Kansas City Trail Nerds

Psycho Psummer Trail Run

2008-07-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

Well, we pulled-off another fun and successful Trail Nerd event.

There was a lot of mud, sweat and tears at the 2nd Annual Psycho Psummer Trail Runs and Psychopathic 5K trail run. The volunteers made it happen. I'll post a longer report, later. Until then, here are some race reports to read:

2008 Race Reports:

Tony "Semper Fast" Clark (50K male winner)
Chris Hoffman (50K)
Scott Giddings (50K)
Gregg Lynn (50K)
Coleen "Cynical MudBabe" Voeks (50K)
Sophia "MudStudMudBabe" Spencer (50K)
Mickey Woolard (50K)
Adam Monaghan (50K)
Laurie "Nerdo" Euler (50K)
Jim Megerson (50K)
FunkySpunkyPenguin (50K)
Scott Hill (50K)
John (15-Mile)
KC Stine (15-Mile)
Sarge (15-Mile)
Shane Jones (15-Mile)

Mark Stovall: Complaints
Mookie Thompson (first 50K): Thanks

Results for 2008:

15-Miler and 50-Kilometer Events

5K Event

2008 Photos:

Dick Ross Photography

More Dick Ross Photos

Gary Henry's Website (w/photos)

Summer Intro Run

2008-07-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

Content by Shane Jones.

We had a good race today. It took quite a bit of work to get the course ready for race day and it was a bit short, but I think it's a sweet loop that will be fun to train on as well. I had a decent race . Definitely shoulda started a bit easier. I ran the first mile in 4th and then I blew up. I couldn't smoke the long downhill like I wanted because I was still trying to recover from the hills.

I think I finished 8th or 9th in 19:25. Some dude tried to blow by me at the finish, but he got shut down. My son Jackson and his friend Austin both ran the race and they were talking about doing the 15 mile Psummer Psycho so they can get a medal.I had to go to work after, but some of the Nerds went to work on the Psummer Psycho course. I get out there and do some work soon.

Dick Ross' photos here and here.

Webpage and results.

Trail Nerds and the Media

2008-07-03T10:05:00.000-07:00

The Trail Nerds' had an interesting "media day" yesterday.

First on the daily agenda - Kyle Amos and I were on the 10-11 a.m. Walt Bodine Show, on the local NPR affilliate, KCUR FM. Kyle had been down at Lake of the Ozarks on a family vacation, and drove-up just for the show. The show was a lot of fun...just a quiet one-hour conversation about trail and ultrarunning.

Gina Kaufman, Walt Bodine's co-host, filled-in for the absent Walt. She's very good at what she does, and picks-up on key words and subject matter quickly.

Right after the show, Carolyn from The Pitch called me. She met and interviewed me for quite a while. She's run with the Nerds a couple of times, and might do a profile/story on a couple of the Nerds. By the way, we were voted Running Group of the Year last year by The Pitch's readers.

(So far, the New York Times hasn't called to do an in-depth story on the Nerds).

By the way...the News Director (and award-winning reporter) Frank Morris, originally clued the Walt Bodine Show's producer to do a show about the Trail Nerds. Frank has participated in our events before, and seems to like our quirky ways. But then again, who wouldn't? I'm quite the news-hound and researcher myself, and found out that 15 years ago or so, Frank was quite the local Grunge-era Rocker, in a band called "Guard Rails" or (something similar). Yeah, he's quirky and cool enough to be a true Trail Nerd!

I then gathered up our new event shirts and supplies, and headed up to WyCo Park to do some trail maintenance and marking for our race, with Shane, Adam, Oscar, and CynicalMudBabe. Afterward, we went to Shane's house and his wife Brandy had prepared some munchies and beer for us, and we proceeded to get our race packet stuffing completed. The lights went out quite a few times, due to a major thunderstorm.

Quite the day.

Here's where you can either listen to or download the show we did.

