Great Local Article about Scott Jurek

Great Local Article about Scott Jurek

There was a great article written by our very good local sportswriter Kevin Pates about Scott Jurek in this Sunday’s Duluth News-Tribune. Kevin understands distance running and the sport of ultrarunning very well.
Here’s the link:
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=3D46540

I’ve also copied and pasted the article below. Enjoy!

*Trail racer could be best ever*
Kevin Pates Duluth News Tribune Published Sunday, July 22, 2007 Scott Jurek’s accomplishments beg to be rated.

Is he currently the world’s best ultra-runner? Is he the best trail racer ever?

His status was raised last week in winning the Hardrock 100-mile Endurance Run through the San Juan Mountains near Silverton, Colo. He set a course record in the 16th annual event, regarded as tough as any ultramarathon
because of 33,000 feet of total elevation gain. *Kevin Pates
Archive*
Jurek, 33, a Proctor native living in Seattle, has had remarkable success for nearly a decade.

“If you’re talking about 100-mile races, or longer, on trails, there’s no one in history who comes close to him. If you want to say he’s the greatest all-time ultra-runner, a case could be made for it,” says Don Allison of Weymouth, Mass., the editor and publisher for the past seven years of UltraRunning Magazine. “He’s got the talent to put him up against anyone.”

When Jurek runs to win, he’s been almost unbeatable.

* In America’s best-known and most-competitive ultramarathon =97 the Wester= n States Endurance Run 100-mile trail race in Auburn, Calif. =97 he’s entered seven times and won seven times, setting the course record in 2004.

* In the Badwater Ultramarathon 135-mile road run, where temperatures can reach 120 degrees in Death Valley, Calif., he’s entered twice and won twice= , setting the course record in 2005.

* In the 152-mile Spartathlon in Athens, Greece, he entered for the first time last year and won, becoming the second-fastest runner and holding the fifth-fastest time overall in the race’s 25 years. The effort was listed as the performance of the year by UltraRunning Magazine.

He owns at least seven course records for events longer than the traditiona= l 26.2-mile marathon distance, including the Minnesota Voyageur Trail Ultramarathon 50-Miler in Carlton.

Jurek has proven to be anything but a one-trick pony.

“After winning at Western States, I wanted to branch out and show my versatility,” Jurek said. “I wanted to race well on roads and in intense heat and in the mountains.”

Taking a fall

Setting a course record by 27 minutes July 14 at Hardrock and defeating 200=
6
North American Ultra-=07Runner of the Year Karl Meltzer of Sandy, Utah, was something of a feat.

Not only was Jurek facing the challenge of the course recordholder, Meltzer= , but he also started the race with a badly swollen right ankle, injured in a charity soccer game four days earlier.

He took the injury in stride.

Jurek received some treatment, and then used a hard plastic hinged splint and tape to give the ankle support. However, it reduced his ability to push off, limiting flexibility and power going uphill.

“He was limping the day before the race, and then he was fearless with that cast,” said Duluth native Dusty Olson, 34, a home builder living in Big Sky, Mont., who has helped pace Jurek to many of his course records. “That is really stepping up to the plate. It was like Evel Knievel saying, “The show must go on.’ ”

Coming into the Telluride checkpoint, with 28 miles to go, Meltzer trailed by just 14 minutes. Although the four-time champion is known for securing Hardrock victories in the final stages, it was Jurek who stepped on the gas= .
Ten miles later, Jurek led by nearly an hour. He won by nearly three hours.
Olson ran the final 27 miles with Jurek.

“The only way I was catching Scott [Jurek] today was if he came back to me,” Meltzer, who won six 100-mile races in 2006, told the Denver Post. “H= e ran very fast. I [lost energy] going on from Telluride. All I did was yawn.
I was hammered, for some reason.”

Jurek finished in 26 hours, 8 minutes, 34 seconds =97 the longest time he’s spent on a 100-mile course.

“This ranks right up there with the Spartathlon and the course records at Western States and Badwater,” said Jurek, who has a master’s degree from St. Scholastica and is a former Proctor High School runner and Nordic skier= .
“The extreme mountain climbing ascents puts this race in a league of its own.”

Jurek paid great attention to detail by spending a month in the Silverton area, camping at 11,000 feet to get adjusted to the altitude and becoming familiar with all but about five miles of the course.

“Scott knows how to prepare and how to race,” said UltraRunning’s Allison.
“He has the ability to zero in on [the] event. His mental and physical approach is pretty amazing. There’s a calmness about him.”

