Well, ultra fans, it's that time of year again and this year I thought I'd do something a little different. Before posting the polls for UROY and POY I thought it would be interesting to take nominations and then create the polls out of those nominees. So, here's the deal:
Please comment on the blog with nominations in the following categories:
Male and Female Ultrarunner of the Year
Male and Female Masters' (40 yrs-old and older) Ultrarunner of the Year
Male and Female Performance of the year
I will tally the nominations and get going with the polls on New Year's Day.
18 comments:
Tom Remkes for male master.
Jared Campbell for performance of the year. Really saved me a lot of smack talk from all the girl power folks out there.
Male UROY ... obvious Roes.
I don't think your mile PR however counts in the UROY masters gig.
Female UROY...Kami, Meghan, Tracy G
Masters Female UROY... Meghan, hands down. Incredible year for her.
Female Perf of the Year...gotta be Diana Finkel *almost* chicking Jared for first loser at Hardrock.
As for the guys...I'll let the guys figure it out :-)
-Male: Roes
-Female: Donaldson
-Male performance: Jurek (IAU World 24-hr); Roes (WS); Krupicka (White River)
-Female performance: Donaldson (Badwater); Finkel (Hardrock)
Neal Gorman
Kami Semick
Master: Redpath
POTY Roes
Krupicka & Jornet
Male: Geoff
Male Master: AJW
Female: Meghan or Tracy G.
Female Master: Hands down Meghan
Male: Krupicka
Female: Semick
Masters Male: Redpath
Masters Female: Arboghast
POY: Roes @ States
In thinking about the Male UROY, I think Roes and Krupicka are both in the running. But I like the fact that Krupicka blew up at Leadville. It shows he is constantly pushing, and sometimes exceeding, his limits.
Happy New Year!
SD
Flattering UROY pick, Scott, but I disagree. Any rational view of this year's performances puts Geoff solidly at the top. While I may have been pushing my limits at Leadville I know that it was really just a mismanagement of my nutrition and the simple fact is that Geoff never messes that stuff up. His unfailingly attention to the necessary details is a big part of his success, in my opinion.
Below are my top-10 North American Male performances of the year, with a few honorable mentions. There have been a lot of outstanding runs this year that no one is talking about. The obvious disclaimer is that these are likely heavily biased in my favor, so please forgive that :-)
1) Roes 15:07 CR at WS100
2) Krupicka 15:13 2nd at WS100
3) Jurek 165.7mi 24hr WC AR
4) Krupicka 6:25 CR at WR50
5) Wardian 6:49 3rd at 100K WC
6) Roes 6:51 2nd at TNF50
7) Jones 8:13 at San Juan 50
8) Mackey 6:55 3rd at TNF50
9) Gorman Grand Slam Record
10) Krupicka 8:02 at Miwok 100K
Honorable Mention (in no particular order):
Mackey 6:19 CR at Firetrails 50
Pantilat 3:54 at Quad Dipsea
Clark 16:05 3rd at WS100
Gingerich 13:23 at Umstead 100
I know this list will be regarded as questionable by some because of the inclusion of several non-winning performances, but when I think about "performances of the year" I think about how fast someone ran a course, period. Not how fast someone ran a course despite the heat, wind, rain, mud, age, etc. Just pure performance on a course. There were a couple of very deep events this year (WS and TNF), and thus, I think some non-winning performances deserve a little more merit than they otherwise might garner. Of course, trying to compare across distances, courses, and surfaces is a whole 'nother issue...
Finally, I think 2nd-7th on that list are extremely tight and essentially all equal performances. In the end, none of this stuff really matters; it's just fun for geeks like me (and many others) to ponder and talk about :-)
Great post Anton. Although I can't believe my blazing fast runs at VT and GT didn't make your list:)
And, I couldn't help but notice you giving Nick credit for 3rd at WS. Certainly, I know his run was stellar but didn't the Spanish kid hold him off for 3rd? Or, do you know something we don't know?
Ah, good catch, AJW. Simple typo/oversight on my part. Of course, Nick was indeed 4th. Don't worry, I certainly haven't forgotten about Kilian's role in that race this year, or next :-)
For Masters, I just wanna take a moment to nominate Dan Brenden. No idea how that guy really ranks on the national level in terms of speed and whatnot, but around here (AZ), he's kind of a legend. His ultrasignup results page kinda tells parts of the story (http://ultrasignup.com/results_participant.aspx?fname=Dan&lname=Brenden&age=0) -- basically a 100 miler every month -- but he's done all kinds of stuff beyond that. Anyway... totally nice guy... but if you run ultras, you've probably met him and know that.
I am sure more than a few will disagree with this, but:
Performance of the Year:
Neal Gorman - Grand Slam
Geoff, Tony, Mackey and all the other great runners this year did some amazing things running split after split over some demanding terrain that amounted to some amazing times.. But Neal ran 4 races back to back to back to back as best as he could putting up some times that put him in the top 10% of some of the most difficult 100's in the country.
The longer you run, the more vulnerable you are to blowing up/injury/making dumb mistakes. Neal was incredibly consistent and calculated, and really put out a stellar cumulative Grand Slam time.
Male UROY - Geoff Roes
Female UROY - Ellie Greenwood
Male Masters - Glen Redpath
Female Masters - Tracey Garneau
Male Performance of the Year:
(1) Geoff Roes @ Western States 100
(2) Scott Jurek @ IAU 24 hour Champs
(3) Anton Krupicka @ White River 50
Female Performance of the Year:
(1) Ellie Greenwood 7h36m World 100k Trail Record
(2) Jamie Donaldson @ Badwater
(3) Kami Semick @ Comrades
Happy New Years!
male masters uroy:ajw
male uroy: roes
female masters: meghan all the way
female uroy: Kami
Do "they" typically consider the Grand Slam series ONE event/performance?
UROY is a year worth of achievements; I'd have to look at planning, consistency, performance, toughness, and accomplishing as close to all the goals one set up at the beginning of the year.
Taking down Joe's Grand Slam record is a year-worth of everything mentioned above, plus Neal was running with a nagging injury. It's an entire year that he put together. Several guys could perform better in any one of those events but there are few who could manage the other factors to beat that record.
I don't know Neal and have never met him but watched him quietly and methodically pick off race after race to get that record. Side note: not counting WS, I believe he could've outright won any of the other 100s he raced if focused on solely one of them but he had long term goals and stuck to the plan.
That said, I also believe doing well at varied distances is admirable. Nick Clark beats roadies in 5ks and gnarly trail speedsters in 100s and pretty much everything in between. The guy gets dialed into a race, whatever it is, and manages at his potential consistently.
Also, I overlooked Jurek's 24 hr performance. Amazing!
I have to admit that I usually just glance at the uroy when the mag comes out; I enjoy absorbing all the other stats that accompany that particular issue.
Don't forget about Gingerich. I'm not saying he's #1, but he's put together a bunch of runs with some pretty decent times. Too bad he got lost at Miwok, I was curious to see what he could do out there. With Umstead, Arrowhead, Badwater, and the 5:35 Des Plaines 50, he did pretty good. He had some other solid results this year too
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