Free State Trail Run

2008-05-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

Free State Trail Run
100-Kilometer, 40-Mile, & Trail Marathon
Clinton State Park, Lawrence, Kansas
April 26, 2008
Bad Ben, Race Director

It was a beautiful April morning and the weather was perfect for a nice long run. A nice long run on single-track trail would be a bonus. Add some really decent aid stations staffed by experienced ultrarunners and their families, and some beautiful finisher's hardware and technical tee-shirts, and you have an event!

Kyle Amos, after finishing 100 Kilometers
Photo by Sophia Spencer

As some of you may know, events don't just happen. They take a lot of work by a lot of volunteers. So...the day prior to the beautiful race day morning, I was at packet pickup all day long in Lawrence, followed by a blast to Kansas City to the storage unit with the U-Haul truck and then a massive loading of the truck by myself. By the time I got back out to Lawrence to the race starting area, it was after 11 p.m. I decided to sleep in the cab of the truck. I got a full 3 hours of "quality sleep," followed by some drifting in and out of consciousness. (I've never been able to sleep well the night before race-directing an ultra event).

The "Red" Trail
Photo by Sophia Spencer

I was fully awake by 4;30 a.m., so I decided to unload the truck, set up the three pop-ups and the registration area. My volunteers started showing up after 6 a.m., so I let them handle packet pickup and late registration. I had a couple of races to start, damnit!

Registration

Volunteers Extraordinaire!

Many aspiring ultrarunners enjoy Free State's offerings of 'tweener ultra distances of 40 miles and 100 kilometers, and it shows. This 2nd-annual version of this race had a substantial increase in attendance, and not just the 87 starters in the non-ultra (marathon) distance. There were 48 starters in the 40-mile, and 34 starters in the 100K. This is a "Kansas City Trail Nerd" event, but we always have some fine help at the "Farside" aid station, staffed by Stacy Sheridan and a few spunky and ultra-enlightened Kansas Ultrarunners' Society members. The "middle of nowhere" Lands End aid station always gets double duty, and was once again staffed by Stacey Amos, Caleb Chatfield, and other spectacular help.

Rich Stigall and Caleb Chatfield at Lands End Aid Station
Photo by Gary Henry

Stacy Amos at Lands End Aid Station
Photo by Gary Henry

The Driftwood Tunnel
Photo by Gary Henry

Ya Gotta be Tough! Sophia and Debbie with another marathoner.

The race started without much fanfare at 7 a.m. sharp. The two-loop 40 mile and three-loop 100K offers a few interesting spectator spots, even though the course is 100% singletrack, and fully wooded. The course had been exquisitely marked by Greg Burger, who elevates course-marking to a fine art. Leading up to the race, we had had over 2 inches of rain earlier in the week, so we knew there would be a few sloppy sections to add to the rocky and root-bound "North Shore Norm."

Muddy Section
Photo by Sophia Spencer

Clark McLemore of Springfield, Missouri didn't seem to notice the mud. He ran an all-out assault on the trail, and blazed to a new 100K course record with a time of 9:23:18. Kyle Amos, last year's 100K winner and Dan Dehlin, last year's marathon winner, finished together and took 2nd place honors. It was Dan Dehlin's first ultra, and he learned a lot from Kyle, our Trail Nerd ultra veteran. Timothy Barnes had a nice sub-10-hour third-place finish. Tammy Stone, last year's 100K female winner (and last year's Leadville 100 female winner), came back to take 1st place again in the 100K. Her sister, (Cindy Stonesmith) took some convincing by the race director (me) to go out for her final 21-mile loop, but she was glad she had; she earned a 2nd place finish.

Kyle Amos & Dan Dehlin are finished.

The 40-mile distance had a very close race going on. Michael Adams of Manhattan Kansas smashed his old course record by 21 minutes and finished in 5:33:45. He had Gregg Buehler nipping at his heels. Gregg finished just 3 seconds behind! David Wakefield slid into third, followed by John Richardson. Lisa Trainor of Maple Grove, Minnesota blew-away the old 40-mile female record by well over 2 hours, with a time of 6:03:02! Just fifteen minutes behind her, Roxanne Zobava took 2nd. Local Trail Nerd, Emily "Mud Doc" Horn finished third, still ahead of last year's heat-zapped winning time.

