Originally posted to the Dartmouth Ultra List
by Mary Gorski
January 3, 2006
The following is a race report by Mary Gorski, an accomplished, veteran ultrarunner and member of one of the largest running clubs in the United States, the Badgerland Striders of Wisconsin, http://www.badgerlandstriders.org, several of whom get together annually for their "Wisconsin TP FA Run" that takes place in the Kettle Moraine State Forest, and is an informal, fun event to ring in the new year.
Mary and several fellow "Trail People" had a blast New Year's Eve, as she recalls:
The Wisconsin TPs (For those of you not in the know, "TP" in this case stands not just for toilet paper - a well-loved bathroom accessory - but for the "Trail People," an informal bunch of trail runners in southeastern Wisconsin)...
Anyhow, the TPs held their annual Fat Ass run on Saturday, December 31. For those whose bums were not in need of so much trimming, there was also a kinder, gentler, Fluffy Butt option. The FA was a 50K on snow-covered snowmobile trails in the Kettle Moraine State Forest and the FB was anything less than 50K in the same general vicinity.
Although there had been a lot of snow in December - at least in comparsion to our recent whimpy winters - the week between Christmas and New Year's saw Mother Nature suffering through another one of her hot flashes. Course planner Tom Bunk reported that the snowmobile trails were in great running condition and that it would be much easier going than last year, when a snowstorm littered the course with the white stuff the night before.
This year, we had "snow storm lite" - snow had fallen Friday night, but since it was teetering on the freezing mark, there wasn't nearly as much on the ground as expected. Skiers were still happy on their trails, runners were still happy on the snowmobilers' trails.
By 7 a.m., the warming house was filled with runners and their donated treats (it is tradition to bring enough food for after the run so that you can maintain your fat ass or fluffy butt). Off we headed down the road to the trail head. Predominately downhill, most runners at the beginning think it is only about a quarter to a half-mile until you are on the snow. Coming back, it's obvious that it is over a mile, uphill, and uphill again, until you come to a whimpering, exhausted halt back at the warming hut...or maybe that was just me.
Anyhow, we departed in small bunches, chatting with visitors. A couple of aliens from Illinois joined the TP ranks for the days, as well as some other Milwaukee-area runners who were new to the group. Thanks to the work of Tom and Lorraine Bunk, the trail was well marked with blaze-orange arrows in the snow. Lorraine is a fashion goddess who insists on good accessory coordination and she knew that most of us would be clad in blaze orange since we were traipsing through deer hunting territory. Normally the season is over by now, but there was a special hunt going on to trim the herd. We saw a few hunters, but not too many.
The fast kids out front included Craig Bunk, son of Tom and Lorraine. Craig is coming back aftter a nasty ankle sprain that kept him out of his running shoes for a month. Also blazing the trail for those of us in slower packs were Robert Wehner, Scott Meyers, Larry Hall, Ann Heaslett, Parker Rios, Tom Bunk and Ken Plumb. Christine Crawford was setting a tough pace as well, but her plan called for a 20-mile Fluffy Butt option, so we saw her head back to the cookies a little earlier than the rest of the front gang.
The Bunks, Beth Simpson and sidekick Larry Hall, were kind enough to stash supplies at two spots on the trail. My little group missed the first one, but on the way back we made up for it, digging into the junk food like a pack of alley dogs that hadn't seen food in days.
No one seemed to get lost, no one came back too bloodied and no one twisted or broke anything of significance. In the same areas as the Ice Age and Kettle Moraine courses, the snowmobile trails are kinder and gentler, and even with the snow, in most spots the footing was good. A few of us had traction devices with us, but they were rarely worn. The toughest sections were on the way back when temps warmed and snow in some areas turned brown and slippery.
Although it was informal, no shirts (as souvenirs - most of us did wear shirts), no awards fun run, Robert Wehner was kind enough to serve as time-keeper so that we could have results. The poor fellow had to run fast enough to come in ahead of the rest of us, allowing himself enough time to find a paper and pen. Well, faster than all but one - Craig Bunk, who blew through the course in 4:24. But he also had a task to get back for - setting up the goodie table. Those of us without such assignments could relax and take our time.
Overall, we had 25 Fat Ass finishers, along with a quite a few unrecorded Fluffy Butt runners. This is our highest finish rate in recent memory, which isn't saying much because few of us have much of a memory. But we all knew that it was a lot more than last year. John Rodee gets the prize for most miles run - not only did he do a full 50K (often dragging my sorry bum along the way) but then went out and ran the last finisher in, adding another hour-and-a-half on his feet before hitting the snack table.
The results from the Annual TP Fat Ass 50K:
Craig Bunk, 4:24 - OAW
Robert Wehner, 4:45
Scott Meyers, 5:00
Parker Rios, 5:08
Larry Hall, 5:28
Anne Heaslett, 5:30 - OAF
Tom Bunk, 5:30
Ken Plumb, 5:30
Lisa Conover, 5:55
Kathryn Dunn, 6:10
Mary Gorski, 6:10
John Rodee, 6:10
Gardar Middleton, 6:11
Matt Eberle, 6:32
Elizabeth Nachtwey, 6:32
Rick George, 6:37
Lorraine Bunk, 6:47
Steve Lynn, 6:53
Beth Simpson, 6:55
Ken Turek, 6:55
Brad Drake, 6:55
Carol Schelling, 6:57
Susan Canavello, 7:25
Lynn Karner, 7:25
Kris Hinrichs, 7:40
HAPPY NEW YEAR from Wisconsin!
Mary Gorski
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
--Constance Karras
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment