Speedgoat Odds…a tough challenge for the Wasatch 100!
Kyle Skaggs…5-2 Focused primarily on this race and the best chance for a Course Record
Jasper Halekas…5-1 Strong Tahoe Rim 100, his speed is showing and will give Kyle a run for it.
Brandon Sybrowsky…7-1 Where has he been, must be ready to rip one, has it in him for sure.
Mike Wedemeyer…8-1 Another mystery man with all the speed, needs to keep his head in it.
Ty Draney…10-1 Proven to be a strong, tough Ultrarunner, but writes himself off too easy.
Tim Spence…13-1 Always tough at Wasatch, will have a solid performance again.
Kevin Schilling…16-1 Has the speed of the best, must stay focused and start smart.
Allen Bellshaw…16-1 Has been waiting to get in this race and could be a mystery man.
Jamie Gifford…18-1 Solid performance at Bighorn shows he has the guts to run top 10.
Dave Hunt…19-1 Could get a much higher result if he has a strong finish, he usually does.
Roch Horton…25-1 Wouldn’t it be great if Roch won?
Derek Blaylock…25-1 Always a strong performance at Wasatch, local toughness prevails.

Others looking to go home with the Cheetah t-shirt…..Ken Jensen, Mike Mason, Erik Storheim, Leland Barker, Dave Terry, and Hiroki Ishikawa. All these guys could slip into the top 10 with a strong performance. Mystery Man is Corbin Talley, Corbin took home the 100 bucks on Hidden Peak at the “Get High” 50K. Go out slow Corbin! it’ll pay off in the end!

The Lady Goats
Betsy Nye…2-1 Hands down the favorite, should show her experience later in the race.
Kathy D’Onofrio…10-1 Great runner all the time, needs to hang tough later in the race.
Birgitta Johnson…13-1 Strong showing at the “Get High” 50K, first 100 miler?
Pam Reed…20-1 Always tough to get it done but lacks a little speed to compete for the win.

So there it is folks, remember there is always a mystery women/man out there so keep looking over the shoulder to see who’s coming!

WAHSATCHSPEEDGOAT

It’s tough to watch this race and not run it, but I’ll be out there pacing John Maack from the Wasatchspeedgoat 50k who is looking for his second Wasatch 100 finish! Three Scrapes!!

WasatchSpeedGoat

Europeans dominate the Tour Du Mont Blanc! U.S. get’s schooled…and learns a little of the French language.

Alot was said about the race in France, both positive and negative. Local knowledge plays a huge factor, as the Europeans took the best route around the Mt. Blanc Massif. Corners were cut, aid was given… apparently this is accepted in Europe, even though it is specifically noted in race rules not to do so. Scott, Hal and I were a little misled. We will not be misled again!!! We have been taught to follow the entire course, why would we want to run less than 100 miles, isn’t it more expensive per mile to run a shorter route?

My view on the race is mostly positive. The course is incredible like the Tour De France. Nowhere in the world can one toe the line with 2500 other psychos who want to run 163K around the top of Europe.

And lets not forget how organized this race is. 1200 volunteers made this happen! Katrin and Michel Poletti put on one incredible show.

Helicopters, 1000’s of fans, and media from all over the world lined the entire course. It is out of control. This does not exist and never will in the U.S. because of Forest Service issues.

Three tired Americans set out to France to try and make history, we made history…just not the history we were hoping for. Three of the best 100 mile runners from the U.S. all drop in the same race, now that is history!…..and it is over. So let’s move on and focus on the next objective, my short term memory loss has already forgotten about it, but I won’t forget when the entry form is online again, cuz’ I’m going back to make history again, this time fresh as the flowers at the Wasatchspeedgoat 50K.

Au Reviour (sp?), Caoi, Guten Tag, -Wahsatchspeedgoat

Fellow speedgoat should be back to the states today, once Karl returns I expect to have an update on that monster course in Chamonix. I saw some notes from Hal that mentioned the difficulty of this course was second to none. To have all three big dogs go down tells me this course would be fun just to finish! The lack of switchbacks with all that vertical would test any caliber of trail runner. Great effort by all and super congratulations to Nikki Kimball who won the women’s race hands down! I suspect we will see some top Americans focusing on this race next year !

Well the biggest show down in trail running is about to happen, Meltzer, Jurek and Koerner are representing the USA vs. those crafty Europeans. We do not know much about the top Europeans except it’s their home course and we are there to steal the show. Karl e-mailed me and said the course is awesome and the media is out of control. Karl sounds all calm and is ready to go do what he does, climb some rugged terrine. Every time Karl goes through an aid station I will receive an e-mail with in a minute, I will then post the updates as I receive them. Race starts 10:30 am today!

Karl live updates

3:42 update: La Balme check point
USA runners hold 3 of the top 4 positions so far lead by Jurek, Koerner then Meltzer all on the exact same pace!! First place is held by Mermoud who is 10 minutes ahead of the team USA, but will he last ? It’s early but could we see the USA take top 3 ?

