Richard Burgunder – Professional Endurance Athlete

2010 NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up

rburgunder — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:25:23 +0000

For the fourth consecutive year, I had the honor to compete as an invited athlete in one of the most exhilarating athletic competitions in the world with some of the most diverse and well-trained athletes in the field. The 33rd annual NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up is one of the world’s premier tower races up a total of 1,576 steps to the Observatory deck on the 86th floor. The event is an invitation-only world class race attracting top athletes from 19 states and 17 different countries. I started in the Elite wave (runners seeded 1-99) and finished 61st among a field of 294 runners with a time of 14:46, a new PR.

The Empire State Building - 86 Floors and 1,576 Steps to the Observation Deck

It’s showtime!

Team MGD 64 Athlete

“I run on the road, long before I dance under the lights.” – Ali

Trevor Folgering getting some advice from superstar Thomas Dold. Trevor used to be a professional body builder too.

Tony brought out the big guns for the ESBRU

Elaine (USA), Thomas Dold (Germany) and Trevor Folgering (Canada)

A New ESBRU PR – 14:46

Tony, Mark and I Promoting MGD 64

Lower Manhattan from the Observation Deck

Upper Manhattan and the Chrysler Building from the Observation Deck

Thomas Dold, 25, of Germany won his fifth consecutive NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up today, tying Al Waquie of the United States (1983–87) and Paul Crake of Australia (1999–2003) for most victories in the 33-year history of this race up 86 flights (1,576 steps) to the observation deck of New York’s tallest building. Melissa Moon, 40, of New Zealand won the women’s race in her debut.

5x Empire State Building Run-Up World Champion Thomas Dold of Germany and I

The Overall Male and Female Award Winners:Men – Thomas Dold (Germany), Matthias Jahn (Germany) and Matthew Byrne (USA) Female – Melissa Moon (New Zealand), Gretchen Grindle Hurlbutt (New York) and Amy Fredericks (Connecticut) Photo by New York Road Runners© 2010

Thomas Dold (Germany) and Melissa Moon (New Zealand) – The Overall Champions

Mark and I celebrating

How high can we go? And this was after we ran 86 flights and 1, 576 stairs…

Elaine and I “Jumping”

In addition to the excitement of competing in the race, I had the opportunity to meet several very intriguing athletes from all around the world. Some really cool people that I met included Elaine, Trevor, Tim (aka “Running Raw”), the Germans and Patel. Elaine is an American endurance athlete who will be competing in the Comrades Marathon in South Africa and then three days later climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Trevor Folgering is a Canadian who’s a fitness professional, former pro body builder and also the current director of the Canadian Stair Climbing Association. Trevor hopes to implement an elite level stair climbing circuit throughout Canada that would attract extreme athletes from around the world. Tim Van Orden started “Running Raw”, a grand experiment in diet and athletic performance focusing on athletic performance athlete while eating a 100% raw vegan diet. Patel Devang is only 20 yeas old and ran an astonishing 14:26 in his first Empire State Building Run-Up. I also want to thank my ultrarunning friend, Mark Saxon, for being my VIP guest to this event and the designated photographer.

A Pyramid
Mark, Trevor (Canada), Elaine, a random Italian girl and I

Good times with some new friends

2010 NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up Medal

Thanks again to all of my sponsors, teammates, fans, friends and family for your loyal support. Your encouragement and support goes a long way!

Getting Fit with SmashFit

rburgunder — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:15:39 +0000

Richard Burgunder has joined up with SmashFit.com. SmashFit, owned by Heather Frey, is a one of a kind personal training website that uniquely matches clients with trainers. What makes SmashFit exclusive is the site’s unique matching capability. The idea is to match the client with their ideal trainer, and to match the trainer, with the ideal client. Both client and trainer will get to specify their preferences so when a match is made, they’ve basically screened each other! In other words, a SmashFit!

This week I have been chosen to be the FIRST male featured trainer along with the FIRST female featured trainer Tera Busker (Fitness To Go). This is an amazing honor and I feel incredibly fortunate to be a part of the Smash Fit Team. Head on over to the Smash Fit website and check out my profile.

GET FIT, GET HEALTHY, GET MOVING!

2010 NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up Preview

rburgunder — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:06:07 +0000

In less than two weeks, the 33rd annual NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up will kick off in New York City! The world class invitation only race will test the limits of some 315 competitors from 19 states and 17 countries as we race up 86 flights—1,576 steps—to the outdoor observation deck of the world’s most famous office building and the tallest building in New York City. This marks the 4th consecutive year that I’ve been selected to compete as an Elite athlete in such a prestigious event. Once again, this year’s Run-Up attracted a record number of applicants from all over the world and I’ll have the opportunity to compete with some of the most diverse and well-trained athletes in the field.

The Empire State Building

Defending champion Thomas Dold of Germany looks to join only two other five-time winners when he headlines the field at the 33rd annual NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up on Tuesday, 2 February.

Dold, 25, who has won the last four Run-Ups, would equal Australian great Paul Crake (1999–2003) and Al Waquie of the United States (1983–87) for most victories in this signature race on the NYRR calendar.

Crake – 9:33 – and Andrea Mayr of Austria – 11:23 – are the men’s and women’s course record holders.

Dold, who graduated in 2009 from his college in Stuttgart, Germany, is a standout in the sport of professional tower climbing, with a lengthy list of victories around the globe, his own website, and several sponsors. Since December, he has commuted to Frankfurt twice weekly to train at the Main Tower, a skyscraper that is 200 metres tall (52 floors and nearly 1,000 stairs).

