Shopping CartComrades, Dirty 30, Sky Running, and more!
It was a big weekend for our VFuel Athletes all over the country and around the world! As founders of VFuel we can't tell you how awesome it is to see our athletes performing at a world class level all over the place in such a wide array of races! It never gets old to hear their stories and hear how VFuel is playing a small part in helping them reach their lofty and impressive goals! Such an inpiration to us and we hope to you as well!
Comrades Marathon - Sage Canaday
Sage doing it right - before and after the race.
Comrades is actually a 55 mile jaunt through South Africa and Sage *crushed* this race coming in 15th overall (out of 20,000+) and as the first American. with a time of 6:03:47. See full results here. Of course he is a bit dissapointed in his time and place, as all world class athletes always think they can do better, but he had a stellar race no matter how you look at it! In his own words:
"Wow, what an amazing experience! This is by far the largest and most competitive ultra in the world and it was just an honor to be able to take part and finish. I didn't run the time or place that I wanted, but now I know that to improve I"ll have to train much smarter and a lot more. Just for reference: Max King and I were out at CR pace for the first mile (probably the only flat mile on the entire course) by splitting a 5:50 and we were buried back somewhere between 300 to 400th place! The first half of the race on a lot of the big uphills went as planned and we were right where we needed to be in the lead pack to podium or try to win...but then the wheels fell off and it was very humbling. There was a time where I thought I might not make it to the finish line. Nonetheless it was such an enriching and inspiring journey for 55 miles with nearly 20,000 other runners and (what seemed like 1 million) spectators. Everyone I met has been really friendly: from a fellow elite runner fixing my back bib number for me as we were racing to runners handing over extra water rations for fellow competitors to share, it has been a very special race here in South Africa. I plan to return and try to improve!"
Golden Gate Dirty 30 - Paul Hamilton, Timmy Olson, Nick Pedatella
The VFuel Sponsored Golden Gate Dirty 30 was held this past saturday as well! This is a fantastic race in our neck of the woods so it's always great to see so many friends on the trails on race day! We had a strong VFuel showing out there this year with three athletes running the race and two floating around taking pics and working the VFuel booth at the finish line. It was a beautiful day and another great event put on by RD Megan Finnesy!
Timmy checked in after the race and said he was 'stoked on the run! Feeling like I'm getting in a groove. Beautiful course and day!'
Paul Hamilton had a fantastic race coming in first place with a time of 4:36:25.
Timmy Olson had a solid day as well - 6th place : 4:58:40
Photo: Bryan Trammell
Nick Pedatella finished in 16th with a time of 5:22:54
Photo: Bryan Trammell
Ashley Erba holding down the fort at the finish line!
Photo: Eric Lee
Sky Running USA, Quest for the Crest - Josh Arthur
Josh is tackling the Sky Running Series this year and is off to a great start! In his 2nd race of the series, the Quest for the Crest, he nabbed a podium spot finishing in 6:13 for 3rd place. This is a gnarly course with more than 11,000 feet of climbing over 50k through the Black Mountains of North Carolina. The race went well for Josh but he thinks he could have done a bit better. He reported that he made a couple of mistakes, got a bit overheated and battled some cramping. Regardless, it was a great result in a burly race that will only help him get stronger as the season progresses!
Josh (middle) took 3rd place at the Quest for the Crest in NC.
Go Big or Go Home 50k - Ethan Veneklasen
And last, but certainly not least, Ethan ran The Loco, Go Big or Go Home 50k over the weekend in the beautiful Lassen National Forest scoring 2nd place, getting beat in the final miles by only 29 seconds! Ethan is hitting it hard right now getting ready for his go at the Eiger Trail Ultra 101k in July!
Ethan enjoying some post race party favors!
This summer is going to be jam packed with big race weekends from our incredible team! We'll be posting updates here as the season progresses! Here's to a fantastic summer racing season!
Tags: athletes, energygel, josharthur, sagecanaday, ultrarunning, vfuel