Rocky Raccoon winners blast the pack
Elite runner from The Woodlands gets the Marathon Investigations treatment.
Hello endurance athletes,
The conditions out at Rocky 100 last weekend were certainly “interesting.” The year I ran Rocky 100 (2019) it was 70 degrees during the day with low 40s at night. Pretty good temps. The mud, however, was less fun. It’s always something! Congrats to all who finished.
On with the news…
Rocky 100 winners leave no doubt
The conditions were absolutely frigid at Rocky Raccoon 100, which never fails to give racers some sort of challenge beyond the 100 miles or kilometers. Some years it’s rain, some years it’s heat, some years it’s ankle deep mud. (I don’t recommend the mud.)
In the 100 miler, Robert Landauer smoked the field, winning first place by well over an hour, running a 14:50. Landauer is a math teacher from Wimberley.
First place among women was Nicole Laughton, again, smoking the field with an hour-plus lead. She finished in 17:47 and in 6th place overall. Laughton is from Edmond, Oklahoma. The last three women’s winners, Nicole Kalogeropoulos, Sabrina Little and Maria Sylte each won three years straight. Is it Laughton’s turn next?
Top Texas female finisher was Kelly Swanson of Spring, she finished in 18:56 to nab second place.
Nick Bare, of YouTube fame, was shooting for a sub-19 hour finish and came in just a little over in 19:13. He says his race recap video is coming later this week.
On the 100K side the top woman was Sheila Cook of The Woodlands. The 52-year-old turned in a 7th place overall effort and absolutely shredded the field with an 11:50, almost an hour and a half ahead of second place. She is coached by previous Rocky 100 mile winner Ronnie Delzer of The Woodlands.
The top male was Terry Palmer of Corpus Christi, another huge win. His 8:54 was nearly an hour and 45 minutes ahead of second place. His UltraSignUp page has six races, he has won 5 of them.
He’s also the Outstanding Doctoral Student for 2021 at TAMU Corpus Christi. Impressive guy. You never know who you’re running with.
Some of my favorite Instagram posts from the weekend. As always, click through to Insta to read the captions and race reports.
This is terrific planning by Mr. Kolar in the first photo.
Elite Texas runner gets Marathon Investigations’ attention
Patrick Wills, an elite-level runner from The Woodlands has been removed from the results of the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in New Orleans from this past weekend.
Wills’ Strava account showed that he was about a mile short and that he had circled back well short of the actual turnaround. When commenters on his Strava post brought it to his attention, he admitted that he had missed a turn, blaming the race for being confusing. Looking at the course, it does have a number of turns and out and backs.
However, the conversation went off the rails and Wills removed several comments.
From Marathon Investigations:
Not long after Patrick’s run was posted, people started to question the result. I followed Patrick and was immediately blocked. However, I was able to log into a secondary account and view his run in more detail (I also received about a dozen emails and messages with screenshots and links).
As the Marathon Investigations post gets into, this isn’t Wills’ first brush with trouble. He was DQd from Rocky Raccoon in 2018 after it was determined that he shorted the third loop. Another case of out and backs being cut short.
I ran the Rocky 50 miler that year, which is the weekend after the 100. Chris McWatters, owner of Tejas Trails and the race director, made it crystal clear to the runners that weekend that not checking in at the out-and-backs was a DQ no-questions-asked and referenced the previous weekend’s incident. His frustration was apparent. McWatters spoke to iRunFar about it at the time. Here are Wills’ splits including the third lap where the trouble occurred.
Wills has responded on social media with a number of posts showing previous fast times and vows of not letting the “hate” affect his love for the sport.
Commentary: For full disclosure, I’m Facebook friends with Wills, and we follow each other on Strava. So, I’ve been aware of him for quite a while. He is a very talented runner, and for a 50-year-old he’s truly elite. I was a little sad when he moved into my 50-54 age group, I knew that was one more step off the podium for me in the races we are in together. I’m nowhere near his level.
