Photos by Jubilee Paige
In a 6-day race… nothing is certain. Canada’s Dave Proctor has dropped from the 6-day to prevent injury to his knee. While he goes home with 2 new Canadian National records (48-hour and 72-hour) he won’t be going home with the 6-day win which looked all but locked up this morning. All of us at Across the Years hope Dave heals quickly and we will be watching his quest for the TransCanada Speed Record this coming June! Watch the YouTube video about Dave’s Cross Canada attempt and his fundraising efforts for the Rare Disease Foundation.
This now leaves the 6-day men’s top spot up for grabs with Ed Ettinghausen closing in on Dave’s 373 miles. Ed has 353 miles at the 108 hour mark. Iso Yucra should move into 2nd sometime tomorrow afternoon and is at 317 miles right now. However, it looks like Dave may still end up on the podium even with almost 2 days off the course. Bill Heldenbrand would need 93.5 more miles in the next 36 hours – and that would be a big stretch. At minimum Bill should better Ed Rousseau’s USATF Road Men’s 70-74 6-day record of 336 miles (Bill has already gone further than 336 miles while in the 70-74 age group with 341 miles; however, the performance wasn’t submitted for ratification).
For the women, we have a new USATF Women’s 70-74 road record for 144 hours with Ila Brandli hitting 191 miles.* Australia’s Annabel Hepworth continues to look good with a walk/short-run combo and is at 307 miles. Will look to see what she accomplishes in the next 36 hours but she is set to be in the top 10 all-time Australian national performances for 45-49 women. Edda Bauer is not giving up that 2nd place position any time soon and has 257 miles covered thus far. This is Edda’s 3rd 6-day race this year. She has previously done 357 miles and 321 miles at those 6-days. Projecting her to fall between those two distances for Across the Years. Edda holds the German national women’s 70-74 best with her 357 miles. Jacket watch for Martina Hausmann who needs 56 more miles for 4,000 lifetime miles and who is holding 3rd in the 6-day. Claudia Newsome is currently 9 miles back of Martina with 240 miles.
*Helen Klein ran a further distance at age 70: she ran 373 miles in 1993 at Gibson Ranch 6-day Classic but her distance was not ratified by USATF; it is considered the IAU World Best Age Group Performance. Bigalita Egger at age 70 also ran a further distance than Ila of 217.48 miles in 2012. However, courses must be certified, sanctioned and the results must be submitted to USATF for ratification. If any of those three things do not happen, the results will stay off the official record books. Ila is still moving and has 36 more hours to overtake Bigalita’s 217 miles so she should finish at least 2nd overall in the all-time results for US women 70-74 and will appear in USATF’s records pending ratification.
In the shorter “distances” there won’t be any movement as of today in the 24-hour or 48-hour top 3 for men or women. In the men’s 72-hour Sean Gavor has 152 miles and would need another 8 miles to take over 2nd place. Eric Moreno has 149 miles and should also land on the podium if he keeps moving. The women’s 72-hour also looks like current top 3 results will stand.
The Dan Baglione Memorial bib has made its way around the course 110 times for a total of 115.47 miles ensuring that Across the Years will be sending the Baglione family a buckle from this year’s event. Thank you to all who gave up personal laps to “spend time” with Dan and let his family know he is still a big part of our Across The Years Family.
Dan Baglione at 2015/2016 Across The Years
Bonus: Mike Melton demonstrating the best way to nap during a 6-day. Right on the side of the course. Think timing the event + getting the final 78 miles for his 1,000th lifetime mile might be hard work.
Mike Melton