Wednesday, November 22, 2006

 

ATY 2006 Live Report

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.
















Comments:
I'm getting a real nice picture of a messy desk right now.
 
Wish I were there, but didn't enter because I knew I couldn't be up to speed after the Ultracentric 48 hour. Hi to John Geesler - you are going great, To my friend Don Winkley - you are a tiger, To myfriend and physical magician when I break down - Andy Lovy and to all the other runners. Have great performances, one and all.

Ed Rousseau
 
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