Everybody had fun in the party-like environment. Trail Nerds like to have fun, and we really enjoy helping others to have fun at our events. Even though there were many successes, there were a few runners that had a not-so-spectacular-day on the course. For the last five 100K competitors, this was the case, indeed. Two of these were eager 100K first-timers. I had to pull them off of the course slightly before 1 a.m, in a driving (and cold) rainstorm. They had mixed feelings about it; they were happy to see me, but were upset they didn't finish the 100K. Next time's a charm, ladies!

Gary Henry adds: "Boy, you think you know a trail. You lavish hundreds, maybe thousands of running hours on it, in all seasons and weathers, flowery to desolate, muddy to snowy, dry to muddy, muddy to muddy. You pick up the trash. You clean it after races. You photograph it. You brag to all your friends how beautiful the trail is. And then, in the big race, in front of the people you most want to impress – ultrarunners from across the nation – your lovely little trail beats the snot out of you."

Andy Weinberg with daughter Gracie...marathon finishers!

Cynical Mud Babe (Coleen), on her way to her first marathon finish!

Kyle (with Dan behind)
Photo by Sophia

Sophia gives the trail a hug (unexpectedly)

The Kearney Klan in a huddle.

Conga Line of Runners
Photo by Gary Henry

Jim Davis Finishes.

More Photos by Gary Henry

Website

Race Results

April 1st Trail Nerd News

2008-04-01T08:06:00.000-07:00

Dick Ross (runner's photographer), being impressed with the recent "Bodies Revealed" collection on display at Union Station, has decided to use X-Ray cameras at the next Trail Nerds event.

Bad Ben put instant coffee in a microwave oven, and almost went back in time. He was quoted as saying, "my new race strategy almost worked...it may take some refinement. Expect great things from me, if I can just fix this darn Flux Capacitor."

Greg "LeCompton G" Burger has a new (successful) weight loss system. He shed 7 pounds, just by leaving one pocket of his Nathan pack empty on his last training run.

Dean Karnazes will attempt to break Kyle Amos' 100-Kilometer record at the upcoming Free State Trail Run in Lawrence, wearing only a jock strap, body paint, North Face shoes, and a toothy grin.

Results are in! And Chief Mud Babe, (Sophia Wharton-Spencer-AnchorWoman) has won the Bad Ben look-alike contest. (Winners were picked at random).

Scott Jurek is rumored to have spiked his vegan shake with Spirulina grown by European astro-scientists on the International Space Station. Supplement companies are scrambling to place wholesale orders for the $10 million per gram supplement.

The Trail Nerds have a new race sponsor, "Pricilla's." But will edible panties catch on as an aid station food?

Kevin Patrick Allen (of Endurance Planet fame) is being sued by Lucas Films LLC, for being a "Pod Racer."

Emily Horn reportedly loves the North Shore Trail in Lawrence, and may ask it to "go steady." She was quoted as saying, "I've never fallen for something so hard, since the Winter thaw."

Dr. Jesse Walden will be performing a "massage ultra" at two of our upcoming events. His hands have more miles on them than the Shuttle "Endeavor."

Bowing to criticism from Politically Correct Semanticists, the Trail Nerds will rename some of their events to have less-extreme sounding names. Expect next year's February event to be called the "Neuro Wyco, Walk Toto Walk."

Have a happy April Fools Day!
Bad Ben

Red Bridge Ramble Trail Race

2008-03-12T08:48:00.000-07:00

Race Details:
Vasque Red Bridge Ramble 8-Mile Trail Run
03/09/2008 (Sun)
8:00 a.m. Shelter #1, Minor Park, Kansas City, MO Trail run with river crossings.
This is always a low-key, high-fun family event, all for just an $8 entry fee.

