If so, he'd be the third person to do it in the history of the race, following John Geesler and Yiannis Kouros. Juli Aistars continues to lead for the women, and has extended her lead over perennial contender/winner Martina Hausmann. Juli's moving well again as the day warms up, and might get 250 miles. On a personal note, after my troubles with blisters and nausea/runs yesterday, a little Imodium and getting fixed up by Chris O'Loughlin and Andy Lovy did wonders. Another 55 laps put me ahead of race host Rodger Wrublik's son Gavin (he's almost 8 ;-) but he's since passed me again. I'll concede the victory if he gets past 50 miles. Gavin is currently going around with John Geesler, whose heel problems (some sort of bone problem, not the blisters I thought it was) have reduced him to a slow limp the last day or so. John stays out there, though he could pack it in anytime and nobody would fault him at all for it. 11-year-old Aaron Doman continues on his quest for 100, totally 33 and 66 the first two days. He'll have no problems.

In the 48-hour, it looks like a number of the second-day starters will do really well in the overall race. My current bet to take the win in Jeff Hagen, and I think Lisa Bliss might also pass first-day leader Hans Bauer. Lisa just ran by with her 100-mile lap, and looks like she's in good shape for her second day. If Jeff falters for any time at all, Lisa could pass him for the overall win. Early leader Tracy Thomas took a long break, and may be out again--I haven't seen her for a while. Jamie Huneycutt is coming up on 100 miles in the next couple hours, and will also finish among the leaders.

In the 24-hour, Wendell Doman took off as expected, and is cranking out consistent sub-3:00 laps. It'll be fun to see him move through the field as the day goes on.

Phil Rosenstein just walked by the start/finish and said "tell them how awesome I am". Okay, Phil, it's done! ;-)

Oops--just realized I screwed up an adjustment to the live results. All the 3rd-day starters in the 24-hour are displayed as Finished, while they are actually only 2 hours into their run. Better go fix it!

More later,
Dave

December 30, 2008, 1:32 PM
Dave again. Sorry for the long delay between posts, but things have been "interesting" here. Yours truly went out yesterday afternoon and decided to put in 20 miles, hoping to put together 50 over the three days in addition to timing duties. With little training, the 20 was rather painful, and resulted in a couple large blisters and some soreness. I stuck around until 9:30 p.m. or so last night, but the combination of miles and starting to get sick (a couple people in the area were already a little ill with colds, nothing to do with the race itself) just wiped me out, so I went off to sleep for eight hours or so. The first-day runners were into their last couple hours when I arrived back on the course around 7:00 this morning.

We sent the second 24-hour and 48-hour runners off at 9:00 a.m. Matt Watts finished his 24 leading that race with 117+ miles, though I'm guessing he'll get passed by one of the later runners. Wendell Doman has gone over 120 here before, and he's my current pick.

In the 48-hour, Tracy Thomas (dropping down from 72 hours because she has a tendency to get injured at the longer distance) has a comfortable lead over last year's winner Hans Bauer. After seeing Dr. Andy Lovy doing his medical magic on her early on day 1, I'm guessing she'll do well. We'll see whether any of the first day competitors can mount a charge, and how the second set of 48-hour folks do as they move up through the ranks.

In the 72-hour, perennial winner John Geesler led early, but blister issues on one foot have really taken their toll, and he's dropped several spots down the leader board. Achim Heukemes and Ireland's William Sichel were right there to grab the lead. Juli Aistars has looked very good since the start and currently has a 10-lap (5km) lead over Dagmar Grossheim. On the younger front, Aaron Doman, 11 (son of Wendell Doman and Sarah Spelt) is doing well. He comes out, runs a while, goes off to play with some of the other kids for a while, then comes back to run some more. He's shooting for 100 in 72 hours.

On the technical front, my apologies if you've noticed some odd displays on the leader board. We have had some "issues" with losing connectivity to the net, which resulted in "losing" runners from the board. We still had them in the timing computer, and no laps were lost in the main timing system. Those issues have since been fixed, so things should run a bit more smoothly from now on.

Back to the race!

December 29, 2008, 10:33 AM

Dave again. Everything went off at precisely 9:00 a.m., with Jamil Coury sprinting a first lap to assume the lead for a minute or two. ;-) Everybody's looking good, and in good spirits, settling in for the long day, two days, or three days that they're going to run. One quick note on the leader board: what you see through the web site is the same as they see here at the race, and we're finding that it's a bit too bright for people to see the leader on a big movie screen we have near the track. We're trying to fix it by changing fonts and colors, which is why things might look a little odd to those viewing on the web.

December 29, 2008, 7:32 AM

Dave again. We've made it to race day! If by any chance you've been looking at the timing information up to now, it's been showing test data that we're running here, to make sure that all the electrical and computer connections and other stuff are working. The leader board you see on the web site is the same one that's being projected to a screen alongside the track. We're a bit less than 90 minutes from sending everybody off for three days of fun! The weather looks good for the next three days.

December 28, 2008, 12:35 PM

Dave Combs here. Preparations are going into high gear here at Nardini Manor. As usual, race host Rodger Wrublik is trying to get a ton of the last-minute small details done but not getting enough sleep! Lots of runners are arriving already, though check-in doesn't actually start until 1:00 pm. I've just set up the ATY "race-day" page on the main race website (www.acrosstheyears.com), though of course the race doesn't actually start until tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. AZ time (1600 GMT). More later as things really get going!


December 27, 2008, 6:36 AM

Greetings to all readers! Lynn Newton, ATY's webmaster here. I'm writing this message from my home office in Columbus, Ohio, where today the unseasonably high temperature is predicted to reach the upper sixties! Today is packing day for me, as I have had little time to give any thought at all to preparations until now.

The purpose of this ATY News Blog entry is to initialize the page that will become the location of this year's Live Report. Periodic updates will be prepended today, tomorrow, throughout the race, and maybe a bit afterward, that will summarize progress and notable evens at the race site. There will be a link directly to this blog article at the top of the Web site's front page.

The weather during the race promises to be ideal, with daily high temperatures around seventy, the lows around forty-two, and sunny all day every day—utterly perfect for running! Nonetheless, for those who are coming into town for the race, we highly recommend that you bring warm clothing. The nights in the Arizona desert can chill one to the bone, and forty-two is not warm! And weather reports are not always reliably accurate.

Once again we are planning on presenting a webcast, this year with all the same features as before, but with better implementations, and the addition for the first time of a leader board that will be displayed on a screen to runners, and will also be visible to Internet visitors. Also, after a couple of frustrating years, Rodger finally seems to have worked out the problems that previously existed with his webcam, so looked for substantially improved reporting on that front. Ironically, because I also run the whole 72-hour race, I myself have never seen the beast in action.

Most returning runners know by now that the layout of the track and location of certain facilities will be changed substantially this year. Since I have not set foot on the property myself since I left last year's race, I know only what I've seen from the pictures Rodger sent, and from the descriptions he has provided, so it will be just as new and exciting to me as to everyone else.

Since I first visited the race in progress in Queen Creek on December 31, 1998, Across the Years has played a significant part in my life, becoming in turn a milestone, a tradition, a hobby, and an obsession. For as long as I live, my involvement with this race will be one of the top items in any list I make of Big Things I Have Done in My Life. This year will be my tenth consecutive year of participation, both as runner and as a volunteer, and as I now finally turn my thoughts toward doing it once again, despite being less trained than ever this year, I look forward to the tradition of meeting and saying hello to arriving runners the day before and on race morning, the joy of circling the track for hour after hour, the hope of racking up enough miles by the end that at least I won't be embarrassed by the total, the afterglow of the awards luncheon, and the satisfaction of writing up my inevitable report, for better worse.

And at this time, as people stream into town for the race, I can only hope and wish that all who participate, whether as runners, volunteers, crew members, or just observers, will find the experience as rewarding and satisfying as I have over the years.

Let the games begin!

—
Lynn Newton
Your Faithful Webmaster

ATY Runners,

We started setting things up on Saturday and have added some more pictures to the "ATY Track Improvements" album.

Jim O'Neil and Sue Norwood also added some pictures of their own, to their blog. You can view those at: "ATY Work Day"

We have a few changes this year that are really important, especially for those that are used to the way things have been for the past 5 years. New this year, setting up close to the big tent will no longer be allowed. The timing area has been moved to this location so that runners entering and exiting the big tent will no longer have to worry about which direction they were going in after extended stays in the big heated tent. All runners will be required to cross the mats before entering the tent and not allowed to cross the mats when exiting.

