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M/CLOUDY Temp: 41 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Saturday, December 21, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend December 6, 2002 Bob Julian Jr., left, and Justin Loftus will compete in a 26-mile, two-person race on Catalina Island off Southern California. Local runners compete in tag-team event By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune Here’s mud in your eye. And on your back. And in your shorts and your shoes. That may well be a toast offered by two Ashland runners today following the Brooks Muddy Buddy World Championship, a 26-mile, two-person race on Catalina Island off Southern California. Bob Julian Jr., 34, and Justin Loftus, 30 — cross country coaches at, respectively, Ashland and Crater high schools — qualified for this adventure series-type championship in August. The tag-team event combines running and bicycling over a course featuring all manner of obstacles, including walls, wire crawls, tire challenges and, finally, the mud pit that makes the final leg extremely difficult. "It’s a little different," says Loftus. The race today brings together division champions from eight U.S. qualifying cities and from three abroad — two in Australia, one in Canada. Julian and Loftus earned their way in San Diego Aug. 10 by besting a men’s division of roughly 300 teams. They covered 6 miles in 41 minutes, 46 seconds. Only one other team in their division eclipsed the 43-minute mark, and, in the higher, elite division, only three of nine teams had better times. The local tandem, which adopted the team name "Ditch Thugs" in honor of a Talent Irrigation Ditch they train near, first competed in the Seattle qualifier in mid-July. After finishing second and thoroughly enjoying the contest, they sought another to enter. Hence, the trip to San Diego. With San Francisco the site of another race, three of the eight U.S. qualifiers were on the West Coast. Competitors will also come from Chicago, Atlanta and Denver, among other venues. The championship will be televised next month on the Outdoor Life Network. "We’re pretty excited about it," says Julian. "We really believe we have a shot to win the whole thing. The longer distance is an advantage for us." The format, he believes, favors teams composed of two strong runners. At the start of the race, one is on foot and the other on the bike. The rider drops the bike at a transition point and takes off running; when the runner arrives, he mounts the bike and continues. There are transition areas at each obstacle, and teammates are required to switch skills. The upshot is that they must come in together, meaning the one in front must wait for his partner at a designated holding area shortly before the finish. While experienced bicyclists have the edge on hills, the team ultimately is only as fast as its running. "That’s why we were able to do so well," says Julian. "We’re not bikers at all, but we know how to ride a bike, and we’re in good enough shape to ride pretty fast for a while." On Catalina, the rules change in that teammates can swap disciplines as often as they like between the designated transition areas. Julian and Loftus plan to change every mile or so to take advantage of their speed afoot. "The shorter the distance when we’re running, the faster we can run," says Loftus, who considers a mile a relative sprint. "It’s kind of like an interval workout. The bike is more of a rest." Neither of the Ditch Thugs has been to the island 22 miles from Los Angeles. It will present challenging hills, including about a 2-mile stretch at the outset, says Julian. There are a few things working in their favor, however, from previous races. In the first competition, they lost considerable time because they didn’t have a unique marking on their bike. Loftus came to a transition area with about 100 two-wheelers and couldn’t immediately find theirs. They also are in better shape now, having gone through the fall cross country season partaking in workouts with teams they each coached to the state meet. Julian and Loftus aren’t certain of what obstacles await today, only that one of them will be the mud pit. In San Diego, the race was run at Camp Pendleton, a Marine base with all the amenities to insure a challenge. There were two mud pits. At the first, competitors were able to wade through, but it was abutted by a wall they then had to scale. "It was pretty tough, especially when you’re tired," says Julian. The second mud pit was about 50 meters long and had a net hovering above to prevent upright traversing. "I tried to walk on my hands," says Julian, "but that wasn’t working too well, so I started swimming in it." He was able to bike the last mile to the finish area. Loftus wasn’t so lucky. "I had to run after the mud pit," he says. "Your shoes get full of mud and dirt and stuff and it really weighs you down. It’s kind of painful because you have a bunch of rocks in your shoes, and you can’t stop and get them out." They are considering removing their shoes before entering the mud pit today. It will have been worth it if they end up the toast of the race. Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search M Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S