I just got this email from the RD's. It talks about some safty precautions for 2009, money raised, temps, etc--
Greetings, everyone, from Jared Knapp and me. We hope that you all have recuperated from your weekend in the Keys and are doing well. With this e-mail, we are passing along a few final thoughts about the inaugural race, plus a few facts, figures, ideas and links to published information. Then there are those few notes about next year!
At the awards presentation on Sunday, May 18th, we thanked many people for their tremendous help and support. Unfortunately, the “rule” held sway which is that you’re bound to forget to thank someone! In our case, we forgot to say “thanks” to Lilla Whiteside, President of Key West Southernmost Runners, for her encouragement and assistance throughout the process of pulling the race together. Lilla also competed as a member of the “Conch Master Chicks” relay team. Lilla, thank you for all the help, and please forgive our oversight.
One of the racers lost a “black pillow/cooler” along the route. Did anyone pick it up, perchance? If so, please let me know.
Some of you were curious about the weather this year compared to April 28, 2007, when five of us ran 104 miles on Overseas Highway from Key Largo to Key West to test the viability of such a race route. We have checked weather resources available online, and here is the comparison. It shows remarkably similar conditions, although 2007 was less humid at night:
May 17, 2008: Hi temp 051708 Key West 88, min. 75, mean 81. Ave. humidity 71%, max 82, min 61, wind speed 5 mph, ave. 10 mph
April 28, 2007: Hi temp 042807 Key West 88, min. 77, mean 82. Ave. humidity 61%, high 76, low 48, wind speed 5 mph, ave. 12 mph
Please go to the race website,
www.Keys100.com, for the link to Race Photographer Brian Seguin’s terrific photos. “Thumbnails” are all there as are prices and options. We hope you will take advantage of Brian’s non-stop work throughout the entire 30-hour race and buy some of his work.
Alan Geraldi, who finished second in the 100 mile individual race, has written an interesting account of his race experience, replete with photos and visual surprises. Check it out at
endurazone.blogspot.com/. Not to be outdone, 50-mile race champ, Bill Wenner, has published his own Keys Ultras race account at
teamhendryx.blogspot.com/2008/05/keys-ultras-race-report.html. Thanks for the great effort, Gentlemen!
Speaking of blogs, for your convenience, we will be adding a “Keys 100 Friends” column to our website. This column will appear on our home page and contain a list of links to blogs and websites of sponsors, friends, etc. If you would like to be included in this list, please send us your link text and the url to which we will be linking. If you know of other links that should be there, please let us know. Please send to Jared@ultrasportsllc.com or to bob@ultrasportsllc.com.
For those who don’t live in the Keys, please check out this link to the Upper Keys Reporter, a weekly newspaper that featured our race results in today’s edition:
upperkeysreporter.com/articles/2008/05/30/sports/sports03.txt Many of you have sent e-mails with stories about your race experience and, in some cases, opinions and suggestions for improvements next year. We are very thankful for all that input and continue to welcome your comments. We have posted many of those notes on the website, if you’d like to take a look. We are also taking seriously all the suggestions you made and will implement improvements where we can. For example:
· In 2009 the Florida Department of Transportation has preliminarily agreed to post large electronic signs at strategic locations along the route, including at the Seven Mile Bridge, to notify motorists of our race in progress.
· FDOT has also agreed to consider placing cones on that bridge and possibly others as a safety precaution. We will be working with them to make that happen if at all possible.
· In 2009 we will have race monitors on the road during the event (in addition to the medical team and race directors) to check and enforce compliance with race rules. For example, runners on road shoulders (this does not include sidewalks, bike paths and service roads) who are not running against traffic, will be warned once and then disqualified. Running on the side of the highway facing traffic is a vital safety measure that was repeatedly posted in advance of the race this year, but apparently a number of runners chose to ignore the rule or simply paid no attention to it. This is a biggie, folks, and will be strictly enforced in the future.
· The “Route Notes” handout will be expanded and made easier to use. It will also include a more complete and pre-approved list of bathroom stops and a full list of parallel bridges that are open all the way and may be run in lieu of running on the active highway. Most of these open bridges were listed this year but, inadvertently, not all. Again, we welcome your additional input anytime.
Note about the choice of day and time of year for the Keys Ultras: The month of May is actually off-season in the Keys. A couple of you suggested moving the race to February or October. February is high season and there is more traffic, not less. October is hurricane season, so not a good idea. One person suggested moving the race to Monday from Saturday. Since “Overseas Highway” is the only roadway in and out of the Keys, commercial truck traffic must use the road. Commercial traffic Monday through Friday—in addition to rush hour traffic—would more than offset weekend tourist traffic. A Monday date would also make it difficult for many people to take off from work or school to participate in the race.
Tentative date for 2009 is Saturday, May 9th through Sunday, May 10th. This is the weekend in May when the moon is full, improving visibility and safety at night. We are still waiting for some responses from officials in the Keys about whether there are any conflicting major events that same weekend. The fact is that every weekend there are events of different types in the Keys; there is no way to avoid them all. We will confirm May 9th as soon as possible, but please pencil-in that date if you are considering a return in 2009—and we hope you are! Keep an eye on the website for continuing updates about next year’s Keys Ultras.
Thank you for your participation in this, our first effort to hold an ultramarathon in South Florida. While still very preliminary, we are pleased to announce that some $50,000 appears to have been raised from race fees and our “A Night in the Keys” fundraiser in Fort Lauderdale on May 8th. Net proceeds will be used to provide free prostate cancer screenings and educational outreach, and contribute to research to find a cure for this terrible and wide-spread disease. Thanks to everyone for making this possible.
Bob Becker
Jared Knapp