The following article was written by USATF Mountain/Ultra/Trail liaison Lin Gentling and features the 2024 USATF 100km Road Championships. Featured photo is race director Nora Bird.
There are two things in our lives that are guarantees; taxes and death. I would propose to add another to that short list and that would be inconsistent spring weather in southern Wisconsin. Only one week before the 2024 100K USATF Championship the temperatures soared to the low 70s with brilliant blue skies. Quite a contrast with the weather that met entrants in the championship race at Mad City Ultras on Saturday, April 20.
It was a very cold start (29F) at 6:30 AM, under blue skies, with a slight breeze in the early morning hours morphing into moderately strong and raw winds after a couple hours. The skies completely clouded over hiding the sun resulting in temperatures dropping and wind chill increasing. A bitter day in the making.
Twenty-one athletes toed the start line in Vilas Park, located in Madison, Wisconsin. This race would serve as an auto select event for the winning man and woman assuming they met the qualifying standard, which for men is under 7:15 and for women 8:25. At the end of the day, only 13 finished, but 10 did so in 2024 100K national team qualifying times. This proved to be one of the most competitive 100K national championship races seen in the last 15 years with eight elite athletes who had been on national 50K and 100K teams entered. Most were running with the goal to represent the U.S. at the 2024 World 100km Championships in India on December 8.
Strategies were all over the board as the race began its 10 loops around the scenic University of Wisconsin arboretum. Pre-race prediction was that the men’s team might be selected from this race. There was lots of conversing among the athletes as they settled into a rhythm.
Men’s race at the USATF 100km Road Championships
Chikara Omine, 41 Sacramento, CA, took it out fast averaging 6:22 per mile. Followed closely behind by a pack of men including Adam Vadeboncoeur, 34, Longmont, CO, Mike Katsefaras, 34, Ypsilanti, MI, Ryan Miller, 32, San Antonio, TX, and Phil Young, 37, Davenport, IA. On the next 10K loop (12.4 miles), the lead switched with Miller, Katsefaras and Vadeboncoeur leading the group and Omine only a few seconds behind. Shuffling positions among the top men continued into the 3rd loop (18.6 miles) with Katsefaras, Omine, and Vadeboncoeur leading with Miller only 20 seconds in back.
On course with Katsefaras and Miller at the USATF 100km Road Championships. Photo: Lin Gentling
It is frequently stated that in a 100K race, the real race does not begin until after 50K. However, in this event, the top men remained constant with positions 1-4 jostling at the end of each lap. At 50K, the order was Omine coming through in 3:11:35, Vadeboncoeur, and a new kid on the block, John Judge, and Katsefaras. Less than 50 seconds separated the top 4 men.
Katsefaras dropped at lap 7 (around 44 miles) pulling Miller into the 4th position. Katsefaras, primarily a 50K runner declared this was the furthest he had ever run. By the 9th lap (55.8 miles), the top 4 continued to oscillate positions, but by now it was Vadeboncoeur, Omine, Miller, and Kris Brown, 35, Missoula, MT, having moved up on Judge. The time difference from first to fourth was just over 15 minutes with Vadeboncoeur extending his lead to 12 minutes over the 2nd place runner, Omine. The last lap proved to be a nightmare for Omine. He became quite hypothermic losing several minutes to the foe he just could not control, the cold and wind, going from 2nd place to 7th place.
At the finish line, Vadeboncoeur crossed as the 2024 USATF 100km Champion in 6:37:54, followed 10 minutes later by Miller (6:47:52), then Brown (6:49:31), Judge (6:52:21), Geoff Burns(33, Colorado Springs, CO in 6:59:09), Brandon Talisesky (32, New York, NY in 7:01:09), and Omine (7:01:14). The time differential between 2nd and 4th positions was just over 4 minutes. An unprecedented 7 men ran qualifying times for consideration on the 2024 100K national team.
Adam Vadeboncoeur on course. Photo: Lin Gentling.
Vadeboncoeur, originally from the Madison area, finished last year’s Mad City 50K in 2nd place and qualified for the 2023 50km team here also. “My goal was to break 6:30 (course record). I wanted to be patient and just let things play out, but I may not have executed my plan as well as I should have. Growing up near here, I am very familiar with the loop course and love it.”
Women’s race at the USATF 100km Road Championships
One the ladies’ side, although a competitive field, there were not as many contesting for the U.S. team. Nevertheless, their goals were the same, to run 100K qualifying times for the team. Six women entered the 100km national championship, with 3 women finishing the event, but their times put them in consideration for 100km team qualifying.
Allison Mercer on course. Photo: Lin Gentling.
In the beginning, it was a battle between masters’ runners. On the first lap, Alison Mercer, 41, from Marietta, GA, led Melissa Tanner, 43, Baltimore, MD by 1:37 and Neringa Kaulinaite, 41, Fort Worth, TX by almost 2 minutes. By the end of the 4th lap (25 miles), Kaulinaite pulled ahead of Mercer by less than 1 minute. At 50K Tanner withdrew from the event, leaving just 3 women running, Mercer, Kaulinaite, and Jessa Victory, 32, Madison, WI. After the 5th lap, the order for the women remained the same with Kaulinaite, Mercer, and Victor in that order. Kaulinaite would hold onto her lead, increasing that lead-time with each lap to the finish.
Neringa Kaulinaite victorious at USATF 100km Road Championships. Photo: Mad City Ultras.
Crossing the finish line as the women’s 2024 100km national champion and securing her place on the 2024 US 100k national team was Neringa Kaulinaite (7:48:45), followed by Allison Mercer (7:55:04), and Jessa Victor (8:16:48). Kaulinaite, originally from Lithuania and now a US citizen entered Mad City as a training run for her 24 hour team qualifying race at 6 Days in the Dome. “The hardest part was the on and off feeling of cold. I did not know how to dress for it. This was my first cold race.”
Weather takes a toll
Given the weather and the attrition rate in this race, those that were able to finish the race are to be commended for withstanding some very brutal and suffering weather. It definitely took its toll with well over 75% of the runners indicating they simply did not respect the weather enough to dress warmly. Much of their energy went to just keeping or at least trying to keep warm.
Nora Bird and her Mad City volunteer logistics team. Photo: Emily Neumeier Arkens.
Kudos to the Mad City crew
A big thank you to first time Mad City race director Nora Bird and her team of fabulous volunteers who put on a great event. Frequently heard from participants was the beauty of the course, and the enjoyment of running in the woods and through the neighborhoods. A very positive experience was had by all. Complete results are available here.
Editor’s Note: Click here to see the qualification standards for the 2024 U.S. 100km National Team.
