Sweltering heat for the better part of 100 miles zapped the pep from many ultrarunners in the 35th annual Western States Endurance Run this past weekend.
Hal Koerner of Ashland, Ore., was not among them.
Koerner, 33, the 2007 winner, completed the 100.2-mile ultramarathon from Squaw Valley to Auburn in 16 hours, 24 minutes, 55 seconds - less than an hour off the course record. The race returned after being canceled in 2008 because of wildfires in the area.
"Hal ran a tremendous race," said John Trent, media relations director with Western States. "He ran it like it was an 85-degree day, not a 100-degree day. I think it will go down as one of the great runs in the history (of the event).
"He's truly got the race dialed in. Whatever he does in training we all need to figure out, because it seems like he has the magical formula."
Like many other races in the history of the event, triple-digit heat played a major role in forcing hundreds of ultrarunners to drop out. In all, 159 of the 399 starters pulled out of the race, and 46 registered runners did not make it to the start line. There were 238 athletes who finished within the 30-hour cutoff, and two who came in less than an hour later.
Trent said this year's mild spring may have contributed to the high percentage of non-finishers, because runners did not have a large window of time for heat training.
As was the case with Koerner, however, the women's champ powered through the heat like a machine.
Anita Ortiz of Eagle, Colo., a 45-year-old mother of four and first-time participant in a 100-mile race, captured the top spot among women.
She finished in ninth place overall with a time of 18 hours, 24 minutes, 17 seconds - the fourth-fastest time by a woman.
And that was after taking a wrong turn at the 78th mile that added about 2 miles and 20 minutes to her finish time, said Trent, calling her effort a "remarkable performance."
Krissy Moehl of Seattle finished second in the women's field with a time of 19:26:02, while Beverly Anderson-Abbs of Red Bluff took third in 19:53 and Nikki Kimball of Bozeman, Mont., fourth in 20:55:43.
Tsuyoshi Kaburagi of Japan crossed the finish on the Placer High School track second overall with a time of 16:52:06, and Jez Bragg of Great Britain rounded out the top-three in 16:54:26.
In a much-anticipated return after a two-year hiatus from the race, seven-time Western States champ Scott Jurek of Seattle dropped out at Devil's Thumb about 48 miles in because of a foot injury. Jurek, who won every race from 1999 to 2005, holds the course record of 15:36:27, set in 2004.
"I think everybody there expected a battle between Hal and Scott Jurek," Trent said.
Locally, Truckee ultrarunner Kathy D'Onofrio-Wood once again finished in less than 30 hours, placing 35th among women with a time of 29:06:22. D'Onofrio-Wood won the women's division in 1986 and '88 and was awarded a commemorative belt in 2006 for completing 1,000 miles in Western States competition.
"She's one of those people everybody loves to death. They're always enthused to see such a great champ come back year after year. And she gets to the finish line every time," Trent said of D'Onofrio-Wood, the last women's winner before Ann Trason reeled off 10 consecutive titles from 1989-1998.
Among those who opted out of the heat were a pair of originals from the earliest days of Western States - Gordy Ainsleigh and Ken "Cowman" Shirk. Ainsleigh, now 62, became the first human in 1974 to complete the course originally designed for horses in the Tevis Cup, while Cowman, 65, was the second runner to complete the course in 1976.
"It's always great to see them," Trent said of Ainsleigh and Cowman, who receive automatic berths every year. "Other than Scott Jurek and Tim Twietmeyer, people get their photos taken with Gordy and Cowman most."
Living up to his name, Trent said Cowman let out an occasional "moo" during the post-race awards ceremony.
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