Posted to ULTRA 1/8/96.

Name:
  Eric Robinson

DOB:
  2/8/68.  I keep my driver's license close at hand in case I get carded
  while trying to run an ultra.

Short Term Ultra Goal:
  Rocky Raccoon 100

Long Term Ultra Goal:
  Finish a dozen 100 milers in a single year.  Maybe 1997 or 1998.
  Meanwhile I'm learning courses and getting more experience, both
  vicarious and otherwise.

Fantasy Ultra Goal:
  Run not five but six laps at Barkley.  "I think I dropped a salted
  spam sandwich back there on Rat Jaw.  I'm going back for it..."

Science Fiction Ultra Goal:
  Ascend Olympus Mons on Mars, using ingestible oxygen of course.

Epic Fantasy Ultra Goal:
  The Trans Middle Earth Footrace.  Everyone DNF's at Rivendell because
  the elves spend two weeks composing songs about you and by that time
  you have missed the cutoff.  Your pacer is an unsavory character named
  GU-llum, who follows you around trying to steal your medical wristband.

Years running:
  Roughly 11 out of 19 years starting at age 9.  For the other eight
  years I ran sporadically, doing 5-20 milers every now and then on
  essentially no training.

Years running ultras:
  About 9 out of 17 years starting at age 11.

Strange thing I just saw in a used bookstore:
  A Time-Life book on aerobic exercise from the eighties.  It described
  how humans have pretty good endurance compared to other species.  In order
  to illustrate the point, an example was given of Tarahumara hunters chasing
  deer until they collapse from exhaustion.

Typical training:
  Between 5-8 runs per month.  I try to keep my total monthly mileage
  between 100-175 miles.  Roughly half of that is walking.

PR's:
       :59   0.25M
     10:19   3k
     39:39  10k
   3:16:55  Mar
   5:15:    50k    (trails) (split estimated from 45 miler)
   9:34:    50M    (trails) (Firetrails 50)
  22:34:   100M    (track)
  24:00:   105.75M (track)

Why I run ultras:
  Hard to define.  Let's see, it's not health.  It's not fitness.  It's
  not stress reduction.  It's not even all the free Power bars.  I guess
  that leaves the sheer enjoyment of running beautiful trails!


UPDATE 8/30/99

Short Term Ultra Goal:
  Finish my third Angeles Crest 100 at the end of
  next month.

Long Term Ultra Goal:
  Now that I've finished Hardrock twice, it's getting
  tough to find events that are suitably difficult.
  Barkley?  Badwater?  Nolan's 14?

Typical Training:
  Even less than before.  A good month of training
  is typically about 2-5 runs totalling 100 miles.
  An average month is probably more like 70 miles.

PR's
  Sub-ultra pr's remain the same.  Most ultra marks
  have improved:

   4:20:24      50k (1997 Jed Smith)
   8:20:59      50M (1997 American River)
  11:53:03     100k (1997 Ruth Anderson)
  21:31:54     100M (1996 Rocky Raccoon)
  24:00:00  105.75M (1995 Jim Skophammer)
     6-day  306.00M (1999-2000 Across the Years)