Karl Meltzer just won his 5th Hardrock, in his fastest time ever! Karl clocked a stunning 24:38, running off the front the whole way, and very consistently. During every section he was strong, fluid, and focussed; his form looking quite different from everyone else in the field. At the finish he looked happy and alert; I commented on his very solid run, and he exclaimed (as only an ultra runner could),
“I peed the whole way!”
Karl leaving Grouse Gulch
At age age 42, Karl is having a great year; this is his 3rd 100 mile win so far this season. For comparison, the last time he did this event, Karl ran a 28:59 behind Scott Jurek’s Course Record 26:08; Karl obliterated that for a new “counterclockwise” CR. Kyle Skagg’s breathtaking (heh-heh) 23:23 of last year still stands and was never challenged.
Diana Finkel, of South Fork, Colorado, is currently taking a very hard run at the overall Women’s Course Record; she started off blazing, leaving people speculating that she was overdoing it. At this point – the Kamm Traverse – she is on track to better by 1.5 hours Krissy Moehl’s outstanding CR set two years ago of 29:24. Diana is also a high altitude mountaineer … which doesn’t hurt on this course … and her pacer/boyfriend, Ben Woodbeck, has tried one 8,000 meter peak with her and is pacing the entire distance from Grouse to Finish. She is spending less than 30 seconds at each aid station, with the CR their goal from the outset. She ran and won her first Hardrock last year in 31:09.
Jared motoring down Bear Creek
As of this writing, Karl is the only finisher, but presumably will be followed by Troy Howard and Finkel. Scott Jaime and Jared Campbell are doing their usual back and forth, with Jared’s stomach going completely south after Telluride, allowing Scott and probably AJW to forge ahead.
The weather has been outstanding. Numerous storm cells threatened all day yesterday, resulting in some showers but mostly keeping the temps down. Overnight the skies were clear with no wind.
My guess is that it won’t be long before trekking poles become standard issue for Hardrock. Americans have been notoriously resistant to adopting them, even has the Euro’s have been benefitting from them for years. Indeed, all the former Tour De Mont Blanc entrants were using them very effectively during this race, including Karl, who carried them Start-Finish. He said,
“I’ve never used poles before. They rock. They keep your balance on the tricky stuff so your legs can just push you forward.”
Many many more stories could be told; the above is just an early snippet.
Karl at finish interview
UPDATE
Diana indeed powered to a remarkable 27:18, good for 3rd Overall. This time would have won the event many years! The times they are a’changin’ … a sub 30 hour now barely gets you into the top ten. The runners went out aggressive; a conservative approach would not bring most of them back to you.
Troy Howard was relatively unheralded, but came from the East Bay near sea level, and using a hyberbaric chamber for acclimatization, ran an outstanding 2nd place.
AJW should be noted for his 5th place finish, as he alone also ran the WS100 a few weeks ago.
Results and splits are posted live here.
Photo Gallery is here.
3 100 victories in a year! Amazing!
Congrats to all – amazing!!! Ton of fun watching this unfold.
I am watching the videos of the winners thinking and feeling the rush of adrenaline and emotional satisfaction of such an accomplishment, and I am for sure thinking they are going to be mobbed by throngs of cheers and deafening whisles and WooHoos and hollers; perhaps pawed a bit by the multitude of fans who want to touch greatness tears rolling down there cheeks (I got a little choked up watching Diane finish, must say) …
Alas, across the finsh line, there is Buzz, the next best thing with a “Way to go Karl, Nice job!”
Greeted by a living legend works too ;O)
Ok, so CONFUSING, I see now that I got a li’l choked watching a previous winner, Krissy Moehl…Did not see the ‘2007.’ No video of women’s winnner yet … Anyway, all the Hardrockers are worthy of bows and a sincere Congratulations!
Love your Comment Lisa … a few years ago I was at the Finish Line watching the winner come across … I think his mother was there too … Gerry Roach turned to me and said, “You know, this should be on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but instead there’s all of 10 of us. Like stumbling upon Mozart playing on a street corner with a hat out in front of him for tips.”
One has to ford a river at the end; we went to the crossing at 6:15 am and were there all alone. Jared’s girlfriend and I stood there in 39 degree pre-dawn quiet, and sure enough, right on schedule, Karl comes motoring down out of the wilderness … no pacer, no sign of struggle, hits the water hardly breaking stride, and at mile 98, powers out the other side and without acknowledging we’re even there, cruises on in. The great athletes are fueled by their inner fire rather than any outer attention.
Pretty profound comments, Buzz. The wife and I both got a little misty-eye’d.
Truth is, what we find most appealing about trail and ultrarunning is the relative anonymity of the sport. Last thing it needs is corporate polish and spin. “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the **th running of the ‘BudLight, Chevy Trucks, Hardrock 100′”. Nope, the inner fire’s enough.
Wondering if Karl’s decision to use trekking poles stems from his experience using them last year on his AT record effort.
Good question on the poles: Yes; Karl specifically mentioned the AT. Plus he and I were at UTMB 2 years ago watching all the Euro’s benefit from them. At HR, he picked them up at Sherman just to go over Handies, but they worked so well, he kept them.
Karl said he used poles start to finish, yet no photos or videos of him during the run show poles….. ???
Very weird.
Good eye. He used BD collapsable poles, which are obvious when being used, but hard to notice when being carried. When he came across the finish line, he just chucked them on the ground then kissed the rock, so can’t see them then either (that’s me in the dark blue down coat).
On a different note, watching Karl it occurred to me that he was born to run 100’s. It’s not just that he’s good at it; almost only he looks natural and comfortable.
Thanks Buzz,
There’s a video of him running down towards Grouse here:
http://durangoherald.com/sections/Sports/2009/07/12/Records_fall_in_Hardrock/
and at least one more photo during the run, not just at the finish on some other site I can’t find now…
Still, both show no poles. I think I’ll poke Karl on his own site and see if he just used them on climbs or something.
I have a photo of him – don’t think I can post it here – I took of him running down toward Grouse. You can clearly see the poles. Give me your email address and I’ll send it.
Grouse Gulch comes in to Engineer Pass Road just above the aid station/checkin; Cheryl was there, he gave them to her, went down and checked in, then picked them up as he headed up Engineer.
Buzz,
Great to see you at HRH and thanks for the kind words at the finish.
I was wondering if you might have a minute or so to chat. If so, please email me with a couple times and I’ll call you. I can be reached at:
awilkins@communityschool.org
Thanks!
AJW