i-run.com

Almost every day is a scorching 120 degrees for Connie Karras. Even in the shade or inside an air-conditioned building.

Karras works out on a treadmill wearing more threads than a space-walking astronaut.

“It’s heat training,” she said. “I have to train my body for the extreme temperatures.”

Either the 41-year-old Highland woman takes Al Gore’s traveling slideshow too seriously, or she’s just plain crazy. When finding out what Karras is preparing for, many people may assume the latter.

But Karras is set to run the Badwater Ultramarathon, a brutal 135-mile trek through California’s Death Valley. The race will start July 1 and end — at least for the faster finishers — two days later.

You would think organizers of the event — which has been featured on “60 Minutes” — could have scheduled the race safely away from the apex of summer. But what fun would that be?

“That’s what makes the race so extreme,” Karras said.

Karras has run ultramarathons before, but this will be her first Badwater as a participant. Last summer, she was part of a team that assisted Bill LaDieu of Harrisburg, Pa. Now, Karras has a formed a team that will assist her. The squad includes Perri Cummins, Victoria Gordon, Jim Stroup, Dennis Ohnstad and John Spannuth — experienced runners from all corners of the nation.

Read the rest at nwi.com

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Traces of spring and winter clashed with each other at the entrance to Ullrich Park.

Chilly 19-degree winds bristled through thin trees and newly sprouted seedlings. Runners dressed in knit caps, shorts and tights hopped up and down.

Hardly anyone complained as they prepared for CV Adventure’s first 5K adventure run. The trail wound up, down and around the hilly terrain of the park. Saturday’s run was designed to give the 45 runners a variety of obstacles not normally seen in an average road race, said Jeff Slade, events coordinator for CV Adventure, an outdoors sports promotion group.

“Everything’s pretty much frozen right now so watch the downhills, the railroad ties and everything like that,” Slade said.

The rest of the story is at WCFcourier.com

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The inaugural Freeze Your Buns Off 5K footrace was staged Saturday morning in Bend, and Brad Brolin of Monmouth and Tonya Littlehales of Bend were the men’s and women’s overall winners.

Forty-seven runners, ranging in age from 10 to 74, took part in the race, staged as part of the annual Bend WinterFest on a five-kilometer course through downtown streets.

Brolin, 25, posted the fastest time of the event, clocking in at 18 minutes, 56 seconds. Andrew Jensen, 17, of Bend, was second in the men’s division with a time of 21:24, and Ethan Devoll, 16 and also of Bend, was third in 23:02.

Littlehales, 34, was fastest among the women with her time of 24:32. Jennifer Lewis, 45 (hometown not available), was second in 25:26, and Maria Lorenz, 14, of Bend, was third in 27:02.

The event was a fundraiser for the Bend High School cross-country running program.

From The Bulletin

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When Scott Mindel mentally filed his flight plan for the Memorial Health Tybee half-marathon, he was looking for a time, not for a particular place. But, his effort of 1 hour, 12 minutes and 40 seconds lifted him well above the rest of the field on a wickedly cold Saturday morning.

“I just wanted to get under 75 minutes,” Mindel said of his strategy. A junior majoring in aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati, the 20-year-old Ballston Lake, N.Y., native easily broke that mark.

He did it on a day when an icy wind punished the runners, particularly those in the two long events, the half- and full marathons.

Mindel was not especially bothered by the cold: “It’s a lot worse than this back home,” he said.

He did admit, however, that the wind posed some challenges, mostly late in the race.

Read the rest at SavannahNow.com

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A field of 29 runners braved temperatures of 22 below zero to compete in the annual Turkey Trot Fun Run hosted by Running Club North on Saturday morning on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.

The 3.3-mile run is a predicted time event. Runners predicted how long it would take them to complete the course and then had to run without wearing a watch.

Mike Simon and Tim Doran came closest to their predicted times by finishing just four seconds off their prediction. Simon was four seconds faster, while Doran was four seconds slower.

Paul Reynolds had the distinction of being the farthest from his prediction, finishing 4:05 faster than he expected.

Laura Brosius had the fastest time of the day in 20:23, while Walt Tape had the top men’s time of 20:24.

Other participants were: Corky Hebard, Arnold Chingliak, Bob Vitale, Sandra Kimbrell, Shirley Winther, Keith Kimbrell, John Petersen, Ken Tape, Niki Greer, Jillian Ladegard, Skye Greer, Joe Little, Nara Hays, Jim and Emma Lee, Jane Lanford, Steve Bainbridge, Elting Russell, Tim Doran, Hal Needham, Bob Eder, Christie Haupert, Pat Kalen, Charles Mantei, Gail Koepf, Rocky Reifenstuhl and Mark Simon.

From the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

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