24th Annual Mountain Masochist 50 Mile Trail Run

“The Cold Year”

By:  David Horton

November 4, 2007

 

            For 23 years, the MMTR 50 Miler had been held in October.  The Blue Ridge Parkway changed their policy and said that no special use permits would be issued for October.  Thus the new date for the foreseeable future will be the first Saturday in November.  Since the time change and the daylight hours are different, the event was scheduled to be from 5:30 am to 5:30 pm.  Since the time change will not occur until the first weekend in November 2007, the time will be moved back to 6:30 am.

            Since the race is held three weeks later than prior years, many thought that the weather might be cooler.  The Holiday Lake 50K, held in early February this year, brought us heavy snow.  In April of this year, the Promise Land 50K brought us heavy rain.  For the MMTR, cold weather did occur.  The low was around 20° and the high was around 32°.  However, when we were cleaning up the course on November 11, the high was over 70°.  You never know what to expect.  I am afraid to guess what kind of weather we will have at the Hellgate 100K on December 9.

            Registration was closed six weeks before race day.  Hellgate also filled up six weeks before race day.  I think that this shows the popularity that ultras have attained.  We just cannot handle more runners for the MMTR or for Hellgate.  What is the solution to this “good” problem?  I do not know.

            With the MMTR being the last race in the Montrail Ultra Cup (MUC) and the Lynchburg Ultra Series (LUS), we knew that the field would be full and very competitive.

            As usual, we had a huge pre-race banquet at Heritage High School’s cafeteria, with over 400 folks in attendance.  The pre-race feed was extensive including a variety of pasta items.  All entrants received a long sleeved t-shirt or a sweatshirt as well as a pair of SmartWool socks.  Danny McDonnell (Fallston, MD) played the guitar and sang the Masochist theme song.  Many runners dressed up in 80’s outfits.  They looked like they were in a time warp.

            I expected the men’s race to be between Sean Andrish (Leesburg, VA), Phil Kochick (Seattle, WA), and Eric Grossman (Emory, VA).  Kochick was leading the MUC and Grossman was second.  Andrish had been second to Dave Mackey (course record holder) the last two times he had run the MMTR.  Andrish had also won the 2002 MMTR.

            As expected, Andrish went to the front from the start and held a slight lead through the early aid stations.  Through Aid Station (AS) 10 – 26.9 miles, Andrish and Grossman clocked 3:30, about a 7 hour finishing pace.

            Grossman’s stated goal before the race was to break 7 hours.  I had told him earlier in the fall that I did not think he was tough enough to break 7 hours.  Grossman pulled away from Andrish going up Buck Mountain.  He continued to increase his lead throughout the rest of the race.  Never easing up, Grossman proved me wrong, shattering 7 hours.  His winning time of 6:53:18 made him only the 7th runner to ever break 7 hours.  Only Mackey and Clark Zealand have ever run faster.  Grossman joined the company of elite ultra-runners on November 4, 2006.

            Andrish claimed his third 2nd place finish, completing the course in 7:06:36.  Kochick started out slow and got faster as the race went on.  He was in 23rd place at AS 3.  Kochick took 3rd place in 7:37:38.  Kochick’s third place was not easy.  At the last AS (16 – 47.1 miles) he was caught by Jonathan Basham (Lynchburg, VA) and Andrew Thompson (Lyme, NH).  J.B. set the record on the Colorado Trail (484 miles – 8 days 13 hours) this past summer as he was crewed by Thompson.  In the summer of 2005, Thompson set the record on the Appalachian Trail (2,175 miles, just under 48 days) and was crewed by J.B.  These two friends went on to set PR’s on the MMTR course, finishing less than two minutes behind Kochick, with a time of 7:39:16 tying for 4th place.  The ladies race did not appear to be as competitive with Nikki Kimball (Bozeman, MT) in the field.  In 2004, Kimball became the first woman to break 8 hours.  In 2005, Anne Lundblad (7:49) and Annette Bednosky (7:55) broke Kimball’s course record.  Kimball has been beaten only once in a trail race on U.S. soil.

            Jenn Shelton (Virginia Beach, VA) has won many ultras in recent years and set a course record at the 2006 Holiday Lake, beating Anne Lundblad in the process.

            Through AS 10 (26.9 miles), Kimball had only one minute lead on Shelton.  Through the next two aid stations, Kimball gained one minute in each section.  She completed the 5 mile loop in 49 minutes, stretching her lead to 7 minutes over Shelton, from which she could never recover.

