Hal Koerner, Prudence L-Heureux Win 2008 Angeles Crest 100

Oregonians dominated the Angeles Crest 100 this year, with Hal Koerner (18:29) and Prudence L'Heureux (22:13) taking top honors. Ultrarunning Online had the following recap:

Hal Koerner of Ashland, Oregon won the 21st annual Angeles Crest 100-Mile Endurance Run, which finished here today. Koerner, who also won here in 2006, ran with three-time winner Jorge Pacheco of Los Angeles for much of the first 40 miles before forging a small lead. By Chilao, at mile 52.8, Koerner had established a 15-minute lead, and slowly extended that over the next several checkpoints. Pacheco dropped out at Chantry Flats, mile 74.9. Troy Howard of Walnut Creek, California finished second, and Justin Angle of Seattle was third. Koerner's time was the second fastest ever recorded, behind only Jim O'Brien's 1989 course record 17:35:48.

Prudence L'Heureux of Bend, Oregon was the women's winner. She took the lead by Islip Saddle (mile 25.9) and led the rest of the way. Ashley Nordell of nearby Mt. Baldy, California was second. L'Heureux's time is only 13 minutes outside Suzanna Bon's 2007 course record and is the third fastest women's performance in race history.

The 100.53-mile-long race starts in the high desert town of Wrightwood and follow rugged hiking trails across the San Gabriel Mountains, finishing in Pasadena. There is a cumulative 21,000 vertical feet of climbing and 26,000 vertical feet of descent. The highest point on the course is Mt. Baden-Powell at 9399 feet above sea level.

Men
1. Hal Koerner, 32, Ashland, OR, 18:29:26
2. Troy Howard, 35, Walnut Creek, CA, 19:25:04
3. Justin Angle, 34, Seattle, WA, 20:08:03
4. Osbaldo Nava Lopez, 36, Madera, CA, 20:39:50
5. Rod Bien, 46, Bend, OR, 21:14:16

Women
1. Prudence L'Heureux, 38, Bend, OR, 22:13:10
2. Ashley Nordell, 28, Mt. Baldy, CA, 22:55:45
3. Jannifer Heiner, 29, Pasadena, CA, 26:46:07
4. Tamara Johnson, 43, Pleasant Hill, CA, 28:28:28
5. Linda Dewees, 51, Inyokern, CA, 29:10:09

You can see the full list at the live results page (they started at 5am). Nice work, everyone!

- SD

Michael Wardian Continues USATF Champion Streak with Win at White River 50m

Michael Wardian added the USATF 50-mile Trail Championship to his collection (he has the 50k and 100k USATF Road titles as well this year) with a blistering 6:52:50 finish at the White River 50m last weekend. Wardian narrowly beat out 25-year-old Adam Lint from Indiana, PA (6:59:36), 2007 USATF 100-mile champion Jasper Halekas (7:04:25), and 2007 50k/100k road champion Greg Crowther (7:07:39) on a perfect weather day. William Emerson picked up the win for the Mens Masters (7:30:21) just ahead of 100k Trail Champion Mark Lantz (7:52:16). A shout out to Inov-8 Team member John Basham who took 8th (7:15:58) overall.

(Wardian on his way to a win, photo courtesy of Glenn Tachiyama; more here)

40-year old Suzannah Beck from Eugene, OR, took seven minutes off the course record to win the Women's (and Masters) Division in 7:32:12, placing 10th overall. She beat out a fast field and proved her 2008 WTC 50k win was no fluke, edging out Miwok 100k winner Kami Semick (7:42:54) and local Annie Thiessen (8:29:45).

(Beck makes ground to catch Kami Semick at mile 37, photo courtesy of Glenn Tachiyama; more here)

It sounds like all 202 finishers had a great day! (all results here) If you have a race write up, be sure and leave a link in the comments.

- SD