Ultra News for August-September 2000

September 27, 2000. USA AGE GROUP RECORDS SET AT USA 24 HOUR CHAMPIONSHIP. Several age group marks fell last week as a result of strong performances on both the men's and the women's side of the field. Preliminary evaluation of the scoring has revealed that the following outstanding performances qualify for US age group records: John Geesler's (NY) total distance of 245,202 meters qualifies for the M40-44 age group mark in the road 24-hour category. Roy Pirrung's (WI) 124,661 meters at the 12-hour split qualifies for the M50-54 age group mark in the road 12-hour category. Eileen Eliot's (FL) pending marks, as a result of this run are: 101,836 meters in 12 hours; 100 miles in 21:54:14; and 173,033 meters in 24 hours. These efforts qualify her for the F55-59 age group mark in all three road categories. Louise Miklovic's (OH) 77,254 meters at the 12-hour split which qualifies for the F60-64 age group mark in the road 12-hour category. For additional record information and a calculator that will allow you to convert these distances into miles, click here (opens second window).   September 14, 2000. LIVE COVERAGE OF USA 24-HOUR CHAMPIONSHIP ON TAP THIS WEEKEND. The USA 24-Hour Run National Championship, co-hosted by the Toledo Road Runners and the American Ultrarunning Association (AUA) at Olander Park in Sylvania, Ohio, will commence at Noon this Saturday, Sept. 16. The event will be covered live, round-the-clock, on the AUA website http://www.americanultra.org. The highlight of the weekend should be the long-anticipated battle of the lady titans, 54-year old Sue Ellen Trapp of Fort Myers, Florida, and 42-year old Susan Olsen of Burnsville, Minnesota.  The two ageless wonders hold the joint distinction of having won 6 gold and 6 silver USA National 24-Hour Run medals, respectively.  Trapp has never lost a national 24-hour title.  Olsen has never won one.  Each has scored on a USA National 100km team which won a bronze medal in world competition. Trapp, the most enduringly successful distance runner in American history, is entering her 23rd year of ultra competition at the world-class level.  She has set open world records 17 years apart. Olsen has been at the ultra game for a mere 12 years.  Should she win again, Trapp will set a record for the most wins at any one given USA National Road Running Championship event.  She will also do something which is unprecedented in ultrarunning history--and quite probably in distance running history: she will have won a national-class footrace in each of 4 successive decades: 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's.  Trapp is coming off a long rehabilitation from knee surgery and, with Olsen in reputed fine form, should face her toughest ever road to the all-day national title. Two other former national 24-hour women's champions, Eileen Eliot of Hollywood, Florida, and Bonnie Busch of Bettendorf, Iowa, are also entered in the 160+ person field.  Jan Levet of Pollock Pines, California is the best dark-horse bet. Despite missing defending champion of Mark Godale of nearby Aurora, Ohio (who set a new American road record in this event last year and who represented the USA in the World 100km last weekend), the event will welcome back four former national 24-hour men's champions.  They include Roy Pirrung of Sheboygan, Wisconsin; David Luljak of Chevy Chase, Maryland; and John Geesler of St. Johnsville, NY; and Ed Dodd of Collingswood, New Jersey. Other experienced top contenders are likely to include Pittsburgh's Chris Gibson, Tom Andrews of Minneapolis, and Scott Eppelman of Coppell, Texas.  Yet a trio of Alabamans, among the best short-range ultrarunners in the south, could shake things up this year.  They include Dink Taylor, DeWayne Satterfield, and Robert Youngren. But the most intriguing entry, with the best claim on the "favorite's" role for the men, is Eric Clifton of Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Clifton has been one of the best American trail ultrarunners for a decade, and has won the USA 50 mile trailrunning championship title.  But he had yet to transfer his prodigious strength and speed to the road format until he won the 132-mile Badwater race through Death Valley last year in record time.  Having made his long-range road breakthrough in that exceptionally challenging environment, sauntering around Olander Lake under shade trees should be a breeze for Clifton. September 12, 2000. USA 24 Hour Championship Coverage is located at this page >> Click to be transferred to the National Championship << September 12, 2000. IAU American Team Results! Check here. September 9, 2000. IAU World Challenge Page. September 6, 2000. Request for National Championship Race Bids. The Mountain, Ultra, Trail Sub-Committee (MUT) of USTAF Long Distance Running is accepting bids for 2001 National Championship races at the ultra distances.  The distances that can be awarded championship status are: 50 km road 50 km trail 50 mile road 50 mile trail 100 km road 100 mile trail 24 hour road/track Not all distances will necessarily be awarded in a given year.  