"Eighty percent of success is showing up."
-- Woody Allen

Final Standings |  Race Summaries

Ultra Series by the Numbers
2008 was another record year for the Western New York Ultra Series.  Total participation has continued to grow, with 276 individuals completing one or more series races.  Women continue to be about 25% and Veterans about 30% of our fields.

2008 Runner of the Year:  Yassine Diboun.  
The directors of the six Western New York Ultra Series events have selected Yassine based on his two course record wins, a second place under the prior record and a close third to nationally ranked competition.  Yassine will receive a custom technical jacket from Fleet Feet Sports Rochester and an 8 x 10 framed certificate commemorating his outstanding year. 

Other runners considered in selection of the 2008 Runner of the Year:
- Jill Perry (304.24 points) - 2 overall women's wins and a strong second in GL100K
- Ed Housel (300.58) - top masters man at age 49 with one overall win and four additional Masters category wins
- Todd Baum (288.44) - top Veteran with one course record win and two close finishes for 288.44 points
- Barbara Gorka (285.34) - two overall women's wins and a solid 2nd at age 45
- Mike Wright (274.50) - three Veteran category wins at age 59

2008 Age Group Winners
Open Men:  Yassine Diboun was dominant in category with course record wins in the Green Lakes 50K and Mendon 50K.  His second place to Michael Wunsch at Highland Forest was also under Todd Baum's course record and his third place in the Finger Lakes 50 Mile was behind nationally ranked runners.

Open Women:  Jill Perry won the category with a strong second in the Green Lakes 100K, a win in the CanLake 50 Mile and a fine demonstration of trail running speed in winning the Mendon 50K.  She is only the second woman to break five hours at Mendon.

Masters Men:  Ed Housel was undefeated in the Masters category in all five races he started this year and notched his first overall win in the CanLake 50 Mile. 

Masters Women:  Barbara Gorka was the top woman on the roads at the BPAC Six-Hour and trails at Highland Forest and second woman behind Daniele Cherniak in the CanLake 50K.

Veteran Men:  Todd Baum started the year with a course record win at the BPAC Six-Hour.  He finished behind Mike Wright at Highland Forest in a rare off-day.  Todd came back with a strong fourth overall category win in the CanLake 50 Mile to clinch the series win.

Veteran Women:  No Veteran Women finished the required minimum two races to qualify for series awards.

Note:  All men will be scored based on the performance of the overall male winner; all women will be scored based on the performance of the overall female winner. The male and female winners will be awarded the maximum score of 100 points, 104 points for the 50 Mile races and 106 points for the GLER 100K. Other finishers in each category are awarded points proportional their performance.