Traer Blazes to Runner-Up Finish at Cascade Crest 100
Fast times were to be expected at the Cascade Crest 100-Mile Endurance Run. After all, defending champion Jesse Lang was back for the race on Saturday, Aug. 27, in Easton, Wash., a year after recording the second-fastest time in course history.
Adding to the speed factor was that Scott Traer made the cross-country trip from Woburn, Mass., to tackle the mountain race with more than 22,000 feet of vertical gain. Throw in speedy Texan Paul Terranova from Austin – a top-20 finisher at Western States in June and the runner-up at the Rocky Raccoon 100 in February – and another Western States top-20 finisher, Benjamin Bucklin of Spokane, Wash., and the competition was stout.
Lang and Traer distanced themselves from the field and broke away to record top-10 all-time performances in the 18-year history of the event. Lang, 32, of Richland, Wash., successfully defended his title by winning in 18:32:56, good for the sixth-fastest time in course history. Traer, 35, clocked the 10th-fastest time ever on the course as he placed second in 18:59:15.
Terranova, 42, was a distant third in 20:22:04, and Bucklin, 38, finished fourth in 20:34:28.
Of the 127 finishers, 20 finished in less than 24 hours. That included women’s champion Krissy Moehl of Bellingham, Wash., who finished 13th overall in 22:22:18 – the seventh-fastest time by a female on the course.
Three more runners from Massachusetts also completed the race and earned finisher’s belt buckles. Samuel Jurek, 29, of Oak Bluffs, Mass., finished 78th overall in 30:53:14, and Brian Tjersland, 49, of Dartmouth, Mass., was close behind in 31:03:58, good for 81st place. For Tjersland, it was a quick turnaround after completing the Vermont 100-miler just six weeks earlier.
Additionally, 18-year-old Nicole Ponte of Dartmouth, Mass., added the biggest prize so far to her rapidly growing list of ultramarathon finishes as she completed her first 100-mile race in 33:16:55.
Larson 2nd at ADK 80K
Daniel Larson made his presence felt at the inaugural running of the ADK 80K on Saturday, Aug. 27, in Lake Placid, N.Y.
The Cambridge, Mass., resident, who finished 11th overall at the Vermont 100-miler in July, raced near the front of the field the entire day en route to a second-place finish in 7:58:40.
Ryan Jones, 37, of Morrisville, Pa., was the event champion in 7:20:07, and Brian Nephew, 40, of East Hampton, Conn., finished third in 9:03:24. Along with Larson, they were the only runners to finish the race in less than 10 hours.
Thirteen runners started the race, and 10 finished.
The event also included a 50K race, but no Massachusetts residents were in the field.
Larson, 40, is next slated to race the Stone Cat 50-miler in November in Ipswich, Mass.
Davis Delivers Strong Showing at Tamalpa Headlands 50K
A pair of Massachusetts residents took part in the 2016 USATF 50K Trail Championship at the Tamalpa Headands 50K on Saturday, Aug. 27, in Muir Beach, Calif.
The 17th running of the event near downtown San Francisco featured some speedy performances, and the two Bay State residents earned spots in the top half of the field of 231 finishers.
Kehr Davis, 39, of Great Barrington, Mass., was the 15th-place female and 49th finisher overall as she completed the course in 5:20:34. Leslie Charles, 45, of Chesterfield, Mass., finished 111th overall in 6:34:44.
Meanwhile, some record-setting and near record-setting performances took place at the front of the pack.
The two fastest female times ever on the course were turned in as 26-year-old Megan Roche of Sunnyvale, Calif., earned the women’s championship and placed 12th overall in 4:20:51. A New Englander, 36-year-old Kasie Enman of Huntington, Vt., recorded the second-fastest time by a female on the course while finishing 13th overall in 4:23:47.
Cody Reed, 25, of Flagstaff, Ariz., was the overall winner in 3:43:51 and posted the third-fastest time in course history.
*Editor’s Note: Results are found on a variety of sites, including ultrasignup.com, UltraRunning Magazine, and official race websites. We do the best we can to find as many results as possible to report on and recognize the local ultrarunning community.
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