Rookies Rule at Western States 100; Geoff Roes Smashes Course Record

Montrail Athlete, Geoff Roes, won the 2010 Western States Endurance Run (WS100) this past weekend finishing the 100.2 mile course in 15 hours, 7 minutes, and 4 seconds, 29 minutes faster than the previous record set by Scott Jurek in 2004. Geoff, a first time racer at Western States, topped the podium after nothing less than an all-out battle between four of ultrarunning’s top competitors: Geoff Roes, Anton Krupicka, Hal Koerner and Kilian Jornet.

WS100 recap:

Serving as the grand finale to the 2009/2010 Montrail Ultra Cup season, there couldn’t have been a more dramatic race. Rookies ruled the day with the top four male finishers and the top female finisher, Tracey Garneau, each racing the course for the first time.

Geoff started off strong, taking turns leading for the first 30 miles. At the halfway point, Roes had dropped 4 minutes behind Krupicka and Jornet, with Hal Koerner a few minutes behind Roes. At this point in the race, Geoff “was not feeling good.” Never falling more than 10-12 minutes off the lead group, Roes kept on while Krupicka and Jornet continued to push eachother hard at a record-breaking pace. Around mile 60, Koerner dropped off due to muscle pain, and at mile 75, things began to look up for Geoff.

Geoff recalled, “I remember saying to Mackey (his pacer), ‘If I don’t win this race, it’s not going to be because of me. It’s because one of them runs the most phenomenal race imaginable.’ Somewhere around mile 70 to 75, it started to feel good, to flow. I finally got warmed up, I guess.” Geoff started to feel strong, just as Kilian Jornet began to fall away, eventually passing Krupicka with 12 miles to go. Krupicka said, “I thought I had it until Geoff comes blowing by at about mile 88. Geoff was just super strong. I saw him about 50 yards ahead at Highway 49, I just couldn’t get there.”

Toward the end, Geoff found himself running alone after dropping his pacer Dave Mackey. He was on the same trails where he took a wrong turn at this year’s Way Too Cool 50km, costing him the win. “As I’m coming down the trail around the Highway 49 aid station, I’m thinking ‘Follow the ribbons, don’t make a wrong turn.’ I wasn’t going to let that happen this time, but I definitely was thinking about it.” Making all the right moves, Roes secured the win smashing the course record in the process.

On the whole, it was a phenomenal day for Team Montrail, including 4 top ten finishes. Canadian runner Gary Robbins finished 6th place overall, besting his time from last year by 6 hours, and Erik Skaden finished 11th. Female Montrail runners Joelle Vaught (in her first ever 100 mile run) and Annette Bednosky (WS100 winner in 2005) finished in 7th and 8th, respectively. Luanne Park was the 13th place female and Jill Perry was 23rd.

Montrail Ultracup 09/10 Final Standings:

The 09/10 Montrail Ultracup season comes to close with Western States serving as the grand finale. As the most heavily-weighted event, the WS100 is often ‘the decider’ when it comes to crowning the overall Ultracup champions.

This year, Roes’ win catapulted him from 6th place in the overall standings up to 2nd, but it wasn’t enough to catch Glen Redpath, who ran an incredible race himself (7th place), good enough to hold on to 1st place in the standings. Rod Bien finished 3rd, Montrail’s Erik Skaden 4th, and last year’s Ultra Cup champion Victor Ballesteros took 5th place overall.

Annette Bednosky came into Western States with a lead in the Ultra Cup standings, but a phenomenal 2nd place performance by Meghan Arbogast was enough to push her into 1st place in the Ultra Cup standings by 6 points. Bednosky finished 2nd, with Pam Smith in 3rd, Jill Perry in 4th and Joelle Vaught jumping up from 11th for 5th place.

The Ultra Cup champions were crowned at the award ceremony following the WS100 race. Champions were awarded the Cup, individual trophies and $2,500 cash. Second place winners earn $1000 and third place $500. Congratulations to all for an amazing 09/10 Ultracup season!

For more information and official point standing, please visit: http://blog.montrail.com.

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