2008 Race Report
Ben Holmes, RD

This year's Red Bridge Ramble was a little different. We had to re-route the course and eliminate our usual crossings of the Blue River, which was flowing fast and deep. The course was a Garmin-305-measured 6.84-miles, so we'll call it an "even" seven.

The participants feet still got wet at "appropriate intervals." Just as your feet would start to dry out, you would hit another water crossing. There was no mud...it was cold and "crunchy" on the trails.

We had the same number of entrants as last year...80; even though the weather was colder, there was a time change, and the course situation was "tentative." Everybody seemed to have a good time!

Thanks again to our sponsors:
Vasque, GoreTex, Garry Gribble's Running Sports, and Dr Jesse Walden, DC.,
Dick Ross (SeeKCRun.com).

And thanks to our wonderful volunteers:
Course setup: Rich Stigall, Shane & Jackson Jones, and me.
Course check-out: Kyle Amos, Caleb Chatfield
Course cleanup: Kyle Amos, Caleb Chatfield, Josh Pool, Emily Horn, Gabe Bevan, John King, Rick Mayo.
Finish Line and Pre-race: Kyle Amos, Caleb Chatfield, Dave Suptic, Ann Kohn, Kevin Pinkowski, and me.
Cheering section: Pat Perry and kids.

Dick Ross' Photos:
Action Photos are here
Fun Photos are here ..
Finish times are here
Photos by Dick Ross, SeeKCRun.com

Race Results for 2008

Psycho Runs Race Report

2008-02-26T07:17:00.000-08:00

4th Annual Psycho Wyco Run Toto Run
and Psychopathic 5K
Feb 9, 2008
by Ben Holmes, Race Director

The fourth annual Psycho Wyco event was once again a well-executed Fun-Fest, hosted by our fun-loving flock of Kansas City Trail Nerds. The wooded and hilly three-loop course consists of bridle trails & single-track trails, with just a skosh of pavement. The course's trails can be very challenging, due to rocks & roots and the sometimes muddy conditions, and the constant barrage of rolling hills. But remember, as the race motto states, "This is Kansas, so how tough could it really be?" In spite of the toughness of this course, Psycho Wyco still draws a fair number of first-time 50K runners.

Since it's a 10.35 mile loop course, we also offer a 10-mile and 20-mile option. This year, we added an additional and separate 5-kilometer race, on an out-and-back course.

Rick Mayo, 3rd Place 50K Male
Photo by Dick Ross

Weather is always a factor in the Midwest, at this (or any) time of year. Last year, we had an inch of ice on the course, and had to resort to NASCAR-inspired pit stops, staffed with "shoe-screwing" technicians wielding cordless drills, with attitude. This year, we had a week of snowfall prior to race day. On race day, the temperature started-out at about 28 degrees, but it warmed-up into the forties in a hurry. At the same time, there were three additional distance events going-on, with a total of over 400 participants. So by the third loop, the runners experienced quite the Midwest Mudfest Extrordinaire, stirred-up by a veritable Cuisinart of 800-plus runners' feet. Woo-hoo! Thirty-five of the 108 event starters decided to take the twenty or ten-mile option, in fact.

Gena Bonini, 1st Place 50K Female
Photo by Dick Ross

Despite the slippery course conditions, there was a new course record set in the men's race of 4:19:46, by first-time ultrarunner Mattew Laye, of Columbia, Missouri. He led the 50K field from the start, and was never really challenged during the race. The battle for 2nd place was fought by Matt Becker and Rick Mayo, with Matt toughing-out a solid sub-five-hour performance. Rick, a veteran Trail Nerd, has improved his race times significantly this past year, and ran a smart race with a lot of heart. In the female race, St Louis Ultra Grrl, Gena Bonini (45) took first place, followed by Katie Spaeth (26), of Kansas City, Missouri. Jacque Jackson of Lee's Summit, Missouri took third-place honors.