For those that are not familiar with how things work at ATY. every two hours the runners change direction on the track -- clockwise, counterclockwise, clockwise, etc. In the past, when runners went into the big tent to take a nap, change clothes, or whatever and then came back out, it's been troublesome trying to remember which direction they needed to go in. It will no longer matter, they will go in the direction that all of the other runner are currently going in.

Another change this year is the addition of a new "Quiet Tent" which will be located in the SE corner of the track. This tent is much smaller than our big tent and has limited space. We've had some complaints in the past that it's too noisy in the main tent, which has been really confusing to us to say the least (we thought this was a run, not a slumber party), but we want everyone to be happy and because of that, decided to have a dedicated tent for those that just have to have their quiet time. :-)

You will have to RSVP to get a spot in this tent and it will be on a first come, first serve basis - and only for runners that are actually running in that days race. There will be no 'night before their run' runners allowed. This tent will be heated and some cots will be available and like the big tent, the direction you go in when waking up from a long break will not matter. It is located at exactly the halfway point on the track. Contact me if you want a spot: nardinimanor@gmail.com

We have more people than ever before this year and are worried that we may run out of room in the big tent. We asked that everyone who planned to bring a tent, let us know in advance and with everyone that replied, we'll have just enough room for the runners only and nobody else. Crew members are welcome to share their runner's tents but we can't allow non-runners to setup their own personal tents inside (this only applies to inside, not outside on the grounds). Again, crew members are more than welcome to share your runners tent or set up as many tents as they wish outside on the grounds but first and foremost, we must take care of our runners. And please, the smaller the tent, the better (inside) - the limit is a 10 x 10 but remember, if everyone brings a 10 x 10, we'll only have room for about half the runners.

Also new this year, all runners will receive an 8.5 x 11 laminated name tag that you must display where you will be, when and if not running on the track. Whether it's on a table, chair, tent or even on your vehicle, for safety reasons, we want to know where you are if you're not on the track. No tents will be allowed in the big tent without one of these name tags. If staying in the quiet tent, you can pin your name tag on the sidewall above your cot. No small tents will be allowed inside of the quiet tent.

Another change is where you will go for registration. New this year, you will go to the front of the house and enter through the front door. We'll have a fire going, as well as warm fresh coffee. As in previous years, you will once again need to fill out the medical waiver. We wait until race time to do this so that our medical people have the most up to date information possible. Please allot enough time for filling out this form. To ease the onslaught of all those entering on the 29th, we've decided to offer early packet pick-up on the 28th, from 1:00 to 6:00 pm. My daughter Erica will be helping out in checking runners in.

See everyone really soon,

Rodger (ATY Host)

We are pleased to announce that DryMax Sport Socks has just joined the ranks of Across the Years sponsors. We are pleased and grateful for their support and generosity, and look forward to seeing what they contribute.

For those of you who have not already heard about it, there will be some substantial changes to the way things are done at ATY this year. Among them are some alterations to the track at Nardini Manor, which Rodger Wrublik is hard at work implementing. He sent me some photos of the current state of things, which you may see if you click the link. Don't worry, it'll be done by race time! You have to have run the track before to realize how substantial these changes are. The track will be recertified before the race to assure that it's still 500 meters. The changes just make it wider, not longer. We expect a few more people this year than in the past.

Across the Years alumnus Tony Mathison has written to inform us about his 8-hour fixed time race Run From the Ducks, held at the Clark Gardens Botanical Park, located at 567 Maddux Road, Weatherford, Texas. He suggests it might make a good training run for Across the Years runners.

The race seems to be held in September sometime, though I couldn't confirm that from the information on the Web site, but if you dig around on the site I'm sure you'll eventually find everything you need. In any case, there is contact information, by means of which you should be able answer any questions.

Accordingly, we are happy to make this information available to ATY runners who might be interested.

Today Andy Lovy sent us a new article consisting of pre-race advice, which I have edited and added to the page Andy's Wisdom. Be sure to read it, as it contains some excellent advice about running multi-day races, coming from an experienced medical practitioner.

Andy has also advised us that he and Chris O'Loughlin will be on board to put on a sort of workshop the day before for crew on stretching, massage, etc., and to answer any medically related questions they may have.

The race organizers are happy to announce that registration for the 2008 race has now begun, and will be open until August 4, 2008. There is no rush to register, as being first is of no advantage whatever. Visit the Web site to see details.

Anyone considering registering really should read the entire registration help page before starting, because there are a few things that are different this year, and from what other races do.

--
Lynn Newton
ATY Webmaster

Ok, so we're way behind. Sorry. Life has thrown us all a few curves this year, and we're doing the best we can.

It's going to be at least another week, maybe longer, before we will be able to open up for registration. That means June 8th if things go perfectly, but recently things haven't been going so perfectly, so I'm not optimistic.

Hang in there. There is still plenty of time left in the year.

--
Lynn David Newton
Across the Years Webmaster

The main news about ATY 2008 is that there's nothing substantial to announce just yet. But never fear, the race is not dead, just behind schedule. Work is going on actively behind the scenes to make preparations for next year, including some important changes.

The purpose of this post is merely to let you all know that we're still alive and hard at work. The nearest we can predict at this time is that registration will begin on or about June 1st, and will continue until early August. As was true last year, there will be no rush to register, as being first to do so will give runners no advantage whatever in their chances of being selected.

Dave here again. Day 2 of Across The Years started a little less than two hours ago. After RD Paul Bonnett's pre-race meeting, the second set of 24 and 48-hour runners took to the track right at 9:00, after the first set of 24-hour runners finished. It was kind of odd for a few minutes, looking at the scoreboard and seeing lap totals like "295 laps" next to "2 laps", and watching the different speeds of the runners, some fresh and some having just passed 24 hours of their 48 or 72-hour journeys. Last night took a toll on everybody, as temperatures were unseasonably cold here (certainly somewhere in the 30s), with a bit of wind from time to time. Performances of note included 24-hour runner Dave Putney, whose 131+ miles led all runners for the first day. Tony Mangan was closing fast, though, passing 24 hours about 3 laps behind Dave, but doing the 72-hour. John Geesler and Tracy Thomas also did well with more than 100 in the 72-hour, and both look strong right now. Carrie Sauter missed 100 in 24:00, but passed that under 25 hours. Don Lundell, June Gessner, Matt Watts and Jenny Hoffman rounded out the first-day 24-hour finishers over 100 miles, but I expect several people to join them on day 2 or 3. One to look for on Monday is Paul DeWitt, who wants to shoot for 165 miles+ to break the American record.

Today looks to be good, with temperatures supposed to rise a bit, though the wind has also picked up. Hopefully most of the technical issues that plagued us yesterday and caused a lot of interruptions with our sending lap totals to the net are over (keep your fingers crossed!) Back with more in a few hours.

Dave Combs here. I just wanted to issue an apology to those watching on the web. We've been having some technical issues here with the timing equipment and uploads to the race website. We're not sure exactly why, but it may just be the amount of stuff we have at the race site drawing power, combined with the amount of information we're trying to forward to the web and a bit of a slow net connection. That's why occasionally you'll see laps with missing times on various runners live totals. We've had some timing glitches, but have verified that laps have been adjusted correctly for any affected runners. For those of you interested in why John Geesler and Tony Mangan keep showing lap times of 00:00, it's due to a technical problem with their wearing two timing transponders in case they manage to break a record. The software I wrote to figure out lap times didn't quite deal correctly with having two separate times for the same runner that were right close together, but both "correct". I'll have to work on that for next year--we don't want to change something like that right now! ;-)

The race conditions have been interesting--high 30s at the start, probably mid-60s during the afternoon, but it's chilling off again now that the sun has been down a while. The runners seemed to enjoy it, but we're freezing in the timing tent, even with a heater! ;-) Tony Mangan keeps cranking out the laps, with John Geesler trailing by a bit. Tracy Thomas is once again leading for the women. Dave Putney leads both the 24-hour race and the overall laps for everyone, with Pam Reed, June Gessner and Jenny Hoffman taking spots 2-4 in the 24-hour. ULTRA list folk Ron Hamilton and Fred Dummar lead the 48-hour runners.

More later as the night wears on,
Dave

We now have successfully uploaded new videos from today's races onto our YouTube channel.

This first is a look at pre-race activities:



Here is this morning's start!