Runners make a mistake on courses, it happens a lot. I was in the top masters spot at a 50K once and took a wrong turn with about a mile to go and ended up in second instead. In my case I added distance because when I realized my mistake, I backtracked to the place where I made the wrong turn and got back on course. That is proper protocol for this sort of thing. It still stings, years later, but it was my own dumb fault. It was a five loop course and I ran it correctly the first four times. The guy that took first ran the course correctly all five times and won fair-and-square. In a kilt.
To be clear, I am not saying that Wills is a cheater, he might just be comically bad at running a race course properly. But what I do know, from first-hand experience, is that when he does run a course incorrectly, he accepts podium spots and finisher awards. New Orleans is now an exception to that, and I hope a turning point for him. He’s paying a pretty hefty price for some ill will that’s been created right now on social media.
There’s no shame in making a mistake on a race course. When we screw up at a race, them’s the breaks. It sucks, it’s hard. But you dust yourself off and read the course map and directions a little closer next time. That’s part of racing too. As Calvin’s dad in the comic always said, “It builds character.”
Meme of the Week
Featured Events
Dirt in Your Shoe Duathlon | Off-road duathlon, adventure race and relay | Navasota | Feb 12-13
El Paso Marathon | Marathon, half, 5k, relays | El Paso | Feb. 13
Rocky Hill Roundup | MTB Race, youth and adult | Smithville | Feb. 19-20
Austin Marathon | Marathon, half, 10k, 5k | Austin | Feb. 20
Cowtown Marathon | Marathon, half, 10k, 5k, relays | Fort Worth | Feb 25-27
Prison City Gravel Challenge | 60-33 mile gravel grinder | Huntsville | Feb. 26
The Woodlands Marathon | Marathon, half, relays | The Woodlands | March 5
Dos Sendoras | 100K, 50K, 20M, 10M trail run | Johnson City | March 5
XTERRA Bluebonnet Triathlon | Offroad Sprint Triathlon/Duathlon | Burnet | March 26
The Southwest 100 | 104M, 52M, 26.2M 13.1M, 10K, 5K trail runs | Fort Davis | March 26-27
Headwaters of the Frio Trail Marathon | 26.2, 13.1, 12K, 5K trail runs | Leakey | April 2
Brazos Bend 50 | 100K, 50M, 50K, 25K, 10K, 5K trail runs | Brazos Bend State Park | April 9
Snapping Tortuga | OWS 1250M, 2.5K, 5K | Lake Conroe | April 9
Gran Fondo Texas | 88, 67, 31 mile ride | Montgomery | April 9
Ironman 70.3 Texas | 70.3 triathlon | Galveston | April 3
Ironman Texas | 140.6 triathlon | The Woodlands | April 23
Jailbreak 100 / Jailbird 55 Gravel Challenge | Gravel ride 100 or 55 miles | Huntsville | April 23
Cal Tri San Antonio | Variety of multisport events | New Braunfels | April 24
Texas Switchback | 26.2, 13.1, 10K, 5K trail run | Johnson City | May 7
Gravel Locos | 30 - 150 mile gravel grinder | Hico | May 12-14
Media We are Consuming
Gear Shifters put boots on the ground in the war over Houston's bike lanes (Chron.com)
Kara Goucher diagnosed with neurological disorder (Canadian Running)
Magnolia Network Star Chip Gaines Takes On Marathon and Fans Cheer Him On (Showbiz CheatSheet)
The Broadway debacle is a blow to safe cycling in San Antonio (San Antonio Report)
B.C. doctors can now prescribe national park pass to patients who need nature time (Global News)
Amazon is exploring offer for Peloton, source says; report says Nike also weighing bid (Reuters)
Skechers Just Had Its Best Year Yet, Thanks to DTC Sales and a Strong Supply Chain (Footwear News)
Walmart named title sponsor of 2022 Joe Martin Stage Race (VeloNews)
National Park NFTs Are Officially a Thing. Not Everybody’s Happy About It. (Outside)
Get Out There
This video features a couple of the women I mentioned in last week’s e-mail, ultra runner extraordinaire Camille Herron and Aravaipa race director Jubilee Page.