Cindy Moll-Harris, 41, of Indianapolis, will once again aim for her fifth title. Moll-Harris is the only woman to have won the race four times (1998, 2000, 2001, and 2003).

Ginette Bedard, 76, of Howard Beach, NY, and Piero Dettin, 72, of Venice, Italy, are the oldest female and male participants entered in the race. On the other end of the age spectrum, 24-year-old Kacie Lauren Fischer of Shell Beach, CA, and 18-year-old Anthony John Scimone of Lakeland, FL, are the youngest competitors.

A total of 288 runners finished the 2009 invitational race, the second-most behind the 2008 event’s 308 finishers.

For more information, contact New York Road Runners (NYRR) or The Empire State Building.

For those of you in the New York City metro area, come join us post race for a healthy meal at my sponsor, Nature’s Grill Café, located in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Nature’s Grill Café is a juice bar health conscious kitchen serving health foods of the highest quality ingredients.

2009 XTERRA Trail Running World Championship

rburgunder — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 01:55:19 +0000

For the 2nd consecutive year, I had the extraordinary opportunity to compete in the XTERRA Trail Running World Championship held at Kualoa Ranch in Oahu, Hawaii. This year’s event brought together a world-class field of 1,100 runners from 35 states and nine countries participating in the 5k, 10k and 21k World Championship races, which were a benefit for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation of Hawaii. The 21k course was extremely challenging, but also very beautiful as it featured several pristine views out into the Pacific Ocean and surrounding Ka’a'awa Valley. The most brutal part of the course was that it featured 3,000 feet of elevation gain and many extremely steep ascents. The terrain was vast, from dirt roads, grass fields, technical muddy single track trails and even through the dense rain forest of Hakipu`u Valley at Kualoa Ranch.

Ka’a'awa Valley, Kualoa Ranch

As compared to the 2008 race, the conditions this year were much more difficult. On race morning, it was very hot and the sun was out in full. Despite the course being slightly shortened, it also proved to be more difficult with the addition of several long and steep climbs.

The start was fast, very fast, as we quickly descended down a small hill and then hit the first series of climbs about 1200 meters into the race. I had a very strong start and felt great, until I hit the second hill. At this point, I began to have some cramping and stomach issues. Over the next couple of miles I worked through them and then got my rhythm back about six miles into the race.

The Mountains Surrounding Kualoa Ranch

Volcanic Origin Mountains

The second half of the 21k World Championship race proved to be the most grueling, as were hit several steep climbs that eventually led to a single track trail through the rain forest. This has always been one of my favorite parts of this race since it offers everything that make’s XTERRA what it is, and showcases a breath taking view out into the Pacific Ocean! Just like last year, I was so tempted to stop for a while to appreciate the amazing views of the numerous small old volcanic islands that were clustered all over the coast of Oahu.

After breaking out of the rain forest, runners are greeted by a long and steep decent, followed by a couple of miles of single track trails through fields, some small streams, forest and a downhill sprint to the finish.

International Flags

The Finish Line

Coming out of the woods, I put my kick in and came through with about the same time as in 2008. While it might not have been the finish that I was expecting, I was pleased despite my struggles throughout the early portion of the race. I ended up finishing 67th overall and 4th out of 36 runners in the Men’s 30-34 Age Group. The field was definitely much more competitive than last year and the overall experience was amazing.

Me, Post Race

Angel and I

Me, Post Race

Angel and XTERRA All-Star Athlete, Amy Eck

Angel, Post Race

Angel and I spent about a week in Hawaii and were fortunate to experience many of Hawaii’s treasures. Prior to World Championships, we went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay and swam with three beautiful sea turtles and countless numbers of exotic fish, including a Puffer fish. Snorkeling in one of the most exotic reefs in the world was an exhilarating experience, despite having to swim through heavy current and maneuvering razor sharp coral.

Hanauma Bay

In addition to spending a day at Hanauma Bay, we also walked and ran on Waikiki Beach and got to experience the massive 40-foot waves on the North Shore. This was the first time in years where the world famous “The Eddie” surfing tournament was held due to the change of ocean currents generating immense swells over a couple of days. The competition attracted the best surfers from around the globe. The waves were a truly spectacular thing to witness.

40-Foot Waves, The North Shore

Surfers, The North Shore

Three Tables, The North Shore

Sunset Beach, The North Shore

The Quiksilver “Eddie Aikau” big wave surfing event

Me, The North Shore

Angel and I, The North Shore

Waikiki Beach

Angel and I, Waikiki Beach

Waikiki Beach

Diamond Head

Waikiki Beach

The North Shore

XTERRA Staff Janet Clark, Emily McIlvaine and I

Special thanks to XTERRA for hosting another spectacular event and my sponsors, friends and family for all of your support through this amazing race season, XTERRA athlete Rachel Cieslewicz for not letting me give up early into World Championships when times were tough and all of my supporters and fans – If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be where I am now. Thank you PowerBar for all of the great nutrition products and the Gel Blasts have saved the day more than once this past season! Thanks SUGOI for making high quality competition gear; I loved the RSL Top that I used at Worlds. Thank you Deepak for your very professional and stellar athlete travel services. If anyone is ever looking for high quality and very reasonable travel to an exotic race location, make sure that you check out Premium Plus Sports. And thank you to my sports agent, Allen, at Platinum Sports Entertainment Group, Inc., for your diligent hard work in helping my athletic career excel.