Labels: ultra running multiday ultrarunning aty across the years

We are now 2 hours into the race and the runners have just changed directions for the first time. Juli Aistars and Don Charles Lundell were the first to switch.

John Geesler and Tony Mangan are neck and neck in the 72 hour race with Tracy Thomas and Glen Turner following close behind.

We currently have two videos completed and awaiting upload to our youtube channel. Our connection out at Nardini Manor is still holding us back, but we should have these up shortly.

Several people who have learned that they can send messages to runners during the race have written to ask what email address they should use. The answer is that it isn't email, so there is no such email address.

Anyone wishing to send messages to a runner may visit the Web site any time 24 hours a day during the race and click on the link at the top that says Send Greetings. Select the runner's name, identify yourself, write your message, and press Send.

It's regrettable that this feature has come to be called "email," though it's understandable why it has because outwardly it is quite similar. What else would it be called?

When I wrote the package I originally thought of calling it I Can't Believe It Isn't Email. But for our purposes this package is actually quite a bit better, because it's faster, tidier, and allows us to manipulate and print messages in a way that would be difficult to do with ordinary email.

When a user presses the Send button, his message is deposited immediately in a database and never has to go out over the Net. An auxiliary administrative program allows race officials in the timing tent to view, sort, print, and otherwise manage messages.

Another part of the package allows anyone visiting the site to view all the messages sent to every runner. This is a feature that we like, because it adds to the spirit of the race to see all that electronic cheering. But those sending messages should be aware that what they write will be viewable by the whole world, so must be discreet about saying personal things in these messages. Just remember that what you send is not email! Across the Years does not have a means to handle real private email messages to runners.

It's almost time for the festivities to begin! See you all in a few days.

Lynn David Newton
ATY Webmaster

On December 18th your lowly webmaster hemmed and hawed his way through a conversation with ultrarunning podcasters Kim and Andrew, the producers of the Trails and Tribulations series of podcasts about ultrarunning, wherein we talked for over forty minutes about Across the Years. The resulting interview is available from the website in podcast form, along with some background information. Just click on the link in this paragraph, and download the podcast from their site in whatever way you normally would do to lisen to these things.

Over the years we have had a real problem with people trying to use Mapquest, in getting directions to Nardini Manor. Please, do NOT use Mapquest; you will get sent miles in the wrong direction. Use 'Google Maps' instead. I recently updated the Nardini Manor information on Google Maps and and it is, now, very easy to use. Here's a link to our site that has the updated information: http://www.nardinimanor.com/directions.htm

Yesterday (12/16/07), we had 7 volunteers show up that helped in putting up a lot of the equipment for this years run. All of the shirts, sweatshirts, gloves and gaiters have been put into the duffel bags (with more items, still to come), We think everyone will absolutely love what they're going to get. All of the bibs have been printed and put onto the race belts that you get to keep after the run. It's not mandatory but has become an ATY custom, to keep your bib (which has your name and state flag on it) facing to the rear. This gives the runners that come up on you or that you are passing, an opportunity to know who you are. Also, by keeping your bib on the race belt, it will make it very easy to change clothes and still keep your number visible for our timers. The race belt has an easy to use, quick snap buckle, similar to what you have on a fanny pack.

We started grooming the track and putting up of the flags and banners. There's still more to do but things are really shaping up. The main aid station is up but we're still waiting delivery on a new medical and timing tent.

We decided to go with a black timing tent this year, in an attempt to eliminate the glare on the laptops that we've been experiencing over the last few years. We'll also be adding a new medical tent, which will be set up right beside the main aid station tent and directly in front of where the main entrance to the large tent is. Kachina Rescue will be in this new tent, with Andy Lovy and Chris O'Loughlin in their usual locations (in the big tent). Ideally, Andy and Chris will do a lot of the 'comfort care' but for anything really serious, Kachina Rescue will be the ones to see. Andy and Chris truly do enjoy helping the runners, but hopefully, this will give them a little more time for running. As most of you already know, Andy already has his 1000 mile jacket but Chris still needs 223 miles, before getting his.

Last year there were a couple of complaints about the medical staff making too much noise in the main tent. Remember, THIS IS A RUN, NOT A SLUMBER PARTY! ;-) If you need absolute quite, you may need to get a hotel room or find an out of the way place on the grounds someplace, instead of in the main tent, for that. At night (usually after 10 PM), we do dim the lights and we do ask that everybody keeps the noise level down but we will never ask our medical staff to do the same. What they have done and continue do is much too important to this event.

We have added 24 additional slots to our mailboxes this year. This way, everyone will have a personal slot and we won't have to change things up as the race progresses, like we had to do last year. For those of you that haven't run with us before, we have email mailboxes for all of the runners and instead of trying to hand out hundreds of emails as the run progresses, we now put all of them into your own personal mailbox. You should find your mail slot before the run begins so that you are familiar with where your slot is located. You are welcome to get them as often or whenever you wish. They will be located just east of the timing tent. They will also be in our archives on the ATY website if you'd like to look at them again, later.

Nardini Manor is once again looking like a running venue, which is definitely one of the best times of the year! ;-)

See everyone real soon,

Rodger

For any of you that were scheduled to attend the work weekend, the schedule has been shortened to just Sunday the 16^th, instead of Saturday and Sunday, the 15^th and 16^th.

Rodger & Tana

Tuesday, January 1, 2008 3:30 am

Latest through 200 miles is Carrie Sauter a few minutes ago. She's now going off for a break. The last of the 72-hour runners with a shot at 200 is Ray Krolewicz, who will probably get there with an hour or two left. Hans Bauer has a decent shot at 200 for the 48-hour runners, and Tim Englund has an outside chance as well, as both of them have now passed previous leader Debbie Richmeier. Scott Eppelman probably will hit 175 or 180, and Lisa Bliss is now moving well again after a break, with 19.5 miles to go to pass Debbie and take the women's 48-hour win. Daniel Larson has been moving really well, with several laps under 3:30 as he closes in on 24-hour leader Dave Putney, who finished on day 1. My guess now is that Daniel will do it, in the process also setting a race PR for himself. Conditions are getting a bit worse, as warmer temperatures earlier this evening have given way to a brisk northeasterly wind and everybody is just trying to keep warm, which is especially hard for runners that have used up most of their energy already.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008 12:35 am

Happy New Year from ATY! We just got done with the traditional champagne, party favors and walk around the track. Paul Bonnett's fireworks this year were excellent, especially one that reminded me of a machine gun, shooting blasts into the sky as it swept back and forth. Now most everybody is back to business. It was also fun to watch both Craig Slagel and Juli Aistars pass 200 miles. Craig's said that's it for him, but I hope he decides to do a few more laps later. Juli is continuing, and I'm not even sure she noticed us cheering for her as she passed through 200, she was zoned in so completely. Welcome to 2008!

Monday, December 31, 2007 11:10 pm

Dave again. I came back from a break for a couple hours to find that things had changed a bit. Paul DeWitt has now dropped from the 24-hour, leaving Daniel Larson and Wendell Doman as the two main contenders to first-day leader Dave Putney's 131+. Daniel and Wendell are the only ones running consistent laps much below 4:00. Martina Hausmann is now pulling away in the 72-hour women's race, though Juli Aistars is moving again. Unless he can pull out a really super effort in the last ten hours of the race, Tony Mangan will come up short of 300 miles, and John Geesler has essentially conceded the race win to Tony. In the 48, Hans Bauer and Tim Englund have a decent shot at 200 miles, with Scott Eppelmann a bit more of an outside chance. Lisa Bliss continues moving toward Debbie Richmeier for the women's lead.

It was nice a few hours ago to welcome both Ron Vertrees and John Surdyk to the race's 1000-miles-all-time club, just after John passed 151 miles tonight.

Other than that, things are moving along. Some people are winding down, while others are back pushing again, trying to get in as much more as possible before the 9:00 a.m. finish tomorrow. A brisk breeze has kicked up, which pushed the side of the aid-station tent out a bunch and caused it to contact one of the propane heaters and burn a big hole in the fabric.

More after the midnight ceremony and lap together!

Monday, December 31, 2007 6:20 pm

We understand there has been discussion about some greetings not showing up in the list of greetings you can view on the ATY website. As far as we know things are working correctly. Some runners requested that messages to them be kept private and not posted for general viewing. Lynn Newton implemented that feature this year, which is why some messages might seem to be missing.

