Here are some stats about the 2009 Where’s Waldo 100km held this past weekend at Willamette Pass Ski Resort in the Oregon Cascades. Congratulations to all the finishers and to those who started and gave Waldo a shot. See the Waldo web site for full results and splits.
- Number of starters: 121
- Number of finishers: 88
- Number of volunteers: 150+
- Number of men under previous course record: 5
- Number of women under previous course record: 1
- Number of lakes Lewis Taylor (17th 11:44) swam in: 6
- Number of visits this blog got on race day: 989
- Number of finishers 70 years or older: 1
- Number of Willamette Pass Ski Patrollers who finished the race: 1
- Number of states represented: 17
- Number of countries represented: 3
- Number of RD toes that got lacerated and smashed: 1
Even the RD's toes take a beating
Did I miss any numbers?
Number of awesome RD’s: 2
Craig, Curt, Laurie, and the rest of the team;
Thanks for doing such a great job. The love that you guys have for this race is amazing and shows in every detail. The amount of work that goes into putting on a race of this magnitude and quality boggles the mind, and you guys do with cheer, humor and grace.
Thanks
Dave
Craig,
What an incredible weekend of Waldo directors, volunteers of many, the runners who were out there giving it their all. Congratulations! You all just make it so special for everyone. Please give that toe some tlc my son.
mom
@Dave – Thanks Dave, but it takes many dedicated and passionate volunteers to make this happen.
@mom from Cool – Thanks for coming up and helping. The toe will be fine. I’ve had worse. It’s just a flesh wound.
How about:
Number of degrees at which the thermometer maxed out: 70 (F)
The weather was amazing. You and Curt have some serious pull.
Craig,
By far my best DNF ever! My day may have ended at Twins 2, but what a wonderful day it was. Absolutely first-rate race in every way. Great volunteers, awesome (and tough as shit) course, stellar weather, and less than two dozen mosquito bites. Nice of you to offer a high-5 at the top of Fuji (what a freakin’ view), and jaw-dropping to see E. Skaggs and the other mutants nearing the summit as this 3:00 a.m. starter headed down. Can’t wait to come back next year. Sure there are 2 or 3 kick-ass wineries we missed on the way back to Portland.
@Co Jones – We did have John Fischer, former weatherman for KEZI in Eugene on the summit of Maiden Peak, and Joseph Calbreath, current weatherman for KMTR in Eugene, at the Maiden Peak aid station…
@Miles – Glad you had a good time. Yeah the mutants were definitely moving fast.
Craig,
Very glad your race went so well, and happy for the runners that they had cooperative weather. What a difference that makes.
Such glowing reviews, this seems like a race I will want to do for the challenge in the next year or two.
Talking with Angel Perez, as he joined our AC100 group for our run last Saturday, he said, yeah, that Where’s Waldo 100K requires that you train like it is a 100 miler if you want to do well. It isn’t some easy run around the block! 🙂
Craig,
Thanks for putting on such an awesome race! Getting my butt kicked by 100K could have been much less fun!
I think the number you are missing is the number of bee stings.
@Robert Blair – I’ve been trying to get Angel to come up to Waldo for years now.
@Mike Chastain – Yes, there were a good number of bee stings this year. Not sure if bees are better or worse than mosquitoes. Congrats on your finish.
It’s odd that the finish rate is lower than last year considering the conditions.
Are you RD’ing in open toe shoes again? 😉
Sounds like an epic day all around. Congrats to you and your 150 volunteers!
SD
@Steve – I still haven’t come up with an explanation for the lower finish rate. Perhaps some numbers guy can crunch the numbers on DNFs. At first glance it looks like we had more DNF at Twins 2 than we’ve ever had. ???
@ScottD – Yes, it was dumb. You gotta work on your dad running Waldo. I think he’s got an interest.
Several above have said the weather was cooler on race day, right?
Is there any possibility the lower finish rate was due, in part at least, to a number of runners taking a portion of their hydration for granted due to the cooler temps, and not drinking as much as may be advised in any long race?
As well as going out faster than perhaps was advised, being coaxed to do so also by the cooler temps?
For the extremely well conditioned, such as the front runners, going out and continuing faster may have not posed a problem, and they may have known that they still needed to hydrate well and remembered to do so.
But for others, maybe the “optimal” conditions may have led to them underestimating their hydration needs and the importance of maintaining a conservative pace to start out?
Not sure, and maybe no way to prove, but just some thoughts.