Free State Marathon

My best marathon to date. In 2007 and 2008, I ran the 100k distance at Free State. My 100k stretch goal last year was 11-hours. Finished 11:01! This year I told Ben Holmes, the Race Director, I was scaling back to the marathon in hopes of being in better shape for the Berryman Marathon three weeks later. For two years I have been wanting to do Berryman under four hours. 07 was 4:10 and last year was 4:24. I know I can do better but I think I just haven't been recovered enough after the all out 100k efforts at Free State. It's just one of those races you can't run easy.

I explained this to Ben (the 4-hour Berryman goal) at which point he simply told me it was a lame excuse for not running the ultra. He had a specific name for me which had to do with the female anatomy. Thanks Ben. I have a name for you too.....male anatomy.

I started in the front of the pack and counted 13 runners ahead of me after about 6 miles when we looped back through the start finsih. I went back and forth between 12th and 13th for a while. The lead female, Suzie Scheer, didn't take too long to drop me. She's a stud. To my surprise, at roughly 14 miles, I caught up and passed her! I think she is the better runner but was having a rough time. This became the first race I ever beat the first place girl. I don't care what people say or think, this is a big deal. There are some tough, tough women trail runners out there. I suspect it will be a long time, if ever, that I beat the first place female in an ultra. They get tougher in the longer races.

So now I know there are a couple young, lean, gazelles in the pack ahead of me. I have no plans of catching the true studs but I think I can reel in some of these young guys. This is just how it played out. I climbed from 13th to 8th place with a 4:01 finish. I pushed hard and felt truly "on" for the entire distance. I was shooting for 4:15. Now I know I can do a sub four Berryman.

Free State is a great, great race. Ben Holmes does a superb job as do all the experienced ultra runners that support it. The trail is muddy, rocky, hilly, and there are water crossings. Awesome! Unfortunately for some of the 100k runners, the race was shut down due to lightning and tornadoes late in the afternoon. One guy had only three miles to finish. Bummer.

Matt and John's first true Ultra
Matt Perry and John Fralick both ran thier first 40-miler! Not an easy race for your first but they both pulled it off in good time, beating the tornadoes. John's time was actually faster than Casey and Pete's from last year.

Matt's finish. 9:15 on a goal of 9-hours.


Matt leaves a small part of himself on the trail.

John's poor feet!

Great race. If you haven't run it. Sign up early. They bring runners from all across the country and fill up fast.

Mud-babe.