4:06 update: Bonhom check point
Mermoud holds first place buy 13 minutes over Meltzer who is only one minute in front of Jurek and Koerner. Hold on for a barn burner !! Wahsatchspeedgoat must be feeling good!! Two scrapes~ Karl went from 6th to 2nd place so far.

4:21 update: Chap check point
Mermoud opens lead over Meltzer by 15 minutes, this guy is digging early. Jurek and Koerner are just a couple minutes behind. race time 05h37mn24s

Go NIKKI! First woman by a humongous margin, 41st overall as of 3:45 pm rocky mountain time!

6:45 update: Seigne
Mermoun leads Meltzer by 11 minutes, Karl managed to close the gap by 4 minutes with a long way to go. Koerner is 7 minutes behind Karl and Jurek is lerking back just 10 minutes. Nicki has a nice lead for the women!! oh boy! 07h13mn27s

8:12 update: Courm check point
Mermoud is looking strong, he has a 13 minute lead ahead of Delebarre and a 17 minute lead over Olmo and Meltzer. The Euros are making a move.

8:40 update: USA update
Meltzer 4th place 18 minutes behind the leader
Koerner 9th place 24 minutes behind the leader
Jurek 14th place 31 minutes behind the leader
Karnazes 124th place ??? minutes behind the leader

Nikki 36th place, yea go get a victory for the USA women!!

9:22 update: Bertone check point
We are about half way~first four runner in~
Mermoud 1st
Delebarre 14 minutes behind
Olmo 14 minutes behind
Meltzer 20 minutes behind - leading USA - 10h42mn03s - 81.80 km
Nikki Kimball - still kicking it up!

12:19 update:Col Ferret
After the big climb Meltzer (13h21mn19s) climbs into second place just 11 minutes behind Mermoun. Looks like Meltzer is in a battle of his life with the Euros ! Go Karl hang tough hopefully he didn’t spend to much energy on the big climb, not! Check it out Dean has put on a push to pass Jurek and Koerner !! Daylight is back and it’d time to scrape hard Karl!
Nikki is still in 34th place overall for the top women!!

12:54 update: Fouly check point
There is a long downhill after Ferret, Meltzer closed the gap to 5 minutes behind Mermoun. This must be a technical downhill where Karl’s hooves are good and sharpened, WSG is feeling good and dancing to his favorite tunes ! He is digging deep and smells a top 5 finish or better?

7:45 a.m. USA update: Looks like the Euros took over during our night.
Meltzer 12th place
Nikki 24th place
Dean 73rd place
Koerner 1375th place
Juek 1377th place

1st Olmo almost to the finish
2nd Mermoud
3rd Lukas
nice job, these guys are finishing strong!

OLMO WINS 2007 CHAMPION, GREAT RUN !!
Nickki Kimball finished for the top women super congrats!! 19th overall!

Dean is on his way to a top 50 finish? Way to go Dean!!! on boy !

Finally after 18 ultramarathons in a row my streak came to a end! I had some scar tissue next to my Achilles tendon from the Bighorn 100 that took away my ability to run down hill after about 58 miles. I was coming down Hope pass on one good leg when I decided to make a smart decision and retire from the race. As hard as it is, I want to be healthy for another day. I think some of the best decisions are the hardest to make in the world of 100 mile running, as I was way ahead of any cutoffs, I could have masked the pain and limped to the finish, but I want to go kick some as- at the Bear 100 ! My friend Rick Gates ran to the finish in 28 hours and some change to ad to his total of 39 100 mile finishes! Rick is going for his 23 Wasatch 100 finish in a row next month, he is the only runner to ever finish that many Wasatch 100’s ! It was a pleasure seeing all fellow speedgoats this weekend, Kristi Bloodsworth, Ryan, Sean, John Hemsky, Larry Hall, Cory Johnson, Dave Crockett and Dave? who reads our web page had a great finish at the leadville ! Stay tuned for the Mt. Blanc race reports this weekend!

Wasatchspeedgoat Trailrunning tips (downhill running) / Park City TV video. This is the first of a three part series.

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Notes from the Goats

Check this out, I learned this by mistake! I was running Zane Grey earlier this year where the terrain is extremely rugged and rocky. I was cruising with my biking gloves on to protect myself from any falls. Well to take that a step further a lot of times I am running with a Nathan water bottle in my hand. Sure enough I took a tumble at Zane Grey that would have broke my wrist, but the all mighty water bottle in my right hand hit the ground first and exploded the lid off the bottle and completely softened my fall. This reminds me of the water barriers you see on the highway exits ? Anyways another advantage for the runners who use the waist packs instead of the back packs.

If you have any tips you have learned feel free to leave a comment for all fellow Speed Goats . Happy Trails !

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• These guys have all the backcountry ski gear you could imagine !

Backcountry.com is starting the ski season early with up to 50% of the kind ski and snowboard gear. Get an early jump on your gear needs now for the powder season!