2009 XTERRA Trail Running World Championship Preview

admin — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 13:53:00 +0000

In less than a week, the 2nd annual XTERRA Trail Running World Championship will kick off in beautiful Oahu, Hawaii! The world class race will be held in the majestic Kaaawa Valley at Kualoa Ranch, located on the northeastern side of Oahu. There are over 3,000 feet of elevation gain as the course goes up several steep climbs throughout mountains, open fields and tropical rain forest. Last year, more than 800 runners from 32 states and eight countries participated in the 5, 10, and 21km events. I finished 33rd overall out of 358 runners and am seeking a top 10 finish this year. To add to the excitement, my girlfriend Angel King will also be competing in the World Championship race. This will be my 8th XTERRA event of the season that was highltighted by winning the title of 2009 XTERRA New England Trail Run Series Regional Champion.

Kualoa Ranch

XTERRA Trail Running World Championship Preview:

This year’s race will feature quite a few elite athletes such as Max King (2x XTERRA Trail Running National Champion and 2008 World Champion), Ben Bruce (Runner-up at XTERRA Trail Running National and World Championships), Heather Fur (Ironman World Champion), Cindy Anderson (2008 XTERRA Trail Running World Champion), Melanie McQuaid (3x XTERRA Triathlon World Champion), Richard Burgunder (2009 XTERRA New England Trail Run Series Regional Champion) and many more.

Max King and Ben Bruce

King is a three-time member of the Team USA World Cross Country team and both he and Bruce ran in the 3000 meter steeplechase at the Olympic Trials.

Registration and Packet Pick Up:

The event is open to everyone. Registration will be open until December 5th and all levels of runners are welcome to compete.

Online registration will close and mail-in entries must be received by Wednesday, December 2. Packet pickup and walk-up registration will take place on Saturday, December 5th from 10am to 6pm at the Waikiki Beach Walk. There will also be packet pickup on race day at Kualoa Ranch starting at 7am, sorry no race day registration will be available.

This year we are offering a discount for Active Duty Military. Valid ID must be shown at packet pickup.

The first 900 runners total from all races (5/10/21km) will receive a t-shirt

For more information, contact Emily McIlvaine at XTERRA/Team Unlimited.

XTERRA/TEAM Unlimited
720 Iwilei Road #290
Honolulu, HI 96817
P: (808)792-2611
F: (808)538-0314
emily@xterraplanet.com
www.xterraplanet.com

About the XTERRA Trail Run Series:

XTERRA is on a mission to produce the most recognizable, enjoyable, root slipping, mud hopping, tree ducking, river crossing, hill climbing, dirt on your shirt, sweat in your eye trail runs this side of Grandma’s house!

More than 50 races across the U.S. comprise the XTERRA Trail Run Series and offer age group athletes the opportunity to become regional champions. We’ll also crown National Champions in Bend, Oregon on September 13 and World Champions in Hawaii on December 6.

Along the way XTERRA Trail Runs give back to the community by involving not-for-profits as beneficiaries at our events.

2009 USA 50 Mile National Championships

admin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:30:00 +0000

For the 2^nd straight year I ventured to my old training grounds in Central, PA for the 2009 USA 50 Mile National Championships. The race takes place on fire roads (74% dirt, 26% paved) in Rothrock State Forest. Terrain includes uphill, level and downhill grades, with shaded and open segments and some overlook vistas. The course takes in Whipple Dam State Park, Alan Seeger Natural Area, Penn Roosevelt State Park, Colyer Lake and Bear Meadows Natural Area with a total elevation gain of 5,035 ft! This area is absolutely beautiful, especially in the fall and is literally an outdoors paradise.

Elevation Profile: Gain of 5,035 feet!

Throughout the year while driving in between Pittsburgh, State College and NYC, I would make frequent stops at Tussey Mountain to run the first couple legs of the race. Since there’s also an extremely popular 50 Mile Relay held annually in conjunction with the ultramarathon, the race is broken down into stages. This year’s relay alone had close to 90 teams, which is a record number. However, the athletes competing in the ultramarathon (Championship and Tussey Mountainback) were slightly down this year to about 100.

Over the course of the year, I would train vigorously on the infamous leg one of the course that includes a very steep 3.2 mile switchback with an immediate elevation gain of about 1,000 feet. I would run anywhere from 2-3 repeats at a time at 5k pace and felt extremely confident about the first phase of the ultramarathon.

The course

On race morning, it was about 50 degrees and a heavy fog blanketed the mountains. Unlike last year, it was substantially warmer and ideal race conditions.

Immediately after the start, I jumped out with Todd Braje (represented Team USA at the 100K World Cup in June) of CA and Andrew Bartle (runs professionally for the US Marine Corps) of Johnstown, PA. I held a slight lead through the first mile and then pulled back with Andrew once Todd passed us. The three of us remained neck-to-neck until we ascended the mountain at mile 3.2 and then Todd took off on the long decent. Upon the final switchback, I looked back and realized that there was nobody in sight. The intense hill and mountain training paid off, but would I be able to hold this pace?

The start of the ultramarathon

Over the next 17 miles and up until about mile marker 20, I held the 3^rd spot overall and Andrew was less than a quarter of a mile in front of me.

