Ruth Anderson Ultra Results

Ruth Anderson Ultra Results

Hello Everyone,

This year's 20th annual Ruth Anderson Ultra was another success. Although the volunteers battened down the hatches in preparation for rain and thunderstorms, the day turned out to be great for running -- cool and dry(although a bit windy at times). The conditions seemed to help the runnersthough, who set four (4) Ruth Anderson course records, and one national USATF masters age-group record. As a tribute to the diversity of the field in the race, both the youngest and the oldest competitors set records!


New Records


Spencer Frasher, just 17 years old, finished his first 50K in a time of
5:14:58, claiming the previously vacant Ruth Anderson 50K age-group recordfor men under 20.

Patricia Zerfas, from Maryland, won the women's 50K in a time of 4:07:44 demolishing the 50K age-group course record for women 40 - 50 by over an hour and 23 minutes. In fact, Patricia's time is the fastest women's 50Kfinishing time ever recorded at Ruth Anderson, by over 15 minutes!

Dieter Walz, just 71 years old, broke his own national USATF masters 50K age-group record with a time of 5:13:36. Although he failed to also break his other national USATF masters age-group record for the 100K, his time of 9:35:18 claimed the previously vacant Ruth Anderson 50 Mile age-group record for men 70+.

Chikara Omine, the up and coming 23 years old, ran his first 100K
demolishing the field. His time of 7:42:10 broke the Ruth Anderson 100K
age-group record for men 20 - 30 set last year by Peter Vermeesch.

But of course, even those who didn't break any course records had a great time! Mark Henderson came all that way out to Lake Merced from Texas to try and qualify for the USA Men's 100K team. Things didn't go perfectly for Mark the way he needed them to. However, like a true Texan gentleman, Mark stayed around until the end of the race cheering on all the other runners (as well many of the joggers and pedestrians).


50K Summary


Patricia Zerfas, who traveled all the way from Maryland, blazed through the women's 50K course in 4:07:44, shattering the 50K women's 40 =96 50 course record by nearly and hour and a half. Jean Suyenaga finished second, winning her age group with a time of 5:32:42. Carol Cuminale was third at 5:35:44, also winning her age group. Cassandra Johnson won her age group in 6:02:35 and Gillian Robinson, of Zombierunners placed second in her age group with a 6:10:10.

Scott Dunlap -- the 2004 Trail Runner magazine Trophy Series Winner – won the men's 50K in 3:52:15, achieving his goal of going under 4:00:00 -- despite having run the Boston Marathon earlier in the same week. Willem van Dam (no relation to Jean-Claude) was the second man overall, winning his age group with a time of 4:03:45. Oliver Chan finished third in 4:18:09, also winning his age group. Eric Poulsen, Spencer Frasher, and Ron Peck each also won their age group. And as mentioned, 17 year old Spencer Frasher – whose parents embarrassed him by taking photos as he stood in line at registration earlier that morning -- completed his first 50K and claimed the vacant under-20 men's age group 50K record.


50 Mile Summary


John Mintz -- who had already won a couple of races this year including the Pacifica Trail 9K and Montana De Oro Trail 13K -- came home with yet another win in the men's 50 mile with a time of 6:30:12. Mark Henderson, the colorful Texan, decided to call it a day at 50 miles as well after his bid for a sub 7:20:00 100K fell out of reach due to stomach troubles. Mark bagged second place with his 6:32:48. Cecil Baumgartner finished third in 7:51:19, also winning his age group. Jonathan Gunderson, Dieter Walz, and Charlie Alewine also won their age groups. As mentioned, 71 year old Dieter Walz broke his own USATF national age group record when he flew through the 50K mark at 5:13:36. Dieter then claimed the vacant 70+ Ruth Anderson 50 Mile age group record when he called it a day at 50 miles with a time of
9:35:18.

Soon Gaal celebrated her birthday in style by winning the women's 50 Mile race in 9:52:56. Although exhausted, she saved enough energy to blow out the candles on her slice of birthday carrot cake! Diane Vlack, who originall had her sights set on the 100K, decided that 50 miles was plenty, finishing second among the women and first in her age group. Amidst the confusion, the race directors forgot to present Diane with her first place age-group plaque


100K Summary
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Wendy Georges dominated the women's 100K field with no one else even in
sight; Wendy was the only women to stick it out and finish the 100K,
powering through the course in an impressive 10:53:27.

Chikara Omine, the 23 year-old phenom, thrilled the crowd as he lapped the rest of the field on his way to winning the men's 100K. His time of 7:42:10 knocked over 15 minutes off the previous men's 20 - 29 age group record. Mark Tanaka, who finished second overall while winning his age group, at onen point thought he was gaining on Chikara, only to later realize (in good humor) that he had apparently been lapped while taking a quick nature break

Mike Sweeney, the experienced veteran, finished comfortably in third with a
respectable time of 9:13:15. Charles Blakeney, who won his age group with a fourth-place finish, unleashed a devastating finishing kick to break the tape in just under ten hours, at 9:59:51. Buddy Pohl, who signed up the night before the race, took home a second place age-group finish with his 10:42:59. John Newmarker, one of the younger 100K runners, definitely had the largest and most boisterous cheering squad. They went berserk as he crossed the line in 11:48:24. James Yee showed true Ultra Runner spirit by bringing the race home, running the last two laps alone in the twilight after other runners had called it a day. Despite failing light, bare-bones aid stations consisting only of Coke and Cliff shots, and proffered bribes from the race directors to pack it in early, James continued on (in trademark, perfect upright running form), crossing the tape in 13:39:17, snagging second place in his age group and valuable PAUSATF points.


Race Results, Photos and Descriptions


The full race results will be available at
*http://www.run100s.com/ra.htm*<http://www.run100s.com/ra.htm>


Thank You, Thank You,

We would like to thank all the wonderful volunteers who gave up their
Saturday to help make the race a success! Thank you to Stan Jensen, Ken
Reed, Jim Pommier, Kristina Irvin, Mark Seaman, Cammie Dingwell, Jeff Jones=
,
Brie Reybine, Lee Blaine, Marianne Paulson, Bob McPhail, Bryan Wyatt, Mike Webb, Georgia Gibbon, Mark Magers, and Mike Mahone! Thank you all so much!

We definitely also want to thank Steve Jaber, who organized the race for the past 7 years, for helping out again this year with a large portion of the planning and work in order to make the handover to the new race directors as smooth as possible. Thank you Steve!

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See You Next Year!
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See you all next year! Have a great rest of the season!

John & Amy Burton

Race Directors

Ruth Anderson 50K, 50M, 100K