Monday, December 31, 2007 12:20 pm

Dave again. The third-day 24-hour runners started at 9:00, and it's been really interesting to watch them. Paul DeWitt has run consistent laps between 2:15 and 2:20, finishing his first marathon in 3:13 on his quest for 165+ miles. He looks very strong. He's trailed by David Horner and past 24-hour ATY champions Wendell Doman and Daniel Larson. Paul has passed the first of the 24-hour runners from earlier days, and the others will do so within the next half hour or so. First-day 48-hour starter Debbie Richmeier finished with 167+ for a PR. We'll see how it holds up with the second-day starters moving up the leader board toward her. Tony Mangan's goal now is 300 miles for the 72-hour, and it will be close. He looks pretty good, though. John Geesler is having a bit of a hard time, but is approaching 200 miles now. He'll miss getting as good a distance as he usually does, but he's as cheerful and philosophical about it as always, and keeps moving along. If you've never met him, John is truly one of the good guys in this sport. The real big move I've seen since early this morning is Martina Hausmann, who has closed from almost 60 laps behind 72-hour women's leader Tracy Thomas to trail by less than a mile. With a bit of luck both of them will break Tracy's women's race record of just a hair over 250 miles. It's anybody's guess who'll get there first, but as usual Martina is doing what I call her Terminator routine--it doesn't matter what happens, she JUST KEEPS COMING.

It looks like today will be the best weather-wise for the whole race, with temperatures here at Nardini Manor up about 10 degrees from the start of the race on Saturday. With things now into the last day, everybody's looking pretty good, the earlier-day starters can finally see the finish in the distance, and it's going to be a good day!

Sunday, December 30, 2007 9:30pm

Phil Rosenstein decided to drop out with a stress fracture for those who are tracking his race.

Sunday, December 30, 2007 6:15pm

Dave again. It's been a good day today out at Nardini Manor. Afternoon temperatures got into the 60s, with nice clear skies, and only a bit of a breeze from time to time--ideal running weather for those in the four races currently going on (the 72-hour, both 48-hours and the second-day 24-hour.) The front-runners continued to lead, with Tony Mangan now holding about a 30K lead on John Geesler, and Tracy Thomas with just a bit less over Maryland's Carrie Sauter, who is trailed by Martina Hausmann and Juli Aistars, all in the 72-hour. Debbie Richmeier continues in the overall lead for the 48-hour, with women holding three of the top four spots. Tim Englund, Jesse Doggett and Hans Bauer lead the second-day 48-hour runners, and they're coming on quickly. Several of today's 24-hour runners are approaching 50 miles, and have started passing the back of the pack from yesterday's race. Several of the serious contenders in the 24-hour will start tomorrow, however.

It's been a great day and almost a half so far. I've really enjoyed one of the main activities that seems to happen at this race (and most other ultras, but especially here), catching up with old friends from all over. It's truly a three-day party, with a lot of running, walking, shuffling, eating, and napping thrown in. Some people that I've talked to before about these timed-event things say it must be really boring, but I'd challenge any ultra person to show up here and get bored! There's always something going on. Even for us spending time slowly freezing in the timing tent, there's always something to do, from checking the software's running correctly to printing and posting laps to sending updates to the net, writing this blog or just hanging out reminiscing. It's ALL good, even the cold parts!

More later, with any luck before I head for bed around 1:00 a.m.
Dave

Sunday, December 30, 2007 10:44am

Day 2 has started!
Dave here again. Day 2 of Across The Years started a little less than two hours ago. After RD Paul Bonnett's pre-race meeting, the second set of 24 and 48-hour runners took to the track right at 9:00, after the first set of 24-hour runners finished. It was kind of odd for a few minutes, looking at the scoreboard and seeing lap totals like "295 laps" next to "2 laps", and watching the different speeds of the runners, some fresh and some having just passed 24 hours of their 48 or 72-hour journeys. Last night took a toll on everybody, as temperatures were unseasonably cold here (certainly somewhere in the 30s), with a bit of wind from time to time. Performances of note included 24-hour runner Dave Putney, whose 131+ miles led all runners for the first day. Tony Mangan was closing fast, though, passing 24 hours about 3 laps behind Dave, but doing the 72-hour. John Geesler and Tracy Thomas also did well with more than 100 in the 72-hour, and both look strong right now. Carrie Sauter missed 100 in 24:00, but passed that under 25 hours. Don Lundell, June Gessner, Matt Watts and Jenny Hoffman rounded out the first-day 24-hour finishers over 100 miles, but I expect several people to join them on day 2 or 3. One to look for on Monday is Paul DeWitt, who wants to shoot for 165 miles+ to break the American record.

Today looks to be good, with temperatures supposed to rise a bit, though the wind has also picked up. Hopefully most of the technical issues that plagued us yesterday and caused a lot of interruptions with our sending lap totals to the net are over (keep your fingers crossed!) Back with more in a few hours.

December 29, 2007 8:37pm

Dave Combs here. I just wanted to issue an apology to those watching on the web. We've been having some technical issues here with the timing equipment and uploads to the race website. We're not sure exactly why, but it may just be the amount of stuff we have at the race site drawing power, combined with the amount of information we're trying to forward to the web and a bit of a slow net connection. That's why occasionally you'll see laps with missing times on various runners live totals. We've had some timing glitches, but have verified that laps have been adjusted correctly for any affected runners. For those of you interested in why John Geesler and Tony Mangan keep showing lap times of 00:00, it's due to a technical problem with their wearing two timing transponders in case they manage to break a record. The software I wrote to figure out lap times didn't quite deal correctly with having two separate times for the same runner that were right close together, but both "correct". I'll have to work on that for next year--we don't want to change something like that right now! ;-)

The race conditions have been interesting--high 30s at the start, probably mid-60s during the afternoon, but it's chilling off again now that the sun has been down a while. The runners seemed to enjoy it, but we're freezing in the timing tent, even with a heater! ;-) Tony Mangan keeps cranking out the laps, with John Geesler trailing by a bit. Tracy Thomas is once again leading for the women. Dave Putney leads both the 24-hour race and the overall laps for everyone, with Pam Reed, June Gessner and Jenny Hoffman taking spots 2-4 in the 24-hour. ULTRA list folk Ron Hamilton and Fred Dummar lead the 48-hour runners.

More later as the night wears on,
Dave


December 29, 2007 5:34pm

We now have successfully uploaded new videos from today's races onto our YouTube channel.

This first is a look at pre-race activities:



Here is this morning's start!



December 29, 2007 10:56am

We are now 2 hours into the race and the runners have just changed directions for the first time. Juli Aistars and Don Charles Lundell were the first to switch.

John Geesler and Tony Mangan are neck and neck in the 72 hour race with Tracy Thomas and Glen Turner following close behind.

We currently have two videos completed and awaiting upload to our youtube channel. Our connection out at Nardini Manor is still holding us back, but we should have these up shortly.

-Jamil



December 28, 2007, 8:48 PM
Greetings from Across the Years! I was out at the site this afternoon, where people are hard at work making preparations, while people are beginning to arrive. I was there only three hours today, and had to leave a bit earlier than I planned, so didn't get to meet some of the people I expected would be arriving in the afternoon.

The facility has never looked better, especially before the race, as the trail has been nicely groomed, and the property has had some improvements to it, including more lighting in the outlying areas.

The weather has been unseasonably cold recently, and reached only the mid-fifties today, but was mostly sunny. The forecast is for partly cloudy tomorrow, and sunny conditions the rest of the race, with temperatures warming to the mid-sixties by the end of the race. The nights may be somewhat cold, though, and if history is any indication, may prove to be difficult to deal with by those who are unprepared for it. We have seen a number of 24-hour runners packing up and leaving at 1:00 AM, finding that the cold is more than they can deal with. But for those who can, it could mean higher than usual mileages.

We have assembled what is by far the best field of runners for this race ever, and expect a tremendous race tomorrow.

Labels: ultra running multiday ultrarunning aty across the years

The normal rates for this hotel (and they’re one of the less expensive places in the area) usually range from $129 to $144 per night. If you mention that you're with the Across The Years running group, they will give you a room for $69 +tax per night for the days from - 12/27/07 to 12/30/07. The rates will go up to $79 on the 31^st and then to $129 on the 1^st.

This is a very busy time of the year for the area hotels.

