Wow! What a month it has been for P.A.C.E. athletes!
Linda Abbott-Simons, Carla Stephens and Stephanie Swaisland had an incredible weekend racing in Oregon on the 10th. These three gals flew into Medford Oregon to take part in the Siskiyou Out and Back (S.O.B.) 50km Ultra. This race is 90% single track, has over 8000 feet of elevation, up and down, and beautiful meadows. I heard the race organization was awesome! Right down to receiving a medal, bottle of beer, chocolate and logoed race socks as you crossed the finish line!
This marked the 2nd Ultra for both Linda and Carla and the 4th for Stephanie. All three Gals had PR races and we are so happy and proud of them. These three know what it take to devote, train hard and smart and they put FUN into everything they do. Even when they are ‘suffering’ through long distances trail races like this one. Way to go you S.O.B.’s…
Other news on the P.A.C.E. Ultra scene is with Mel Bos and Daryl Spencer. Both took part in the epic and challenging North Shore Knee Knacker on July 10th. This race has a reputation for the toughest trail ultra in North America with 16,000 feet of elevation up and down! What breath the views don’t take away – the terrain will.
This was Mel’s 2nd time getting to the start line and had a very successful race finish of 2nd female o/a in a time of 5:56! This is after Mel suffered a rolled ankle with 4km to go and was forced to walk from this point in. This was Daryl’s first Knee Knacker experience and he finished with an awesome time of 6:42, giving him 15th male o/a. Congratulations to you both on all your hard work and training and for enduring such a tough race!
I have witnessed, first hand, just how hard all five of these athletes have worked towards their events this month. Their training included speed and strength sessions such as time trials, hill climbs of up to 700 feet in one repeat, fartleks, tempo session and long, long days on their feet since spring. It is a privilege that I get the opportunity to coach athletes like these and it is very rewarding to see them all do so well and have such positive race experiences.