It was a beautiful morning in Central Pennsylvania

Shortly after passing through Transition Zone/Aid Station #6, I started to develop some severe cramping in my calves. This would continue to be a problem for the next 10 miles and forced me to speed walk a lot during this time period. I figured it out to have been caused by the marathon flats that I wore, which likely didn’t offer enough cushion and support for someone of my size on a brutal course such as this one. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any electrolyte pills with me either and had to solely rely on the aid stations for support at this point.

Despite the cramping, I was able to come through the marathon split in a remarkable 3:29, more than 45 minutes faster than in 2008. A sub 3:30 split on this course is fantastic and a sub 7 hours finishing time was still feasible.

The infamous mile #40

The long ascent at mile 40 on leg #10

The final 10 miles of the race would prove to be agonizing, yet very enjoyable. After ascending the extremely steep and long hill that included over another 1,000 feet of elevation gain from mile 38 to 42, I regained my focus with anticipation of finishing strong. Passing through Transition Zone/Aid Station 10 is always a blessing because you will see many of the relay teams and even other ultra runners passing through there due to the out and back segment. I was extremely thrilled to see several of my friends and former PSU Triathlon teammates here, all whom offered immense support.

An amazing vista at mile #44

Refueling at the final Aid Station

After passing through the aid station, there were only 4.2 miles between the finish and I. Heading up the small gradual uphill leading into the final leg, I paced off of my friend Brody who was running his final leg of the relay. For most of the final leg of the course, I tried to stick right with him and run as consistently as possible. With less than two miles to go, I realized that I was most likely going to PR by an astonishing hour or more compared to last year’s championship! I was so excited at this point that it was difficult to even focus on the race, but gradually started increasing my pace over the final mile.

The finish line

Mt. Nittany

Brody eventually pulled a head, but another relay runner and I paced each other and he helped me pick off an ultra runner in the final 800 meters. With the final turn and Tussey Mountain Ski Resort in sight, I picked it up and sprinted through the finish line in 7:46:17. This was a 62 minute PR on this course for me and good enough for 9^th overall in the USA Championship. I earned my 2^nd USATF medal in three attempts within the past 15 months.

2009 Time: 7:46:17

2008 Time: 8:48:26

A new PR by an astonishing 1 hour 2 minutes and 5 seconds!

2009 USATF Place: 9^th

2008 USATF Place: 12^th

On a side note: My time in this year’s race would have placed me 8^th overall in 2008. The ultramarathon had about 100 finishers in the USATF and Tussey Mountainback combined. In 2008, the field was larger, but I would have placed slightly better.

Only one non USATF runner beat me, which was my old teammate from Penn State – Chris Woods. He has been training and living in Boulder, CO over the past several years and is an exceptional runner who did run for VT and PSU. Chris passed me with less than 8 miles to go, but I almost caught him in the final two miles.

USATF National Championship

Thank you to my friends and old Penn State Triathlon Club teammates who all offered tremendous support throughout the race. They include Michele, Brody, Brian, Joe, Sparky and many more. Seeing you guys out on that course was like going to heaven. You all rock!

Todd Braje of Arcata, CA won the men’s championship and Larissa Abramiuk of Wayland, MA won the women’s championship.

A great article about the race was featured in the Centre Daily Times here.

Huge congratulations to everyone who participated in the Championship, Tussey Mountainback Ultramarathon and 50 Mile Relay! Also, the Race Director, Mike Casper, did a phenomenal job once again with making this race a truly remarkable event.

Next up – XTERRA Trail Running World Championship in Oahu, Hawaii on December 6^th.

2009 XTERRA Trail Running National Championship

admin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:07:00 +0000

For the 2nd consecutive year, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Bend, Oregon for the 2009 XTERRA Trail Running National Championship. This race was the National Championship for the US XTERRA Trail Run Series and held in the trail running capitol of the USA, Bend. Nationals was a highly anticipated event for me after having such a remarkable race season to date. I was very exciting about running in Bend again, especially after being recently crowned the XTERRA New England Trail Run Series Regional Champion. My goal going into the race was to finish in the top 10-15 overall.

Bend, Oregon

After getting into Oregon early afternoon on Friday, I went out for an easy six mile run along the Deschutes River. It was a beautiful evening and the water looked like glass. During my run, I observed some trout jumping, kayakers and several other people running. After a long flight, this was an extremely relaxing experience that gave me the opportunity to collect my thoughts.

Come Saturday morning, I went out for another six mile tempo run and felt great! I had a good feeling about the race and was now looking forward to seeing my XTERRA/Team Unlimited friends at packet pick-up and the trail running clinic, featuring reigning National and World Champion, Max King.

Max King

Max provided some great advice about endurance training, especially for trail and mountain running. He also went into detail about some of his upcoming goals and aspirations, including to run sub 2:15 at the 2009 ING New York City Marathon.

2009 XTERRA New England Trail Run Series Regional Champion

Come Sunday, it was time to race again! I woke up feeling great and was one of the first people to arrive at the National Championship site in the Old Mill District. The XTERRA flags and banners were all up and some other athletes started to stroll in, including Don Morrison and Derek Schultz, both from eastern Pennsylvania. Don was the reigning XTERRA Masters National Champion and Derek has had a very strong race season. Earlier in the year at the Bear Creek Xduro in PA, Derek beat me by only a two minutes and was 3rd overall while I was 4th. I was hoping to pace off of him throughout most of the race.

XTERRA

Bend, OR

Don Morrison, of Eastern PA. Don was the 2008 XTERRA Masters National Champion and is also the RD of the Philly Series. He’s a great guy with an awesome new product, R3 Gel. Check it out!

