2005 Ultra Runner of the Year
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Elizabeth Brundige
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| Elizabeth Brundige Elizabeth Brundige (age 35, Ithaca) is new to the sport, having run her first ultramarathon last year. Remarkably, her first ultra was the biggest and oldest on the planet: The Comrades Marathon in South Africa. In 2010 Brundige was among the 14,343 finishers who completed the 56 miles from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, South Africa. |
Daven Oskvig Daven Oskvig (age 34, Amherst) is also new to the ultrarunning scene. He ran his first ultra at the 2010 Can Lake 50 Ultras. His 7:26:18 for fourth overall made him the top first ultra finisher in the 50 mile. |
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May 28 - Highland Forest 1 2 3 Trail Run
Liz Brundige ran her second ultra and first ever trail ultra at Highland Forest. The heavy overnight rains made for a slow trail with mud even in places that usually have firm footing. While it wasn't a day for records, Brundige persevered to finish third overall and first woman, giving her 100 points and a share of the lead in the series. |
August 28 - Green Lakes Endurance Runs 100K
Daven Oskvig skipped the first three events in the Series, making the always challenging GLER 100k his first race. Tropical storm Irene made for a wet course that got muddier as the day went on. Oskvig ran a brilliant race to finish in 8:39:00, becoming only the third man to run under 9 hours in the GLER 100k. His strong second place gave him 102.37 out of a possible 106 points. |
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July 2 - Finger Lakes Fifties - 50 Mile
By contrast, the mud that often plagues runners at the Finger Lakes National Forest was absent. Instead the challenge for the 50-milers was the seasonably hot afternoon that followed a cool start. Brundige ran a strong race, finishing second only 15 minutes off the women's record for the race. Her strong second gave her 101.33 out of a possible 104 points. At the midpoint of the Series, Brundige led by over 9 points with 201.33 points. August 28 - Green Lakes Endurance Runs 100K
Brundige's comfortable lead in the Series was washed away at the Green Lakes Endurance Runs. Her closest challenger, Heather Danielson, won the 50k for a maximum 100 points while Brundige had a more difficult day, going twice the distance over an increasingly slippery course to finish third woman with 90.83 out of a possible 106 points. With three scoring races, Brundige and Danielson were in a virtual tie, with 292.16 and 292.00 points respectively. Would one of these outstanding women run a stronger fourth race and move ahead in the "best of three scoring?" |
October 8 - Can Lake 50 Ultras - 50 Miles
Unseasonably high temperatures, a hot sun and no cloud cover made the 2011 Can Lake 50 a tougher race than usual. Oskvig ran from the front, comfortably leading the race until being slowed by the heat and getting behind on his hydration. While it was painful to lose the lead only 3 miles from the finish, Oskvig held on to finish second in 7:04:27 for 101.70 points. With 204.08 points for two races, he could win the Series with a strong result in the final race. |
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November 5 - Mendon Trail Runs - 50K
The answer came at the last event in the Series. It was a beautiful November day at the Mendon Trail Runs... 27 degrees and a heavy frost at start, then warming up to a sunny mid 40's. Brundige dominated from the start, winning by over 30 minutes over the next woman, and becoming the third fastest female performer in the Mendon 50k. And she clinched the Series Championship with two wins and a strong 2nd place for 301.33 points. |
November 5 - Mendon Trail Runs - 50K
Daven Oskvig rose to the challenge, running strongly with Phil Nesbitt through the first three laps of the 10k trail loop and then gradually pulling ahead by five minutes over Nesbitt in the final two laps for his first ultra race win. His win added 100 points to his total and clinched the Series Championship with 304.08 points for two strong second places and one overall win. |
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Beyond the Series The Directors of the Western New York Ultra Series are pleased to see that our Champions performed so well in other venues. |
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April 16 -
Muddy Sneaker Trail Run
High Tor Wilderness near Bristol Springs. Rain and mud, happily lived up to its name!
March
27 - Ocean Drive Marathon
Cape May, NJ. Pretty seaside course, heavy late-March headwind. Struggled with IT-band problems.
July 19 - Forest Frolic Trail Run
15k
Near
Virgil. Discovered that shorter races
are fun too and not so scary after all.
September 4 - Monster Marathon
Near Virgil. Handicap race, run only a week after GLER 100k. Most consider it an honorary ultra because it's so difficult and winning times are slower than for a road 50k. |
March 26 - SunTrust National Marathon
Washington D.C. 11th in age group. A new marathon PR and a great start to the year.
May 28 - Seghunda Trail Marathon
Letchworth State Park near Mount Morris. 1st in age group. EXTREMELY wet. Oskvig says it was his most difficult race of the year, comparable to the hardest of ultras. September 18 - MVP Rochester Marathon
Rochester. 2nd in age group. Another marathon PR in the same year. |
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This site was last updated 05/03/12