Matthew Laye, 1st Place 50K Male in 4:19:46!
Photo by Dick Ross

Last year's first and second place finishers, Caleb Chatfield and Kyle Amos respectively, staffed the Famous Amos Family aid station, this year. Kyle and several of the Nerds, including myself, had run in the Rocky Raccoon 100-mile race the weekend prior, and those same Nerds ended up working our Psycho event. Having the experienced "ultra talent" staffing aid stations and performing the special duties required to pull-off a successful ultra event, sure helps! Only ultrarunners know what ultrarunners want and need at an event.

Photo by Dick Ross

We had many Trail Nerds finish their first 50K at this year's Psycho Wyco event. Emily Horn, Travis Spears, Jeremy Bunch, Laurie Euler, Heather Wyckoff, and James Burlingame were all first-time ultrarunners. James' longest run prior to his first 50K was 10 miles. He toughed it out, and finished with a 50-kilometer-wide smile on his face. Laurie finished, holding back tears. Emily raced the last 30 yards to the finish line like a "woman possessed." It was fun seeing so many first-timers finish, despite the course conditions and difficulty. It says a lot about the aid station volunteers, and the help they can provide.

Many Psycho Wyco runners opted for the 10 or 20 mile courses. Some of those dropped down to those distances from longer distances. But we had three runners "bump-up" to the 50K ! One of those runners, (Jeff Behrens) didn't want to be counted in the 50K results, and did an extra lap, just for the fun of it. You've got to love that! We also had Duke Stamper, (a canine trailrunner) do the 20-miler, while pulling his buddy (James) along.

We added a new 5K event this year, and called it the Psychopathic 5K. It started at the same time as the other events, but was on a different out and back course. It was a tough 5K, and that's evidenced by the finish times recorded. Jeremy Covey, of Cameron Missouri was first male overall, in a time of 23:46. First female honors went to Christina DeHamer of Overland Park, Kansas, in a time of 31:27. Keep in mind that Jeremy usually finishes a paved 5K in seventeen minutes and change, and Christina usually finishes a paved 5K in under 22 minutes. And a few entrants took over 45 minutes to finish. Proof positive that this course is tough!

The long-sleeve technical shirts and the mugs for the 5K were a different design and color from the other races. Jason Crosby came up with another terrific design that "pops-out" at you.

The motto for the Psychopathic 5K is, "the psychopath of least resistance is uphill on the way back." The race lived up to it's motto, and then some. I was pleasantly pleased with having over 100 entrants sign-up for this first year 5K event in the middle of a Midwest Winter.

All of the events went smoothly and everybody seemed to be having a lot of fun. Having amenites like homemade soup, cookies and the Amos Family "Scoobie Snacks" was a plus. James Barker did an excellent job once again with his homemade chicken noodle soup and his vegan lentil soup. Vicki offered her much-raved-about vegan bean soup at the main aid station to all of the finishers.

Our sponsors really stepped-up to the plate: Krispey Kreme doughnuts and Starbucks Coffee (Shawnee Mission & Monticello location) helped keep our bellies warm and toasty. Vasque trailrunning shoes was the series sponsor. Dick Ross and his helper took over 1100 photos. Garry Gribbles Running Sports provided gift certificates and an awesome packet pickup location. Dynamic Earth gave away Vasque shoes and some high-quality outdoor equipment items fit for the trail. Dirty Girl Gaiters provided some colorful prizes. Raul Flores' RaceDay Timing Solutions provided timing and results for the events. Skye Livingston offered Psycho Psports massage for free and at reduced prices. And Dr. Jesse Walden was once again providing Active Release Techniques to alleviate pain for many of the runners.

This event just keeps getting better and more people want to enter it, each successive year. It's all because of the great volunteers and our active group of Trail Nerds and their families. As Peg from Team Garmin said, "The course was well-marked, volunteers were great, aid stations and finish line amenities were plentiful. And we all loved the homemade soup at finish and the cool schwag—dog tag finishers’ medals, mugs and tech race shirts. Exceptional job. We’ll be back next year."