The Old Mill District/Start

On Sunday morning at 9 am, the cannon “fired” and we were off! Just as expected, it was a very quick start and I jumped out right behind Max King, Ben Bruce and some others. I was feeling very confident at this point and held onto a top 10 position through the first mile or two. Shortly before the 2nd mile, I developed some serious complications and my body practically shut down. I tried to shake things out, but nothing was working and I was forced into a slow jog and then even had to stop for a while. Shortly after I stopped, an awesome couple from Lake Tahoe that was biking along the course offered me some water, gel and a ton of motivation. They encouraged me not to drop out, despite my race being virtually ruined at this point. Luckily, I followed their advice and started off with a slow jog and gradually picked up the pace. A couple of miles later, I saw them again and they were extremely supportive and said that I was looking much better. This was very inspirational to me and I developed the courage to look at my watch to see how much damage was really done. To my surprise, I only lost about 10 minutes. This was still a lot, and certainly in a 21k race, but definitely not the end of the world. There was now some hope and I set out to salvage a respectable race. After all of my success during the year, there was no way that I’d throw it all away now by quitting. Champions don’t quit – no matter what!

Finishing Strong

I had a stellar 2nd half after the early complications that cost me at least 10 minutes. My 2nd half performance was by far my best ever, other than XTERRA Bear Creek, where I ran negative 10k splits. If I ran as well in the first half as I did in the 2nd, I would have finished exactly where I hoped to pre-race instead of 41st overall. Under the circumstances, I was happy with still finishing in the top 20% and will improve greatly at World Championships were I am seeking a top 10 finish.

Special Congratulations to the East Coast crew who all had amazing races. Despite an incredibly talented field from the Pacific Northwest, the east coast did make a dent with some strong performances. Derek finished 11th OA and was the No. 1 finisher from East of the Mississippi. Corrine placed top 3 in her age group and just missed top 10 OA Woman. Don placed 2nd in his age group and just missed winning another Masters National Title. Carl and I both were able to secure top 50 placings, or top 20% OA.

The East Coast crew – Corrine Banks (Philly Series Regional Champion), Don Morrison (2008 Masters National Champion, Philly Series RD), Richard Burgunder (New England Series Regional Champion), Carl Epley (Tenn. Series Regional Champion) and Derek Schultz (11th OA at Nationals, East Coast #1 finisher, he beat me by 1 place at Bear Creek)!

Don, Carl and I reflecting on the event. We were shocked how hot it got!

XTERRA staff member Janet and I – she’s awesome!

Passing Mt. Hood, en route to Portland

Only a couple of months to World Championships in beautiful Oahu, Hawaii. Can’t wait to see everyone on December 6th!

For a full race report provided by XTERRA News, click HERE!

2009 XTERRA New England Trail Run Series Regional Champion!

admin — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:23:00 +0000

What a season it’s been so far! After finishing in the top 10% overall last December at the XTERRA Trail Running World Championships held in the majestic Kaaawa Valley at Kualoa Ranch, located on the northeastern side of Oahu, Hawaii, I was poised to make a run at an XTERRA Trail Running Regional Title and a top 10 finish at Worlds. Despite minimal training and prolonged injuries and illness last fall, I came out all right, but had a lot of room for improvement. At the start of the 2009 XTERRA season, it was my goal to start it off with a bang and obtain my goals.

2008 XTERRA Trail Running World Championships

2008 XTERRA Trail Running World Championships

My first couple of competitions this year included the world famous Empire State Building Run-Up where I PR’ed with a time of 15:01 after three consecutive years of being invited to compete in that race, finishing 2nd All-time in the Cathedral of Learning Stairclimbing Endurance Challenge, held at the University of Pittsburgh and coming in 6th (1st Male 20-29) at the JC Stone 50k in Pittsburgh, PA. I came up short of my expectations in all of these events, and this was frustrating. I was hoping for a sub 14 in the ESBRU, a sub 3:30 at JC Stone, and to break the unofficial world record of 101 at the CoL Stairclimbing event. Despite nutrition issues at CoL, I was able to still climb the stairs 71x in 15 hours and 34 minutes. At JC Stone, I was running neck to neck with the leader through 20 miles and on pace for about a 3:30, until I suffered from some cramping issues over the final 8 miles. Throughout the remaining of March and early April, my training greatly improved and I was in tremendous shape with an extremely sharp competitive edge.

However, only days leading up to my first XTERRA race, I took a bad fall while running some trail intervals and broke several ribs. I felt OK for the first couple of days after the fall, other than some bad bruises and open cuts. But this would soon change and I’d be faced with some unexpected hurdles.

XTERRA Race #1

XTERRA Muddy Moose 22km

Location: Wolfeboro, NH

Date: April 26, 2009

The XTERRA Muddy Moose 22km was the first race of the New England Trail Run Series. This race was held in Wolfeboro, NH and the course was a single loop that went through bogs, logging roads, single track trails, vistas and a lot of rocks. I knew that my hands were tied coming into this race. Just days prior to the event, I had a bad fall that resulted in broking several ribs, bruising my knee and both arms. It was difficult enough breathing, but I also had a lot of pain in my legs where my skin was ripped off from the fall.