            Kimball had been up over 11 minutes on her 7:55 pace of 2004.  She lost a little of her cushion at the end but still broke Anne Lundblad’s 2005 course record.  Kimball’s finishing time of 7:47:05 set a new standard that will be hard for the ladies to ever break.

            The real race for the women was for 3rd place.  Through AS 10, only 5 minutes separated 3rd place from 6th place.  Bethany Patterson (Richmond, VA) a past winner and former course record holder, was third at this point.  Jamie Donaldson (Littleton, CO) was one minute behind Patterson.  Sarah Johnston (Lynchburg, VA) a training partner of Patterson was 3 minutes behind Patterson.  Helen Cospolich (Breckenridge, CO) was in 6th only 5 minutes behind Patterson.  These 4 runners were separated by 2 minutes at AS 12 (32.1 miles) with Cospolich taking a 1 minute lead.  Between AS 12 and the end of the loop, Cospolich extended her lead to 8 minutes over Patterson.

            Cospolich let some of her lead skip away but maintained her position finishing in 8:40:19 for 3rd place.  Patterson and Johnston checked into the last aid station together.  Patterson pulled away from her training partner to take 4th place in 8:41:52 with Johnston taking 5th, 1 minute and 15 seconds later in a time of 8:43:07.

            With Grossman, Andrish, Kochick taking 1, 2, and 3 for the men and Kimball, Shelton, and Cospolich taking 1,2, and 3 for the ladies, all six of these runners automatically qualified for the 2007 Western States 100 Miler.  As a result of winning the MMTR, Kimball and Grossman were the overall winners of the MUC.  For their effort, they received a check for $3,000 from Montrail representative Paul Curran.

            There were 28 males and 11 females who finished the LUS.  In the men’s division, Billy Barnett (Virginia Beach, VA) edged out Steven Baker (Blacksburg, VA) by one point.  Byron Backer (Greensville, SC) was the Master’s winner of the LUS.  Jenn Shelton took the overall title for the ladies with Martha Wright (Richmond, VA) taking the Master’s title.  All four of these runners received a free pair of Montrail shoes.

            The winning Masters runners were Dink Taylor (Huntsville, AL – 7:58:11) and Sophie Speidel (Charlottesville, VA 9:40:14).  The winning Grand Masters was Dave Drach (West Ossipee, NH – 9:11:26) and Sally Brooking (Marietta, GA – 10:16:24).  The winning Super Master was Dave Grider (Greensboro, NC – 11:19:12).  The top 10 male and female runners and age group winners received embroidered SmartWool jackets.  All other sub 12-hour finishers received an embroidered Nathan pack.

            The mountain man and woman award are given to the top local male and female runners.  Jonathan Basham (tie for 4th place) and Sarah “Space Cadet” Johnston (5th place for the ladies) were the recipients.

            There was a spirited competition for the bench press competition at the finish line.  Ladies had to bench press 75 lbs and the men had to bench press 150 lbs.  The competition was too close to deduce a winner.  The winner of the Fastest Fat Boy and the Bethany Award were also too close to declare a winner.  The Best Blood award was even harder to determine.  Vicki Kendall punctured her leg prior to AS 16 and had to be carried by runners to meet Dr. Wortley who took her to the hospital for an overnight stay.  Lisa Madden (Bronx, NY) had blood running down her knee with deep puncture wounds.  Konrad Gannon (Wintson-Salem, NC) had a middle finger bent backwards so bad that he will probably need surgery.

            Embroidered golf shirts were awarded to 15 time finishers:  Dave Drach, Rob Apple (Murfreesboro, TN), John Owensby (Winston-Salem, NC), and Jeff McGonnell (Davidson, NC).

            Ten year jackets were awarded to:  Rebekah Trittipoe (the second woman to get a jacket), Ryan Henry (Ruther Glen, VA), and Byron Backer.

            Everything does not work out as planned.  Eleven time finisher Salli O’Donnell, 17 time finisher Bernie Davis (Lynchburg, VA), and 9 time finisher Anne Huntzicker (Eugene, OR) were not able to finish.

            Wearing race number 24, Tom Green (Columbia, MD) finished for the 24th time.  I bet you cannot guess what number Tom will be wearing next year?!?!?!

            What will the 25th running of the MMTR bring?  I am looking for ideas for shirt designs, awards, and anything else to make the 25th running a very special occasion.

            One change for 2007 will be the cut offs at each aid station.  In the past we have allowed runners to continue past the aid stations if they were less than 10 minutes over the 12 hour pace.  Starting in 2007, if you are over the 12 hour pace from AS 10 to the end of the race, you must stop at that aid station. 

            Registration for the 2007 event will open sometime in April.  The limit will still be 300 runners.