Glenn Johnson
Thank you racers and volunteers for making the 2012 Lewis & Clark Ultra awesome.
The weather certainly played a role in jazzing things up a bit in the evening, but the rest of the time I would say it could not have been better. That thunderstorm was amazing. Wicked, wild, scary and wet. We lost about a third of our athletes due to wet and cold or the fear of being electrocuted. But, Mother Nature is one of the competitors of this type of racing. Either you beat her or she beats you.
You guys set a few more records this year. First of all this was our first year to have tandem in the 12 and 24 hour division.
The men's 24 hour record set by Ian Fillinger last year remains. He attempted to break it but unfortunately he was not having a good day this year and bailed. I think we all know how that goes. But on the bright side for Ian, Hugh didn't take the title from him. So it stands yet another year and we wait to see if Hugh can break 366 miles.
However, the women's 24 record was broken by Janice Sheufelt from Juneau, AK, with 345 miles! I don't know how she managed to do it, but she seemed to have a smile on her face the entire time.
The results are posted on the lacultra and OBRA websites.
The King and Queen of the Mountains are Freddy Tincher with 34 minutes and 56 seconds up the two climbs and Jessica Kelley. Jessica beat out Barbara Larraine by a mere 2 seconds with a time of 56:46. Freddy and Jessica will receive a Leatherman Juice for their rapid assent. Congratulations mountain goats.
I would like to thank the volunteers who gave up much of their day or night to help us out.
Suzie Wardell was the first smiling face you saw at the registration table in the morning.
Mark Armstrong was the big, tall guy at Time Stations 1 and 3. I'm trying to get him to race it, but he'd rather WATCH people suffer than be one.
Mike and Jed Bingle met you for refreshments at the top of Old Man Pass. They usually race it but wanted to take this year off.
Sharma Johnson helped out at the school in the afternoon/evening.
Tammy Lai worked the table from 8 PM past midnight.
Pete Kent raced all day in the 12 hour division and then came back at midnight until the race was over to help keep things running smoothly and to allow me to take a few laps on my bike. After watching you all riding all day and night, riding myself last night was magical.
It is with zero exaggeration when I say that this race would not happen without these wonderful volunteers.
I'd also like to thank our sponsors.
Hammer Nutrition (hammernutrition.com) has sponsored us for the past three years and has been very generous with their supplies. They gave us Perpetuem, gel, Endurolytes and bottles for our gel and pills. Because of them we were able to stock all of our time stations and give products away for prizes. They are a wonderful sponsor.
Also for the third year is Leatherman. They gave us two multitools again this year. But in addition, as a way to promote a new company they recently acquired, we had a headlight from LED Lenser ( http://www.ledlenser.com/family/Headlamps/Rechargeables ). These are some of the coolest, most functional flashlights I've ever seen.
Also, a new product that is just getting in the market and distributed by Showers Pass is the VelEau hydration system ( http://www.showerspass.com/veleau ).
Finally, you may have seen a photographer snapping pictures of you. That is Leonard Johnson from HotFootPhoto (.com).
Regardless of what place you came in, you can all be very proud of your accomplishment. Completing the long loop is something most people would never do. It is long, hilly, isolated and requires an inner strength, not to mention physical strength, that most people do not have. I'm impressed with you all. You are all warriors. And victorious.
So once again we wrap up another long, fun, hard, exciting and warm weekend with friends. I look forward to seeing you next time.
Ride safe.