Saturday, September 29, 2007

Won the 2007 Lake Tahoe Super Triple Marathon!

Here is a short recap of the race -- a more detailed report will follow. The 3rd leg of the Super Triple (a 72-mile run all around the lake) was run under terrible weather conditions. Sprinkles at 11 p.m. turned into a full-blown snowstorm at midnight (start of the race) that dumped a few inches of snow all around the lake. When the storm died down, it started to freeze, icing up all the roads around the lake until mid afternoon. This changed the race dramatically. Several runners developed acute shin-splints and DNFed, because they had to change their running style to adjust to the conditions.

I started the race out with a nine-minute lead from day 2. However, I am not sure if the second place runner even showed up (it was very dark at the start) but nobody saw him at the start. Due to all the time lost by running on the snow and ice (for example, I could not power-walk for fear I would slip and tear my groin muscle), I missed the chance to run the first 46 miles in 8:30, which would then line you up with the start of the marathon (+ aid stations). I am sure I would have made that this time around if it was not for the weather, but will have to just try that again next year.

Note: Triple next year will be Fri, Sat, and Sun -- with the marathon on Sunday so that Bay Area folks can come up after work easier.

With the help of my crew, I ran a good, conservative race. It was cold all day and I certainly had my ups and downs during the race, but every time I felt bad, we kept focusing on the task at hand (often related to fueling).

Keenan Follis took second place for the day and most likely 2nd overall. I say "likely'" because at the time of this writing, there may still be a few people out on the course and they will be allowed to complete the run.

I made it to the 50-mile mark in 10:10 and was the first Super Triple runner to get there (10th. overall in the 72-miler). Without too much pressure from the rest of the field, and having missed the opportunity to run with the other Triple runners due the crazy road conditions, I finished up the race in (roughly) 15:42, again, as the first Super Triple finisher!

Sean and Rocky completed their first half marathon. They stuck together and ran 2:55 (shared second in their age group). Excellent!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear all,

What a fantastic news this morning.
Excellent all of you: the super triple and the half marathon.We are proud of all of you.
With love from your parents and grandparents.

Anonymous said...

peter,

you are the man! what a great accomplishment to finish sner first, then the super triple first as well in back to back weeks! all i have to say is you have some serious focus and determination. great job. congratus! rest/recover well.

cheers!

hao

Anonymous said...

Great job Peter!!
Great job Rocky & Sean !!

I'm so happy I could cheer for you from Virginia this weekend with it's 70 degree weather vs trying to keep up with you in ice & snow which would be impossible even without the bad weather.

You have had an awesome year - hopefully you'll take a few weeks of rest

Chihping Fu 傅治平 (超馬阿爸) said...

Great job Pete. I'm very proud of you!

As Dave Jr said, please take enough rest and recovery to continue your amazing performance. I love to see you blast in future races!

Chihping

Mark Tanaka (Ultrailnakaman) said...

Peter,
2 straight winning weekends, with extreme weather to boot. Way to go / truly impressive!

Scott Dunlap said...

Two-time triple ultra winner! Way to brave the storms for an impressive win. I hope all of you are recovering well.

SD


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.