Who is Dean Karnazes?

There’s little money in ultra-running. Jurek earned nothing at Hardrock. He won no money at Western States.

And whatever fame comes from fringe sports often goes to good athletes with good public relations skills, like Dean Karnazes.

Karnazes, 44, of San Francisco won an ESPY Award earlier this month as Best Outdoor Athlete. He ranked No. 26 in a Time Magazine poll listing the 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2006. He gained recognition last year by running 26.2 miles 50 straight days in 50 states, has won the Badwater Ultramarathon and speaks nationally on the benefits of fitness.

If Karnazes voted for Best Outdoor Athlete, who would be in his top three?

“Along with Ann Trason, Scott Jurek is one of the most dominant, competitiv= e ultra-runners this country has ever seen,” Karnazes said in an=07e-mail to the News Tribune. “I’m a big fan of his and would surely include him in my top three picks with [Americans] Charlie Engle [adventure racer] and Laird Hamilton [surfer].”

Jurek earns a living primarily through his physical therapy practice and by coaching runners in the U.S. and abroad, and gets sponsorship aid from Brooks shoes, Green Foods and Pro-Tec Athletics. He shares an office with his wife, Leah, a Hermantown native and massage therapist, in the Capitol Hill district just above downtown Seattle. They live 1=BD miles away from w= ork and often walk or bike. They haven’t owned a car in five years.

They’re awake by 5:30 a.m. most days, then train for two to four hours (Lea= h also is a runner) and typically work from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., putting in 40 hours a week.

Scott Jurek’s attention to detail in all facets of his life is critical to his success Leah said.

“Diet, rest, recovery. He figures out what makes him healthy and he follows a plan,” Leah said. “He’s very diligent about his nutrition and a low leve= l of stress. He doesn’t take things lightly, he isn’t lazy. He demands a lot out of every day and his goals keep evolving.”

The Jureks, who moved to Seattle in 1999, cook and bake most of their food with an emphasis on fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, whole grains and leafy green produce. Scott takes a few supplements such as antioxidants, calcium and magnesium.

Leah Jurek says her husband has continued to gain athletically and believes he can compete at an elite level for at least another three to five years.

A 24-hour challenge

Next on Scott Jurek’s schedule is his debut at the Tour de Mont-Blanc, a=07101.2-mile trail race through a ski area that touches France, Italy and Switzerland. On Aug. 24-26, he’ll face Meltzer, again, along with 2007 Western States winner Hal Koerner of Ashland, Ore.

Jurek had considered defending his title at the 2007 Badwater Ultramarathon= , which begins Monday, but is instead recovering from Hardrock.

Mont-Blanc will be another mountain challenge, following a successful showing in Silverton.

Hardrock race director Dale Garland of Durango, Colo., saw Jurek come to hi= s race in 2000, just 13 days after winning his second Western States title.
Jurek had no expectations and dropped out after 42 miles.

“He said that he’d be back when he was ready,” Garland said. “I applaud Scott. He’s not only got the ability, he’s got the focus. He’s shown he can compete with anyone.”

One race that intrigues Jurek is the 24-hour event. Greek-born Yiannis Kouros of Australia holds what is regarded as the most impressive mark in ultra-running =97 188 miles in 24 hours in 1997 at age 41.

Mark Godale of Aurora, Ohio, holds the U.S. 24-hour record of 162.4 miles i= n 1999.

Jurek may try a 24-hour race this year, or maybe in 2008.

“When you race, it’s not to impress anyone. I ran Hardrock because it was a high-altitude mountain race that so far was unfulfilled for me. It was the sheer challenge, and I had always wanted to run against Karl Meltzer,”
Jurek said. “I’d love to see if I could set the American 24-hour record and come anywhere close to Yiannis Kouros.”

Age: 33

Hometown: Proctor

Residence: Seattle, Wash.

Job: Physical therapist, coach, ultra-runner

Milestone Victories

n 2004 Western States 100 miler =97 15 hours,=0736 minutes, 27 seconds (cou= rse record, Auburn, Calif.)

n 2005 Badwater 135 miler =97 24:36:08 (course record, Death Valley, Calif.=
)

n 2006 Spartathlon=07152 miler =97 22:52:18 (fifth-best in race history, At= hens,
Greece)

n 2007 Hardrock 100 miler =97 26:08:34 (course record, Silverton, Colo.