WMRC's own Joe Galape is this years race director. I know Joe and others have been working hard to make the event enjoyable for everyone. Joe said that approximately 1 out of every 10 Zane Grey Runner has run in the Wednesday Morning Group. That doesn't include the trail clearing, trail marking, aid station help, pacers and crew.
Good luck to Honey, Paul Bonnett, Jody Chase, Cosmas, the Coury Brothers Nick & Jamil, Gary, Carol Cusack, Candice, Chip, Chris Harrison, Jeff Jones, Aaron Mascarella and Jon Roig. Let me know if I forgot anyone.
Runner of the Week: Congratulations to Liz Everly who ran a really fast 50 mile Sunday at the Mt Si 50 in Washington. Liz was the 3rd female 14th overall with a time of 8:07:29. Be sure to get her autograph at one of the Zane Grey 50 mile aid stations. Great job Liz!!
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3 comments:
Wow Lizzy Girl, great job! That is a fast one. Congrats.
I don't think I will ever run a 50 mile that fast!!
The Zane Grey course was marked over the weekend. The following are first hand reports of the trail condidtions from the people that marked the course:
Start to Mile 8:
"The trail was as I remembered. We moved stuff that was obviously an issue. I can say that there were 2 or 3 downed trees that are under or over jobs, but that is fun!!! "
"...the first .5 to full mile is the most confusing. I am glad I was on it yesterday, since I saw where we went wrong (last year). The first sign that we take is a right (not straight or left). Unlike last year, it'll be marked with glow sticks. It seems so obvious, but not when everyone is playing follow the leader. I am super excited!"
"I don't think the first section is too bad: a few trees to go over and all. There were a couple of places that might have been confusing, but I think we cleared it up with the tape."
Mile 8 to Mile 17:
"Miles 8 through 17 were pretty good. Very rocky but not much you can do about that. There were a few sections where you could easily lose the trail but I think we did a good job of making sure it was marked clearly. There was one creek crossing where you have to jump down onto the creek shore from about 4-5 feet up and there is no way around that. Very good course. I???m excited to try it next year!"
"Well, Saturday's trail marking was a treat and the first time I had been on part of the course. It's definitely on my list of runs that I want to do, just need to get my body to cooperate!! In any case I wanted to give you our account of the trails condition. There were three of us for that section, my husband and I hiked most of it so we may have a little different perspective than Rhet who actually ran it. Important areas to note...
One of the wash crossings has about a 4' drop off, if it hadn't been for Rhet going ahead of us and marking it we would have turned around thinking we had missed a turn. Once you cross the creek you have to negotiate footing on the other side - it's pretty slippery. We made sure to put additional yellow ribbons so that there is no doubt this is the correct way to go.
Several areas have lots of tree debris so it is a little hard to tell where to go because the trees are everywhere including over the trial - but again we were generous with the yellow ribbons
Several of the down hill sections that look like they were previously nice dirt sections are now very badly destroyed due to water run off.
Lastly, the trail is pretty well marked with "Cairns" which were quite helpful for us too.
Beyond those few things the trail is and will always be damn hard!!"
Mile 17 to Mile 27:
"First, don't forget to wear sunscreen race day. Sun is very intense at elevation. Second, there is quite a bit of overgrowth of the manzanita bushes across trail. Only way to correct that would be to chain saw it. Legs will get scratched up. There is minimal water flowing in the creeks, not enough to get the feet wet if use rocks to cross. Not to many downed trees. That looked pretty good. Road to hell's gate looks more rough and overgrown than last year. (at least from the aid station)
Have a lot of water at hell's gate. It got warm yesterday. Lot's of food too. In my opinion, I think the trail will be in the same or better condition than last year and it is definately marked much better this year."
Mile 27 to 33:
"I only saw from about mile 27 to 44 so far this year and it looks pretty good."
Mile 33 to 44:
"If anyone gets lost 33 - 44, I'd be pretty surprised. Trail looks... pretty much like you'd expect. There's a little overgrowth, but it's in pretty good shape. The actual path was a little unclear in certain places, but we marked the heck out of it. Of course, there are a bunch of downed trees and stuff like that as well... but no serious problems getting across the creeks without getting wet. Looking forward to next weekend..."
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