| Scott Jurek - 5 på rad | ||||
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| Kilde: Artikkelen er hentet fra Duluth News Tribune King of the trail: Jurek rules 100-mile marathon RUNNING: Proctor native has five straight wins in the top ultramarathon, and his run isn't likely to end soon. BY KEVIN PATES NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER Scott Jurek spent about two hours in a medical tent Saturday night in Auburn, Calif. His blood pressure and pulse rate were OK; it was fluids he needed. Jurek had just won a fifth straight Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run title on an extremely warm day. It was 105 degrees on parts of the Sierra Nevada Mountain course and the winner became nauseous and couldn't keep liquids down. When he got to the Placer High School track -- after running for 16 hours, 1 minute and 18 seconds -- Jurek didn't roll across the finish line as in previous years. The Proctor native from Seattle threw his arms in the air, kissed the ground, then hugged his wife, Leah. His stop for an intravenous refill was unprecedented. ``I've never run that hard, for that long, in such extreme conditions,'' Jurek said Monday during a 13-hour drive home. ``My body was ready to try for a course record and I wanted to hang onto that pace for as long as I could. ``Maybe it was a little over-ambitious considering the day, but I never felt like I was destroying myself. I pushed myself to the limit and I'm extremely proud of how I ran.'' If Jurek, 29, hadn't earned legendary status in four previous victories, he's there now. He's won America's most-revered trail ultramarathon five times in five tries, has three of the top seven times in race history and four of the top 20. Saturday's win by 76 minutes is believed to be the largest margin of victory in race history. Auburn resident Tim Twietmeyer had been the name tied closest to the Western States men's race until Jurek's debut in 1999. Twietmeyer, 44, won four straight Western States titles in the 1990s, and five overall, and now has seen ultrarunning's youngest star get better year by year. Twietmeyer figures Jurek's Western States streak will grow. (Ann Trason, 42, of Kensington, Calif., has won 11 Western States women's titles, including a streak of 10 straight from 1989-98.) ``I think he can run up 10 in a row. He's got the formula down for the course,'' Twietmeyer told the Auburn Journal. ``He's got all the tools and skills. Winning (the previous years) makes it harder to beat him. Somebody's going to really have to challenge him to beat him.'' There were plenty of challengers Saturday in one of the best fields in race history. Mike Trevino, 28, of San Diego, Calif., led through 28 miles, but ultimately dropped back to finish 13th, more than three hours off the lead. Jurek led the rest of the way, but was pursued much of the time by Chad Ricklefs, 36, of Boulder, Colo. Ricklefs, voted North America's top ultramarathoner for 2002, trailed by 16 minutes at 62 miles, but dropped out of the race at 79 miles. Nate McDowell, 31, of South Lake City, Utah, the Wasatch Front 100 Mile recordholder, was expected to be a threat, but dropped out at 55 miles. Jorge Pacheco, 35, of Los Angeles finished second in 17:17:46 and Steve Peterson, 40, of Boulder was third in 17:31:30. Dusty Olson, 30, of Duluth paced Jurek the final 38 miles for the fourth straight year. Olson said he was impressed by Jurek's performance in the heat. ``Some of the best runners in the country were there gunning for Scott, trying to hang with him for as long as they could,'' said Olson, a promotional representative for Atomic Ski USA, Inc. ``Every year there's talk about how someone else other than Scott will win the race, but he's shown, so far, that it's his race. He's like Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France, he gets prepared for what's really important.'' Jurek, 6-foot-2 and 165 pounds, works in a Seattle running shoe store and as a physical therapist. However, because of his ultramarathon success, he's becoming more involved in trail running camps and coaching. While he isn't getting rich as a runner he does have sponsors like Montrail shoes, Patagonia and Clif Bar, and is in demand as a speaker. His reward for winning Western States is a 30-pound bronze cougar. Leah Jurek, a Hermantown native, believes her husband can stay near the top of ultrarunning because of his meticulous training habits and vegan diet. ``He's ready and confident to run because of his lifestyle management,'' said Leah Jurek, a massage therapist. ``He eats smart and healthy, and makes sure he's ready to race. He knew who was entered in Western States last December, and had so much respect for the competition, that he allowed more time for training.'' Winning by a large margin wasn't Jurek's inspiration as he stood at the Squaw Valley, Calif., starting line for the 2003 Western States. Mike Morton's 1997 course mark of 15:40:41 was the goal. Jurek was still on pace for the record through 78 miles, then the heat took its toll. However, Jurek still had enough to pull away from his pacer over the last 12 miles and averaged 9:42 per mile for the 100.2 miles, including aid-station time. His finishing time was the third-fastest in the 30 years of Western States. ``To win five in a row, and to run such a good time, is an incredible feeling,'' said Jurek. ``It's definitely one of the most memorable things I've done in my life.'' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KEVIN PATES covers endurance sports for the News Tribune. He can be reached at (218) 723-5306, (800) 456-8181 or e-mailed at kpates@duluthnews.com |
Scott Jurek - 5 på rad
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