Contact Information:

Best Western (Goodyear)

623-932-3210 ext: 400

Website

Once again, Dr. Andy Lovy and Chris O'Louglin will be back to assist you during the run. They have been a key part of this event for the past number of years now and their assistance has saved many a runner from throwing in the towel early. For those of you that haven't already read it, we've dedicated a page on our website with some of Andy's thoughts and experiences: http://www.acrosstheyears.com/andy.html

As all of you that have run at ATY before already know, Andy and Chris also like to run in the event and they do this while assisting other runners that are in need of aid during the duration of the event. There have been years that they have been so overworked; we have wondered how they've managed as many miles as they have. Andy now has 1137 lifetime miles and Chris has 778. These two individuals are simply amazing!

New this year, in an attempt to ease the work load on Andy and Chris, we'll also have available the medical assistance of Kachina Rescue. My son and I have used Kachina for the past two years now, at the annual running of the Javelina Jundred and have found them to be very runner friendly and extremely professional. We're very pleased to have them on board.

Kachina Rescue has asked that all ATY participants please visit their website and fill out the questionnaire that is provided. All information submitted on this form will be sent directly to the officer charged with coordinating this event for Kachina Rescue. The information will only be used to provide care, should it be needed to the participant. Information will only be shared with medical providers directly involved with patient care and Kachina Rescue's medical director. Kachina Rescue does not bill individuals for their services, however; should a patient require EMS transportation to the hospital, the transport provider will bill the patient/patient's insurance for their services. If you have any questions, please submit them using this form.

Kachina Rescue will be providing pre-event foot taping for blister prevention as well. This is a free service. If you are interested in this service, please fill out the form and check the box on the form for the pre-taping.

In the past, Chris O'Loughlin has also provided pre-event taping. If you'd like to contact Chris about taping or anything else, he can be reached at: yogarhythms@gmail.com

Thanks,

Rodger Wrublik (Your ATY Host)

For readers who haven't heard, your ATY webmaster is about to embark on a major life change, namely moving permanently to Columbus, Ohio.

I wanted to assure everyone that I will continue to support Across the Years with technical services as I have done the last few years, although being frantically busy right now with trying to get moved by mid-November means that a few new features of the web site that I was hoping to implement for this year will not make it into this year's show.

The biggest change for me will be that starting this year I'll be running the race as an out-of-state visitor rather than a local resident.

It's my hope to continue to support ATY in coming years from my new home in Ohio.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in December, for what will undoubtedly be the very best edition of Across the Years ever.

--
Lynn

Paul DeWitt has started a new blog in which he intends to document his training for Across the Years, which he estimates will be about 60 miles a week, and at which he aims to get 165 miles for 24 hours. That would set a new US record. The blog is titled Dirt, Wood, and Books.

With Scott Jurek in the same race, who has hinted that he may also have his eye on the record, it appears we will have some excitement in the 24-hour race this year.

Read Paul's blog, and maybe you will be able to keep up with him!

--
Lynn

On August 5th the ATY organizers got together and selected the roster of runners for the 2007 races. There may be adjustments to the list over the next few months, but for the moment it is complete.

You can view the link by visiting the Who's Coming link in the navigation bar. Be sure to view the pictures and biographies of runners. We are still trying to acquire information for many of the newcomers, but this will be added as it becomes available.

Congratulations to those runners who were selected! We have the strongest field in the race's history coming to Nardini Manor in December.

We deeply regret that circumstances are not such that we have room for everyone who would like to run at Across the Years. It breaks our heart to have to tell those who could not get in that they will have to try again in the future.

There are now less than five months to race day. We wish the runners a happy and healthy training period. See you in December.

We announced that ATY Enrollment — running the lottery and all the rest that goes with it — would be accomplished on August 5th or soon thereafter. Today is August 5th, and I'm happy to say we are pretty much on schedule. It's our plan to get together tonight and work through everything.

However, we want to urge everyone to exercise some patience. There is some important system updating that will be necessary, and we wish to announce everything at once, so it may be Monday or even Tuesday before it is all done.

Persons who are selected for the race will be notified by email. Those who were not will also be notified by email.

We have far more people registered than we have room for, so we need to forewarn you that quite a few people will be denied. Be assured that we feel as bad about this as will those who cannot get in, but the reality of the race is that we have limited space and simply must draw the line.

--
Lynn Newton
ATY Webmaster

I've been getting quite a few emails from entrants concerned about their checks not yet being listed as received as shown in our database. Part of the problem is that we had to forward all of our mail from Litchfield Park, Arizona to Silverton, Colorado while I was there preparing for Hardrock. I'm now back in Litchfield Park but I have to leave the forwarding alone because I will be heading back to Colorado in a couple of weeks. (We have another business in Silverton). Because of this, the mail has been a bit slow. (It first goes to AZ, then to Denver and finally to Silverton) but rest assured that we'll check with each and every one of you before we run the lottery. Sorry about the slow snail mail but it's the only way that I can handle registration this year.

Rodger Wrublik

www.nardinimanor.com
www.thewyman.com

This entry will be short. We simply wish to remind everyone that registration for Across the Years 2007 will end at midnight on July 30th, 2007. For the chronologically challenged, midnight is the beginning of the day, not the end of it. Therefore, technically you have all of Sunday, July 29th to register. When the date turns over to July 30th, registration will be over.

Because we have had several inquiries about it, we are implementing a scheme wherein people may team up in the lottery. This is how it works:

• Any runner may team with any other runner, but we request written verification (by email or on the registration form)that both persons agree to the arrangement.
• Up to three people in a single family may team up.
• Only one person per buddy team will be in the lottery.
• If that person is picked for a race, the one he or she has teamed with will also be placed in a race. If the lottery member is not picked, neiher one will get in the race.
• It is permissible for runners who team together to select different races or different start dates.
• The race organizers will determine which runner in a teamwill be the one in the lottery.
• To indicate that you would like to team with another runner, use the Comments section at the end of the registration form to name the other person. There are no rules about format or wording. Just make your intent clear.
• This arrangement applies retroactively. Persons who have already registered may contact us at register@acrosstheyears.com and tell us what you would like to do. We'll figure out the rest.

Registration for the 2007 edition of Across the Years is now open. As advertised previously, we will be selecting some runners to return, while making other slots available by a series of lotteries.

The race organizers will not be publshing the criteria upon which selection is made.

If you are planning on registering for this race, we strongly recommend that you read the entire Registration Help document before proceeding, which should help to clarify most questions you might have.

There is no need to rush to register. Being early is of no advantage whatever. Just be sure you do it before registration closes, and get us your check before the date of the lotteries, which is presently set at August 5th, 2007.

In 2007 we have no international runner services coordinator available to assist runners traveling from other countries with accommodations, transportation and the like. Instead, we recommend that any runners with special needs in this regard make use of the Across the Years Discussion Group on Google, which is a newly formed email list that may be used by anyone to discuss any aspect of the race. We highly recommend that all persons with a strong interest in Across the Years, including those who hope to run, subscribe to this list in order to keep informed, and especially to ask questions. We are expecting to use the group as a primary channel of communication during this race year.
--
Lynn Newton
ATY Webmaster

(Revised on 05/05/07)

Thanks to everyone that came forward and offered to help out with the work weekend for this years running of Across The Years. All of those spots have been filled. Thanks also to all of those that have committed to taking on the captain spots at Javelina. Those spots have also been filled. Even though all of the "Guarenteed Entry" volunteer spots have been taken, we're always looking for more volunteers for both Javelina and Across The Years. Helping out will improve your chances at getting into ATY.

If you're interested in helping out at either Across The Years or Javelina Jundred, feel free to email us at: nardinimanor@qwest.net

Rodger

We have recently changed our discussion channel from a ZombieRunner forum to a Google Group called (guess what?): Across the Years. To view and/or this, visit

Across the Years Google Group

A group is a highly configurable email list, viewable from a browser, and searchable just lke anything else in Google. You may set your own options to receive postings to any group by email, or you may read it from your browser.

This group is presently open to the public for both reading and posting. It will serve best as a place for people to ask questions about the race, and particularly for registered runners to discuss questions among themselves, e.g., regarding coordinating transportation, and finding accommodations. But discussion is not limited in any way.

At this writing there is only one post, an introductory explanation from your cheerful webmaster.

We wish to thank ZombieRunners Don and Gillian for providing use of the forum last year, and for their sponsorship of Across the Years, which we hope to see continue in 2007.

We're posting this update to let everyone know that we're still alive, that there wil be an Across the Years race at Nardini Manor in 2007, and that work is ongoing in making preparations.

