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Grassland Run 50 Mile 2002 Results

50 Mile Race - GRASSLANDS RUN 2002

 1. Carlos Ibarra              9:08:38
 2. Steve Hudgens              9:34:00
    Patrick Hathaway           9:34:00           first 50
    Michael Dennis             9:34:00
    Brett Bassham              9:34:00
    Juan Galvan                9:34:00
 7. Letha Cruthirds            9:41:43 *
 8. Thorbjorn Pedersen         9:57:00           first 50
 9. Sam Altstein              10:02:03           first 50
    Michael Courtney          10:02:03
    Lisa Conover              10:02:03 *
12. Tom Crull                 10:14:25
    Rob Apple                 10:14:25
14. Rick Gastelum             10:20:01
    Ken Ashby                 10:20:01
16. Rusty Shelton             10:22:23
17. Jay Witheral              10:29:44           first 50
18. Monica Burt               10:31:57 *
19. Jay Freeman               10:41:09
20. Sue Yates                 10:46:45 *         first 50
21. Daniel Banse              10:48:36
22. Kelly Bowles              10:50:23 *         first 50
    Dennis Drey               10:50:23
24. Eunsup Kim                11:22:52           first 50
25. Bradley Youngblood        11:43:14
26. Michael Casey             11:55:13
27. Paul Verrette             11:57:50           first 50
28. Kelly Eppelman            12:28:01
    Leo Lavender              12:28:01
30. Mark Dick                 12:54:01
    Cilla McMillen            12:54:01*
32. Tony Mathison             13:08:10           first 50

* - female

48 signed up
10 Did not start
1 drop for 10 mile finish
1 drop for 25 mile finish
4 drop for 40 mile finish    (two due to 5pm cutoff)

Fifteen of us stood in the 20' x 40' canvas tent and peered at the tree
line 50 yards away in the dark.  Thunder was the only sound louder than
the driving rain on canvas.  Lightening bolts struck the surrounding
countryside with regularity.  The tent was sagging with pools of water
collecting on the roof, which was our only source of protection other
than the cars.  We used my umbrella in the tent to poke the ceiling up
and repeatedly dump water from the roof in a cascade.  The floor was mud
to match everywhere for miles around.  On the floor were remains of
eleven aid stations, runner drop bags, trash bags, dirty wet supplies,
chairs, tables and a grill.

The grill was still working.  My husband Michael had completed the
Grasslands Run 10 mile event for the fourth year, and then grilled
hamburgers for eight hours.  Scott Eppelman was standing by the clock
using wet paper to record the race results as he had done for over
thirteen hours.  Pam Roberts dug through wet boxes organizing aid
station supplies and offering continued care for four or five runners as
she had all day.  I stood at the tent opening willing the last 50 mile
Grasslands runner to finish safely.

Our North Texas Trail Runner's fourth annual Grasslands Run was a
marvelous success under the most amazingly difficult conditions yet.
More than 175 runners pre entered for the 10 mile, 25 mile and 50 mile
events.  The weather forecast went from bad to worse, to tornado watch.
Still we had a dozen day of race entrants.   The RaceReady running
shirts for entering are very popular thanks to our sponsor IMPRIMIS.
But, 2002 wasn't about number of entrants, it was about the endurance
required to show up.  The thirty volunteers that showed up to make it
happen bonded with the runners in the face of adversity.  Everyone spoke
of the shared hardship and feeling of accomplishment.  United we stand,
and on this day, in ankle deep mud and an occasional warm rain.

The GRASSLANDS Run is about completion not speed.  We have the 10 mile
run to introduce runners to trail.  The step up to 25 miles is geared
for marathon runners and Ultra distance training.  But our premiere
event is the 50, a great first time ultra.  A well marked gentle rolling
course with twenty aid stations creates the opportunity for completion.
A 1/3 of the 50 mile finishers were first timers.  As Sam Altstein from
NY said "I was pure as the driven snow before this".  We have no DNFs at
Grasslands, just runners that choose to accept a shorter distance
finish.  All finishers got a great RaceReady running cap with the run
logo, and the first man and woman had WINNER embroidered on the back.

Carlos Ibarra managed the mud better than any other runner in the 50,
though was no threat to Scott Eppelman's course record of 6:25.  On this
day the second place tie of five runners told the real story.  Everybody
was in survival mode.  The next runner in was Letha Cruthirds who didn't
even realize she was first woman.   In the 25 mile event over a third of
the field dropped down to the ten mile finish.  It was just plain tough
out there.

A trend began to appear when runners were reluctant to accept their new
white finisher hat.  I could not believe how everybody had muddy hands.
What were they doing out there?  The stories have unfolded as tales of
sliding down the 20' mud slope to cross "Royal Gorge", and then rinsing
in the creek.  The next step was to fall hands first in the mud when
attempting the climb out of the creek bed. There were shoes and socks in
the finishline trash barrel.

Still, runners came in laughing and smiling with mud streaked grins.
They told the volunteers how much fun they had and that they'd be back
March 29, 2003.  So with just a few of us left at 8PM, we welcomed Tony
Mathison to his first 50 mile completion, as the final finisher in
2002.  He came out of the rain, between lightening bolts, with two Texas
riders on horses bedecked in glowsticks and found an aid station that
still served hamburgers.

Congratulations to all our Grasslands participants, both runners and
volunteers.

Suzi Cope RD