Carl Hutzler’s Blog

In March, I had the privilege of supporting Davy Crockett in the Moab 100 race. At the race, I met Jarom Thurston of Payson, an ultra-running friend of Davy’s and who was also running in that race.

I happened to get an email from Jarom the other day announcing that he would be running the Bad Water Ultra Marathon. In the email he alerted me to a show about the Bad Water race coming up on the History Channel next week (6/9 at 8pm EST).

Anyway, I have paced and even run sections of 100 mile races several times with Davy Crockett. I know running 100 miles is an unbelievable challenge. But running 135 miles is just crazy, until you understand a few more things about Bad Water. Then you understand how beyond crazy it really is…

1) Bad Water’s starting line is 280 feet below sea level. Yup, that would be the Bad Water in Death Valley NP.

2) The race takes place July 14-16th this year. Temperatures can be as high as 120° or more in the shade that time of year!

3) The race finishes in CA on Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the continental US. Finish altitutude is 8,360. Total elevation change for the race is 13,000 feet of ascent and 4,700 feet of descent.

4) The fastest runners finish in 27 hours. But most of the “mortals” take 40 to 60 hours!

Check out Jarom’s site for details of the Brazil 135 race that he ran recently. He did very well considering the conditions. I wish Jarom the best of luck in Bad Water. I would love to be there with him!

I began working with Dégagé of McLean, Virginia about 6 months ago. Most of the shoots have been of their very unique line of Flat Screen TV Furniture which can hide a large TV when you are not viewing it. The line is hand made and very beautiful.

But more recently, I have been photographing the exquisite interiors created by owner, Trudy Simmons. She really loves her work and it shows in the rooms she creates for her clients. We used one of the shots in the premier Washington DC interior design magazine, Washington Spaces. I thought the ad really worked well. (click for larger)

Like last year, I did not bring a camera. I just relied on other people to take my picture. Then I would hand them a business card and have them email me the result. I lost hope on this one but then, somehow, the person came through! They finally downloaded the image from their memory card and STILL had my biz card. Lucky!

 Jake and I after we ran the last mile of the MCM together.

My hiking buddy Davy Crockett is running the Grand Canyon again this weekend. This time he is carrying a Satellite Phone and a Satellite/GPS location device. The location device reports his position periodically so we can track his progress on Google Maps. As you can see from the map, his latest position is on the return trip across the Colorado. He just crossed the bridge and is making his way up to Phantom Ranch. Next is the long 5000+ foot climb to the North Rim and the end of his 80+ mile journey which started at 2am yesterday!

He is being sponsored on this run by SKYCALL satellite phones and the SPOT GPS/SAT location device company. So to help with sponsorship, he called into the KSL radio station on their morning outdoor show today. I caught it on the internet from my location at 38.969ºN / 77.341ºW. Here is the recording (7.5MB mp3) if you want to hear what it sounded like live via satellite phone to the radio to the internet to my laptop :-) Not bad!

Update 11/28/2007: Davy just posted his write-up. Fun read.

I ran my second Marine Corps Marathon today on a cool and blustery day. I had a great race and beat my first marathon time by 12 minutes. I was hoping for a little better, but it was a tougher course this year with an extra set of hills thrown in due to construction on the Rock Creek Parkway. And this happens to also be Al Gore’s finish time when he ran this race in 1997…so I have some good company I guess!

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I am running my second marathon this Sunday, the Marine Corps Marathon. Its a great race through our Nation’s Capital. While there are some 35,000 runners which can make the start a bit crowded, the best part is the 100’s of thousands of people cheering us on. Its a great way to spend a few hours (well, 4 and a half or more in my case!)

Last year I ran the MCM and it was my first marathon. I was just there to finish. This year I would like to improve on my 5 hour 7 minute time and see if I can finish in 4:40 or so.

I just noticed the course is a little different this year. Instead of running through Georgetown on M Street and up the Rock Creek, they now have us run up MacArthur/Canal Road and then back down the Whitehurst. The rest of the race is the same.

If you want to come out and follow me around, I will be wearing a bright orange shirt with the word “Soccer” on it and black shorts. I should be in the following locations around these times (assuming race start time of 9:00am 8:00am)

• 5 Mile - Canal Road - 9:50a 8:50am
• 10 Mile - Kennedy Center - 10:45am 9:45am
• 13 Mile - Mall Near Smithsonian - 11:20am 10:20am
• 15 Mile - Tidal Basin/14th Street Bridge - 11:40am 10:40am
• 20 Mile - VA Side of 14th Street Bridge - 12:40pm 11:40am
• Finish - 1:45pm 12:45pm

You can also register here to get text messages or emails when I cross various milestones along the way. I am bib #18754. Wish me luck :-)

UPDATE: Race Start Time is 08:00 (not 09:00 hours)

On July 21 and 22, I had the distinct pleasure of providing support to one of the nation’s top 100 mile endurance runners, Davy Crockett.

While Davy is not a professional/sponsored runner, I consider him one of the best ultra marathon runners in the nation because:

1. He runs four or five 100 mile races a year….and FINISHES!
2. He is 49 years old
3. He typically finishes in the top half to third of the field.

For this, I have great respect for him.

Davy asked me if I would like to handle and pace him during the Vermont 100 race this year. After a little discussion with Rylan and figuring out logistics, I agreed. I drove up to New York on Thursday night and stayed with my friend Kenny in Brooklyn. Then early Friday I completed the drive to Woodstock, Vermont, about 30 minutes from Killington, up in the Green Mountains.

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My annual “man trip” takes our group (5 Mormons and a Jew - I am the Jew) to the Snowmass/Aspen area in Colorado to a trail called the Four Passes Loop. Its aptly named as it is a) a loop and b) includes four 12,000+ passes. Read more

4:30am - Beep Beep Beep Beep, damn
5:00am - Rice Crispies (big bowl) and two hard boiled eggs with a lot of salt

At the finish: Juli Schneller, Carl Hutzler and Dick Schneller

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A big cold front pushed in late yesterday and ushered in 50 degree temps and a nice NW breeze. I set out for 15 miles but felt great and pushed it to 20. I could have gone 26.2 today without an issue. My heart rate stayed down pretty much in the 80% range throughout until I pushed my pace at the end. 20 Miles, 4 hours and 4 minutes.

Now I have to run some maintenance runs during the week with some slightly longer weekend runs until the Marathon on October 29th.