It will be a few weeks before there is much more to say. Best estimates are that registration will open somewhere around the end of May or early June. There will be an approximately two-month window of opportunity for everyone who wishes to be in the race to register. Previous runners and subscribers to the Ultra list will be given advance notice of the registration starting date.

Some people will be admitted automatically and others will be subjected to a lottery. The ATY organizers do not intend to publish the criteria of its randomized lottery process, because we believe there is no such thing as "fair" in these matters, and because in posting some arbitrary set of selection "rules" we would thereby become subjects for criticism and suggestions on how we could make it "better." Think of ATY as basically an invitational, where some persons will be invited at random among those requesting entry.

There will be no need to rush to register. Being among the first will not give anyone more of an advantage over someone who registers at the last minute.

— Lynn Newton
ATY Webmaster

For those of you that don't already know, I've been helping out at Javelina for the last three years now. Last year, my son Jimmy took over as RD and even though things went really well, we're trying to get an early jump on things this year so that we're not so pressed right before the race. The 2006 running of Javelina was Paula Humpage's last year as Javelina Jeadquarters captain; so, we now have some huge shoes to fill. Paula and Woofie have done so much for Javelina over the years and will surely be missed.

What we're looking for is a captain for Javelina Jeadquarters (which is the aid station at the start/finish), as well as a captain for our night shift at Jackass Junction from 11 PM to 8 AM. If we can find 'experienced' aid station captains for these spots, we'd be more than happy to give these volunteers guaranteed spots into the Across The Years run (allowing them to bypass the lottery). If the volunteers don't wish to run ATY but have friends or family members that would, they are welcome to give the pass to one of them. We think that we have our other shifts fairly well covered but will give them (the captains of those shifts) the same recognition with guaranteed spots, if they wish to take us up on our offer.

All other volunteers that have helped at Javelina (as well as ATY) will get points for days worked that can be used in the upcoming ATY lottery. Only the captains will get the automatic pass. Volunteers are extremely important to us and we feel that they should be rewarded for their support. More about the ATY lottery will be posted in the next couple of weeks.

There will also be a work weekend 2 weeks prior to the Across The Years event. Last year Jimmy and I had so much to do prior to the event that we actually missed being with the rest of our family in Silverton Colorado for Christmas. I have promised my wife, as well as the rest of my family (and especially my 6 year old son) that this will NEVER happen again, thus the reason for the work weekend. This work weekend is our chance to get the majority of things in place, well in advance, so that we aren't so rushed right before the race. We feel that this will work better than having to use and abuse our committee members anymore than what we already have.

We are looking for 2 more people that would be willing to work two days on the weekend of December 15th and 16th. It won't probably take the full two days to get this work done but we're saying two days just to be safe. We'll have cots and some simple meals for the volunteers but if you require anything special, please bring it. As a way of showing our gratitude, we will offer these volunteers guaranteed spots into this years running of our event. We are looking for volunteers that are good when working with their hands and don't mind putting in some long hours. The work is fairly labor intensive and the weather conditions are unpredictable at this time of the year. Some of the tasks will include: installing flags and flag poles, watering and grooming the track, tent set-ups, banner set-ups, tables, chairs, cots, trash cans, aid station equipment, goody bag stuffing, registration set-up, assigning transponders, shower set-up, electrical hook-ups, webcam and visual aid set-ups and much more. These volunteers could be friends of the runners and not actually the runners themselves to get the guaranteed entry.

As always, we'll also be looking for volunteers that can help out during the three days of the run as well as some that could help with the clean-up immediately after the event. These volunteers would all get points for upcoming ATY lotteries.

If you're interested, please contact me at: nardinimanor@qwest.net. In your post, let me know what your capabilities and weaknesses are. This way, I can pick people most suited for the tasks at hand. Please don't inquire unless you are absolutely sure you can make the dates. More details about how the lottery is going to work will be posted on this news blog very soon. Keep watching and thanks so much for your interest.

Rodger Wrublik (ATY Host)

http://www.acrosstheyears.com/
http://www.javelinajundred.com/
http://www.nardinimanor.com/

Sorry, there isn't any news.

Paul has been getting several emails daily inquiring about how to assure entry into next year's race. There is no such assurance.

This ATY News Blog is the only channel of publicly available announcements about the next race. You may visit it often or subscribe to it an RSS feed so you are informed whenever there updates to it.

Entry into the next race will incorporate a lottery. The parameters have not been talked about yet. No matter what, some people will be disappointed because there is no room for everyone.

With a lottery there will be no rush to get in. In time a window of opportunity will open for all who wish to submit registrations.

There will be no need to rush to be first in line. Being selected will not be on a first come first served basis.

Don't expect registration to begin before May or June. This is Lynn talking, not the committee at large, but I also know how long it will take me to get my preparation ready.

We love that everybody is so excited about this wonderful race, and thank everyone for their ongoing interest. We hope to continue satisfying as many people as we can. Train well.

For those of you that are wondering about a runner that hasn't put in any laps for awhile, here's a list of those that have dropped, as of 7:00 AM 12/30/06.

Mary Croft (24 Hour)
Mark Dangerfield (24 Hour)
Bryon Mason (24 Hour)
Brad Smythe (24 Hour)
Karsten Solheim (24 Hour)
Keah Taylor (24 Hour)
Darrel Bache (24 Hour)
Mary Smith (48 Hour)
Charlie Rice (48 Hour)
Eric Poulsen (72 Hour)

More information shortly,

Rodger Wrublik

Well, things are really starting to shape up. We've implemented a new timing area which is further away from the heated tent than last year. This will give crew members more room to set up for their runners. Remember, we have plenty of tables and chairs, so there's no reason to bother with bringing your own. You're more than welcome to use ours.

If you decide that you would like to buy more meal tickets for your crew, we'll have them available at sign-in. They're $5 each and this allows your crew something to eat without having to run back to town.

The goody bags are looking really good for this year. As always you'll be getting a nice technical shirt as well as a hooded sweatshirt and gloves. Also, all runners will once again get a race belt with your bib on it that you will be able to keep. The bibs will have your name and state flag on them and a lot of runners have found that it works really well to have the bib facing back rather than to the front. This way other runners will know who you are and where you're from.

All runners will be wearing a transponder which must be placed on your ankle. It will not read properly if it's placed on any other part of your body. They come with an ankle strap and must be returned after the race. These are different than the champion chip type devices and cost $85 each to replace, so, please don't forget to return it. If you're going for any kind of record, you must let us know and you will be required to wear two transponders instead of just one (one for each ankle).

We're really looking forward to seeing our old Friends as well meeting some new ones.

See you soon,

Rodger Wrublik - Your ATY Host

Much work has gone on in the background on our web site. People have heard certain features will be seen, but so far have not seen any evidence of them, so have written to ask what to expect.

A race-day front page to the web site will make its appearance the afternoone of Thursday, December 28th, the day before the race.

The navigation bar to the left will remain unchanged.

The center panel will have three short columns at the top. On the left is a link to Current Standings, which will be automatically updated every few seconds, showing close to real time progress.

Beneath that is a link to On-Site News Reports, verbal descriptions that will be posted periodically by observers at the race.

The center column has links to pictures that will be uploaded during the race, labeled according to time: Prerace, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and Postrace.

On the right is a link to a form by means of which you may send greetings to runners. Beneath that is a link to view all messages that have been sent to all runners. If you are inclined to send messages, be aware that what you write may be read by anyone who visits the site. Think of your messages as being like posts to an email list with many readers.

Below the top links will be a webcam image that will be constantly updated for the duration of the race. At this writing we have had trouble getting Rodger's new cam working, but we are optimistic that by the start of the race it will be operational.

Please tell your family and friends to tune in during the race, which starts at 9:00am on Friday, December 29th!

This year we'll be trying out something new for sending updates on everybody's laps
to the website. Last year the lap totals were updated once an hour. This
year a program will be sending updates at least once a minute, and more likely once
every 15 seconds or so, so you can really keep track of how your runner is doing and
the rapid changes during the race.

Enjoy!
Dave

We're happy to announce that the ATY Merchandise Site is now open for business. We have some leftover shirts and the like from previous years that we're offering at dirt cheap prices. The long-sleeve shirts are of the highest quality. (Patagonia) Please visit the store to see if there is anything there that you can use.

We didn't think we'd get this feature done in time to have it ready, but our service provider provides a drop-in package that was easy to initialize, and Rodger has been a busy beaver plugging in the information, and we just went live tonight.

In 2004 we provided a lengthy Runners Manual for all race participants, even mailing out hard copies. The first edition included a lengthy section of statistics, which became obsolete the moment the 2004 race was over.