A runner sprints towards the finish line

At the start of this race, I decided to go out hard, very hard. Since there was also a four mile event that started at the same time as the 22km race, it was difficult not too go out hard. I jumped out in front early and ran with a small group of others for the first couple of miles before some severe pain set in my chest. Backing off some, I ran a more relaxed race but still help 6th place through 12 miles. With two miles to go, I began having a lot of trouble breathing and my body was shutting down. I could barely run and I knew that my lead over the rest of the pack wasn’t anything too great. Not to my surprise, I was passed over and over again. Within a matter of minutes, I fell down to about 25th place. I tried to make the most of the final miles, and struggled to the finish in 28th place overall. This was definitely not the way I wanted to start my XTERRA season, but still good enough to automatically qualify for Nationals.

Regardless, the course was insane, extreme, and totally hardcore. A lot of it was ankle or knee deep in mud, and those hills were serious. It was a very competitive race and a great venue overall. I loved the course, the competition, the area, but it just wasn’t my day. Following the race, I left for Mt. Washington and tried to climb to the summit, but there was way too much ice and I was in too much pain. Over the next couple of weeks, I took a lot of time off, endured a lot of pain (especially getting out of bed in the morning) and finally started to heal about a month later.

Place: 28th (5th Male 25-29)

XTERRA Race #2

XTERRA Richmond Cup Xduro 21k Trail Run

Location: Brown’s Island, Richmond, VA

Date: June, 2009

The XTERRA Richmond Xduro 21km Trail Run was part of the Mid Atlantic Cup weekend, held on Brown’s Island in Richmond, VA. This race consisted of a technical course that went through single track trails, climbed over an ancient Indian tribe village, along the James River and over a couple of bridges.

Course Map

The Start

There was a very competitive field of over 600 runners in this event and the start was fast. I led the race though the first couple of miles, but wasn’t expecting such a flat, fast course at first. I did gain ground later in the race and secured a 12th place finish, respectively.

Place: 12th (4th Male 30-34)

Finishing Strong

XTERRA Race #4

XTERRA Hibernia Park 8k Trail Run

Location: Hibernia Park, Coatsville, PA

Date: June 18, 2009

The XTERRA Hibernia Park 8k Trail Run is the 3rd race of the Philly Trail Run Series. Being only an 8k, this race would require a completely different strategy than the others and also more speed. On route to South Eastern Pennsylvania from Pittsburgh, there were numerous storm and flood warnings posted, including a tornado watch. This was actually kind of exciting in a way, and I was looking forward to a ‘real” adrenaline pumping cross country race that would turn out to be a mud pit.

Nasty Weather

The trip out was rainy, but I ended up meeting my friends Michele, Brody and Brian and we toed the line with the rain coming down hard. There were some stars in the mix, mostly from the Philly area, and this race ended up being much more competitive than I ever thought. After a brief sprint through the field, we ended up on a narrow single track that was saturated and extremely muddy. Everyone kept going down and it was tough to get any kind of stride going. The course was fun, exhilarating and even included a “swim” across a flooded stream!

The race to the finish was tough, consisted of a long, but gradual uphill climb on a soaking wet dirt trail and rain pelting us. I stayed strong, dug deep and held off a couple of challengers for a 7th place finish.

Place: 7th (3rd Male 20-29)

XTERRA Race #4

XTERRA Sugarbush Northeast Cup Xduro 21k Trail Run

Location: Sugarbush Resort, Sugarbush, VT

Date: July 12, 2009

The XTERRA Sugarbush Xduro 20km Trail Run was part of the Northeast Cup weekend held at the Sugarbush Resort in Sugarbush, VT. I was really looking forward to this race all year and was eager to race. After spending a week at my camp for the 4th of July in the mountains of PA, I ventured north to the Green Mountains and Sugarbush, VT. My trip up was quite exciting, and included a near head on collision with a large Moose off of highway VT 100. XTERRA let us camp on the mountain just a couple hundred yards from the race site, which was awesome. It was a windy night and my tent swayed often, but I was able to get a good night sleep and woke up ready to race.

XTERRA Northeast Cup

About 20 minutes to the start of the race, I encountered a major problem that was totally unexpected. As I was changing into my race gear, I had the car trunk open with my keys laying on top of my backpack. Then suddenly, a huge gust of wind came out of nowhere and my truck slammed shut! Due to how my car alarm is set up, the driver and passenger side doors both automatically locked up and I was now locked out of my car minutes before the race! This put me in a position where I’d be forced to race on a very technical, steep and muddy half marathon distance trail race with old training shoes, no watch, sunglasses and sunscreen. I frantically went around asking shoe vendors and others if they had a pair of race shoes that I could use, but nobody had my size. Less than 5 minutes before the race, I almost decided to scratch. I didn’t want to risk a bad performance, but deciding to compete in this race under less than ideal conditions was a decision that would later prove to be crucial, and in a good way.

One of the ski slopes that we ran

The Finish

Shortly after the start, we immediately proceeded up the mountain. The climb was extremely steep and the trails were technical. The surrounding scenery was absolutely beautiful, but the last couple of miles of the race were delusional. With about three miles to go, we passed by the finish, made another steep climb and then headed down an access road. Thinking that was the home stretch, most runners picked it up, only to find out that there was a sharp turn and another very steep climb before we actually headed down the ski slop to the finish! I was in 10th through most of the race, but gained three sports over the last couple of miles, including out kicking a good runner down the home stretch to secure a 7th place finish. I also won the Men’s 30-34 Age Group, which would turn out to be extremely important in the overall points standings come August.

