Whether you fancy yourself a hill runner or a road racer, there are parts of this course you´ll love and other parts you´ll find challenging. And in that sense, I would call it a fair course - it treats every runner to an amorous embrace and also with a measure of disdain."
Preliminary weather forecast is predicting a beautiful clear day with temps reaching into the low 60’s. April brings very unpredictable weather in the upper Midwest and this is one of the best forecasts the race has ever received.
USATF runners will be competing for prize money awarded to the top 6 male and female places as well as open (first 10) and age group (top 3) USATF medals
Runners to watch include Katalin Nagy (FL) who won the 2014 IAU 24H World Championship with 153 miles and will also compete in the 2017 IAU 24H World Championships in Ireland in July. This will be her first attempt at running a 100K national event.Caroline Boller (CA) comes to the start line with a very impressive resume: 50 Mile Trail ´National Best´ (5:48), 2016 50k National Road Champion and Masters American Record holder, Montrail Ultra Cup Champion, and a member of the 2016 US 50K National Team.
On the men’s side Mike Bialick (MN) returns for his 3rd Mad City 100K having earned the distinction of national 100K champion in 2015 with a time of 7:02.A newcomer to the 100K is Jesse Davis (IN) who has a 2:18 marathon to his credit.Chad Ricklefs (CO), a previous member of multiple US 100K teams and Jean Pommier (CA), who recently placed 7th overall in the US National 50K Trail Championship and placed 9th overall in the 2016 US National 50K Road Race will bring great competition to the masters race.
However, as with any ultramarathon, there are no guarantees. Every positon is earned, RD Yanacheck emphasizes, "In my opinion, there is no tougher running race than head-to-head competition on roads over the distance of an ultramarathon. I´ve heard it said that the fastest marathoners run their races as if they are in a ´mere´ 10,000 meters race. Well, a 100-kilometer champion runs the race as if he or she is in a ´mere´ marathon. A 100-kilometer road race will last six or seven or eight hours - that´s a long time to be running all-out, while worrying that the competition is going to pass you at any moment."
The 2017 Mad City Ultra race will be webcast by their timing partner RunRace. As participants complete each lap, their splits will be recorded at the repeating 10-kilometer checkpoint. From there, splits will be posted to the webcast, which will update solo runner progress, and will be available for viewing across the internet. You may view updates of runner/team progress under the "Webcast" tab on RunRace.net.
In addition to this being a national championship, Mad City will also host the first ever IAU 100K Americas Continental Championship hosting runners from Canada and Brazil.
Further information can be found at https://www.madcityultras.com/.
IAU Vice President Nadeem Khan added: "We are very happy with the first 100km IAU Continental Championships in the Americas. This event will be a great launching platform for further development and promotion of the sport in the region. We thank Mad City 100km for being the host this year and hosting the inaugural championship"
