John Medinger - Part Two - On the 2012 Lake Sonoma 50

John Medinger is the publisher of Ultrarunning Magazine, the race director and founder of the Quad Dipsea and the Lake Sonoma 50, and is on the board of directors of the Western States Endurance Run. Here in answer some of my questions about the upcoming Montrail Ultra Cup race at Lake Sonoma 50 on April 14th, 2012.

Your race has experienced two very related changes this past year; first, that Lake Sonoma 50 is now part of the prestigious Montrail Ultra Cup and second, that your quality and depth of the field has become astounding. Could you first talk about how you developed a partnership with Montrail and what, if any, changes this has produced in the race?

 

The Montrail partnership is pretty much a natural fit. American River 50 had been part of the Ultra Cup series, but AR switched sponsors to Patagonia for this year, so Montrail was looking for a northern California race for the series. And with the Ultra Cup culminating with Western States, they were also looking for races that were more like Western in terms of difficulty. Plus I’ve been good friends with Topher Gaylord (Montrail CEO) for years and years. And being on the Western States Board I had a good working relationship with the other folks at Montrail, so it was almost an obvious choice.

Both the men's and women's field are extremely deep with a dizzying number 'name' runners. The men's field may be the deepest in the country behind (possibly) Chuckanut, NF50 and WS with the women's field not far behind. With only two Western States spots available, do you expect this to effect how people race? 

Even though Lake Sonoma is a relatively new race, we’ve always attracted a strong field. It’s almost all hilly single track, and it’s the time of year when a lot of folks are gearing up. The addition of the Ultra Cup has only served to make it even stronger and more attractive for the elites.

There are several runners who have said they are gunning for one of the automatic WS spots. Some of the others may be treating it more like a training run or a tune-up for Western or some other early summer 100, like San Diego, Bighorn or Hardrock.  But at the front of the pack there is an especially strong desire to compete. No matter what a runner’s goals are coming in, once that gun goes off there’ll be a lot of intensity out there.

The course is rather hilly (10,000 ft gain in 50 miles) and conditions can range from hot to rainy, firm to extremely muddy. How are course conditions as of the end of March? Further, what can the out-of-towner expect and need to prepare for?

The course drains very well, so even if it's rainy it will only be muddy in a few spots. And typically the rains have subsided by mid-April. The big question mark is the temperature. The average high that time of year is low 70s, but it could be as warm as 90. If it’s hot, that will change the equation dramatically, as no one is heat trained this early in the season.

Otherwise, the aspect that an out-of-towner should be prepared for is the unrelenting nature of the course. There are only a couple of climbs that are tough but the entire 50 miles is either up or down. There is no place where you can just cruise for a while. It just keeps coming at you.

On the women's side the 'X' factor has to be professional triathlete and Way Too Cool 2012 champion Tyler Stewart who has stated ambitions of qualifying for WS. On the men's side Leor Pantilat will continue his progression to longer distances and battle the seasoned 50m and longer elites. Do you have any comments on the progression of these two runners? And, are there any match ups you are excited to see?

Tyler Stewart - Pro Triathlete

Tyler showed her chops at Way Too Cool. She is clearly very talented. But she’s never run this far before, so that adds an element of suspense. Having said that, she’s done a bunch of Ironmans so she’s used to pushing the effort for 10 hours.

 Stephanie Howe from Bend, Oregon is another dark horse, a very fast 50K runner also doing her first 50 miler. And you throw in veterans like Krissy Moehl, Darcy Africa, Joelle Vaught, Caren Spore and Jen Pfeifer -- it should be fun to watch.

Leor Pantilat

On the men’s side, Leor is nursing a piriformis injury, and is doubtful, which is really too bad. He’s talented and a really tough competitor and I was looking forward to seeing him up there with the elites on a national scale. I think he would’ve opened some eyes.

The sleeper on the men’s side could be Jorge Maravilla.  He just started running 3 or 4 years ago and is improving by leaps and bounds. He lives nearby and is really familiar with the course and may be ready to duke it out with the big dogs. 

When you look at the men’s field with Hal Koerner, Dave Mackey, Dakota Jones, Tim Olson, Nick Clark, Nathan Yanko, Gary Gellin, Jon Olsen, Mike Foote, Leigh Schmitt, Joe Uhan – well, you just know that somebody is going to have a good day. I think it’s more of a strength runner’s course than a speed runner’s one. Of course many of these guys are both.

Who makes this race possible? Talk about Co-RDs, aid-station captains, volunteers, or sponsors that make this possible:

 

Like a lot of races, Lake Sonoma 50 is a team effort. OK, I’m the RD, but my wife Lisa (Henson), along with Suzanna Bon and Greg Carter, do a lot of the organizing.  One of the things that I like most is the number of key volunteers who come from 100 or more miles away just to help. Stan Jensen, Tia Bodington, Pete Hazarian, Bob Agazzi, Jim Winne to name a few.  And the Rocket (Errol Jones) – of course he’s my best friend so he has no choice in the matter. He’ll be here all week.