from the Auburn Journal…WS articles
Grit and determinationEndurance run finishers celebrate success
By: Loryll Nicolaisen, Journal Staff Writer
Sunday, June 24, 2007There are the runners who make running the 100-mile
Squaw Valley-to-Auburn race almost look easy – Wendell Robie Cup winners Nikki
Kimball and the aforementioned Koerner, to name a couple – and then there are
those who struggle, who sustain injuries, who are the living examples of
endurance.
Take Terry Rhodes, for example. The 51-year-old Reno woman was a minute and
seven seconds short of getting her belt buckle, but she still got a standing
ovation as she crossed the finish line at 11:01 a.m. Sunday.
Bogdan Ambrozewicz celebrated his sixth Western States finish with just
about five minutes to spare Sunday morning.
“Best finish I ever had because this is the first time she got to pace me,”
the Meadow Vista man said of his daughter Emily Ambrozewicz, 17.
Why keep coming back year after year?
“It’s the love of the trail and the love of running, it’s something that
promotes healthy living,” Ambrozewicz said.
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Soon Gaal, 59, of Stockton, mustered her last reserve of energy and crossed
the finish line, Korean flag in hand, with less than four minutes to spare.
This was Gaal’s second Western States attempt, and her first finish.
“Awesome, a million dollars,” Gaal said when asked how she felt after the
race.
Gaal’s brother-in-law Ken Gaal said cheers at mile 99 gave Soon that final
burst she needed to get to Le Febvre Stadium.
“They started chanting, ‘Soon, Soon,'” Gaal said.
“And she started moving,” said friend Larry Ota.
The final, and oldest, runner to finish this year’s Western States was
70-year-old Karsten Solheim, of Glendale, Ariz. Solheim’s 29 hour, 57 minute
finish marked his 13th completed Western States, and 11th year racing in a row.
“That was emotional, to see so many people cheering,” Solheim said. “That’s
not something I’m used to. I was just thankful. God has been good to me, to
allow me to do this.”
Would Solheim consider coming back for the 2008 Western States?
“I think so,” he said. “I’ve got a string going.”
The Journal’s Loryll Nicolaisen can be reached at
_lorylln@goldcountrymedia.com_ (mailto:lorylln@goldcountrymedia.com) , or post a comment online at
auburnjournal.com.
Koerner goes the distance31-year-old from Oregon wins after grabbing lead
early
By: Todd Mordhorst, Journal Sports Editor
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Determined to run his own race Saturday, Hal Koerner made sure he didn’t
have any footsteps to follow.
The 31-year-old from Ashland, Ore. darted up Emigrant Pass from the start at
Squaw Valley and didn’t look back until the finish line at Auburn’s Le
Febvre Stadium. He led virtually the entire way to win the 34th Western States
Endurance Run in his sixth try.
“I knew there were so many talented guys and gals here today and I wanted to
run my own race,” Koerner said. “I knew if I got out a little further (in
front), no one else could dictate what my pace would be. Usually if I run
behind other people, things don’t go so well.”
Things went beautifully for Koerner on Saturday. He finished the 100-mile
trek in 16 hours, 12 minutes and 15 seconds, crossing the finish line at 9:12
p.m.
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Folsom’s Erik Skaden chugged across the finish line in 16:37:01 and was the
runner-up for the second straight year.
Koerner took third overall in 2004 and was ninth in 2003, but never felt as
good as he did Saturday, when relatively mild temperatures in the canyons and
no snow at the start of the race made for excellent running conditions.
Koerner set a brutally fast pace early, cruising through the Robinson Flat
aid station at 9:30 a.m., 15 minutes ahead of Lon Freeman, who dropped out
some 50 miles later at Auburn Lake Trails.
Skaden slid into second place between Foresthill and the Rucky Chucky River
Crossing, followed closely by Phil Kochik, who finished fifth. The Folsom
runner, who won the American River 50 in April, said he struggled in the middle
of the race in the heat of the day, but was able to pull through.
“The Deadwood and El Dorado – it was warmer than I anticipated,” Skaden
said. “It was nothing compared to last year.”
Skaden referred to the soaring temperatures in 2006 that led to leader Brian
Morrison collapsing less than 400 yards from the finish line. His crew
physically aided him to the finish and he was disqualified. Graham Cooper, last
year’s WS champion, took third on Saturday, followed by Andy Jones-Wilkins and
Kochik.
In the race for the women’s title, defending champion Nikki Kimball had a
sizeable lead at press time Saturday night, nearly an hour ahead of second
place runner Beverly Anderson-Abbs. It would be Kimball’s third victory in four
years.
Koerner won the prestigious Angeles Crest 100 in Arcadia last July, but
considers the Western States victory his crowning achievement in eight years of
endurance running.
“I’ve done a lot of runs, but no other race brings together the caliber of
runners that this one does. No other race is even close,” Koerner said. “To be
out here on this course with all the variables and then to run 100 miles,
this here is pretty huge.”
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Many along the trail believed Koerner’s strategy might come back to haunt
him once the heat of the day set in, but the owner of Rogue Valley Runners in
Ashland was never threatened.
“I thought if I could get as much of a lead by 80 miles, then I could have a
little cushion for the last 20,” Koerner said. “It was a cool day, so I
figured I had to get as much out of the way as I could before it got hot.”
Koerner was not a runner in high school, preferring to play basketball as a
youth growing up in Colorado. He got into endurance running at age 23 and
quickly emerged as a star.
His mother Diane Koerner said her nerves were still on edge even after her
son crossed the finish line as the champion.
“I’ve been here when he was hooked up to an IV at the end and had to drop at
mile 89,” she said. “I’ve been through some bad times, so this is definitely
a happy ending. Relatives, friends and everybody asks why? But we’ve crewed
maybe 27 of his races and you get here and you just get caught up in it. This
ultrarunning community is fantastic. It’s just a great sport.”
Planet Ultramarathon 
Posted on June 25, 2007 by planetultramarathon