Place: 7th (1st Male 30-34)

XTERRA Race #5

XTERRA Bear Creek Xduro 21km Trail Run

Location: Bear Creek Mountain, Macungie, PA

Date: July 19, 2009

The XTERRA Bear Creek Xduro 21km Trail Run was a very competitive race and the Philly Series season finale, held at the Bear Creek Mountain Resort in Macungie, PA. I had a great feeling about this race since early in the season and was looking forward to seeing some of my college and XTERRA friends there. After visiting a friend in Bucks County for the weekend, I headed up to Bear Creek early Sunday morning and ready to race.

This course consisted of a tight single track loop on the mountain that we did twice. The start was blistering fast as we heading down a field and around a couple of ponds, before a long and technical climb up the mountain. I decided to go out very hard in this race and build a gap between myself the most of the other runners. By the time I hit the summit, I was able to put a nice gap between myself and the rest of the field. Now, I just needed to catch up with the leaders. Not much changed during the first loop, but come the second one, I was slowly able to catch several runners, including two in the final half mile. After a very strong second loop, including a negative split, I was able to hold onto a 4th place finish, respectively.

Place: 4th (2nd Male 20-29)

XTERRA Race #6

XTERRA STOAKED 16km Trail Run

Location: Hanover, NH

Date: August 8, 2009

The XTERRA STOAKED 16km Trail Run was held at the world class Dartmouth XC Facility in Hanover, NH. This was a HUGE race for me because the XTERRA New England Trail Run Series Regional Champion title was on the line. Despite my poor performance earlier in the season at Muddy Moose, I was currently in 1st overall in the points standings (thanks to a strong race at Sugarbush and also winning my age group). Regardless of how I did in STOAKED, I still pretty much had the points title wrapped up. I just needed to finish relatively strong, try to place in my age group or finish respectively within it. This was an exciting weekend for many of reasons other than the fact that the title was on the line. My buddy McKinley took the trip with me and we also intended on climbing Mt. Washington the next day.

Storrs Pond

Due to the location of this event, I knew that the competition would most likely be very stiff. There’s many exceptional trail runners in New England and many of them in this particular area. The course looked tough and I heard rumors that there was a ton of ankle to knee deep mud. What I didn’t realize, was that the course would start off by going up an extremely steep mountain followed by several more smaller climbs. While standing on the line, I saw a couple of familiar faces from Sugarbush and other XTERRA events. Once the gun went off, I went out with another runner who won Sugarbush and we led for over a mile. However, I immediately realized that I didn’t feel as strong as I did in past races and slowly started to back off of the lead. My legs felt dead and my body exhausted. I knew at this point that I wasn’t going to have a knock-out race, so I just tried to position myself into a relaxed pace and decent finish. Over the next couple of miles, things only got worse as I was passed by many more runners and now barely in the top 20.

5km to Go

Just like in most other races, I started to get my rhythm back later in the race. With about 5km to go, I started making a couple of moves and passed a handful of runners and held off any other challengers. It was a sloppy race for me, but I still managed to finish well in the top 20 percentile and most likely secure the XTERRA New England Trail Run Series points title. I thoroughly enjoyed racing on the STOAKED course and it was an intense race that had a great mixture of terrain. The Dartmouth Cross Country course is definitely pretty hardcore and I’ll be back next year!

Place: 19th (7th Male 30-39)

Regional Champion!

With the XTERRA regular season now over with, I waited on confirmation of whether I ended up winning the regional title or not. To my excitement, I received official confirmation and was officially named the 2009 XTERRA New England Trail Run Series Regional Champion! I just didn’t win the age group title, but also had the highest accumulation of points for all men. This was great news and all of the hardwork has paid off. Now, it’s time to focus on the XTERRA Trail Running National and World Championships.

Special thanks to my family, friends, teammates, sponsors and all of the great people at XTERRA/Team Unlimited! Thanks again for all of the support. You guys all rock!

See you all in Bend!

Mt. Washington Climb to the Summit – Summer 2009

admin — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:26:00 +0000

After the XTERRA New England Trail Run Series finale in Hanover, NH, my friend McKinley and I decided to have some additional fun in the White Mountains by climbing world famous Mt. Washington via the Lion’s Head Trail. This was McKinley’s first time on the mountain and he successfully reached the summit after a strenuous climb that only the most fit can typically handle. Congratulations to him! This was my fifth time on the mountain, with three in the winter and two in the summer or spring.

6,288ft Mt. Washington is known for bitter cold, dense fog, heavy snow, record wind and the world’s most extreme weather. The mountain has hurricane force winds over 100 days of the year and claims lives quite often. It’s an extreme mountain that makes an exhilarating adventure outing anytime.

One of the many warning signs at the base of the mountain

Starting from the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center at 11 am, we headed up the rocky ravine via Lion Head’s Trail to the Crystal Cascades Falls. These falls are hundreds of feet high and absolutely beautiful.

Crystal Cascades Falls

After spending some time at the falls, we proceed up Tuckerman Ravine Trail stumbling across rocks, boulders, climbing steep ledges and hurdling a couple of small run-off streams and springs. We had great weather for most of the trip up the mountain until we broke the tree line, where things changed slightly.

Tuckerman Ravine Trail

Wooden Ladder – It was steep

Mt. Washington’s summit in the distance with heavy cloud cover

Mt. Washington

As we got closer to the tree line, the trail became much steeper and required some bouldering and climbing. Shortly after you break the tree line, an amazing view of Tuckerman Ravine awaits you. Tuckerman Ravine is famous for extreme skiing, snowboarding and winter avalanches. During the winter, over up to 50 feet of snow will accumulate in this basin creating some extremely dangerous avalanches and world-class extreme skiing.

