Thursday, October 1, 2009

Western States

Put my name in for the 2010 Western States lottery at 7:00 this morning. There is a two week window to get your name into the hat, and in the seven hours the lottery has so far been open, a total of 188 people have already entered the draw. With a total of 300 places on offer, the chances of getting drawn in November appear slim.

Should I fail to get into States, then the name goes into the hat for Hardrock, and I again hope to get lucky. If that fails, then I try to beat the odds again by winning a spot at States by finishing top three at Miwok in May. If I strike out three times, then it is on to plan D: Leadville.

Jumping through hoops in a bid to put myself through hours of drudgery and pain. Got to love this sport!

9 comments:

  1. I like what I'm seeing!! Would love to see you get into Hard Rock! Definitely spice up the competition!

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  2. Me too, it was over 500 at only 10am... Crossing my fingers. Thanks for the tip on Pure Zion, I'm stoked for it. My buddy and I are making the trek out to Zion for the first time.

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  3. Scott - I'm pretty sure Hardrock is more my thing than WS, and I'm secretly hoping that HR pans out, but I'd really like to give a 'fast' 100 a shot while I still have a bit of speed in the old legs.

    Patrick - Good luck with the WS lottery. The odds look horrible, but I guess 300 folks will get lucky, so why not us. BTW - good job at Steamboat the other weekend. I ran it last year and had a blast. Oh, and there's a slim chance I'll see you in Zion, but it's a tough sell to my wife as it comes just two weeks after a week in the UK.

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  4. Thanks Nick, I understand the selling the wife aspect, I had to bribe mine. Enjoy Dublin, it's my favorite european city by far, and if you haven't been, make sure to grab a Guinness at the Oliver St John Gogarty pub just on the edge of the "temple bar" district. It's got a special place in my heart as it was where I decided 2 years ago that I would start running. Also, they've got the best Irish music around on the second floor every night.

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  5. The odds for Hardrock are better then WS anyway so hopefully that works out for you. At least if you go to Miwok you can sort of control your own fate - just depends on who shows up.

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  6. Nick - Congrats on your killer run at Bear. Can't wait to hear all the dirty details - hopefully this weekend. If not, we'll have to get out for a run in the next couple of weeks.

    So yeah, the odds for HR are better, but still against. Just found out that Miwok is now a lottery (!), so now got to win a lottery to get into the qualifier. Ugh!

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  7. I will be there on Sunday - I'm actually running the 50k. You will just have to wait a few hours after you finish for me to finally finish.

    Speaking of waiting, the tiebreaker will have to wait...Johannes is transferring is entry to me.

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  8. Nick - you're officially hardcore. Looks like the 50k is shaping up to be quite the race, although I'm imagining you're planing on taking it somewhat easy. Burch and Sam Malmberg should be top two. You, Bryan Goding and Harry Harcorw (who is supposedly still 'not right' post Leadville) will likely battle for 3,4 & 5.

    I ran the Leadville Marathon three weeks after Bighorn and definitely didn't feel sharp, so I can only imagine that this will be a jog for you, but I bet you'll still be up there. Enjoy the trails and views - they're pretty sweet.

    Too bad aboout Johannes. I guess the threat of two marathon beat downs in quick succession was too much for him to contemplate ;-).

    See you Sunday!

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  9. Time to nut up or shut up. Go get them today Nick Clark.

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