This Just In!!!!! Never Summer 100k Race Update – Nearly LIVE!!!!

So, as I write I am waiting on a race report from the infamous HB! Take a look at my last post here to see what I am talking about.

Lake Agnes

My brother is running in the inaugural Ultra Race Never Summer 100k (as we speak) and my last update has me hopeful of a finish. My first report from HB was at 2.04pm (EST in these here United States) and was this: “He’s headed for this mountain range first. I’m going to bike to Agnes Lake and try to see him at mile 10. The first aid station I can help at is mile 18. I’ll send updates as I can, but there is extremely limited service and I expect that this course is going to be very slow (I’m not expecting him to finish before midnight) with over 13k of elevation gain”

HB met Seán pretty much on schedule here (a view of the silver Creek Trail back towards the shoulder of Braddock to be specific) – kind of annoying how fresh he looks eh???

The thing you always want to know first and foremost is how the runner is feeling and looking. That says it all, and from what I read from a quick email to keep myself and everyone else on the list abreast, was that Seán was feeling good: “Just saw him at mile 21 and he was looking great” 
What a relief. Now I could get on with vacuuming worry-free! Yes, I was cleaning my house while he was out there somewhere in the Never Summer mountain range in Colorado.

Beautiful Summer Flowers (photo by HB )

I ran 10 miles in solidarity this morning to feel close and to share some of his pain. This was a joke however as I was running on relatively smooth surfaces with a few hills sprinkled in, while he negotiated overgrown and tree-strewn logging roads, steep mountain passes, waist-high flowers and mud! I have been moving slowly all day after my trek and now here I sit at 12.38am and he is still out there with a light on his head somewhere around mile 55 plugging away (or so I’m hoping).

Seán Mile 29.4 (why is he smiling????)

I got a great update at mile 29.4. Seán looked in control and happy to see his crew. I have crewed for him a few times and know 100% that the aid station is what keeps him moving forward. He gets to eat, hug his friends and family and get that much-needed emotional support he will need to get him up that next steep climb.

The Aid Stations give the illusion that the runners are all running happily along the trail together, but for the most part, they are very much alone out there.

This time around he is lucky to have his amazing girlfriend out there pretty much keeping him alive while all he has to think about is running, and his friend Jay also showed up and is on hand for anything and everything.

Seán and Jay a few hours ago (Jay is now waiting at the North Canadian Yurt aid station for Seán to appear – Mile 50.4)

So here I am close to 1am (11pm Mountain time) waiting on some more news. Did he make it to that next Aid station……is he still smiling?

Moose on the Trail (today)

I am hopeful that everything is going well and am sending out all the good vibes I can muster for a strong and happy finish. Will let you know…

Go Seán!

*FYI – all these great pictures were taken today by HB – quite the Photojournalist!*

NEVER SUMMER 100K 2015 – GOOD LUCK SEÁN

Well, I wasn’t able to get my brother on the phone tonight to wish him all the best of luck in the world for this grand undertaking of his tomorrow, so I thought maybe he might see this before he went off to bed early to rest up for the next……perhaps 24 hours.

This is the place my brother will open his eyes to in the wee hours of tomorrow morning: first view of the Nokhu Crags from the start of the Never Summer 100k.

I say Twenty-Four hours because that is the official cut-off time for the 100k he is will be running in Colorado in the morning.

Lake Agnes

Over the past 4+ years this blog has centered primarily  around food, but, I have given myself leave to also write about running, and more specifically, my bother and his Ultra-Running life. I write about it because I am deeply interested in running and because I love my brother: perfect excuse to write about both!

The trail of the Never Summer 100k

Tomorrow Seán is doing something that people dream about when they go to bed at night – I’m not talking about all people, just a select crazy few who dream one day they might don a pair of running shoes and let those shoes carry them over all kinds of cruelly beautiful terrain to a finishing point perhaps 50 miles later. The stats on this race tomorrow break down like this:

Never Summer 100k

• Start: Gould Community Center, Gould, CO.
• Distance: 64.2 Miles with 13,000ft of vertical gain and 13,000ft of descent.
• Max Elevation: 11,852′
• Min Elevation: 8,450′
• Average Elevation: 10,220′
• Terrain: Trail, dirt road, rough trail, high alpine, rocks.
• Fauna: Moose, elk, black bears, bighorn sheep.
• Mode of Transportation: Foot
• Date: Saturday July 25, 2015, 5:30am
• Cut Off: 24 Hours

Lake Agnes, a place Seán is looking forward to seeing

These statistics might not mean anything to you but if you are a trail runner, these facts are daunting and downright scary!  Running at an average elevation of 10,220′ tells me that you need to to be well-trained and prepared, as well have a good set of lungs to get you to the finish line.

Another trail on the course: A view of the Silver Creek trail back towards the shoulder of Braddock.

Seán is no Super Hero but he does aspire! At this point he has run in enough of these races to know that he is in fact only human, and for the most part tomorrow will be a painful, albeit,  truly wonderful experience in his life.

YIKES: The route leaves Lake Agnes directly under the Nokhu Crags.

I have stopped asking why and am now the invisible hands on the small of his back pushing him up the tough bits.

The Highest point: Views from the summit of North Diamond. Longs Peak is visible far to the south.

I won’t be alone tomorrow rallying him onward. He will have his ever-faithful woman, Kristi (aka Hunny Bunny) and his friend Jay out on the trail meeting him at the designated Aid Stations, and his friends and family scattered all around the US and Ireland pushing him forward, as well as his son in London, who I’m sure, will be the most anxious of us all!

One of the Cruel but beautiful spots on the trail: The Yurt Trail crosses several gorgeous meadows. Footing is rough and the weeds and flowers may be waist-high by race day.

I will do my usual ritual and run a few miles “with him” tomorrow. I plan to start out at race time in the morning here in rural Pennsylvania, and run ten very easy miles. Part of Seán’s strength is that he is an excellent mental runner. He can get through almost any race if he stays strong in his head. My mental chat with him will be to tell him to run within himself and to stick with his plan. There is always a plan and sticking to it is hard when you are physically and emotionally challenged.

Watch your step here: The Ruby Jewel road is as rough, rocky and technical as most trails

I am writing this to cheer him on and by showing these great photographs try to give a sense of the place and the task at hand. I want to court as many people as I can to shout out Seán’s name tomorrow: he WILL hear you!

The road Home: if he makes it to here, he will have done what he set out to do.

So Seán, this is a GOOD LUCK from all of us. We will be on the sidelines at every tough spot of the trail of the Never Summer 100k, and, whether you finish this race or not, we want you to have the time of your life; to enjoy every bend in the road, and the sound of  the dirt, mud, gravel, rocks, grass, snow and flowers under your feet. You will not be running alone.

 Seán on the Widow Maker, Steamboat springs Colorado