Tuckerman Ravine

We took a short break on the ridge at Tuckerman and then continued the final push to the summit of Mt. Washington. As we looked out towards the summit, we noticed heavy cloud cover and bad weather moving in. Just a couple of days before our climb, there was 80mph winds and hail recorded on the summit.

0.9 Miles to Go!

McKinley modeling my PowerBar Winter Dome Beanie (It came in handy as temperatures drastically dropped)

After 6,288 feet, we made it!

Mt. Washington Summit – 6,288 Feet

Heavy Cloud Cover at the Summit (About 35 Degrees)

McKinley signing the guest book (includes many people from all around the world)

XTERRA Sugarbush Xduro Trail Run – 20km Race Recap

admin — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:12:00 +0000

XTERRA Race #4 – The XTERRA Sugarbush Xduro is a 20km trail run that’s part of the Northeast Cup weekend held at the Sugarbush Resort in Vermont on July 11-12, 2009. This was one of the major Xduro races on the U.S. XTERRA Trail Run Series and the featured race for the New England Series.

I spent the week leading up to the race up at my camp in the mountains of north central Pennsylvania and got a lot of quality training in. Over an eight day span, my mileage reached close to 100 miles, consisting mostly of tempo runs throughout the mountains. Aside from running, I did get the opportunity to have some fun with family and friends in the outdoors and catch up on some much needed landscaping around camp. On my final run at camp prior to leaving for VT, I was deep up in the hollow in the early evening and came across an entire family of skunks and also a couple coyotes that were fighting/attacking something. It was a pretty unique experience and of course happened on one of the rare occasions that I didn’t have my camera with me!

Come Friday morning, I left for Warren, VT and drove over 8 hours through New York and into Vermont. When I was about 30 minutes away from the resort, I narrowly avoided a catastrophe. While driving on highway VT100 North, I was taking a sharp bend at about 55 mph right around dusk. As I started to clear the bend, a very large cow Moose steps out into the middle of the road and I downshifted immediately and luckily was able to break in time! It was a close call, but definitely could have been closer. Shortly later I stopped at the Vermont Home Bakery off of VT100 and the owner mentioned how there has been more Moose than usual around the roads this summer. I took this advice and proceeded with caution over the next 20 miles or so and reached Sugarbush. With already having a lot of luck seeing some cool wildlife throughout the week, I came across a small pack of coyotes out in a field while pulling into the camping area on Sugarbush Mountain. My headlights reached out and I caught them out in one of the ski slope clearings. It appeared that they were chasing a small fawn at the time.

On race morning, my good luck ran out, with less than 20 minutes to the start of the race. While changing into my race gear, the wind blew my trunk shut with my keys in the car. Despite the doors being unlocked, once the trunk shut the entire car went into lockdown mode and my XC race shoes, watch and sunglasses were all still in the car! I could live without the shades and watch, but was greatly concerned about my shoes, especially in a treacherous and technical race like this that included many large, steep climbs, mud, roots and rocks. Would I be stuck wearing an old pair of heavy Nike trainers? I mean, it could have been worse…I could have had my Adidas Superstar’s on…or sandals…or be barefoot. With time running out before the cannon would go off, I desperately searched for a pair of race shoes. I asked other athletes, some even offered, but nothing in my size. The shoe vendors didn’t have my size either, and the last thing I’d want to do is race with a pair of shoes that’s too small or large. My feet would have been shredded on a course that has so many steep ascents and descents. Minutes prior to the race, I was contemplating not starting. Too much was at stake to have a bad race and it now became a mental game. At literally the last minute, I decided to run and make the most of it.

BOOM! The canon goes off. It’s XTERRA time – again! I immediately jumped out into the lead and felt strong for the first mile and then some. A little more than a mile into the race, we proceeded up the mountain. It was steep and long. I felt it in my legs. Pain. Fatigue. The 100 miles from the past eight days. Not long after, my lead was gone and continued to slip down. Within 20 minutes, I was in 11^th place overall. I considered dropping out because I didn’t think at that time it would be smart to race considering the circumstances. Surprising, I got into rhythm and after 45 minutes, things dramatically turned around. After the first couple large climbs and switchbacks, I gained a couple of places. After running for about 90 minutes, I moved up to 7^th place. This wasn’t where I really wanted to be, but much better than earlier in the race. With less than three miles to go, we approach the base of the mountain, passed the finish line and headed up the mountain again. It was a brutal climb; I looked behind me and put a significant amount of space between the next closest competitor and I. The final ascent up the mountain was brutal and went right up the ski trails. It seemed to never end.

Finally, one last small climb and then a long, steep downhill finish. Surprisingly out of nowhere, another runner caught up to me. It was a guy from Massachusetts who was ahead of me earlier in the race, but took a wrong turn that cost him. He jumped ahead of me on the downhill and I kept within striking distance. He was definitely a better downhill runner, but I knew that I’d catch him in the final quarter mile if I can keep it close. Shortly before the final 600 meters, I dug deep and put my finishing kick on. There’s no question that it didn’t hurt, but I successfully pulled ahead and was able to secure a 7^th place finish (1^st Male 30-34). Overcoming adversity, I was able to finish strong and moved into the lead in the points standings for the XTERRA Trail Running New England Series. Only one race now stands between a championship title and I.

Never give up, no matter how bleak the situation looks. You just never know how things will eventually unfold.