Runner of the Week: Chris Harrison is the unanimous decision. Chris completed the Western States 100 mile endurance run last weekend. This is one of those events that has many stories packed into a 24-hour period. Here is my attempt to summarize succinctly.One of the lines from the morning paper after the event stated “This year’s race was especially difficult, as the mercury in the steep canyons topped 110 degrees – the hottest race conditions ever recorded”. “ It felt like someone had a hair-dryer blowing in my face,” said Koerner (race winner) “Even my eyeballs were hot.”
Out of the 399 starters only 238 were successful in finishing. 40.3% failed.
This was not Chris’ first 100-mile run but it was his first Western States. All of his other 100’s he never used a pacer. That was his plan again until the WMRC entourage inserted themselves.
Jason Klonoski and I were crewing and pacing for Cosmas. The Coury brothers, Jamil, Nick, and Nathan were also scheduled to pace other runners as well. Unfortunately all of our runners weren’t able to continue for one reason or another.
As the heat got more intense and runners dropped, Chris Harrison plugged away. He didn’t worry about the other runners and ran his own race. At mile 16 he was in 191st. The first time we saw him at mile 30 he was in 161st. At mile 50 he was 150th, mile 60 he was 132nd.
With all of our runners out, the WMRC entourage huddled up and came up with a new game plan to accompany Chris and have a pacer run with him from mile 60 to the finish. Jason was first up and both of them did an incredible job. They moved up to 117th place at the river-crossing mile 78. Later coming out of the river Chris smiled and said not bad for two guys, one who never had a pacer and the other who never paced before.While Jason and Chris were jamming on the trail, Mark, the Coury Brothers and I went to the finish line to watch the leaders finish. It was also awesome to say hello to WMRCer Jamie Mieras who was working the medical tent. From there we all went and drove to the area above the aid station at mile 80. As Mark took a well deserved nap, Jamil, Nick, Nathan and I ran down the 3.5 miles or so to the river to await Chris and Jason’s arrival.
As we were watching the runners wade through the river waist and chest deep. I was lucky enough to have someone throw me a couple beers. I was in heaven. Better yet was watching Chris and Jason cross the river and all six of us jam up the 2-mile hill climb into Green gate aid station mile 80. Just image its about 1:30 in the morning and most of us are wearing WMRC shirts and flying up the hill. We passed 5 different groups in that short two-mile stretch. I heard one group yell out “what the heck was that!?” And another one say “don’t you know someone had already won the race??” We all laughed.The next pacer up was Nick who would take Chris from Mile 80 to the finish. Even though Nick is only 21 he has made his mark in the ultra running world. Last year he finished 5th at Hardrock 100. So when I told Chris that Nick was taking him to the finish he had the look of fear and said “Great here comes the whip!!” I don’t know if the whip came out but they continued to pass runners and finish in 102nd place. 26:27:48.
A Big ROW Runner up to the two pacers: Jason and Nick!!
Great job Chris Harrison!!! Thanks for letting us be a part of it.
Runner of the Week: Congratulations Jeff Jones who ran the San Juan Solstice 50 Mile trail run in Lake City, Colorado. Very high drop out rate this year. Battling the cold, snow, altitude and climbs he had a real good time of 13:31:00. Good for 3rd place in has age group. I wonder if he received any swag?
ROW runner up: is Randy Ohlinger who finished the Coeur d' Alene full ironman in Idaho in 13 hours 27 minutes. 
As noted above, this weekend is the WS 100. Good luck to Mark Cosmas and Chris Harrison. Cosmas will be crewed and paced by the stellar team of Higgy and Klown. Don’t let those names fool you, they take their jobs serious (between beers). This will be Cosmas’ 2nd time running WS. In 2007 he finished 39th with a time of 21:53:44. This will be Harrison’s first Western States.
Racing season is in full throttle. Good luck to Jeff Jones who is running the San Juan Solstice 50 mile race this weekend in Lake City, Colorado. Jeff has been preparing for the altitude by spending time in Taos New Mexico. Jeff Jones gets runner of the week because he sent photos in. Congratulations Jeff. 
Cosmas and Harrison are putting the finishing touches on their Western States 100 training. Race day is only 11 days away. Stay tuned for information on how to follow along.
The runners of the week are: Andrew Heard with he finish last weekend of the Squaw Peak 50 mile trail run above Provo Utah. Final results aren’t posted yet but Andrew finished with a time of 10:02:00. (See Andrew's race report posted below) Debbie Leftwich completed the Keetle Moraine 100 mile run in Wisconsin. Debbie finished first in the Senior Masters age group with a time of 26:20:45. Great job you two.
Family Runners of the Week: Congrats to the Cosmas Family, Mark, Katie, Blue and the Bun in the Oven for their climb up Humphries. They all look good at 12,000 feet.