Saturday, Jul 12, 2014
Prescott , AZ
By Mark Hellenthal, RD
A 100 miler in Arizona in July? Who in their right minds would sign up for a race like that? 15 brave souls that’s who… and along with them 111 other runners toed the line in the 6, 12 and 24hr races. The race, Solemates CYA (Cool Your Ass) 100 and 6/12/24 took place in normally cooler Prescott, Arizona on July 12-13, 2014 as temperatures hit the mid 90s and tested the heart and souls of all of the runners on the Brownlow Trails of Pioneer Park. A challenging yet fun 3.15 mile loop and a slightly more technical and hilly 6.08 mile loop were offered to the runners of the 3 larger races, while the 6hr runners took on the 3.15 miler.
For Prescott’s first major ultra and Solemates’ first race in Arizona the Ultra Gods shined down on everyone… some jokingly calling it the Cook Your Ass race. In the end, for the 100 miler, 3 men (Rich McKnight, Ken Rubeli, and Chris Haines) and 2 women (LIsa Kravetz and Risa Reid) completed the 100 mile event well within the 32 hour cutoff.. In addition, ultra legend, Ed “the Jester” Ettinghausen, on his quest for 40 100 mile finishes in 1 year, completed 103.95 miles in the 24hr event.
The race also featured a little bit of a sneak peak of the future of ultra running events in Prescott, Arizona as part of the 6.08 mile loop that was featured in the CYA race will also be used as a portion of the 52.2 mile loop to be used in the upcoming Solemates Prescott Circle Trail 50/100/150/200 mile event in April 2015.