Hello, my name is Alan, and I will be live blogging the inaugural “Waldo 100k” off and on today. I will answer questions if you send them to me in the comments below. If you’re looking for aid station times, you can go to ultralive.net. If you’re looking for info that may or may not be factual, you’ve come to the right place! Let’s begin now shall we?

So yes, I had a busy morning, thanks for asking. Early starters begin at 3am, so that means glowsticks get put out starting at 2am. This year, I had distinguished help- Amy Sproston, and we finished in record time, because she actually wanted to run at 2am. Crazy!

Dave Mackey hit the top of Mt Fuji 1:59 in. That’s 3 min faster than Erik Skaggs did a couple years ago. Dave also gets a down jacket courtesy of Patagonia@Bend!

We started 123 people this year. This year we also have snow! For reals! There’s some drifts to go over along the PCT from Twins to Charlton, and about a mile from the Twins Aid Station to the summit of the Twins.

UltraLive.net has current results through Mt Ray. Keep in mind this includes early starters, so the placings might not be completely accurate. However, our top three men- Mackey, Ives, and Triolo are only 10 min apart. Aliza LaPierre leads the women. One of our women frontrunners, Nicolas Gildersleeve, I hear has dropped out.

We have some great sponsors! Sunsweet Growers- go to www.Sunsweet.com to see everything they have to offer. they’ve sponsored endurance events for almost a decade, including an ultrarunning team. Montrail has made the race the first in the Montrail Ultra Cup, and the top two men and women get entries to Western States. Sporthill provided some sweet clothing ( in “flame” and “eggplant”) including the coveted finishers hats. GU, Succeed!, Coke. We have a PR firm- Vox communications. We have a portapotty sponsor too- Buck’s Sanitary! And, the City of Oakridge has provided support as well. All this stuff keeps our entry fees low, and we make a donation of the proceedsmto the Willamette Pass Ski Patrol.

We have a few fun awards every year. The “Wet Waldo” goes to the first person to finish with the most times dunking themselves in the 6 lakes along the way. It’s a cold way to earn some schwag. Then there’s the “Show us your Waldo” award, which is open to interpretation and voted on by the aid station captains. So far, there’s an original epic poem being read, and someone is trying to bribe for votes by giving away smoked salmon. How do they carry that salmon around with them?

At the pre race meeting last night, did someone really say that the runners from Ashland are all thespian wannabes driving around in Priuses? Ouch.My other favorite- “… You’ll see all these course markings and you’ll ascertain that it’s proper to make the turns.” uh, ascertain that it’s proper?

How rude of me- I didn’t mention Willamette Pass Ski area as a sponsor! That’s where the start/finish is, they provided dinner, helped with set up, and are providing the wifi. They also do mountain biking on weekends, and the MTB folks that aren’t at Mountain Bike Oregon down in Oakridge are gearing up. I just saw a little kid take a digger about 10 yards away.

We just got an upload for the Twins aid, and Dave Mackey has about 15 minutes on a pack of three- Ives, Triolo, and Sharman.For the women, Aliza has a 13 min gap on Denise Bourassa. (10:18- see I screwed it up! Darla Askew is second female!)

The Long Run Picture Company finished taking shots at Pothole Meadows after Mt Ray. They head near Maiden Peak next. Digital shots for runner’s blogs and social media uses are free. Cool deal.

We have 30 ham radio operators providing our live updates that we then feed to ultralive.net. We also have ski patrol folks, medical folks, practitioners of the healing art of massage, BBQ cookers, aid stations that require significant muling of gear, and announcers for the finish. We probably have more volunteers than runners.

Remember, I’m taking questions! Ask me anything! Hello, is anyone out there?

It looks like Dave Mackey about 4 min off cr time as of Charlton. Now we have updates from 4290, and Dave has a 17 minute lead, with 2-6 bunched up close. Yassine Dibboun lurks In 5th. For women, we have info from Charlton Lake- Aliza has 14 min oh Darla Askew and Denise Bourassa. Aliza already has a spot in Western States, so her spot rolls to 3rd. It looks like Roxanne Woodhouse from my local running club in Redding California is hoping to move into that spot.

Mark Lantz is a drop. Tendon problems. Bret Henry also- neck.
Twins #2- Mackey is 4 min ahead of cr pace, entering the Snow zone.
The Montrail tent is up and Amy is showing off lots of new colorful Montrail shoes.

Mackey has reached Maiden Peak aid at 7:04 elapsed. Sharman has moved into 2nd at Twins 2, with Triolo 3 min behind. Sharmania!
Jace Ives just dropped at Twins 2 (mile 44.7). We’re rooting for our man Joe Palubeski aka Drama Queen to overcome some stomach issues and push on. If he dilly rallies, Bev’s pacing someone that is only 30 minutes at Charlton, and then he’s really going to feel the whip.

Aliza has come into Twins – she’s 13 min behind cr pace, but 5th place overall! Denise and Darla are separated by 3 min out of 4290.
Dave just left the last aid station. He’s 1 min ahead of Skaggs’ course record pace.

I took a bit of a break to walkmthe dog, and we’ve had a bunch of finishers- Mackey gets the course record, Aliza wins the female, Denise gets second a double dips on the prize money.

There coming in every few minutes now, and things should get immediately posted to ultralive.net.