The North Face Endurance Challenge

This weekend I'll be in San Francisco with every ultra runner who has ever run even somewhat fast in a race, all vying for the top spot in what is apparently the most competitive ultra ever, if the several race previews I've read are correct. The winner takes home $10,000, and second and third get $4000 and $1000 respectively. That's a big deal in ultrarunning, and the result is a massive amount of attention on the race and its competitors.

Personally, I have no idea how I'm going to do. I am without a doubt in the best condition of my life right now, and I'm looking forward to combining that with the strong base of experience I've built up over the year to see how things play out. The reason I'm doing this race is to pit myself against the best the sport has to offer, and see where I stand. But that's too ambiguous. At the very least I'm shooting for a top ten spot. I've been quite flattered by my notable mentions in many of the previews, and so hopefully I can live up to their not-good-enough-to-win-but-should-be-up-front-somewhere predictions. This is going to be a really fun run in a cool place, and if I'm lucky I'll get to watch the drama play out firsthand.

As for everyone else, the predictions seem to be putting Tony in front of Geoff and Ulli. Despite Geoff's conclusive victories this year, most people think that Tony has the ability to win, especially since Geoff has excelled in the 100 mile distance and may not be quite as untouchable in 50's. This may very well be true - I'm not putting odds on anyone. I've run with both Tony and Geoff a few times this fall and they both seem to be in fantastic condition, so their race is going to be really exciting. Behind them on the lists is a line of people who would each be definite wins in a normal race, and all of whom have a chance to throw prediction out the window and take the win. We'll see how it goes. $10,000 is a lot of money.

But in addition to the race this weekend is going to be awesome! San Francisco is warm, low and full of fun things to do. Many of the coolest people I know are going to be hanging out all in one spot and my birthday is on Sunday. On Friday the Montrail team members are going to meet at the Mountain Hardwear headquarters and do all kinds sponsored athlete stuff together. And through all of it I always feel like such a rock star by flying across the country to races. Despite the fact that it's on my own bill, traveling seems so glamorous. And remember: if it's not glamorous it's not ultrarunning.

No matter how the race plays out, this is going to be a really fun weekend. Everyone racing seems to be in top condition and looking to run their best race ever, and that seems to be the only thing that will take home a win on Saturday. Of course, everyone could just be nice and give me the win since my birthday is the next day, but somehow I don't think that's going to happen. What will happen is going to be awesome, so pay attention to Bryon Powells twitter updates on www.irunfar.com and he'll let you know what's going on in real time. And now, here's what I'll be listening to race morning.