Hi, all. Thanks to you all for a great day — the event is the people and the place and the day, and it was great. Here are the results from this year; Gary Wang will be posting previous years’ results on his ultra site, http://realendurance.com.
We had two new records this year. We’re the FUGAWII?!? smooshed the mixed record, finishing in 7:39; and the Tuff Muff-ins made the finest slicing of the women’s record imaginable, running 8:11:11, pulling 35 seconds from the previous record. (Amazing; that wasn’t a soft record, so terrific running.) The Fugawan’s comprise Scott Devore, Ingrid Pederson, Dana Battaglia, John Lofthus, and Steve Harding. The Tuffins: Drea McLarty, Michelle McToldridge, Chrystee Bradley, Tricia Middleton, and Christine Bjelland. Dominated by M’s and C’s.
Scott Young ran about an hour-forty faster than last year (fitness, plus a much easier day for weather) to win the ultra in 11:11. Tight in front for the teams, with Reynolds, Rockets, and Speed edging We Know a Shortcut, 7:34 to 7:36, both with the FUGAWII?!? breathing down their necks. (The F’s Steve H. ran one of only fourteen “second-fastest ever” legs 4. Second fastest is a highly coveted title for leg 4.)
Running with Pride award, of course, to We Don’t Give a Rat’s Ass, hashers all, who nailed back-to-back last places. The Rat’s are getting a little cocky, but few teams can achieve a 72 minute difference with the next closest. The RD (me) would particularly like to thank the Rats for course sweep and general care-taking along the course. Of course, finishing in drag is always a distinctive style statement.
On behalf of Cooper Atkinson, shirt maven and co-dir, the RD says — thank you to all of you. You’re why we do it.
Results
11:11 Scott Young
12:15 Kenny Ardouin
14:46 Jennifer Paludi
15:47 Casey Hare
15:53 Robert Gilcrest & Sandra Sanger
Mark Warren, drop Gun Club
Matt Bertolet, drop Hwy 154
Dave Parker, drop Hwy 154
7:34 Reynolds, Rockets, and Speed, LLC
7:36 We Know a Shortcut
7:39 We’re the FUGAWI!?!?
7:48 Team Elite Rehab
7:57 The Ricky Ho Project
8:11:11 Tuff Muff-ins
8:24 Peregrinating Pedagogists
8:26 Thrash Polka
8:31 Substitution Solution
8:35 Trail Burning Babes
8:41 Will Run for Burritos
8:47 The Team Starring Brian and Four Other People
8:50 The Argentineans
8:53 Team Eliter
9:02 Beauty and the Beasts
9:12 Runs for Beer
9:15 LED Heads
9:16 Midnight Billy Goats
9:27 Spoke and Mirrors
9:40 NeoSoles
9:41 Rusty’s Snowblowers and Mike’s Swans
9:42 Beer Nuts
9:43 We’re Big but We’re Slow
9:44 The Old Farts
9:50 Direct Relief International
9:56 Tough Teaching Chargers
10:00 When the running gets tough, the tough get running
10:08 Cottage Handshakes
11:20 We Don’t Give A Frozen Rat’s Ass
Steve Harding & Scott Devore (FUGAWII?!):
Best race of the year…hands down. We had a blast again, and luckily didn’t have to pick Steve off the pavement this year. Already looking forward to the 2010 addition. Bravo, and many thanks!
From Dan Shimizu (Beauty and the Beasts):
First time team Beauty and the Beasts had a great time running the RUTE 2009 relay race. We had a stretch goal of 9:53 hours, which we soundly trounced with a 9:04 hour finish time. Many thanks to RD Jim and all the other great teams on the course. In the end, our Beauty Kary turned out to be the real Beast, charging hard on leg 3 and picking off a bunch of folks running up Gibraltar (which she did back to back also running leg 2)! She still had enough in the tank to finish up leg 4a with 5:42 min/mile. Congrats to all the racers and the top finishers!
Like a few other newbies, we sat waiting for the shuttle, then realized that we were the shuttle and we helped zip some other racers to the Broadcast Peak hand off. We really enjoyed the camaraderie of the race, a few of our runners got much appreciated support from other teams in terms of water when it was sorely needed or a lift for one of our mountain bike support team members who could not keep pace with our runner!
Ed Whelan of the Old Farts:
Already, we are sitting around thinking how we can knock another 30 to 45 minutes off of our time for next year. We need a four wheel drive for leg 6 as our runner ran out of water and slowed considerably. However, all of your SB runners were kind, friendly and generous with their assistance. Everyone’s attitude of support was fun and positive. I’ve run a lot of these relays but I and the rest of our team really had a fun time today.
Dave Groom has posted some pics at Picassa: here
Two more things:
- This site will look cooler as I get time to tune it up. I got tired yesterday, too.
- Please leave comments. Over time, we’ll be able to use this as a place to post road conditions, team status (“Status” = “Boasting”), and miscellaneous thoughts to share with the rest of your fellow Persons of Toughness.
Santa Barbara Tough Enough 