Show Idaho’s draws an ambitious crowd 100-mil- er ' course which if one were to hike it would take the average backpacker four or five days to complete Only this timCj there’s no clock And no But these hardy souls with hearty soles have at the maximum 35 people And no well hours to beat The Bear That’s the line' There is a sign nestled backln the cut-opoint of the race that boasts trees which proclaims “FINISH” in of providing runners with a total elevation climb of more than 17000 big red letters But rather than the color and music and festivities that feet at an average elevation of 7742 feet greeted participants at the end of the LOTOJA Classic cycling race and The “endurance run” the Top of Utah Marathon there is began Friday morning at 6 at the same spot: Deer Qiff Inn up Cub only silence darkness and a couple of cheap plastic lawn chairs River Canyon It was of course V Limited illumination comes from dark then as well The majority of the runners parked at the upper a street light far from any street which stands a hundred yards away tion of the chit parking lot then conIt’s light falls across a single gregated near the finish area While it was cool for a late Sepwhich in turn casts a long shadow over the finish area tember morning it was also shockg The scene lacks only a ingly pleasant As the participants chatted and took madman to serve as the photos of music of perfect setting for a horror film Ahd each other the swing-ban- d Benny Goodman blared through the perhaps that’s apropos After all at the beginning of the Bear 100 some crisp predawn air “Sing Sing 20 hours earlier the race director Sing” coupled with the solitary street light gave the setting the feel counted down the start as such: “Three! Two! One! Die!” of a social function e But before anyone could work up And like a horror movie nerve to ask one of the severely the out there in the darkened ' woods there’s madness going on ' outnumbered women to dance die music ended Just then a couple of Fifty-fiv- e people are attempting to nearly late arrivals announced their navigate 100 miles of southeastern Idaho backcountry with only a sinpresence were checked off the list gle headlamp to light the way And by race director Leland Barker and the group was given its final brief they’re running Running a figure-- 8 I his is my third finish line in as many Satur-da- X ys ff so-call- Port-a-Pott- ie chainsaw-wieldin- pre-ra- some-wher- ce countdown As they headed up the road toward the first turn at Albert Moser Campground only die runners’ bob- bing headlamps and the gentle crunch of their shoes on the dirt and gravel heralded their departure into the wild That was 20 hours ago Knowing that the course record through the first four versions of the Bear 100 stood at just over 21 hours I felt safe in showing up at 2 am to note the arrival of this year’s winner Unfortunately1 what I failed to realize is that four-tim- e defending champ Hal Koemer III had shaved around an hour off of his time each and every year So when he arrived at the finish line at 1:51 am to set yet another course record I wasn’t there to greet the Coloradan But then I wasn’t the only one to miss The Bear's premier moment Since Barker was actually competing in the race he had delegated the responsibility of marking the official times to someone else until he completed the course That person unfortunately never showed leav- ing the kindly volunteer couple running the radio communications unit in the upper parking area as the only ' people to welcome Koemer See BEAR on C8 Clockwise from top: Jeff Hensley crosses Beaver Creek at mile 28 during last weekend’s Bear 100 trail race Mary yorkman eats as she runs during the race The feet of Betsy Nye show the pain that most of the runners face at the end Leland Barker catches some shut-ey- e at the finish line after finishing third with a time of 21 hours 45 minutes and 11 seconds Storv bv Jeff Hunter Photos by Eli Lucero a ' ¥ 5 I |