Uncle Joe's 50k results and pictures

The inaugural Uncle Joe's 50k was held this past weekend. It was a low-
keyed, very well run event. There were 27 runners, including 9 ultra
virgins...and every single runner finished!

The day started with a steady drizzle that stayed just long enough to
chill us, but also long enough to keep the dust down on the trails and
fire roads. It warmed up a bit as the race went on and, in the end, the
weather was perfect for running.

The course was a little tougher than I expected because of the relentless
long hills. There were no 'mountains' by any stretch of the word, but
definitely long climbs and a few switchbacks in the trail section. It was
a very runnable trail ultra as evidenced by the overall winners' times.

Brian Vandenburg of Spokane took 1st place in 4:05:17, followed closely by
Sean Meissner in 4:09:56. Marathoner Lori Buratto ran her first ultra and
hung with the the top 2 guys for the entire race. She never wearied and
looked strong all the way to the finish. Her 3rd place overall time was
4:15:45. The rest of the results are posted on the website along with a
few pictures.

http://www.unclejoe50km.org/wst_page7.html

The funnest (just kidding dbag!) part of the race was hanging around the
fire at the finish. I think every runner stayed to cheer in the last
ultra virgin, Deanna Brock, who is Uncle Joe's niece.

The awards are beautiful and the Sporthill DriTech shirts perfect for
running. The cool thing about such a small field is that nearly every
received an award!

Beautiful course, relatively fast course if you can stand the long gradual
hills, generous aid stations, and as many volunteers as there were runners!

Lisa Bliss
Spokane, WA