THE FLATLANDERS OF SAN DIEGO |
"I do not believe that winning Western States necessarily qualifies me as the toughest runner in the world. Certainly one has to consider T. J. Key, who fell victim to a rattlesnake bite six weeks before the race. Before the race a swollen and throbbing leg kept T. J. bed-ridden. However, to everyone's amazement T. J. ran and finished the 1984 Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run!"
Jim King after the '84 WS 100 |
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![]() The Flatlanders had gotten together several times a year for such innocuous feats as scaling Mount San Jacino, running across Death Valley, and staging the Pacific Coast Trail 50-miler in San Diego. Several Flatlanders ranked among the top perennial finishers at Western States. And the membership was truly a cornucopia of the early 80's ultra community. Eclectic heroes such as the Cowman and Rude Nude were welcomed along with the talented runners. Ultimately, the club was a little too loosely knit however, and Key decided to end the run. So in 1988 he announced the Death of the Flatlanders and it's wildly popular Downstream Digest. Today, very little mention of it exists anywhere on the Web. However, T.J. has hard copy of many of the club's antics & accomplishments. He has supplied a full copy to Team Slug, and I will continue to build this page in an effort to preserve this small, but important piece, of ultra history. |