WILLIAMS - Heading out of Ash Fork up the hill to Williams is a grind. Semi trucks shift into low gear to make the climb and many a vehicle has been known to make a forced pit stop on the side of the highway after over heating.
Imagine what it might feel like to make the journey on foot. Running.
A handful of runners did just that last Thursday while participating in the ninth running of the Los Angeles-New York Footrace. The 70 stage, 3,200 mile race across the United States following Route 66 was first run in 1928 during the great depression. As a promotional effort to market the newly created Highway 66 from Los Angeles to Chicago, organizer C.C. Pyle sent 199 runners on their way from LA through Chicago to New York. Just 55 runners finished.
The 14 runners participating in this year's race set out from Los Angeles June 19 before facing the sweltering heat of the Mohave Desert. Participants will run an average of 45 miles per day.
Markus Mueller is no stranger to long distance running, what those in the sport call "ultra-running." In 2001, Mueller finished the 2,700 Trans Australia Footrace in 10th place. The run began in Perth in the middle of the hot Australian summer and ended in Canberra, 63 running days later. A total of 24 ultra runners were selected from around the world with only 14 runners finishing the grueling race.
Mueller said the LA to New York race is particularly difficult.
"It is really demanding and you have to take care of your feet and not run too fast," he said.
Runners must maintain a minimum pace of 3.5 miles an hour for each stage or face disqualification. All stage times are totaled with the fastest runner named the winner.
Unfortunately, Mueller is no longer in contention to win the foot race after missing the cut off time heading into Needles, Calif. as well as on the Kingman leg of the race.
"Now, I have taken three days off in Flagstaff and just joined today again," Mueller said, adding he will finish out the race despite his official disqualification.
Every morning, an orientation meeting is held to go over the race route for the day. Organizers scout each route the day before to insure that all roadways are passable. Most racers have one support person following by car with water and food. Mueller said most racers stop every three miles, more in the hottest deserts, to rehydrate and fuel up.
Mueller said the 30-mile Ash Fork to Williams leg of the journey was actually one of the easier segments of the race.
"It is kind of a rest day for the runners," he said.
Just what drives runners to take on such a difficult journey, pushing their minds and bodies to the limit? Mueller said long distance running provides a different t perspective, another way to take a look at the world we live in.
"The motivation for me, and I think for the rest of the people, is just to see the country at a human pace," Mueller said. "You see things you would never see otherwise and you actually grasp every detail that is along the road - the good and the bad."
The race winds through the Navajo Reservation this week heading for New Mexico north of Los Alamos.
"We are in really remote areas, so support will be kind of difficult," Mueller said.
The race eventually ends in New York City by Central Park August 27 after crossing 14 states - California, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and New York.
What do you do after 70 days on the road?
"Just drink a beer," Mueller said.
For more information visit www.lanyfootrace.com
via: williams news
