Western States

I don't know if any 100-miler was more anticipated than this one. With probably the most talented field of runners to ever toe the starting line of the same 100-mile trail race, the Western States 100 lived up to the hype. It was expected that the "Big Four" of Geoff Roes, Anton Krupicka, Hal Koerner, and Kilian Jornet would push each other to the end and that Scott Jurek's 2004 course record of 15:36 would be in jeopardy. Well as it turned out, it was Roes and Krupicka going neck and neck nearly to the end and the record went down. It was defending Ultra Runner of the Year Geoff Roes with the win in a blistering 15:07 followed closely by Krupicka in 15:13. But the biggest excitement for me, as I was following the race all day Saturday on the Webcast, was the performance of two of my Fort Collins Trail Running mates. Nick Clark made the biggest statement of anyone outside the "Big Four" with a 4th place 16:05. He even closed down a large gap to temporarily catch 3rd place (Spain's mountain running phenom Kilian Jornet) with about a mile to go. Pete Stevenson, who I don't think was on anyone's radar (outside of Fort Collins), came in 18th overall with an 18:58 and with a lot of big name runners behind him. Great job guys! You did Fort Collins proud.