We also had some very good comments, including:
"I really appreciate your race and all that goes in to managing it. I am especially impressed with how the back of the packers are treated. This was my 268th ultra or marathon and I rank your race as #1 for all aspects of race spirit and organization. Thank you."- Les Martisko Ph.D.

Happy trails,
Bad Ben

More photos, race reports and information can be found on the race's web page.
All photos below, by Dick Ross.

Pre-Race Briefing with Bad Ben.

Psycho Wyco Race Start

The shirt for the Psycho Wyco Race.

Shirt for Psychpathic 5K race.

Eudora Cross Country Girls

On the course.

Angela Shellito shows off her event shirt.

Emily Horn finishes her first 50K.

Team Garmin

Matt Becker, 2nd Place 50K Male, and all-around nice guy.

Jackson Jones with his mom Brandy. Jackson finished the 10-mile course!

Jacque Jackson, 3rd Place 50K Female

Kendall Hughes and Jeff Behrens

Duke gets his finisher's medal.

Up and coming Trail Nerd, getting a taste for the gold.

More photos, race reports and information can be found on the race's web page.

Trail Nerds Have Been Busy, Busy, Busy

2007-11-26T07:29:00.000-08:00

This past month, the Kansas City Trail Nerds have had a lot of fun.

On Veteran's Day, November 11th, we had a little 4-mile race in Wyandotte County Lake Park. Sixty runners showed up to honor our veterans and to raise money for the Nathan Jones Recovery Fund.

Nathan Jones, a third grader from Gardner, KS had extensive surgery recently after his optometrist discovered a large white mass that was later determined to be a brain tumor. Nathan is presently experiencing paralysis on the right side of his body and his prognosis remains unknown. Nathan continues to make improvements but it could be a very long and expensive process during his stay in the hospital. His father is taking an unpaid leave from his job to be with Nathan but still needs to pay his monthly insurance premiums. Proceeds from this race went toward off-setting the cost of the insurance premiums.TRAIL RUNNERS ARE GENEROUS! We raised $609 dollars for Nathan's cause.

More information and photos are here.

On November 16 & 17th, the Trail Nerds helped set up Nathaniel's Run Ultramarathon, a 24, 12, and 6-Hour Solo & Relay run. A few Nerds participated, also.

It was a Trail / Cross Country Run that began on Friday, November 16th at 6pm. The course was a 1.3-mile loop course in Shawnee Mission Park on grassy, rooty, easy to moderate difficulty with some hills in mainly open, slightly wooded area.

Proceeds from Nathaniel's Run Ultramarathon benefitted the Flint Hills Therapeutic Riding Center, Inc. (FHTRC). The center is dedicated to improving the quality of life for anyone with a physical, mental or emotional disability through therapeutic riding and hippotherapy. Hippotherapy requires licensed and trained physical, occupational or speech therapists using the horse to influence the client’s movement, and combines therapeutic riding with formal therapy exercises that help clients improve confidence, strength, flexibility and balance.

You can see more here.

On Sunday, November 25th, a few Trail Nerds participated in Lou Joline's and the Blue Springs Runners' "Dude, Where's the Trail?" run. This run is a "fun run," and not a race. You leave with your team in wave start, and have to follow 4 pages of instructions and maps for the not-so-well-marked course. In this fun endeavor, there's a lot of bushwhacking involved (with no trail). Last year, my group put in an additional 4 or 5 miles from a wrong turn. We did pretty well, this year.

Our team this year consisted of Kyle Amos, Patrick Perry, Trish Williams (for 18 miles of it), and me. Rick Mayo, Gabe Bevan, and several other Nerds were also in attendance.

My photos are here.

Come out and join us for a trail training run, sometime. We have up to eight scheduled runs per week.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T18:14:00.000-08:00

Fall Fell 7-Mile Trail Run

2007-10-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

Fall Fell 7-Mile Trail Run, Race Report:

This was the first-ever (official) off-pavement event at Kill Creek Park. It was a low-key FUN trail race, like many of our smaller events. The Kill Creek Trail system is fairly technical, and has roots, rocks and two stream crossings, during the event. It's a beautiful park...you need to check it out, if you haven't been there before. Course Map

On race day, we raised $214 for ERTA for trail maintenance, despite our low $8 entry fee. Many gave more than $8, and we kept expenses low.

