Fourteen degrees makes a lot of difference ... in 2006 the temperatures went from 60 to 80 degrees and my total mileage for the 8 hours was 43.77. In 2007, the temperatures went from 74 to 94 degrees, and my total miles was 38.69 -- a drop of a full 5 miles over the allotted 8 hours. Both times I placed ~10th grandmasters male, out of about 60 runners in the division. My overall placement in 2006 was about 35th out of ~200, compared to 50th out of ~300 in 2007. Mile Slepikas had similar results (40.98 miles in 2006 and 38.19 miles in 2007). Mike, by the way, had me beat this year, with a 5-10 minute lead late but he elected to not try a 12th loop, leaving us tied going into the final half hour of short loops, and I came out of that with 2.5 miles to his 2.0 miles. Mike's 12 year old son Connor ran about 4 loops with him, and was our "crew" support on the other laps. Mike and I saw the many of the "usual cast of characters" out on the course loop; this is largest single event ultra in the Illinois (Chicago Lakefront 50/50 often has more, but only if you total the 50K and 50 mile participants).

The course was a sun baked oven, and the paces slowed for me early on. The footing and hills on this loop are fairly easy, but the heat and sun were the great compensator. I thought I was making a come back on loop 9, as I got to feeling like I was in control and managing the heat, but faded again on loop 10. At that point I made a calculated decision that loop 11 would be my last 3.29 mile loop and that I would deliberately slow it so as to have no more than a five minute or so break before the 1/2 mile out-and-backs in the last half hour (you're not allowed to start them until only 30 minutes are left in the event). Mike finished loop 11 with a 15 minute break, decided he didn't have time to finish a 12th loop, and waited for the short loops to begin. Like the yellow flag in auto racing, this put us in a tie position.

One very tragic note that many of might have already heard about: An experienced ultra runner dropped dead at mile 2 of the very first loop. He received immediate CPR (two ultra runner nurses were within 5 yards of him in the race and started immediately), but he was gone. Mike and I saw all the ambulances there as we came around on the second loop. http://www.commercial-news.com/local/local_story_223205058.html Their canopy/aid station was next to hours .... he was with a group of about a dozen runners from Indiana ..... according to his club mates, he died doing something he loved (and one of his team mates continued on to win first place overall in the race), but it's something I hope I don't see again for a very long time ....

In any case, I got in a good long run training race, and came out of it with no leg soreness or blisters -- able to resume training for Chicago Marathon and JFK50 (and Badgerland F/X 12/24?).

Below are this year's splits and below that are the splits from 2006 and 2005 (as I recall, 2005 was 73-83 degrees, and a lot more humid). And, as a bonus for those interested, I've included Mary Gorski's race report below from this year as well. By far the best conditions were 2006 (60-80 degrees and not so humid). The lack of shade and the intense sun made the 2007 Howl seem much harder than the 12 hour Hawthorn this past June, even though the temperatures were essentially the same and Hawthorn is hillier with a bit more rugged footing -- but, Hawthorn is maybe half in the shade.