An Interview With Karl Meltzer, the Wasatch Speedgoat and 2006 Ultrarunner of the Year

Meltzer spun the treadmill a little faster then Jurek at the OR Show, posting a 1.50-1.44, was there some sand bagging? Dave Mackey took the prize with a distance off 1.58 miles covered in 15 minutes. I went running with Dave Cameron from Chicago on Wednesday, we ran across the Wasatch Crest trail part of the Wasatch 100 course that Dave hopes to take on one of these days! This guy came from sea level with his game face on and ripped off this trail run like he lived at high elevation him self! Way to go Dave! I woke up Thursday morning with the crud cold that pulled me out of work and the treadmill challenge on Friday, that sucked!
Wasatch Speed Goat Ultra running Camp ? Yes it is true, we are teaming up with the University Of Utah to put on the premier trail running camp of all! Next July 9th, two weeks before the Wasatchspeedgoat 50k, we are scheduling a 5 day running camp right here in the Wasatch range! You will be able to fly in to the Salt Lake Airport and be at your plush accommodation’s at the University of Utah within 15 minutes of the airport. Janet Shaw and her team of Sports Science specialist will be there to hit on major topics throughout the week! Karl Meltzer and I will spending the week with you running sections of the Wasatch 100 course, reviewing techniques and ultra strategies we have learned over the last 120 ultras combined. Karl’s 2006 season ended with 2006 USATF Trail runner of the year and Ultraruuning.com runner of the year! Try to win 6 100 milers in one season, learn how to recover, race faster and more often with the Wasatch Speed Goats next July. Stay tuned for more information~

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A perfect sports plateau!

This 5th edition will be marked by the presence of an exceptional sports plateau bringing together almost all of the best world specialists in ultra-trailing. In particular, it will be a theatre for Europe/USA confrontation without precedent.

The winners of the first four editions, Dawa Sherpa ( Nepal ), Vincent Delebarre ( France ), Christophe Jaquerod ( Switzerland ) and Marco Olmo ( Italy ) will all come together, for the first time, on the Starting Line. Their experience of the race and their prestigious record of achievements make them the big favourites!

Present alongside them, representing the USA :

• Scott Jurek (USA), 7 times winner of the Western States 100 miles , winner of the Badwater and of the Spartathlon
• Karl Metzer (USA), winner of six “ 100 miles ” in 2006, voted best “ultrarunner” for 2006 in the USA
• Hal Koerner, winner in June 2007 of the Western States 100 miles
• Dean Karnazes, the extreme runner of the The North Face team who is specifically training this year for The North Face^® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc ^®

One will also be able to count on runners from the Ile de la Réunion : Wilfrid Ouledi, Thierry Chambry, Nico Dijoux et Thierry Techer, respectively 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th in the Grand Raid de la Réunion 2006, behind Vincent Delebarre et Christophe Jaquerod.

Also present :

• Jens Lukas ( Germany ), European Champion of the 24h, twice winner of the Fortiche de Maurienne and 4^th in the 2006 UTMB
• Gilles Diehl, winner of the Grand Raid de la Réunion, 5 times positioned in the Marathon des Sables
• Sébastien Chaigneau, recent winner of the great Raid du Mercantour
• Lhoucine Akhdar, 3^rd in the Marathon des Sables

As well as the best French specialists in trailing : Serge Barthes, Samuel Bonaudo, Benoît Laval, Pascal Paracuellos, Guillaume Millet , Antoine Guillon , Stéphane Grivel, David Pasquio, Patrice Kervevan.

With the females, the last two winners will also be on the Starting Line:

• Karine Herry, thrice victorious in 2006 in The North Face^® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc ^®, in the Grand Raid de la Réunion and the Templiers.
• Elisabeth Hawker 2005 winner and 100 km world champion in 2006.

Elisabeth will head The North Face women team which includes two other challengers for victory: Nikki Kimball who has just won the Western State 100 miles and Diane Van Deren, who has won a great many 100-mile events across-the-Atlantic.

The other lady leaders will without doubt be Alexandra Rousset (lady winner of the 2004 Grand Raid de la Réunion), Marguerite Hoarau (2^nd in the 2006 Grand Raid de la Réunion) and Ginette Moretto (1^st in the 2000 Templiers).

The impressive number of enrolment demands and the very high sporting level of this race presage a 2007 edition without precedent.

And what if the 163 km were to be run in less than 21 hours?

Go get them Karl ! Bahahah - 10 scrapes!

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Time to focus on the next challenge, Meltzer and Jurek go head to head again at Tour de Mount Blanc in Chamonix on August 24, 2007. Being a North Face event maybe we will see how Dean the machine will do against the Jureks and Meltzers of the Ultra world? Meltzer and Jurek are going to battle it out on the treadmill Uphill Challenge at the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City 8/10/07 as I go up against the speedy Tom Borschel (oh no!). The following week I head to the “Run Across the Sky” the Leadville 100 for some high altitude entertainment, hoping to do a PB on the leadville course.

Race profile for Mt. Blanc

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