In 2005 we updated the manual and took out most of the statistics, but left in the history and trivia section.

This year we have done much the same. Most of the information in it is available on the web site, but there are some special goodies in it, too.

Distribution this year will be entirely by user initiative. The file format is PDF. If you would like to have it, we invite you to download it from the web site, after which you can view it with a PDF viewer or print it.

We are happy to announce that The North Face has joined Across the Years as a primary sponsor, and will be supplying us with high quality garments for all runners who participate in this year's race.

Most people will find that the easiest way to view biographies is to click on the Who's Coming link, which goes to a simple table listing entrants, and then click on the names of persons in that table to see their close-up entry.

The link Runner Biographies goes to a page with all (presently) 105 entries on a single page — thumbnail picture, this year's data, race history, and biographical information. This has will take a while to load because of all the images and data extraction that is necessary. From there you can click on a person's picture (or dark horse substitute if we don't have a picture) to see a close-up for any particular individual, including the full-size image.

The ATY discussion forum on ZombieRunner has suddenly sprung to life, with several people posting to it today. We invite anyone interested in the race to please make use of the forum to discuss anything at all about the race.

Persons who will be running in the race can use the forum to communicate about sharing rides, experiences and things learned from past races, and matters such as these. By all means start using it!

1-January-2007 - 2:43am
Happy New Year from Nardini Manor! As expected, the New Year celebration here was lots of fun, with champagne and party hats and the traditional lap together. The fireworks put on by Rodger Wrublik's son Jimmy were a real treat! Tony Mangan, second in the 72-hour, skipped the celebrations to gain a few laps on first-place John Geesler. The two of them then joined up from time to time, the lead held at a constant 9 miles. Tony appears to have gone down to rest for a while now, as John's lead has climbed to 11-1/2 miles and is increasing rapidly.
David Luljack continues on steadily in third, with his own 9-mile lead over women's leader Tracy Thomas. Tracy went out for a while for some medical fixes and is now running again, looking better than she has in a few hours. Tracy is being trailed by 1000-mile-jacket-holder Martina Hausmann, who just DOES NOT STOP. It'll be interesting to see how the two of them finish. Brian Kuhn got his 200 miles and appears to have stopped for a while. Dr. Andy Lovy, racer and ATY race physician, got his 100 miles and is out for the night. He'll return later to get 101, to celebrate his 101st Airborne Division. In the 48-hour, Hans Bauer is closing rapidly on 2nd-day finisher Eric Pence, now trailing by 3-1/2 miles with a bit over 6 hours to go. David Elsbernd looks really good to also pass Eric, but it'll be close. David is trailed closely by Steve Durbin, who is also on the track but going a bit slower. In the 24-hour both Wendell Doman and June Gessner are making big moves on the remaining runners in front of them from the earlier 24-hour runs. Wendell is still turning around 4:00 laps, and will pass first-day leader Brad Smythe at 100 in less than an hour. He still looks good for 115-120. Dave

31-December-2006 - 6:35pm
After stellar afternoon conditions, the race has entered its final night. The 2-1/2 days of running/walking has taken its toll on the racers, though quite a few are still running. Many of the others are shuffling at various paces and in various states of discomfort. We're all looking forward to midnight and to see what race director Paul Bonnett has planned in the way of fireworks. Nardini Manor host (and absolutely *tireless* worker) Rodger Wrublik puts out tables with champagne and party favors for everybody at midnight, and the entire field, along with many of the volunteers, takes a celebratory lap together before the race resumes (yes, the runners do get credit for the lap!) As far as the race itself, there have been lots of crossings of 50 and 100 mile marks in the last few hours. John Geesler looks kind of tired and shuffles along slowly, but keeps going with Relentless Forward Motion. His 300 mile course PR still looks in reach, and even 500K if he has a bit of luck. You can tell it's John coming because of the scraping sound of his shoes on the ground as he wastes not an ounce of effort on picking them up. Hans Bauer, who started his 48-hour on the 30th, has moved into second overall in his race, and looks good for taking the overall 48-hour win tomorrow. In the 24-hour Wendell Doman started strong this morning and has been climbing in the standings as he passes runners who started on earlier days. He's still running strongly, and could go between 115 and 125 miles for the overall 24-hour win if he keeps it up. One little extra tidbit--taking John Geesler's one and two day totals, John would be the overall winner of all three races, a feat he also accomplished in 2004.
Dave

31-December-2006 - 11:41am
Dave here. Sorry for the huge delay in posts--I was out sick last night and got back about an hour ago, and your other intrepid reporter, Jamil Coury, is currently running in the final-day 24-hour. The second day runners finished up a couple hours ago, with Terri Handy and Xy Weiss taking over the top two spots in the 24 hour with 109+ and 104+ miles, respectively. John Geesler continues to extend his lead in the 72-hour, and David Luljak has pulled into a tie with Tracy Thomas for third overall behind Tony Mangan as of 11:00. David has moved up steadily through the field and continues to look good. Conditions here couldn't be much better for the runners--sunny and cool. Those same conditions are not the best for us timers, though, as we sit and slowly freeze in the breeze. ;-) Dave

30-December-2006 - 6:39pm
John Geesler continues to extend his lead. After going through 133+ miles at the 24 hour
mark (9:00 this morning), John has added 40 miles in the last 9:45. While it would be a bit of a stretch for him to threaten his own American 48-hour record of 248 miles, he looks in good position to take a crack at his own Across The Years PR of 300 miles in the 72-hour. Tracy Thomas continues to run well in the lead for the women in the 72-hour. She looks almost effortless, just cruising smoothly along, bouncing very little. Her last year's total of 207 was done with 12 hours left, as she had to retire because of illness. That is seriously in jeopardy.
As you can see on the webcam on the ATY front page, darkness has fallen at Nardini Manor. While lots of the racers are walking at this point, quite a few are still able to manage a run, many at a decent pace for having run either 10 or 34 hours. Dave

30-December-2006 - 2:37pm
We just put up another new set of pictures under Day 2 so look for your favorite racer! Things are running smoothly out here, runners continue to make their way around the track looking to chase down their goals. Sitting back from a distance and watching the competitors circle the same 500 meter loop again and again is a strange sight, but jump into their shoes for a lap and the excitement of the race beckons your inner drive. After settling into a good pace after a few laps, the seconds, minutes and hours seem to fly by. We have a neat system again this year for racers to check their lap counts. There are two screens set up near the start that display the vital stats each time a runner crosses the timing mat. This includes their name, race number, total laps, total miles, total kilometers and last lap time. The names are also color coordinated for each race distance. Please continue to check back in on the website for all of the most recent updates including this blog, the current standings, webcam shots and picture updates! Jamil

30-December-2006 - 1:29pm
We are now live with a webcam feed! We have also posted up a set of photos under Day 2 on the homepage. The second day runners are now out on the course and are adding new life to the track. Thomas Polen, Don Charles Lundell, Leon Rothstein and Brad Smythe all 24 hour runners, finished the first day with over 100 miles earning them a coveted Across the Years belt buckle. Dan Brenden, a 72 hour runner reached his goal of 100 miles this morning and thanked everyone for a great race. Runners have now switched directions twice since this mornings start and are enjoying the beautiful sunny day out here in Arizona. It was very cold here last night but is warming up nicely. Runners head out from where our webcam is situated in a "forest" like setting to an open path that wraps around the edge of the manor. As they return in from the aid station, music fills the air near the start/finish line. We will be rocking out up until and through the New Year! Jamil

30-December-2006 - 2:23am
John Geesler is the first in the race through 100 miles, in 17:08:58. He currently has a lead of 26 laps on Tony Mangan. It's chilly out, but John's still cruising around in his shorts and short-sleeved T-shirt. 14-year-old Catherine Cuda (who set a 100K national record last year) passed her 50-mile point in 14:42.

29-December-2006 - 11:10pm
As we head toward midnight, things are quieting down a bit here. Perhaps half the field is down for a break, so the track seems much less crowded. Most runners have bundled up as there is a lot of walking going on and they aren't generating as much body heat. Temperatures are in the 40s and heading to a low in the high 30s tonight. Luckily for those of us in the timing tent, there's a nice propane heater that's keeping things toasty! ;-) Technically things have finally settled into a routine, though unfortunately we still don't (and apparently will not) have the webcam. Dave

29-December-2006 - 9:07pm
Homemade potato soup is now being cooked up in the kitchen behind the aid station. This is sure to be a huge hit again this year. As we pass the 12 hour mark this year, we are now half way through the 24 hour race, a quarter of the way through the 48 hour and a long way to go for those 72 hour runners. I just had the pleasure of running 10 laps out on the track and I am happy to report spirits are high. My pace was a bit quicker than most, but I received encouraging words as I rounded each corner of the track, even though I begin my race on Sunday. John Geesler has been running consistent laps just over 3 minutes each. Others are pacing themselves for the long haul according to their own abilities.

