A big question mark each year for LLTH is: What kind of weather & trail conditions will be encountered this time? Well, after a fairly mild winter so far, a strong cold front arrived on race eve, bringing below normal temps, a dusting of snow & alot of wind. With temps starting in the low 20's, the wind chill made it feel like in the single digits. The cold & wind may have been a blessing in disguise though as the wet & muddy trails on Friday began to dry out and/or freeze overnight. So trail conditions were pretty good compared to the last couple years.
results:
The 50k winners' times this year were the fastest since the re-introduction of the Scott's Gap loop in 2010. Very impressive since the course has also become longer in each of the last few years. It could be that the battle for 1st place was very close this year too: Eric Grossman (founder of LLTH & now a 4 time winner) won out over Troy Shellhamer (last years' winner) and Traci Falbo edged out Sharon Hathaway -- both divisions were won by the smallest margins in the 9 years of LLTH.
In the 15 miler, Ryan Althaus defended his win of last year in record fashion. Alicia Heyne picked up her 1st win at LLTH, also in record fashion.In the inaugural 6 miler, Daniel Blandford & Jenny Trevathan set the standards.
Results, photos & race reports from previous years can be found on the side bar of this blog far down on the right side. Photos & possibly a video will be inserted into this post & added to the photo library as soon as they can be sorted out (had a problem with the camera freezing & the auto-focus not working).
If you ran in the race & you'd like a picture or video clip of yourself, I can email it if you will send me your race number (as long as it was visible during the race), or a description of what you were wearing. Note: these are not done professionally as the 2 other photographers on the course.
goodies:
in summary:
2012 LLTH went smoothly & I would consider this year to be a big success. Thanks go out to Todd & Cynthia Heady of Headfirst Performance once again for putting on a first class event. Thanks also go out to the Forest Service, EMS, to all the hearty volunteers & to all the great runners!
Race Directors Cynthia & Todd Heady:
In 2013, we're hoping the Forest Service will be thoughtful enough to allow us to use the same trails as this year, elsewise many miles of challenging trails (2nd leg) will not be included in the courses.
Thanks again everyone!
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6 comments:
Totally great!
My 1st 50k & looking forward to next year.
Every volunteer worked their butts off and were friendly & supportive & made it happen w/out a hitch.
Thank you Cynthia & Todd.
p.s. Killer soups by Cynthia.
Killy soups by Cynthia is right! Thanks for your dedication to keeping everyone informed, Ed. You are fantastic! I hope to run into you out there soon! (Kriston)
Everything about this race was superb. This is only my second year, I'll be back for many more. Thank you to everyone who made this possible. Bob Walker
This was my first 50k. What a great day! It was incredibly challenging which made the finish that much more rewarding. I have never met so many encouraging and supportive runners. The atmosphere was great and we were taken care of so well! Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to create such a great experience. The tomato blue cheese soup was ridiculous and exactly what I needed!
Great race! My second year and I was able to knock 30 minutes off last year's time. Wonderful volunteers and race organization is the best I have seen. Hopefully we keep the same trails next year. Thank you to Cynthia and Todd.
Thanks everyone!
The 2012 photo album has been posted. Additional pics & video clips are available upon request.
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