Episode 14 of Talk Ultra is now available and I interview a legend of the sport. Hal Koerner has been running ultras since 1999 and has a list of results second to none.
He recently won Hardrock 100 making him one of only two runners (Scott Jurek the other) to have done the Western States and Hardrock double.
On the show we discuss Hardrock and take a look back over his stunning career.
Hal is owner of Rogue Valley Runners
I am really pleased to announce that Nick Clark will be the next guest on Talk Ultra episode 11.
Nick is a Brit that most people seem to think is an American… well he’s not, he’s British and despite what anyone else says, even Nick for that fact, he is staying British.
Nick is a top guy. I had the pleasure of finally meeting him and spending time with him in La Palma and then the Pyrenees. For me, Nick did one of the best ‘doubles’ in 2011 getting 3rd place at Western States and then 3rd place at Hardrock some 2 weeks later. Great result!
Anyway, Western States is around the corner and Nick will be on the start line. I will be chatting to him about his past, his expectations for the future and also about Zegama. You can read his Zegama blog post here. I also may even ask him about his birthday and about how we celebrated in the Pyrenees… but who knows, that may just be too much info!
Talk Ultra episode 11 will be available on June 15th via talkultra.com
Image Copyright JUSTIN BATIEN
During his college years, Jurek continued to compete in the Minnesota Voyageur, finishing second in 1994 and 1995 and winning the race in 1996, 1997, and 1998, when he set the current course record of 6:41:16. After graduation, he moved to Seattle, where he began competing on a national level, in 1998 winning the Zane Grey Highline Trail 50 Mile Run and the McKenzie River Trail Run 50K, and placing second in his first 100-mile race, the Angeles Crest.
In 1999, Jurek won the prestigious 100-mile Western States Endurance Run on his first attempt, defeating five-time champion Tim Twietmeyer and becoming only the second non-Californian to win the race. He would go on to win Western States a record seven straight times. In 2004, he bested Mike Morton’s 1997 time to set a new course record at the time of 15 hours and 36 minutes.
Over the next five years, Jurek notched victories in the McDonald Forest 50K (1999), the Bull Run Run 50 Mile (1999), the Leona Divide 50 Mile (2000, 2001, 2002, 2004), the Diez Vista 50K (2000-course record, 2003), the Silvertip 50K (2002), the Miwok 100K (2002, 2003, 2004). In 2004, he completed the “Ultra Running Grand Slam” by finishing Western States, the Leadville 100 (in which he was runner-up), the Vermont 100, and the Wasatch Front 100. He traveled to Hong Kong with Team Montrail to win the 2001 and 2002 OXFAM Trailwalker 100K team trophies, both years setting new course records. Jurek’s 2001 teammates were Dave Terry, Ian Torrence, and Nate McDowell. In 2002, he ran with McDowell, Brandon Sybrowsky, and Karl Meltzer. Jurek was also on the winning team of the 2003 Hasegawa Cup Japan Mountain Endurance Run.
In 2005, just a few weeks after winning Western States, Jurek set a new course record in the Badwater Ultramarathon, widely considered one of the world’s most difficult races. Jurek came from behind to win this race despite temperatures of 120 °F(49 °C), dealing with the heat by periodically stopping to immerse himself in a cooler of ice.
Jurek repeated his Badwater victory in 2006, a year that also saw his first of three consecutive victories in the Spartathlon, a 153-mile race between Athens and Sparta in Greece. Jurek is the only North American to ever win this race, and he holds the two fastest times on the course behind Yiannis Kouros. In 2007, he also won the Hardrock Hundred, setting a new course record at the time.
In 2006, Jurek traveled to Mexico’s remote Copper Canyon with a group of runners including Christopher McDougall and Jenn Shelton to participate in a race against the Tarahumara. Jurek narrowly lost to the fastest Tarahumara runner, Arnulfo Quimare, but in 2007 Jurek returned to win the race. McDougall’s best-selling book about the 2006 trip, “Born to Run,” significantly raised Jurek’s profile.
On May 14, 2010, in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France, Jurek broke the USATF all-surface record for distance run by an American in 24 hours with 165.7 miles. His finish earned him a silver medal and helped the American men’s team take a bronze overall.
He was part of “Dozens of searchers” including of world class ultra-runners like himself and Kyle Skaggs) went to the remote wilderness to search for the inspirational ultramarathoner Micah True, who went missing and was found deceased. Chris McDougall tweeted: “Caballo had the only funeral he would have wanted: his friends spent days running in the wilderness in his honour.”
HIGHLIGHTS
Scott will hopefully be on episode 10 or 11 of Talk Ultra – check it out HERE