Several runners have arrived or dropped off their race day gear for tomorrow's start including Xy Weiss, Karen Guenther and Robert Andrulis. There are also some who were here for today's start and will be running either on Saturday or Sunday.

As I ran around the track tonight, I thought about my upcoming 24 hour race. I know 24 hours is a long time to keep my mind occupied, but wondered what exactly these 72 hour runners do or think about for such a long time!? As I continued along, I came to realize many will just chat and catch up with old friends along the way. What's better than having a good conversation with friends, getting some great exercise, and partying until the New Year? Well for these runners, nothing! Jamil

29-December-2006 - 6:32pm
Darkness has fallen upon Nardini Manor and the temperature continues to drop as runners continue to circle the track. Chicken Cordon Bleu is being served for dinner, cooked by our on-site chef and host Roger Wrublik. Runners stay hydrated and fueled for the race by visiting the aid station staffed by several helpful volunteers. The volunteers take custom orders and prepare the food or drink to be ready by the time the runner comes back around. Available at the aid station is a wide array of beverages, snacks and foods. Beverages include water, Gatorade, Heed, soda and Poweraide. Snacks include Hammer Gel, gummy bears, candy, cookies, chips and fruit.
Many runners have now switched to some sort of running and walking combination as they continue to push forward on into the night. Some have a specific race strategy while others wing it as their body feels up to it. Our web cam will be in sporadic operation since it has been determined our satellite modem is unreliable for sending pictures to our website. Keep an eye out for some to pop up, otherwise check our picture pages. Jamil

29-December-2006 - 3:26pm
Dave again. For those getting website updates of the results--occasionally we have a quick problem updating and I need to reset things. For one lap, results will look odd (people with zero lap totals and such.) This is actually not a real problem--wait a couple minutes and everything will be back to normal. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it's something we weren't able to test in advance. I'm hopeful it won't happen too often. Other than that, most everybody seems to be having a good time. It's been fun seeing race founder Harold Sieglaff going around with everyone else. Jamil gave you the 72 hour stats. In the 48-hour, Sarah Spelt has lead pretty much from the beginning. She has gradually increased her lead over second-place Eric Pence. In the 24-hour, Brad Smythe lead all runners (including 72-hour leader John Geesler) for several hours, but has since dropped back to *only* lead the 24-hour folks. ;-)

29-December-2006 - 3:12pm
Racers, runners and walkers have been circling the beautiful grounds of Nardini Manor for over six hours now. They have switched directions three times now and are beneath a partly clouded sky. John Geesler is leading the way for the 72 hour runners with 125 laps and almost 39 miles. Tony Mangan, a first time 72 hour runner is close behind with 121 laps at the time of this writing. Tony came all the way to Across the Years from Ireland and has put up some stellar 24 hour performances earlier this year. Tracy Thomas is in third place overall and first for the women. Tracy will be one to watch as she is shooting for 250 miles.

Our woes with the webcam continue, but we have some tech support on the way as we speak. We are hopeful by this evening we will have the webcam up and running. We will be posting some pictures shortly to fill in the visual gaps! Runners have been receiving your messages so keep sending them! Thank you for the support! .Jamil.

29-December-2006 - 10:07am
Dave Combs here. Though we had some technical "issues" before the start, everybody got off fine right at 9:00 a.m. It was interesting to see John Geesler start near the back of the pack for the first few laps, but he's moved to his normal position up front. The weather has cleared up nicely and it's bright and sunny right now, and mid-50's: PERFECT weather for an ultra. Everybody seems to be having a good time now. Our apologies about the webcam--there are some problems with the satellite hookup for that and we're working on them. Stats are being updated to the website every 15 seconds, though, so you can follow along as the day(s) go on. Back in an hour or two! Dave

28-December-2006 - 6:00pm
This is Lynn, your friendly webmaster, making the first real live on-site web report for ATY 2006 — except I'm not on-site, but at home, getting things ready. I was out there this morning and part of the afternoon, and can report that things are progressing well, though there is still much to do.

People have been arriving: Ron Vertrees, Butch and Donna Allmon, ZombieRunners Don and Gillian, Ken Eielson (a.k.a. Sunny Skies), Keah Taylor, Courtney Wagner, Wendell and Sarah and Aaron (the Doman family), Nattu Natraj, Dale Perry, Ulli Kamm David Harris, Carolyn Fort, John Geesler, Gary Cross and probably a few others I have forgotten. Everyone seems excited about the race.

One primary concern we wanted to alert you to is that as of this writing there has been a lot of problem with getting he new web cam to work. Be assured that if you fail to see pictures it will be as disappointing to us as it is to you, but our first priority right now is getting all the other preparations made.

We're seriously short-handed this year, so if you're reading this and are in the area and in a position to help out, please consider coming in to give us a hand.

It rained hard yesterday, last night, and for a while this morning, but it is drying off now, and predictions are for clearing, with sunny weather on Saturday and Sunday, back to partly cloudy Monday, and temperatures quite a bit below normal, near freezing at night.

We have decided to once again allow all runners and crew members that wish to camp at the manor the night before the race to do so, as we did last year. We will open the manor on the 28th of December for those that would like to camp out instead of staying in a hotel. We'll be closing the gate at 10 PM to protect all of the equipment that we'll have set out but you are welcome to come anytime before that. Like last year, the large tent will be available for all entrants but it will NOT be heated until the 29th, so, bring something that will keep you warm until then. You are also welcome to camp in any of the grassy spots around the manor, either in the gazebo area or in the front yard.

We have a lot of entrants this year (even a few more than last year), so, when setting up inside the big tent, we ask that you use prudence and please, use no more space than you absolutely have to. The dance floor will again be a designated area for air mattress and cots.

We also have plenty of tables and chairs that you are welcome to use. We'll have them set-up all around the track but if you need something in particular in a specific spot, please let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Stay healthy and train well,

Rodger Wrublik - Your host and race committee member

As some visitors certainly noted, registration for Across the Years 2006 filled quickly, for some seemingly behind their backs. All races are now full, and there are people on the waiting list for all of them.

Nardini Manor is a beautiful and comfortable facility for presenting a multiday race, and many runners desire to join us each year. It is regrettable that there is not room enough to include everyone who wants to run.

The race organizers have made it a priority to favor runners who have participated in recent years, particularly those who return year after year, regardless of their abilities as runners. Across the Years does not cater to or solicit participation by elite or international runners in order to increase the race's prestige and help to fill it up, though we have certainly had a great number of the world's best runners with us. We no longer need to promote the race, because its history and reputation have served to establish it by word of mouth as one of the best multiday events in the world.

Therefore, it is not the intent of the organizers to be "fair" in the sense of giving every runner in the world an equal chance to register, for the sole reason that we can't do that.

Because we knew that there would be a rush to get spots this year, we took steps to make sure our long-time friends, to whom we refer as the Across the Years Family, had first opportunity. Therefore, we conducted a private registration by invitation only starting on May 1st. Even at that, the 72-hour race filled in just a couple of days, as did one of the 48-hour races.

By the time we got to general registration on June 1st, we had only a handful of slots available. These were taken in a matter of minutes.

The race committee would like everyone to know that we appreciate the interest that runners around the world have shown in this remarkable event, and invite all who have a serious interest in running but were not able to get in this year to keep in touch with us, as perhaps your chances will be greater in another year.

Please keep informed about the progress of things this year by means of the Web site. More and more interactive services are being added as quickly as we can get them operational. We suggest enabling an RSS feed to keep track of new entries to this blog, which is our primary means of communication. We will also be sending periodic mail to all registered runners, including those on the waiting list.

Later this year we hope to add a site registration for the sake of those who have never run the race but would like to keep up with race news.

For questions and discussion on any race related topic, we encourage use of the ZombieRunner Forum starting immediately.

During the race itself, we will once again have a webcam and frequent standings updates in operation, plus a new method of sending greetings to runner during the race. There may be other surprises as well.