RESULTS, including "1st Knitter" and "1st Guy with a Cool Name"

Here are Dick Ross' photos

Remember, these thumbnail shots are free, but you can purchase "the big ones" at his web site.
I'll post a link (soon) to the photos that I took out on the course. Check the site later.

Many thanks to the volunteers, and to Shane Jones for helping me mark the course the night before. I've never known a guy that could keep a cigar lit while running on the "Eddy Trail" with his hands full.

Shane Jones

Fall Fell 7-Mile Trail Run
10/21/2007 (Sun)
Shelter #1, Kill Creek Park
Olathe, KS
Race web site

Some comments from participants:

What a great park and a great run. Even though it wasn't my best run ever, I had tons of fun. And I'm quite proud to be 1st Knitter (thanks, Ben). It doesn't get any better than this. Running in the woods, through creeks, over rocks and roots, under low handing branches, between trees, up the dry creek bed and then back again. Zippety doo dah!
- Cheri Sutton

All,
Thanks to everyone who put on this race. It was a great event. The course was excellent, challenging, and well-marked. The water (meaning, the 30-foot wide gushing stream through which we passed not once but twice) was highly refreshing. The post-race donuts sealed the deal.
Thanks again
J. Erik Hartel

Happy trails,
Bad Ben
http://psychowyco.com/

Race Directing & Quantum Mechanics...

2007-07-19T13:35:00.001-07:00

Race directing an ultra-distance event is both extra-tough and extra-rewarding at the same time. But the planning, preparation, and execution, doesn't always roll-out in a linear fashion. Sometimes I think that Quantum Mechanics and Ultra race directing have a lot in common. Both have their own versions of inherrent randomness and that ever-present "uncertainty principle" lurking in the background.

Uncertainties creep into the picture throughout the whole process. Will the event shirts be finished on time? Did I order enough, since I had to guestimate the total number one-month prior, based upon 12 entries? Will the medals show up on time, and will they look great, crappy, or just so-so? Will we have Severe Weather during the event? Will someone get struck by lightning or have a tree fall on them? Will someone fall down and severely bust their ass, this time? Will someone get bit by a snake, get Lyme's Disease from a tick bite, have an allergic reaction to a bee sting, fall face-first into poison ivy, have a heart attack, or get heat stroke? Will we be prepared for all emergency contingencies? Will enough volunteers show up on race day? Will our timing devices work, or will both laptops crash beyond all retrieval? These are just a few of the uncertainties that creep into ultra race directors' little heads at night, when they should be sleeping. And forget breaking even with the money! With a first year ultra-distance event, you'll be lucky to not completely bust your race budget.

Well, along with the uncertainties, there is a lot of CERTAIN hard work that you'll have to do, also. Especially if it's an ultra run on trails. For this last little (combined) 50-kilometer and 15-mile trail race event, we had a 15.7-mile loop course in a very hilly park. Two miles of this course did not even exist four weeks prior to the event.

Yep, you guessed it. We hacked-out two miles of NEW TRAIL for this event, with the park's permission, of course. And eleven miles of the existing trail was so severely overgrown with poison ivy, stinging nettles, and branches of various trees and bushes, we had to trim those trails back with a vengeance, too.

You can't imagine the hard work that my Trail Nerds put into this race. Imagine going for a ten to fifteen mile training run on a weekend, and then sticking around to operate a weed-wacker for four or more straight hours! And while you're operating said weed-wacker, you're getting covered from head to toe with pieces and parts of poison ivy, stinging nettles, and their plant's juices, all while being eaten alive or stung by wasps, bees, mosquitos, ants, and gihugic horse flies! Basically, it was a blast.

A gaggle of Trail Nerds.
Gabe, Greg, Rick, Kyle, Josh, and Lance.

