Rouge Orleans 126.2 – 2012 Results
By David Hanenburg on 20 Feb 2012 at 4:17 pm | Tagged as: race news
Flat with a big heaping of helluva long ways! Did I mention it got a little cold?!?
Teeth chattering overnight temps but no rain for 126.2 miles at the second annual Rouge Orleans ultramarathon scamper that guides runners along the Mississippi levee from Baton Rouge to the finish line in Audubon Park in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Run solo or be part of a team. Whatever you decide, get to the finish line by 1:00 PM Sunday or according the event site – be fed to the Alligators! How is that for a little motivation.
A total of 25 ultra souls went solo and made it to New Orleans along with a over 70 teams with runners from throughout the country and as far away as Hong Kong.
Results
Solo
The young guys dominated in the men’s race.
24 year old Austin, Texas ultra athlete, Jared Fetterolf, knocked off over two hours from last years winning time to set a new sub-24 hour course record in 23:05:54!
William Zdon of New York averaged a 13:52 pace to finish second male in 29:10:09.
Top 5 male
- Jared Fetterolf (TX) – 23:05:54
- William Zdon (NY) – 29:10:09
- Ryan Barrett (ON) – 29:30:00
- Dan Brenden (AZ) – 30:51:00
- Charles Johnston (TX) – 33:37:01
The levee! Nicely groomed off-road surface. Go run! (Photo: Courtesy Isgcp @ http://flic.kr/p/4E8Za6)
Donna Utakis of Amherst, Massachusetts finished second overall, winning the female race with a 12:56 average pace and 27:12:16 time. Donna also set a new course record by over two hours!
Texan Cyndi Graves finished second in 37:06:54.
Top 5 female
- Donna Utakis (MA) – 27:12:16
- Cyndi Graves (TX) – 37:06:54
- Jenny Stinson (ID) – 38:34:42
- Rhonda Hampton (NC) – 39:06:45
- Joan Filipowski (IN) – 39:46:08
Relay teams – The relay divisions had a rainbow of categories for 2,3, and 6 member teams.
Check out the complete relay results – here.
The RO Vibe
Check out the cool video by Claim Your Journey.
(If you can’t see the video, click here.)
The Tough-as-Nails Award
The final finishers of an ultra distance event are some of the toughest athletes that are willing to stick with it to the best of their current ability and cross that darn finish line.
The Tough-as-Nails award recipients:
- Jennifer Frahm of Houston, Texas kept moving forward and ran into New Orleans in 39:55:44.
- The final relay team included the two-person team of Carlos Reyes and Victor Reyes. These guys cruised into the park in 33:32:57.
Race Reports
- “Also on these legs, we encountered lots of wildlife on the levee. Heather was fully prepared to handle any livestock she encountered by making sure she ran with her 1 million volt Tazer. No really, she did. That girl wasn’t messin’ around!” by katieRUNSthis
- “Finally, the moment of truth came. All the talk, all the preparation came to a head on Saturday morning. We had a car full of supplies, food and gear and a willing driver, Kristin’s boyfriend, Devin, who was at least as crazy as we were for attempting it. The cold front had come through. It was cloudy, windy, and cold to start. I say it was cold and windy, but we would learn what cold and windy REALLY was later on.” by Brenton @ Claim Your Journey
- “As I would pass my crew, I called out, “I love this sh#t!” And I do. I was singing. I was dancing. I met some incredibly cool people, and got attacked by dogs. I felt like I was on a treadmill and could not believe the dividends my training paid. My plan worked! Unfortunately, nature had a different idea for me (and 57% of the solo field) on this particular day, and the temperature dropped significantly while the wind changed directions.” by Meredith @ Meredith Dolhare
- “BRING TOILET PAPER! – do i really need to explain this one?” by Live Right Now
Let’s talk Dirt
- What became more of a challenge for you or your team – the distance or the cold evening temps?
Congrats to everyone that played on the Louisiana levee!
Check out the TALON Race Guide
There are 150+ regional trail/ultra races in the TALON Race Guide. Be sure to check it out if you are looking for the most complete list of events in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. New events are always being added.
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David – EnduranceBuzz.com
About the author
David Hanenburg is the passionate dirt-lovin' creator of Endurance Buzz and has been playing in the endurance sports world since 2000 after knockin' the dust off of his Trek 950 hardtail thanks to a friend asking to go ride some local dirt. In 2007 he ran his first ultra on the trails and fell in love with the sport and its people. For more information on David's endurance sports journey, check out the About page.
Sounds like a pretty cool adventure. Kudos to all runners, relay teams and solo runners. I’m running the Texas Independence Relay from Bastrop to San Jacinto with 10 other teammates. Our team name is 2 Slow 2 Win, 2 Dumb 2 Quit. I’ve never been part of a large team like this so I’m excited to run this type of event. There needs to be more relay ultras like the Rouge and TIR.
Jonathan – Good luck with your upcoming adventure! So how many miles will each person run in TIR? 20-ish total?
…and nice name!
Yes, 20 miles seems to be the avg total miles per runner. The 40 legs are between 3 and 6 miles taking us from Bastrop, through the devestated Bastrop and Buescher State Parks, Smithville, Flatonia, Schulenburg, Weimar, Borden, Columbus, Altair, Eagle Lake, Wallis, Orchard, Simonton, Fulshear, Katy, and on through the heart of downtown Houston. Our running team has members who have been marathon training for the past 7 1/2 months for winter and spring marathons, and our coaches decided to put a team together. Of course I had to jump onboard! 11 sweaty runners, 2 vans, 203 glorious miles! A couple brave souls have tried to do this race solo, but none have finished.
Cool! North Texas Badwater finisher, Rochelle Frazeur is planning to run it solo and be the first female finisher! I had thought two men had finished it??
That’s awesome! Can’t wait to meet her! As far as men, I’ve only read about those who started but have never read anything about finishing. If they have finished, hook me up with their race report. I’d love a good read. 203 miles solo . . .that’s epic!