If you are a race director and are interested in hosting a National Championship race in the year 2001, please contact your regional MUT representative (listed below) to request a bid form and a copy of the selection criteria.  Completed bid forms should be received by November 20, 2000 so that the 2001 Ultra Championship calendar can be set at the USATF Annual Meeting which will be held Dec 1-3, 2000 in Albuquerque, NM. EAST Janice Anderson 1578 Menlo Drive Kennesaw, GA  30152 jslug@mindspring.com 770-794-9537 (h) 770-433-8211 x17654 (w) CENTRAL Theresa Daus-Weber 6970 Buckskin Drive #90 Littleton, CO 80125 theresad@ageis.com (303)973-7579 (h) (303)861-7558 (w) WEST Lorraine Gersitz 517 Lazy Creek Circle Fullerton, CA 92831 bruceandlo@earthlink.net 714-526-5340 (h) 562-860-2451 ext 2414 August 25, 2000. USA National Team Set for World 100km. The USA National 100K Team is preparing to leave for Winschoten, The Netherlands to compete in the 2000 100km World Challenge on September 9th.  Over 30 countries are expected to be represented in this, the world title meet of ultra distance running.  This year’s American team is comprised of 6 women and 6 men, along with 4 management personnel. The team members are:  Howard Nippert, 35, Blacksburg, Virginia.  Nippert won the 2000 USA National 100K Championship, in Pittsburgh, back in March.  This is his second straight national team appearance.  His personal best is 7:01.  Kevin Setnes, 46, of Eagle, Wisconsin. This is Setnes’ ninth straight national team appearance.  His is a three time National Champion at 100K and twice National Champion at 24 Hours. He is the senior member of the national team with a personal best of 6:58.  Jim Garcia, 42, of Westford, Massachusetts.  Another veteran, Garcia is attending his 6th World 100km event and he was a member of the silver medal USA Men's team in 1995.  His personal best is 6:55, achieved at the age of 41, at the Chancellor 100Km last October, in Boston.  Bob Sweeney, 33, Rye Brook, New York. Sweeney has had a breakthrough 2000 season, running a personal best 6:57, winning the100Km de St. Nazaire les Eymes in France.  He has also posted an outstanding 3:06:53 in winning the 49.2 kilometer Mimet race, also held in France.  This is Sweeney’s second USA national team appearance.  Mark Godale, 30, Streetsboro, Ohio.  Godale is the 1999 winner of USATF's Ted Corbitt award for outstanding American ultrarunner. He is the current 24 Hour National Champion and American record holder for the one-day road event, with 162 miles.  His personal best at 100  kilometers is 7:08.  This is his 4th USA national team appearance.  Dan Held, 34, Waukesha, Wisconsin.  The newest, but undoubtably one of the fastest ever, member the national team, Held has been on numerous USA national teams, including the marathon, cross country and half marathon.  In his ultramarathon debut, Held won the National 50 Mile Trail Championship in near record time.  Posting a 5:54 time over the rugged Ice Age Trail championship course, he defeated some of the best ultrarunners in the country.  This will be Held’s first 100Km race.  Deb Bollig, 37, Boulder, Colrado.  Bollig emerged onto the national ultra scene with a win at the National 50 Mile Championship last November. This year, she finished second at the National 100Km Championships held in Pittsburgh.  This marks her first appearence on the USA national 100Km team.  Her personal best is 8:36.  Daniele Cherniak, 38, Cohoes, New York.  Cherniak is a 7-time USA national team member with a personal best time of 7:56:18.  She is the 1999 National Champion at 100Km and was the leading scorer for the USA in last year's World 100km in France.  She was also USATF's outstanding female ultrarunner for 1999.  Nancy Drach, 41, Leasburg, North Carolina.  This is the first appearence on the USA national team for Drach.  She qualified with a fine 8:40:56 time at the 1999 Chancellor Challenge 100Km in Boston.  Luanne Park, 40, Redding, California.  Park is recognized as one of the top trail runners in the country and is the current trail champion at 50 miles.  She won the prestigious American River 50 mile earlier this year and has a personal best of 6:50 for 50 miles.  This World 100km marks her debut at the 100Km road distance.  Chrissy Ferguson, 39, Conway, Arkansas.  Ferguson was a member of the record setting USA women’s team that took the gold medal in the 1995 World 100km in Winschoten.  Her time  of 7:44 ranks her among the best American women of all time for the distance. This marks her 5th USA national team experience.  Tracy Rose, 37, Acworth, Georgia.  Rose was third at this years National 100Km Championship in Pittsburgh.  Her time of 8:51 was her debut at the distance and this will mark her first appearence at the World title event.  She has had impressive 50K trail wins at the Sunmart Trail event held in Huntsville, Texas.  This year's USA women's National 100km champion, Dana Parrot of Derby, Connecticut, was forced to withdraw from the team due to injury.  Team Management  Womens Team Leader  Kris Clark-Setnes  Mens Team Leader  Wayne Vereb  Team Medical Advisor  Lion Caldwell  Team Performance Advisor  Steve Taylor