As the race date quickly approaches, there's even more work to be done. There's always the presorting of aid station and start/finish line equipment and supplies. This is based on pre-existing lists, estimated need, and wild-ass-guesses.

Right before the race, there's the job of course marking of the trail. Actually, this task is the most fun. Groups of hardy volunteers get to run with sticks, signs, marking tape, and hammers in their hands. Of course after the race, we get to take down all of this stuff. That's even more fun. We get to run on rough terrain grasping scissors and knives in our hands while carring sticks. Woo-hoo! Everything your mom told you not to do when you were a kid! I guess we could make it even more dangerous; we could be naked while doing this...hmmm. (Nah)!

Rick Mayo and Kyle Amos (Trail Marking Coordinator, course designer, and a lot of other stuff).

Gabe Bevan and his helpers.

How did this race get it's start? We kicked-around the original idea while on a trail run, of course. This is how we plan all of our races. We have a Winter version of this race in this same park, called the "Psycho WyCo Run Toto Run." That race started with just 43 runners the first year, and after three years had grown to 300. We had it in the back of our minds to do a Summer version with a radically altered course, and it finally gelled by March or so of this year, when Raul, Nancy, and I decided to personally fund the initial cost. We would call it the Psycho Psummer race (with a "P" in Summer, of course).

Kyle Amos and Shane Jones had ideas as to how we could make our (Winter) 3-loop 50K course into a two-loop 50K for our Summer event. Shane had scoped-out a section of woods that we would design and construct a trail in. Eventually this section was named "Shane's Debacle." There's a precedent for this naming procedure. My dog helped design a piece of single-track trail 3 years ago. I just followed my dog in the woods, and he took the best line up and down the hills all while using existing deer trails and favorable terrain. We built a trail there, and we call that section, "Fester's Wander." Some of our race participants would probably rather call it the "kick Bad Ben's dog" section.

Kyle is always the mastermind when it comes to the actual route and direction the course will take to end up with not only enough miles, but with enough gruesomely grueling miles, as well. Our Winter course has a lot of elevation change for a 50K held in Kansas. It tends to surprise a lot of people. The Summer 50K course ended up with even more elevation change. Yes, blame Kyle! At this point, I should lead a stirring rendition of South Park's "Blame Canada," using Kyle's name instead. But I won't. It's a beautiful course; a real keeper. It's also one of the toughest races that you'll run in the Midwest. And the Trail Nerds get to run on it all of the time!

Map of the Psycho Psummer course.

Course Profile.

There's a lot more to planning a race of this magnitude. I don't want to bore you with any more details, though. But I will let you know that our first year Psycho Psummer event lived up to it's name, and basically went off without a hitch.

All of our Trail Nerd volunteers were awesome. Prior to the race, we had out-of-towner Wynn Davis, the eventual winner of the 50K race helping to mark the course with Caleb Chatfield, champion and record holder of the Winter 50K event. In fact, many of the race's front runners helped mark the course. My buddy Pat Perry (that I paced at Western States) ran his own aid station with Caleb (and others') help. Cheri Sutton greeted all multi-loop runners with ice and cool bandanas and basically ran the main aid station. Mike Swords, James Barker, and many others performed multiple days' worth of help. People came out of the woodwork to help us, and many families of runners and volunteers were involved, too.

Caleb Chatfield and Wynn Davis

Yep, that's the kind of selfless volunteers that we always get. That's why I love trail running and ultra running. And we always have fun doing it!

Happy trails,
Bad Ben

Registration staffed by Melissa, Sue, Allison, and Mel.

Mark Jacquez using the chip reader on the finish line.
Raul and Allison keeping time in the background.

Pat Perry hauling equipment.

Mike (in yellow) and James (in blue) at their "Spillway" aid station.

Kyle and Stacy Amos are still marking the course right before the race.

Dr Jesse Walden works on a participant.

Cheri & Vicki prepare the main aid station food.

Cheri Sutton attaches an ice-filled bandana to cool a runner.

Some of the equipment needed for the race.