100 milers

 

This year the aim is to knock off Badwater and UTMB from the running Bucket List (see link right). Next year its all about 100 milers. By the end of the year however it will hopefully be clear which 100s will be run in the UK. At the moment we're limited to Caesars Camp 100 , Cotswold 100 , Lakeland 100 and the Heart of Scotland 100 . Of these the Lakeland 100 is one on the list. The heritage, terrain, natural environment, size and quality of the 100s in the States are way more appealing, so here goes for the potentials in 2011:

Umstead 100
Old Dominion 100 
Western States 100 
Vermont 100 
Leadville 100  
Angeles Crest 100 
Wasatch Front 100 
Heartland 100 
Javelina Jundred 100 
Keys 100 
Bear 100 

 

WS, Vermont, Leadville and WF make up the Grand Slam . Add Angeles Crest in the middle of Leadville and Wasatch plus Old Dominion to complete the series known as 'The Last Great Race' .

That just leaves in 2012: Hardrock 100 WILD AND TOUGH. Id do it next year (if I got through the lottery) but its the same weekend as Vermont plus I need to finish Bwater or UTMB to qualify.

 

Footnote: I found an online copy of 100 mile profiles under comparison the other day on Stan Jensens awesome website www.run100s.com. This reference Ultra Running Magazine 1988 but gives a great visual comparison of some of the bigger 100s vs Boston Marathon for example. Its kind of hard to read here but the distance and miles 0 - 100 is along the bottom. Altitude in feet is along the y axis. Boston is bottom left barely visible (heartbreak hill is the tiny kink towards the end), Old Dominion and Leadville are similar in terms of gains and losses but start at very different altitudes. Western States has the huge downhill pitch after the initial climb up Squaw. Angeles Crest and Wasatch are just extreme. Hardrock would not fit on here, its upper limit at Handies Peak after a 5000ft climb tops out at over 14,000ft: