National 100-mile race today at Olander Park
9/13/2003USA Track & Field's national championship 24-hour run, a staple at Olander Park for more than a decade, has been replaced this year by the 100-Mile Roadrunning Championship, which begins this morning at 10 at Olander.
The goal is simple: Be the first person to run 100 miles.
About 100 ultrarunners will compete, according to race director Tom Falvey, with the first men expected to finish around 11 p.m. The leading women are expected to finish at about midnight. The track will stay open until 1 p.m. tomorrow.
One of the men's favorites is Joe Gaebler, 26, of California, who is considered one of the best ultrarunners in the U.S. Mark Godale, 33, of Streetsboro, Ohio, also is a top ultrarunner, and the top male runner from the area is John Nichols, 39, of Waterville.
Two of the top females in the field are Janet Runyan, 44 of Boulder, Colo., and Connie Gardner, 39, of Medina, Ohio, who won six ultra events last year.
The American 100-mile record on a track for men is 12 hours, 27 minutes, 1 second. The American women's record is 14:29:44.
The race will take place on the flat, asphalt, 1.091-mile course around Olander Lake. The top five men and the top five women will split $2,650 in prize money.